tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39551592828333002962024-03-29T01:47:21.817-07:00And Now It's All This !Facts, Thoughts, Observations, Memories, Reviews in and around the infinite world of Folk, Blues, Rock & Roll and beyond! Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-23085662909006146442024-03-27T00:45:00.000-07:002024-03-28T22:34:53.624-07:00The Strange Story Of Denis Couldry and my £500 Apple Underpants<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbcDJsMhgwuaMHAjz3Qiv3LSTyn5Dbn6Ppn-GrAGEvwdA3fvd8gv1CyiEtMaj1cw-SQT_kxvmvHu8gHGKJqR_K2EYB4BX54s_RTW93OPZlH0rYiOWYCjhyphenhyphenVc6y9mEgv2_3yKs2D8MZQhNfHBSvEHwq2PVOdieRsTMKfZ_pfFjRekbGYswuGykcnGF_cNw/s909/Apple-pants2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="909" height="598" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbcDJsMhgwuaMHAjz3Qiv3LSTyn5Dbn6Ppn-GrAGEvwdA3fvd8gv1CyiEtMaj1cw-SQT_kxvmvHu8gHGKJqR_K2EYB4BX54s_RTW93OPZlH0rYiOWYCjhyphenhyphenVc6y9mEgv2_3yKs2D8MZQhNfHBSvEHwq2PVOdieRsTMKfZ_pfFjRekbGYswuGykcnGF_cNw/w640-h598/Apple-pants2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>by Stuart
Penney</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Did I ever tell you about the time I owned a pair of genuine
Apple underpants which came directly from the Beatles’ Apple Boutique in Baker
Street?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, wait, come back!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s quite an interesting tale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">It all started with Denis Couldry, a talented singer
songwriter from Leeds (via Manchester).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
first met Denis in early 1968 at a Sheffield party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was playing guitar and singing Beatles
songs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A tall gangly bloke, he didn’t
look much like pop star material, but he had the voice of an angel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really, this guy could sing anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guitars were passed around at the party and we
even played a few songs together. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was impressed
at the power of his voice and his ability to weave complex harmonies into the
familiar tunes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Denis told me he had recently signed a deal with the Beatles’
Apple company and was about to move to London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was a little dubious at first (The Beatles? Yeah, right!), but he was
so good and so convincing, I assumed it had to be true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> We bonded over a </span>joint love of all things Fab Four
related and as we parted ways the next morning, he
gave me a contact number, saying, “You must come and visit when you're in London.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">It turned out that Denis Couldry wasn’t new to the recording game
and already had a couple of 45s to his name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In late 1967 he’d released the single “Meditations” / “Cheadle Heath
Delusions” (Decca F12694) with the band Felius Andromeda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The A-side was a slice of doomy psych with no
discernible input from Couldry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Side B, however,
was all Denis: three minutes of pure pop with a proto-ELO style heavy string
arrangement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> W</span>e sometimes
played this song together at his London flat and he would invariably pause and laugh
out loud when it came to the less-than-elegant rhyme: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“I see tramps with umbrellas, see young girls with old
fellas.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinuBn-xEXV7R4W6DBIwkq5DqJ1vm7NYjsTB7CE69QjdqOwvOJfEF6GeIyxAvjUHsMKX-qrb8w0syF7xZnXzcu8c9-8oPFaHRBTOA9eavs2susDR1fOJEQ66RTyEI-EO8mLiYG7h55YYcvbZ9Y-Mtw_XeQlyb9Hz3FZ_pp39SN0F2GpAq5g2Bm3B8GmjDc/s700/felius-andromeda-meditations-1967-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinuBn-xEXV7R4W6DBIwkq5DqJ1vm7NYjsTB7CE69QjdqOwvOJfEF6GeIyxAvjUHsMKX-qrb8w0syF7xZnXzcu8c9-8oPFaHRBTOA9eavs2susDR1fOJEQ66RTyEI-EO8mLiYG7h55YYcvbZ9Y-Mtw_XeQlyb9Hz3FZ_pp39SN0F2GpAq5g2Bm3B8GmjDc/w400-h400/felius-andromeda-meditations-1967-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></i></div><i><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i><p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">This was
followed in February 1968 by “James In The Basement” / “I Am Nearly There”
(Decca F12734). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The B-side was credited
to Denis Couldry and the Next Collection, a Streatham group consisting of Ken
Elliott (keyboards), Kieran O'Connor (drums), Arthur Kitchener (bass) and Bob
Gibbons (guitar).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems this collaboration with the Next Collection was just a one-off.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cEo30x5fSEdrVafVBKQbZD3XpC7DFoUJjsm03p9vGS0Ov91CQcDAmbXgmMzlMh4r8yqTU-eE8DDfTBt_lPS7RJJcVGrpI17PP3x-MejthBWZ3GEHyoXV3zfqQ3beb8Wrpp3Rkbdri38dPeGj7mBciQU-QxVwOGNCB5Dv1OaOMIIvzJGD_kOpor2YpO8/s527/denis-couldry-i-am-nearly-there-decca.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="527" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cEo30x5fSEdrVafVBKQbZD3XpC7DFoUJjsm03p9vGS0Ov91CQcDAmbXgmMzlMh4r8yqTU-eE8DDfTBt_lPS7RJJcVGrpI17PP3x-MejthBWZ3GEHyoXV3zfqQ3beb8Wrpp3Rkbdri38dPeGj7mBciQU-QxVwOGNCB5Dv1OaOMIIvzJGD_kOpor2YpO8/w400-h399/denis-couldry-i-am-nearly-there-decca.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Months later
I learned from a mutual friend that it really was true.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Denis and his brother Bob had indeed been
signed to the Beatles' Apple Publishing company. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bob wrote most of the lyrics, while Denis
handled the music.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Operating independently
from the record label itself, the publishing arm of Apple was set up to find original
songs and songwriters. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Also active at
this time, although with varying degrees of success (ie very little), were
Apple Electronics, Apple Films and Apple Retail, the last of which resulted in
the famous yet ill-fated boutique.</span></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Apple Publishing
was run by Terry Doran, a Liverpool chum of Brian Epstein and the “man from the
motor trade” mentioned in “She’s Leaving Home.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Denis was directly answerable to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A few years earlier Doran and Epstein had formed the imaginatively named company Brydor Cars which sold luxury vehicles from premises in Hounslow out near
Heathrow Airport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was Brydor who
supplied the high-end customised Mini Coopers owned by all four Beatles, along
with Paul’s Aston Martin DB6 and other exotica driven by the band. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess "Brydor" would be considered a trendy portmanteau name today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back then it was
simply another naff moniker and par for the course. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-49yrRDYpCYnPnObMXCMbTv6FTfrTS2xJujLL-faFdhVzGDQXahkclnV1WZbESNEmq9QNgbAIxuH9hxcHl6vYVi3G3re_eAt9xClX0wsWolL23k8h86lVLui9RLvo9ws9QrxY_B9Rc7iErON48ygFNcVHDyEHmXSqBu-DklGp9jQwFg0_dPjFYrUbro/s491/Brydor.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="489" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-49yrRDYpCYnPnObMXCMbTv6FTfrTS2xJujLL-faFdhVzGDQXahkclnV1WZbESNEmq9QNgbAIxuH9hxcHl6vYVi3G3re_eAt9xClX0wsWolL23k8h86lVLui9RLvo9ws9QrxY_B9Rc7iErON48ygFNcVHDyEHmXSqBu-DklGp9jQwFg0_dPjFYrUbro/w399-h400/Brydor.jpg" width="399" /></a></span></div><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Denis received
a £25 weekly retainer from Apple (equivalent to £366 today) and was installed
in a basic but decent enough ground floor flat just a stone’s throw from Baker Street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is where I stayed with him for a few
weeks during the summer of 1968.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It</span> was a few months before the Beatles moved into their famous townhouse at 3 Savile Row and
Apple was at that time operating jointly from offices at 95 Wigmore Street and
above the Apple Boutique on the corner of Paddington Street and Baker
Street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadWJMdWNUesDdyipCs6nYKtAzWqQeT_J4y5GFNvfXrTp9qeFOCWzwEf9JkEhXdm0B-GiWOJFXxQYXcc0_m-nXUSpGv7qxtLTz7F3PkOs3KYWQk9YUT5oULHZzmVknjspwYAxaC8ulTKWDE6c2VZiOz9H6dUfUKzu8B5TFZWf6j45Xslr6Ba06pNZ7kLQ/s691/Record%20Mirror%20June%208,%201968.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="264" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadWJMdWNUesDdyipCs6nYKtAzWqQeT_J4y5GFNvfXrTp9qeFOCWzwEf9JkEhXdm0B-GiWOJFXxQYXcc0_m-nXUSpGv7qxtLTz7F3PkOs3KYWQk9YUT5oULHZzmVknjspwYAxaC8ulTKWDE6c2VZiOz9H6dUfUKzu8B5TFZWf6j45Xslr6Ba06pNZ7kLQ/w244-h640/Record%20Mirror%20June%208,%201968.jpg" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Mirror June 1968</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Denis’s only
record released under the Apple deal appeared in May 1968.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Credited to Denis Couldry & Smile, “Penny
For The Wind” / “Tea And Toast, Mr. Watson?” (Decca F12786) was probably the
high point of his career.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The single was
produced by Lionel Morton, who came to fame in the early / mid 60s as the
frontman of “Juliet” hitmakers the Four Pennies.</span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYy6m2spsqn6ZTIfwj-6dEXgyhWqXg84-k_nWN3W4ffZ9XAr9E_W7lE1bjVrIZ2IB20LbHoHMdim5NXCJBVHpLLHVI15hFfXclPe9s_M3WdruoG6K5AH0L7ya0dtY3bIvc0q9rRevrql6idUDpIqq0MCCGgyVZ-i2SzajYRhyphenhyphenj_opWgvqD91UuUbIHDMY/s444/Denis1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="369" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYy6m2spsqn6ZTIfwj-6dEXgyhWqXg84-k_nWN3W4ffZ9XAr9E_W7lE1bjVrIZ2IB20LbHoHMdim5NXCJBVHpLLHVI15hFfXclPe9s_M3WdruoG6K5AH0L7ya0dtY3bIvc0q9rRevrql6idUDpIqq0MCCGgyVZ-i2SzajYRhyphenhyphenj_opWgvqD91UuUbIHDMY/w333-h400/Denis1.jpg" width="333" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Record Mirror June 1968</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Both songs were infuriatingly catchy pop psych gems in the
early Bee Gees style (before they went disco, obviously).<span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">As for Smile, they were trio of session
players comprising esteemed guitarist Chris Spedding, bassist Mark Griffiths
and Roger Swallow on percussion.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Spedding
contributed some especially memorable lead guitar work on the B-side.</span></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPrVYcq4B-iYVKZVnSc3cG1aecTcglM0PPddT63T2abXYGEHwX13yrohoyCJyp1JvM6AGoTkdpUaAFIqrYiP14YcgzdrHVoFPZ3Zl3cGJfdpWPSCunSbOe3XV0VQ7BVoV-H4z6AVXWRCzZXPNbUnBemae_rMQUMXkRfiCxdxo3REcyWtdRJLwM4WRdFI/s522/denis-couldry-and-smile-penny-for-the-wind-decca.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="522" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPrVYcq4B-iYVKZVnSc3cG1aecTcglM0PPddT63T2abXYGEHwX13yrohoyCJyp1JvM6AGoTkdpUaAFIqrYiP14YcgzdrHVoFPZ3Zl3cGJfdpWPSCunSbOe3XV0VQ7BVoV-H4z6AVXWRCzZXPNbUnBemae_rMQUMXkRfiCxdxo3REcyWtdRJLwM4WRdFI/w400-h400/denis-couldry-and-smile-penny-for-the-wind-decca.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Denis would often regale us with tales of rubbing shoulders with
various Beatles and other famous faces at the Apple offices and of course I
hung on his every word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even visited the
Apple Boutique myself a couple of times toward the end but could never afford
to buy anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the cheapest flowery shirt seemed to cost more than a week’s wages for a mere mortal like me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember it smelled very strongly of joss
sticks and the staff appeared aloof and impossibly cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hardly surprising since one of them was, as I
later discovered, Jenny Boyd, sister of Pattie and the eponymous “Jennifer
Juniper” of the Donovan hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The single
was still in the charts at the time, as I recall.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXg9OHn5IUEmWZXXRKPDyJFu_sdpWgCSUPq5EwLYeMLErg_hLVNHj7iuIeVYycEbam7EwvLR8eWrnORMscp34CyTdFpjOsqRf9s4sqSDPMtB79RbNRGvi1TIyjpj8ggExoT_lt7R4O6Wzfy1RQGyM2gbMK90c3MoDNgUZoSqpgmKFTmZe5ArLXonbkSRU/s640/July30.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="640" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXg9OHn5IUEmWZXXRKPDyJFu_sdpWgCSUPq5EwLYeMLErg_hLVNHj7iuIeVYycEbam7EwvLR8eWrnORMscp34CyTdFpjOsqRf9s4sqSDPMtB79RbNRGvi1TIyjpj8ggExoT_lt7R4O6Wzfy1RQGyM2gbMK90c3MoDNgUZoSqpgmKFTmZe5ArLXonbkSRU/w640-h418/July30.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Thanks to complaints from the stuffy neighbours, the local council had forced Apple to remove the beautiful mural by the art collective The Fool and the outside of the building was now painted white.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The shop closed
its doors forever on July 31, 1968, and by sheer coincidence I was staying at
Denis’s flat at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the day
before closure and the big giveaway, he arrived back with an armful of goodies he’d snaffled
before the general public were allowed in to strip the place bare. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I didn’t want to push my luck by asking for any of the colourful
shirts, scarves and kaftans Denis had scored, but without warning he threw a
cellophane packet over to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
contained a pair of Apple briefs resplendent with a giant Granny Smith on the
front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also came away with a handful
of Apple book matches and a few other bits and pieces including some Apple
stationary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I don’t mind admitting that I was a little disappointed with such
a meagre haul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But beggars
can’t be choosers, after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept the
Apple underpants for a few years without wearing them, until eventually they disappeared
in a house move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In retrospect I should
have taken better care of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just a
few weeks ago a pair sold on eBay for £570.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such is the appeal of anything connected with
the Beatles today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0Q_5sOXy9CRSEJX4IIGV0FYCLUi-b0Ky93jw4e76GoT-m8JXVSzntXeT3GXOvUTBVw_ER7dkbVTegrLCKZbra97vMFiUlx4teKcGDr-X7xfmb_pJXwvAh5BHMe1UX8R7G7m1l17Zt9h1axHqIRIR90ad5MfgnrTnODY0v54-tVj8P7XyBVf2YXUbcdE/s1179/Apple%20pants%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="1179" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0Q_5sOXy9CRSEJX4IIGV0FYCLUi-b0Ky93jw4e76GoT-m8JXVSzntXeT3GXOvUTBVw_ER7dkbVTegrLCKZbra97vMFiUlx4teKcGDr-X7xfmb_pJXwvAh5BHMe1UX8R7G7m1l17Zt9h1axHqIRIR90ad5MfgnrTnODY0v54-tVj8P7XyBVf2YXUbcdE/w640-h242/Apple%20pants%20(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></p>I lost touch with Dennis during 1969 and I believe “Penny
For The Wind” / “Tea And Toast, Mr. Watson?” was his final record. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But that wasn’t the end of his Beatles connection.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In July 1969 Apple ran
a series of full-page music press ads to promote the Plastic Ono Band
single “Give Peace A Chance” / “Remember Love” (Apple 13).</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Headed “<b>YOU</b> ARE THE PLASTIC ONO BAND” the ads showed the POB Perspex sound and light installation (as seen on the
“Give Peace A Chance” single sleeve) superimposed over an actual page (#1631) from
the London telephone directory, seemingly with real names but with addresses
and phone numbers edited to protect the innocent.</span></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh49ku3BfUPEAR9xve2qWELh0yvDL_7MrYw9xyg-wj8Zo6bfZsAWkpNNmWb40F0ye_5sE0pTd2bj6AB5VcaHBXVhfEnNDSJ7dHKM-8Csjl-Iyc3ZyIA4lLkToKRYFAXLfixdCSbfS1SSjr6vKqj-vRHpaFhIPjDkumcSpbhUjAh7JZqajhRwULmVXUya0E/s991/POB.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="991" data-original-width="753" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh49ku3BfUPEAR9xve2qWELh0yvDL_7MrYw9xyg-wj8Zo6bfZsAWkpNNmWb40F0ye_5sE0pTd2bj6AB5VcaHBXVhfEnNDSJ7dHKM-8Csjl-Iyc3ZyIA4lLkToKRYFAXLfixdCSbfS1SSjr6vKqj-vRHpaFhIPjDkumcSpbhUjAh7JZqajhRwULmVXUya0E/w486-h640/POB.jpg" width="486" /></a></span></span></div><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And there nestling among the “Jones, S” names who do we see
but “Couldry Denis, 92 Elm Walk SE1” together with the telephone number “HOP
153”.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The address was fictitious of
course.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s an Elm Walk in Hampstead
NW3 and another in Wimbledon SW20, but nothing in SE1 which is over Bermondsey / Elephant and Castle / London Bridge way. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The phone number was clearly fake too.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But isn’t it a lovely thing to imagine that
John & Yoko (assuming they were responsible) remembered Denis fondly enough
to stick his name in their “Give Peace A Chance” ad?</span></p></span></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_fCTcNiJ-LSbeVFeTTXqZcDaDzkwig8LJbdlxq3ZLeuO46MbwHJnINkThZWjk6wBXSlJkIKJJXJNhWGbDpeHEPvu8F37-5jLtFmlY_zx19363oCgxxbE_JWO9siooLBz8MOCTQfxyTT758kvaKT_HXWJQo7HCHeJuslixuZSPqL0GBOdbB5eUXgyk3jI/s534/Denis.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="165" data-original-width="534" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_fCTcNiJ-LSbeVFeTTXqZcDaDzkwig8LJbdlxq3ZLeuO46MbwHJnINkThZWjk6wBXSlJkIKJJXJNhWGbDpeHEPvu8F37-5jLtFmlY_zx19363oCgxxbE_JWO9siooLBz8MOCTQfxyTT758kvaKT_HXWJQo7HCHeJuslixuZSPqL0GBOdbB5eUXgyk3jI/w640-h198/Denis.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The phone book ad also contained several other bizarre “fake”
entries including all four Beatles and Yoko, plus psychedelic poster artist
Stanley Mouse and Golda Meir, then the Prime Minister of Israel. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I never met Denis’s brother Bob,
but in 2016 this brief, heartbreaking comment appeared below a YouTube clip for
the Felius Andromeda song “Cheadle Heath Delusions.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">“</span></i><i><span style="background: white; color: #0f0f0f; line-height: 150%;">The
guy singing is my brother Denis Couldry. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a contract with Apple (the Beatles
company) in the late 60's, me songwriting and Denis singing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Denis was electroshocked in 1972, never really
recovered and died in Victoria Psychiatric Ward, Blackpool 1995. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote the lyrics for most of Denis's songs,
but he wrote the lyrics to this song, I only contributed the title, a
tribute(?!) to our childhood in Cheadle Heath. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All you guys still living thereabouts, </span></i><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">Om mani padme hum.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">The last phrase is a Buddist Sanskrit mantra which roughly translates as "Praise to the jewel in the lotus."</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnqURR1N_Zuyi3FUsSI2BLPKpYHCDfQ6tyET0x4_fOjAV_E6rpRPzl_ZIBbgyeYmeR39TBFW9SgmbXukqNYgft4YTs99vvRCBFS4iS2Yw3xSO-a1TkKfkHv67ZtSpdEPdfnRLbH0Xy_Yeca73vHwQ9jvNkKt7k8EbSI_jp5J83Fsh1cMgCrjAPog1Jf8/s964/Apple%20boutique%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="964" height="598" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnqURR1N_Zuyi3FUsSI2BLPKpYHCDfQ6tyET0x4_fOjAV_E6rpRPzl_ZIBbgyeYmeR39TBFW9SgmbXukqNYgft4YTs99vvRCBFS4iS2Yw3xSO-a1TkKfkHv67ZtSpdEPdfnRLbH0Xy_Yeca73vHwQ9jvNkKt7k8EbSI_jp5J83Fsh1cMgCrjAPog1Jf8/w640-h598/Apple%20boutique%201.jpg" width="640" /></a></i></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>The three singles Denis made are now rare collectors’
items and originals sell for huge money online.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But most tracks are available on various pop psych
compilations.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> Or you can check them out in the Spotify playlist - link below.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“I Am Nearly There” can be found on several CD
compilations including <i>The Freakbeat Scene</i> (Decca 844 879-2).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fjwyclj9w9FIrHOaoR6cHIdROc-djTgGr6o_fYp3ZqG08l1o5NB_wK7RqJL1usKOM1zuySixQCwkRgpyTD1PJDUV0hgz1uWsWtpXv0JGBXhjZ5J75LNExVv-w77ent2NdpftJ884hapSIuO8HHX6ph9nczfA4-YuJhJYDdeyzrTN-s2p6POy8zKCY8A/s800/various-artists-the-freakbeat-scene-cd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fjwyclj9w9FIrHOaoR6cHIdROc-djTgGr6o_fYp3ZqG08l1o5NB_wK7RqJL1usKOM1zuySixQCwkRgpyTD1PJDUV0hgz1uWsWtpXv0JGBXhjZ5J75LNExVv-w77ent2NdpftJ884hapSIuO8HHX6ph9nczfA4-YuJhJYDdeyzrTN-s2p6POy8zKCY8A/w400-h400/various-artists-the-freakbeat-scene-cd.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Both “Penny For The Wind” and “Tea And Toast, Mr. Watson?”
can be found on the 2008 compilation CD <i>Treacle Toffee World</i> (RPM RETRO
843) alongside other Apple Publishing artists Grapefruit, Gallagher & Lyle and the Iveys (later Badfinger).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGLXRTvdZ7BbKzhIJ1fcde0IYVMXnXhp82UzLuZP5nsFtjYHmocCLU0si-hAEyKthKPG8X9aUXZ6t8dotDEgj54dfKGWT_EcEFGzGZ9YxkrSW2kxpexgp8e2c4o0X6XkU20MfVw_I6JEq9Y0QKGmd6IvRNCEhG1r6WBbQxcXXsJc0djycwXDsup8N2EY/s2450/IMG_8407.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2450" data-original-width="2450" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGLXRTvdZ7BbKzhIJ1fcde0IYVMXnXhp82UzLuZP5nsFtjYHmocCLU0si-hAEyKthKPG8X9aUXZ6t8dotDEgj54dfKGWT_EcEFGzGZ9YxkrSW2kxpexgp8e2c4o0X6XkU20MfVw_I6JEq9Y0QKGmd6IvRNCEhG1r6WBbQxcXXsJc0djycwXDsup8N2EY/w400-h400/IMG_8407.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“Meditations” / “Cheadle Heath Delusions” and “James In The
Basement” / “I Am Nearly There” are on the 2017 double CD <i>Spaced Out: The
Story Of Mushroom Records</i> (Grapefruit CRSEG036D).</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQXXKBKhF_aeNmwhpxSZtnupY6iX7c13_9GqztpnrfrCGnxN19chbAg02juKYev3AwAqoa5h81-1QKJVjFGekhEp4ZdJOy2Iy9eYohkxsc1s_VGJj1TaRDcgxzpIC3YB3dqgrXdkpxYgbQDjqNtP-63Lf4IhtI5Cy0ajOU1PGpH11SXj_wADCB2EtxLWQ/s800/various-artists-spaced-out-the-story-of-mushroom-records-cd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="800" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQXXKBKhF_aeNmwhpxSZtnupY6iX7c13_9GqztpnrfrCGnxN19chbAg02juKYev3AwAqoa5h81-1QKJVjFGekhEp4ZdJOy2Iy9eYohkxsc1s_VGJj1TaRDcgxzpIC3YB3dqgrXdkpxYgbQDjqNtP-63Lf4IhtI5Cy0ajOU1PGpH11SXj_wADCB2EtxLWQ/w400-h393/various-artists-spaced-out-the-story-of-mushroom-records-cd.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJ-6P4KzHM-RH29-O0mn7-vQw2mcM93gah8wBkIBWQZdYtWLTHCrUluNDGaqSCLeirOyP2gmDNHB-pAl4LJu5NA3S3jk3auU6K63zdIx3efy-j9jQhZSuALs2MLD7idH3mt6R-ZuPNXzFrMEMXS4hsXtZ6SxXO4IrCgD-sXLwyvrhIphRw_PS0am4My4/s909/Apple-pants1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="785" data-original-width="909" height="552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJ-6P4KzHM-RH29-O0mn7-vQw2mcM93gah8wBkIBWQZdYtWLTHCrUluNDGaqSCLeirOyP2gmDNHB-pAl4LJu5NA3S3jk3auU6K63zdIx3efy-j9jQhZSuALs2MLD7idH3mt6R-ZuPNXzFrMEMXS4hsXtZ6SxXO4IrCgD-sXLwyvrhIphRw_PS0am4My4/w640-h552/Apple-pants1.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p></p>Stuart Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05642732113240014875noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-28741047227057938392024-02-16T01:39:00.000-08:002024-03-23T02:02:35.248-07:00Life’s A Gas - Great Concerts Revisited: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Sheffield, 1968<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUn0dANooSsGf2P0BCd4wG70jXOgaWqHwMLtoU_J-SPJslFSNA9rQIzkzK08TudEcPrCLQ26LeQeg0XqPvSVSMcmqN5c9XlF5Xf5z1XLxUWoANVCoUpBCSEDxekSxHuJmMeBEl4yIyIyETQF_0P-OY52DWIA5KS0ZQj3RCGfOIsuYVI9ksTLLGd_GaXiw/s1659/header%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1404" data-original-width="1659" height="542" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUn0dANooSsGf2P0BCd4wG70jXOgaWqHwMLtoU_J-SPJslFSNA9rQIzkzK08TudEcPrCLQ26LeQeg0XqPvSVSMcmqN5c9XlF5Xf5z1XLxUWoANVCoUpBCSEDxekSxHuJmMeBEl4yIyIyETQF_0P-OY52DWIA5KS0ZQj3RCGfOIsuYVI9ksTLLGd_GaXiw/w640-h542/header%201.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>by Stuart Penney</b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">It wasn’t my first Tyrannosaurus Rex concert. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite by accident I’d seen them in March 1968 supporting
Donovan at the 5,000 seat Royal Albert Hall.</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
without a record in the shops at that point, they were still largely unknown
outside the London underground club circuit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Besides, I only had eyes for Donovan on that night, so you’ll forgive me
when I say the duo’s short acoustic set passed me by virtually unnoticed in the
cavernous RAH. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But things moved fast in the 60s, and much had changed when I next witnessed </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Tyrannosaurus Rex</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> three months later on Monday, June 17, at the Memorial Hall in
Sheffield.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the interim they had<span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a;"> signed to EMI’s impossibly hip Regal
Zonophone label (see below) and their debut single “Debora” was getting a fair
amount of airplay, much of it from their powerful friend and supporter John
Peel on his BBC Radio show <b><i>Top Gear</i></b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, while they were nowhere near as hot as
they would soon become</span>, <span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a;">there
was already quite a buzz around this strange little duo comprising Marc
Bolan and Steve Peregrin Took.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Ed. Note: music press ads and demo copies of
the single showed the title as “Deborah.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This changed to “Debora” when the record went on general release. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Melody Maker ad for the single also
misspelled Regal Zonophone as “Zonaphone”).<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sVEKeqjx_JIFb-SJgffpCNGMGPquaWsB9o1U-XeKLdW2f8XtoU-kwzkS5nK1NBEDrxEjY4R2VwntxBJaba6SRKqp0YDr4XSI4d7s6HF-s4adnyjtiT9Sh085i706hGhVB3kKKbsaYhtm5F4PpJ1kWY4LfFW-jNlM2ugMd4H5FOpcbw93Su9nrtupIAo/s700/tyrannosaurus-rex-deborah-1968-13.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="700" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sVEKeqjx_JIFb-SJgffpCNGMGPquaWsB9o1U-XeKLdW2f8XtoU-kwzkS5nK1NBEDrxEjY4R2VwntxBJaba6SRKqp0YDr4XSI4d7s6HF-s4adnyjtiT9Sh085i706hGhVB3kKKbsaYhtm5F4PpJ1kWY4LfFW-jNlM2ugMd4H5FOpcbw93Su9nrtupIAo/w640-h376/tyrannosaurus-rex-deborah-1968-13.jpg" width="640" /></a></i></div><i><br /></i><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Venue<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Memorial Hall sounds rather grand but it’s actually
a small 400 seat annex within the Grade II listed Sheffield City Hall complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Opened in 1932, it’s the semi-circular
structure shown at the rear of the building here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBCsIN_eHwe-uw2UOIf8QmkpVUFGJSVqUUlkUB0TB-Cx34Hf6wplqRKnLPZ4MkJ4xvsVyUKrLL0mrreUmQksfgsPUN9XINQPMqdkInKOJI0RZFxCt62_fmPZmpN-DRZVaERvkI64wTePUGVzBTESGEG-Pjqju5y1PaIfxkgz_fNhtFRlYH3jkslFycJ34/s1600/City%20Hall-Memorial%20Hall%201933.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1010" data-original-width="1600" height="405" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBCsIN_eHwe-uw2UOIf8QmkpVUFGJSVqUUlkUB0TB-Cx34Hf6wplqRKnLPZ4MkJ4xvsVyUKrLL0mrreUmQksfgsPUN9XINQPMqdkInKOJI0RZFxCt62_fmPZmpN-DRZVaERvkI64wTePUGVzBTESGEG-Pjqju5y1PaIfxkgz_fNhtFRlYH3jkslFycJ34/w640-h405/City%20Hall-Memorial%20Hall%201933.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Rear view of Sheffield City Hall showing the smaller Memorial Hall circa 1930s</span></b></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">On June 17, Tyrannosaurus Rex played two shows here,
at 7:00pm and 9:15pm. In the pre-decimal
currency era tickets were on sale for 6s/8d (33p), 10s/6d (52</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">½p</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">) and 12s/6d
(62</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">½p)</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">. My girlfriend and I caught the early show and
since the hall was no more than half full, we had a perfectly decent view from our
vantage point in the cheap seats. In fact,
there were only 13 rows of seats in total (10 downstairs and three in the small
upstairs balcony).</span></p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0Qla_jWgyjgn54zdQVyGkam3093KSqB-YHrZU6DF22km9PJnYyn9ZkYzManybuwbpkt7JjSW8Yw6inyVzQHsF49L8zj4v70jHIv-vvvZJMELtJmf0E5YxMUASq6VkJrR-9g0rK1zy7IM154LJw8roM2fqMgCo8J6fglbROw0ssewYvi0T0ToCuE4kzA/s500/Sheffield%20John%20Peel.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="500" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0Qla_jWgyjgn54zdQVyGkam3093KSqB-YHrZU6DF22km9PJnYyn9ZkYzManybuwbpkt7JjSW8Yw6inyVzQHsF49L8zj4v70jHIv-vvvZJMELtJmf0E5YxMUASq6VkJrR-9g0rK1zy7IM154LJw8roM2fqMgCo8J6fglbROw0ssewYvi0T0ToCuE4kzA/w320-h198/Sheffield%20John%20Peel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">1968 ad from International Times</span></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The tickets were purchased from music store Wilson
Peck which was located on the same street and maybe 50 yards from the venue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Opened in 1896 it was Sheffield’s longest established
and most famous music retailer selling pianos, guitars and musical instruments
of every description, plus sheet music and records from a handsome building on the
corner of Barkers Pool and Leopold Street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Other than the actual venue box offices, Wilson Peck was virtually the
only place in town where concert tickets could be bought at that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first decent electric guitar, a Gibson SG Special, also came from there in 1969 (it cost 159 guineas [</span><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">£</span><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">167] bought on hire purchase, naturally).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In later years the imposing Wilson Peck building
(aptly named Beethoven House) would briefly contain a Virgin Megastore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>oday it’s a branch of long-established
Sheffield jewellers H.L. Brown and the building has been renamed Yorkshire
House. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too much information, you say? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re welcome.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Liverpool
Scene<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Support (or perhaps joint headliners) were The Liverpool
Scene, a poetry and music ensemble fronted by the rotund figure of Adrian Henri
(1932 - 2000).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Along with Roger McGough
and Brian Patten, he was part of a trio of esteemed Liverpool beat poets who
rose to fame in the 60s. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their 1967 book
<b><i>The Mersey Sound</i></b> became one of the most successful British poetry
anthologies of all time, eventually selling 500,000 copies over many reprints.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipl88YCraGu7GUsQdhSaWAn7TAqQMY_F9_VJ3v0koy8nCJd0MxMW7Cg1d1hmrpHL7Rx88gFQxsAu2tehijl8fFkhHXOCmaiU9-1wYnwN0FhdDaWkWXl6M37u_gccrYT8jJC3bshyphenhyphenwha6an82ReNDBoySF2KwBNqEp8Qdf08S6-OzE4pGVEzCvB37bLOn0/s400/Mersey-Sound.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="251" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipl88YCraGu7GUsQdhSaWAn7TAqQMY_F9_VJ3v0koy8nCJd0MxMW7Cg1d1hmrpHL7Rx88gFQxsAu2tehijl8fFkhHXOCmaiU9-1wYnwN0FhdDaWkWXl6M37u_gccrYT8jJC3bshyphenhyphenwha6an82ReNDBoySF2KwBNqEp8Qdf08S6-OzE4pGVEzCvB37bLOn0/w251-h400/Mersey-Sound.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The success of <b><i>The Mersey Sound</i></b> book
inspired the 1967 CBS LP </span><b><i><span style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Incredible New Liverpool Scene</span></i></b><span style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(plus a book of
the same name)</span><span style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Featuring poetry by Adrian Henri and Roger
McGough with music by guitarist Andy Roberts, this in turn gave birth to the actual
band The Liverpool Scene. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With their RCA debut LP <b><i>Amazing
Adventures Of</i></b> still five months away from release, it’s fair to say the
audience had little idea what to expect from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their set would have been unfamiliar to
everyone except perhaps listeners to John Peel’s radio<b> </b>shows, where he
often read selections from the poetry books and played tracks from their CBS
album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Employing</span> his typically florid prose
style, Peel wrote this about the group in the November 17, 1967, issue of
underground newspaper <b><i>International Times</i></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">In Liverpool I spent an ecstatic evening with
Andy Roberts, Mike Evans, Adrian Henri and, briefly, Roger McGough. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps there is a modern Olympus beneath the
soot and decay of 64 Canning Street. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
came away feeling better than I have since the rape of Radio London. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Andy played me an acetate of Roger McGough
reading the "Summer with Monika" poems to Andy's accompaniment. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the past year so much love and beauty
has passed through me and lingered in my mind, but nothing has surpassed this.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Ed. Note: 64 Canning Street was the communal house
in Liverpool where the group lived. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Radio
London was one of the offshore pirate radio stations where Peel worked before
joining the BBC in August 1967).<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiih8vsHbst6aSdiq4YslmMdvs49Kgf_1rslDmJyKspCgtuFUJ8gLCCV_gHMGALcH55AFjqvsGbuXqXnJgU-iGLGPUVlYqpLW8CJuqAn_1e5H1XybvZO3ZC1o1105DpGvpig6JKMBcoQCgvoIBAolR6RO647g7EDldVQJECClQSNpAtCG3TxK0xXUbcyJg/s3492/IMG_8237.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1697" data-original-width="3492" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiih8vsHbst6aSdiq4YslmMdvs49Kgf_1rslDmJyKspCgtuFUJ8gLCCV_gHMGALcH55AFjqvsGbuXqXnJgU-iGLGPUVlYqpLW8CJuqAn_1e5H1XybvZO3ZC1o1105DpGvpig6JKMBcoQCgvoIBAolR6RO647g7EDldVQJECClQSNpAtCG3TxK0xXUbcyJg/w640-h312/IMG_8237.jpg" width="640" /></a></i></div><i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He may not have been a great singer, but what
he lacked in vocal dexterity Adrian Henri made up for with a commanding stage
presence, bags of energy and a wildly eccentric personality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An engaging and witty frontman, his poetry
readings meshed perfectly with the musical backing provided by Andy Roberts and
Mike Hart, fine guitarists both. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except
perhaps for the Bonzo Dog Band, no one else sounded much like The Liverpool
Scene at that time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Their Sheffield set list has not survived, but
they almost certainly played material such as “Mrs Albion, You’ve Got A Lovely
Daughter,” “Tonight At Noon,” “Don’t Worry, Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,”
“Batpoem,” “The Amazing Adventures Of Che Guevara” and “Car Crash Blues.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of their most popular songs was a spoof on
the British Blues Boom, then in full flower.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Titled “I’ve Got Those Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, John Mayall, Can’t
Fail Blues,” it didn’t appear on record until their 1969 second album <b><i>Bread
On The Night</i></b>, but was always a live favourite. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to the <b><i>Melody Maker</i></b>
small ads, Liverpool Scene were gigging virtually every night during this
period, playing endless club dates up and down the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year later in June 1969 they would be
chosen to support Led Zeppelin at the Royal Albert Hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t ask me what the LZ fans made of them!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andy Roberts went on work with Iain Matthews in
Plainsong and he was the “R” in GRIMMS, a sprawling music, poetry and comedy
troupe featuring members of various multimedia bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He later released several solo albums under
his own name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guitarist Mike Hart also recorded
an LP for John Peel’s Dandelion label.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Ed. Note: operating between 1972-76, GRIMMS
consisted of members of Scaffold, Bonzo Dog Band and Liverpool Scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The band name is an acronym formed from the
initial letter of the main members’ surnames: John Gorman, Andy Roberts, Neil
Innes, Roger McGough, Mike McGear and Vivian Stanshall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many other notable musicians including Zoot
Money and Ollie Halsall also passed through the band).<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiszvISOT-uScaruXzw7ci9nX3AYXcT4AqsyWBTUzRyBrG-5kgGmt8FMC_5gRwYcq9_YBGT5e8xDlrmz35B5a3zHPOYBUAq2OYbERGQ5XXuXR22Bz2e_itps4jdjDLKQHPGhKsTGRq4wNBm_6iW-qDI2DCUiltYAX9phVEdRfJfNa_y6PJ0VB2fM7xPaJY/s3264/Liverpool%20Scene%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2076" data-original-width="3264" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiszvISOT-uScaruXzw7ci9nX3AYXcT4AqsyWBTUzRyBrG-5kgGmt8FMC_5gRwYcq9_YBGT5e8xDlrmz35B5a3zHPOYBUAq2OYbERGQ5XXuXR22Bz2e_itps4jdjDLKQHPGhKsTGRq4wNBm_6iW-qDI2DCUiltYAX9phVEdRfJfNa_y6PJ0VB2fM7xPaJY/w640-h408/Liverpool%20Scene%20(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></i></div><i><br /></i><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Peel<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Let’s be honest, in mid-1968 John Peel was more
famous than Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Liverpool Scene combined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’d recently been voted Britain’s top radio DJ (a
position he would hold for years to come), and his name was a sure-fire
drawcard at concerts and festivals throughout the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you might say he had a vested interest in
this particular event, being a powerful ally and mentor to both bands on the bill. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not only did Peel write the poem on the back
cover of the debut Tyrannosaurus Rex LP <b><i>My People Were Fair And Had Sky
In Their Hair... But Now They're Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows</i></b>, but
his familiar droll Liverpool accent can be heard intoning a children’s story on
the closing track “Frowning Atahuallpa (My Inca Love).” John sometimes narrated the story onstage during their live shows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As if that weren’t enough, his photograph even
appeared (albeit very small) on the lyric sheet sleeve insert. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He was less visible on the Liverpool Scene LP <b><i>Amazing
Adventures Of</i></b><i>,<b> </b></i>but his producer credit appeared in giant
type, as large as the name of the band itself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make no mistake, John Peel was already a hugely
important and influential figure in the UK alternative music scene at this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unfortunately, as T. Rex hit the big time around
1971 Peel was abruptly dropped from their inner circle, allegedly for some less-than-favourable
comments he made regarding the single “Get It On.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He'd been a loyal and vigorous supporter of
Marc Bolan dating back to his time with John’s Children and few had been
closer to Tyrannosaurus Rex than him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peel
took it badly and, always one to wear his heart on his sleeve, even grumbled
on air that he had been snubbed by his erstwhile friend. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3hXcJBZkJNuJOzRCqxcHJJK6NW7oJbNdLMn4XqOwmBguFaqTdrBrap6HItPdgoaExW4YMl6Glric-7VAxeh8kJ_SkNRqupxyx_UssQUeogwQLi_iLhD77HqXIaAKkYGaqvgINPD3uexX-jAwrXdgiEkc6EivjsmG5eIMWVfg_5wCNIAk9ERPXWb622NQ/s2560/john-peel-scaled.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1806" data-original-width="2560" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3hXcJBZkJNuJOzRCqxcHJJK6NW7oJbNdLMn4XqOwmBguFaqTdrBrap6HItPdgoaExW4YMl6Glric-7VAxeh8kJ_SkNRqupxyx_UssQUeogwQLi_iLhD77HqXIaAKkYGaqvgINPD3uexX-jAwrXdgiEkc6EivjsmG5eIMWVfg_5wCNIAk9ERPXWb622NQ/w400-h283/john-peel-scaled.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><b style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tyrannosaurus Rex</span></span></b></p></span></span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But such unpleasantness was still a few years
away as Peel shambled onstage in his baggy sweater, desert boots and
ill-fitting corduroy jeans to introduce Marc Bolan and Steve Peregrin Took to
the meagre Sheffield audience. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was very
early days for the duo, so Bolan was still using his cheap nylon string guitar
which he played sitting down, elfin-like, cross-legged on the stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Took, meanwhile, was perched high on a stool
with bongos gripped between his knees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From
there he towered over Marc, peering
out from under his mane of hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although I loved their somewhat wonky, ramshackle
psychedelic folk music and Bolan’s trademark wavering vocals, the major appeal
of Tyrannosaurus Rex for me in 1968 was undoubtedly their powerful image, and
specifically Marc’s look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was just 18 at
the time and developed a powerful fascination (let’s call it what it was - a
man crush) with the beautiful boy in the striped school blazer (worn
ironically, no doubt) with undoubtedly the best haircut I’d ever seen. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlgw3RfPbZRVgZiXBQAIqGzF6eBSYcKDk6S9QLao0Hwhj8lNmSzvfWR4p7wKA39ty1SgTY6eH9Zb5s03shvRCEolhiVJEVjc83mzMk22ik0X_upa8TvWoEWRrf8l5RjwA9pYDUDMSn4eTjr_4OAZ8YYVjo6PiIFaOE0ruXH1oZJ0HF2G2JXW8fnBcMMNQ/s718/8f80efeef60e5e82184e784cc926ebb4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlgw3RfPbZRVgZiXBQAIqGzF6eBSYcKDk6S9QLao0Hwhj8lNmSzvfWR4p7wKA39ty1SgTY6eH9Zb5s03shvRCEolhiVJEVjc83mzMk22ik0X_upa8TvWoEWRrf8l5RjwA9pYDUDMSn4eTjr_4OAZ8YYVjo6PiIFaOE0ruXH1oZJ0HF2G2JXW8fnBcMMNQ/w446-h640/8f80efeef60e5e82184e784cc926ebb4.jpg" width="446" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At that time, we viewed Marc’s hair as a logical
progression of Dylan’s 1966 halo of curls, via the Hendrix Afro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Few of us anticipated the truly gobsmacking
corkscrew apparition that would later confront us on the cover of the <b><i>T.
Rex</i></b> album cover (aka the "Brown Album," see below) in 1970.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> To this day, t</span>hat’s
still one of my absolute favourite LP sleeves, by any artist. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In 1968 that look seemed almost achievable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So before long I’d been to Kensington Market
to secure a pair of the blue velvet dungarees I’d seen Marc wearing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It goes without saying that I also made the
trip to Anello & Davide, the West End theatrical footwear specialists (where
the Fab Four had their Beatle boots handmade) to pick up a pair of the same
women’s sandals Bolan adopted around that time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for the hair, my tumble of curls was never <i>quite</i>
as magnificent as Marc’s but it was a fair approximation nonetheless and it got me
into all kinds of trouble, especially outside London where skinhead gangs lurked,
and the natives weren't always quite as enlightened as in the
hippest parts of the capital. </span><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In Sheffield the duo played their top 40 hit
single “Debora,” of course, along with the as-yet unreleased follow-up “One
Inch Rock.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also heard tracks from
the upcoming debut LP <b><i>My People Were Fair And Had Sky In Their Hair... </i></b>which
was still a month away from release.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
set list is missing, presumed lost in the mists of time, but you can bet your
life “Mustang Ford,” “Child Star,” “Hot Rod Mama” and “Afghan Woman” were
played.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFNx7I1Ka6yCxwQARypANZwAB6wS5ID8qmUHy7IVqdUyXQOygyWOp6WK_VAPUw0jpvDIR2XQndA5vrjEJN8XhQbOn1QndHv4UE0-2B7omTEZt_thODpsZnllKaMGEM6dg-3dBkVVtCn5dBlVkFTUx8t0RUQWVni_TMPf2L-53ew5CFjxPsi_WjVGWSXQ/s564/843d98da5d9fe7b8e887dd166b19879e.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="564" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFNx7I1Ka6yCxwQARypANZwAB6wS5ID8qmUHy7IVqdUyXQOygyWOp6WK_VAPUw0jpvDIR2XQndA5vrjEJN8XhQbOn1QndHv4UE0-2B7omTEZt_thODpsZnllKaMGEM6dg-3dBkVVtCn5dBlVkFTUx8t0RUQWVni_TMPf2L-53ew5CFjxPsi_WjVGWSXQ/w640-h424/843d98da5d9fe7b8e887dd166b19879e.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After it was all over, we waited patiently with a gaggle of die-hard fans at the front of the stage hoping to meet (and hopefully greet) Marc and
Steve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Always friendly and approachable
in his bumbling, Eeyore kind of way, John Peel eventually wandered out to assure
us that, in true Elvis style, the duo had already left the building to grab a
bite to eat before the second show of the evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bowed but undeterred, we drifted out into
the night with thoughts of a truly memorable concert playing on repeat in our
heads. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To see the embryonic T. Rex in such an intimate
setting as this, with Marc Bolan just setting out on what would be an
incredible journey of fame, fortune and, ultimately, tragedy was indeed a
moment to treasure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY9KXmwwgtEdRTlQNQLwLhs2beVuz2FTxjiTMkJm_ZRuwNLB8Bl88bBx2CYxrli9gDjIOWLQpFTctXrFgjhrDX0iBmQMGw_dlJdtk3VzJqoIPli-kBUbJXCHgbe37gPwUTJySHFL_QfqH-TG_mpFSFSrwVwKr9PUZmwSjg9GFbCEjGP35Vti1lq3Kw94U/s728/Dgr0yAYV4AAjq6f.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="535" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY9KXmwwgtEdRTlQNQLwLhs2beVuz2FTxjiTMkJm_ZRuwNLB8Bl88bBx2CYxrli9gDjIOWLQpFTctXrFgjhrDX0iBmQMGw_dlJdtk3VzJqoIPli-kBUbJXCHgbe37gPwUTJySHFL_QfqH-TG_mpFSFSrwVwKr9PUZmwSjg9GFbCEjGP35Vti1lq3Kw94U/w470-h640/Dgr0yAYV4AAjq6f.jpg" width="470" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But back in the late 60s big changes were afoot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In September 1969 Steve Took
was fired and replaced with Mickey Finn, who played his first gig with Marc on
November 21.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their debut album together <b><i>A
Beard Of Stars</i></b> appeared in March 1970.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finally, Bolan had a musical foil who looked as good as him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marc allegedly said this about Mickey “He can’t
play a note, but he looks FABULOUS.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
may well be an apocryphal story, but I'd really like to think it’s true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sounds like something Marc <i>would</i>
say, after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The band name was then abbreviated,
and the aforementioned <b><i>T. Rex</i></b> album was released in December
1970.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxyQ8MixpgYiJ-CSjTz5ciAODS4_Mc7mgfwwTPrkoVBeE8F9DHbW7Q6sjGAsFPMp-TKCoHYzogAVFsaZGcb6vuIsy3fbtyxf2K0nuIe_cZWQOpo3SVp_Hs-v5MEfwS3Nn6PX8O98iUdZ6piycZ3v67Thitra9AuvroBg8I6wUPHiIVGwQSHiJKk_OizvQ/s1200/TRex.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxyQ8MixpgYiJ-CSjTz5ciAODS4_Mc7mgfwwTPrkoVBeE8F9DHbW7Q6sjGAsFPMp-TKCoHYzogAVFsaZGcb6vuIsy3fbtyxf2K0nuIe_cZWQOpo3SVp_Hs-v5MEfwS3Nn6PX8O98iUdZ6piycZ3v67Thitra9AuvroBg8I6wUPHiIVGwQSHiJKk_OizvQ/w640-h640/TRex.jpeg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></p>Their first hit single “Ride A White Swan” - which didn’t
appear on UK pressings of the LP - signaled a sea change in the way the duo sounded and that was the moment they stepped out of the underground counterculture
and into the major league of mainstream pop, virtually inventing glam rock
along the way.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I hung around for <b><i>Electric Warrior</i></b>
(September 1971), the <i><b>Bolan Boogie</b></i> compilation (May 1972) and <b><i>The Slider</i></b> (July 1972) and even scored tickets for an early screening of the movie <b><i>Born To Boogie</i></b> at
Oscar’s Cinema in Brewer Street, Soho (December 1972) before the love affair
came to an end in 1973 with the album <b><i>Tanx.</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The glam scene really wasn’t for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T.Rex</span> was attracting a much younger audience, and I
just couldn't relate to the hysteria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
seven good-to-great albums and maybe a dozen excellent singles (not to mention Marc's wonderfully impenetrable book of poetry <i><b>The Warlock Of Love</b></i>), it was time to move
on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still treasure (and enjoy) those
early psychedelic folk records, mind you, and wouldn’t change a second of the
time I spent with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Part of the appeal of the early Tyrannosaurus
Rex records was the old-style label design of their record company Regal
Zonophone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It fitted perfectly with the
late 60s zeitgeist and matched the pop/psych image of virtually all the bands
signed to the label.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiupuAHsCYIE-IUm4e4H0OSxy0hzDa1mIW8X2h2pT8OCQtsO1KWVIije28v5V4cagz-PQ2ilXBvFctfCEBGI1bTIUn5cMCDHYiZDpY-hpWLCFJCsKWffSBrHGmmQ432daT4bRtG2ZSsiQL0V6JKd-vkDIeIzJ3xjYc3D29gCwCDqXWidXpmmCwyZ3dZ0cs/s2690/IMG_8259.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2690" data-original-width="2660" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiupuAHsCYIE-IUm4e4H0OSxy0hzDa1mIW8X2h2pT8OCQtsO1KWVIije28v5V4cagz-PQ2ilXBvFctfCEBGI1bTIUn5cMCDHYiZDpY-hpWLCFJCsKWffSBrHGmmQ432daT4bRtG2ZSsiQL0V6JKd-vkDIeIzJ3xjYc3D29gCwCDqXWidXpmmCwyZ3dZ0cs/w632-h640/IMG_8259.jpg" width="632" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The company was first created in 1932 following
a merger between the UK label Regal (founded in 1914) and US label Zonophone
(established 1899).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It originally issued
American recordings licenced from the Columbia, Victor and Okeh labels as well
as popular wartime British artists such as Gracie Fields and George Formby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone fell into disuse in the 50s towards the end of the 78rpm shellac era before
being revived (for the first time) around 1963 exclusively to handle vinyl releases
by Salvation Army artists the International Staff Band and The Joy Strings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple of 1964 singles by the Joy Strings even made
the lower reaches of the UK charts before the label was again put on
ice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In 1967 EMI brought Regal Zonophone back to life yet again, specifically
to issue records by artists signed to music publisher David Platz’s </span><span style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Essex Music / Straight
Ahead</span><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These included Joe Cocker, Procol Harum, the
Move and, of course, Tyrannosaurus Rex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Following a trio of 45s on the Decca offshoot label Deram by the Move and Procol Harum (including "A Whiter Shade Of Pale"), Regal Zonophone got underway in August 1967 with the single “Flowers in the Rain” by the Move (which was also the very first record played on BBC Radio 1). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The inaugural LP on the label was the self-titled debut by Procol Harum released in December
1967. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although Regal Zonophone limped on into 1975, all the big-selling Essex Music artists (including
the now-renamed T. Rex) had already left the label by late 1970 and moved over to the newly
created Fly records.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The debut single on
Fly was “Ride A White Swan” and the first album was <b><i>Looking On</i></b> by
The Move. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Within two years and only eight new LP releases
(plus a number of compilations and Toofas) it was all-change yet again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fly was gone, to be replaced by Cube records
who once again reissued virtually all the earlier material by the aforementioned Essex Music
artists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Meanwhile, in 1972 Marc launched his own vanity label T. Rex records (through EMI). Kicking off with the single "Telegram Sam" (January 1972) and <i><b>The Slider</b></i> LP (July 1972) the label ran for around a decade before winding down in 1982. </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Note: Although the Salvation Army RZ records
used the same label design as the later pop releases - and in fact the two did
briefly overlap around 1967 - they employed a different numbering system and are
not connected, other than both were part of the EMI parent company. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In 1977 Regal Zonophone was briefly revived yet again for
the one-off LP release <b><i>Thrillington</i></b> by Percy
"Thrills" Thrillington, an orchestral version of Paul
McCartney's <b><i>Ram</i></b> album. If you're Paul McCartney, I guess you
have the power to resurrect a defunct EMI record label for just one release!<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Below is a partial Regal Zonophone discography covering the years 1967 - 1971. </span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone
Discography 1967 - 1971<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhiiZ3qsp2jX7w3ZuN6AspVSprNA8rgfhmxKKrrRUXeEepFmW0YSN3uBOndPWyQczaTEIpUcce401A0knL6GSan-4JPDezMCgU5ea2oQmOlc8qSqclysSFYTNOZ0aCENX4-t9fX6x9alaPP0GV-ffycQdoiNVGPFKKbNPzkAMlM8DJcZgIO32rqQG3CJY/s2898/IMG_8240.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2898" data-original-width="2823" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhiiZ3qsp2jX7w3ZuN6AspVSprNA8rgfhmxKKrrRUXeEepFmW0YSN3uBOndPWyQczaTEIpUcce401A0knL6GSan-4JPDezMCgU5ea2oQmOlc8qSqclysSFYTNOZ0aCENX4-t9fX6x9alaPP0GV-ffycQdoiNVGPFKKbNPzkAMlM8DJcZgIO32rqQG3CJY/w624-h640/IMG_8240.jpg" width="624" /></a></b></div><b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Albums (LRZ = Mono, SLRZ = Stereo)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone S/LRZ 1001 - Procol Harum - <i>Procol
Harum</i> (December 1967)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone S/LRZ 1002 - The Move - <i>Move</i>
(April 1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone S/LRZ 1003 - Tyrannosaurus Rex
- </span><i><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">My People
Were Fair and Had Sky In Their Hair... But Now They're Content To Wear Stars On
Their Brows<b> </b></span></i><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(July 1968)</span><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone S/LRZ 1004 - Procol Harum – <i>Shine
On Brightly</i> (December 1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone S/LRZ 1005 - Tyrannosaurus Rex
- </span><i><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Prophets,
Seers & Sages, The Angels of the Ages<b> </b></span></i><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(October 1968)</span><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone S/LRZ 1006 - Joe Cocker – With
A Little Help From My Friends (May 1969)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone S/LRZ 1007 - Tyrannosaurus Rex -
<i>Unicorn</i> (May 1969)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1008 - Junior’s Eyes – <i>Battersea
Power Station</i> (July 1969)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1009 - Procol Harum - <i>A
Salty Dog</i> (July 1969)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1010 - Tucker Zimmerman - <i>Ten
Songs By Tucker Zimmerman</i> (November 1969)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1011 - Joe Cocker - <i>Joe
Cocker!</i> (November 1969)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1012 - The Move - <i>Shazam</i>
(March 1970)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1013 - Tyrannosaurus Rex -
<i>A Beard Of Stars</i> (March 1970)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1014 - Procol Harum - <i>Home</i>
(June 1970)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1015 - Toe Fat - <i>Toe
Fat Two</i> (November 1970)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1016 - Masters Apprentices
- <i>Masters Apprentices</i> (March 1971 released in Australia with the title <i>Choice
Cuts</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1017 - Idle Race - <i>Time
Is</i> (May 1971)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1018 - J.S.D. Band - <i>Country
Of The Blind</i> (November 1971)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1019 - Number Not Used
Officially (A Tyrannosaurus Rex bootleg titled <i>In The Halls Of Faeire</i> later
appeared with this catalogue number) <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1020 - Northwind - <i>Sister,
Brother, Lover</i> (July 1971)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1021 - Tear Gas - <i>Tear
Gas</i> (August 1971)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1022 - Masters Apprentices
- <i>A Toast To Panama Red</i> (December 1971)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1023 - </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Fela
Ransome-Kuti And The Africa '70 With Ginger Baker - <i>Live!</i> (1971)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone
SLRZ 1024 - Accolade - Accolade 2 (1971)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg04jJP7EDQvsDd_Y-SWAwQJ6UQ6VRM5k-C4qEslDsy21ObJWLIvFsNCJyyjoyyoP4Nb86I0xFsUMFZrptBklFtD8xLiBrTojqiGCM7vzn6Zcsq_0-pNbv6M-Fk45YfT4GdrDwfnafx2JY-qmxZNd7rn0VYH27Bf_-JXGmiG-AQ7R6m11hZ04tadQz7iTg/s711/TryannosaurusRexDeboraUK.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="711" height="622" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg04jJP7EDQvsDd_Y-SWAwQJ6UQ6VRM5k-C4qEslDsy21ObJWLIvFsNCJyyjoyyoP4Nb86I0xFsUMFZrptBklFtD8xLiBrTojqiGCM7vzn6Zcsq_0-pNbv6M-Fk45YfT4GdrDwfnafx2JY-qmxZNd7rn0VYH27Bf_-JXGmiG-AQ7R6m11hZ04tadQz7iTg/w640-h622/TryannosaurusRexDeboraUK.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 115%;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Singles 1967 - 1970<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3001 - The Move - <i>Flowers
In The Rain / (Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree</i> (August 1967)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3002 - Biddu - <i>Daughter
Of Love / Look Out Here I Come</i> (September 1967)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3003 - Procol Harum - <i>Homburg
/ Good Captain Clack</i> (September 1967)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3004 - The Tickle - <i>Subway
(Smokey Pokey World) / Good Evening</i> (November 1967)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3005 - The Move - <i>Fire
Brigade / Walk Upon the Water</i> (January 1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3006 - Joe Cocker - <i>Marjorine
/ The New Age of The Lily</i> (March 1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3007 - Procol Harum - <i>Quite
Rightly So / In the Wee Small Hours of Sixpence</i> (March 1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3008 - Tyrannosaurus Rex - <i>Debora
/ Child Star</i> (April 1968. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Promo
copies show the A-side title as “Deborah”)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3009 - Junior’s Eyes – <i>Mr.
Golden Trumpet Player / Black Snake</i> (June 1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone TRZ 2001 – The Move – <i>Something
Else From The Move</i> (5 track EP - June 1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3010 - Johnny Nash - <i>Hold
Me Tight / Let’s Move and Groove Together</i> (July 1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3011 - Tyrannosaurus Rex - <i>One
Inch Rock / Salamanda Palaganda</i> (August 1968) <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3012 - The Move - <i>Wild
Tiger Woman / Omnibus</i> (August 1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3013 - Joe Cocker - <i>With
A Little Help From My Friends / Something’s Coming On</i> (September 1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3014 - Richard Henry - <i>Oh
Girl / Lay Your Head On My Shoulder</i> (November 1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3015 - The Move - <i>Blackberry
Way / Something</i> (November 1968)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3016 - Tyrannosaurus Rex - <i>Pewter
Suiter / War Lord Of The Royal Crocodiles</i> (January 1969)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3017 - Green Bean - <i>The
Garden’s Lovely / Sittin’ In The Sunshine</i> (Unreleased)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3018 - Junior’s Eyes - <i>Circus
Days / Woman Love</i> (April 1969)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3019 - Procol Harum - <i>A
Salty Dog / Long Gone Geek</i> (May 1969)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3020 - Tucker Zimmerman - <i>The
Red Wind / Moondog</i> (July 1969)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3021 - The Move - <i>Curly /
This Time Tomorrow</i> (July 1969)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3022 - Tyrannosaurus Rex - <i>King
Of The Rumbling Spires / Do You Remember</i> (July 1969)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3023 - Junior’s Eyes - <i>Star
Child / Sink Or Swim</i> (August 1969)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3024 - Joe Cocker - <i>Delta
Lady / She’s So Good To Me</i> (September 1969)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3025 - Tyrannosaurus Rex - <a name="_Hlk158698511"><i>By The Light Of The Magical Moon </i></a><i>/ Find A
Little Wood</i> (January 1970)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3026 - The Move - <i>Brontosaurus
/ Lightnin’ Never Strikes Twice</i> (March 1970) </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3027 - Joe Cocker with Leon
Russell & the Shelter People - <i>The Letter / Space Captain</i> (June
1970)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regal Zonophone RZ 3028 - Reign - <i>Line Of
Least Resistance / Natural Lovin’ Man</i> (October 1970)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJuziJavjsqrGgR8FP0vikUmzfQKe0vVcbOUhxezpSVtSUx4M8oDdT13Z_1qkGWsZSNdvUW49jUskOiej9vRsOWdxwLo7ko1WqnjE2N5ZNbaQmlODmaTlCHO5jj-wuXOG-QGFCPrmj4KJsRJuW9IRsetAruJ7yzd7iCpV2UkD5qxFcTyQ5DRcEQIMINq0/s1000/sunbury-trex-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="1000" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJuziJavjsqrGgR8FP0vikUmzfQKe0vVcbOUhxezpSVtSUx4M8oDdT13Z_1qkGWsZSNdvUW49jUskOiej9vRsOWdxwLo7ko1WqnjE2N5ZNbaQmlODmaTlCHO5jj-wuXOG-QGFCPrmj4KJsRJuW9IRsetAruJ7yzd7iCpV2UkD5qxFcTyQ5DRcEQIMINq0/w640-h324/sunbury-trex-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p>Stuart Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05642732113240014875noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-13898318219863764992024-01-30T23:37:00.000-08:002024-03-11T15:44:15.134-07:00Loudon Wainwright III - Does Humour Belong In Music?<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGZoGtEGNXpfCJbM6GQMQHFzfQYcx5kwSIMpGaOKGIkCPAQnq-XT4pzLY2fy4sEBt1IK-hFEHuTqfYqbrFWjKt28ecGMCdT5WjwQLqc2HjFp8jk9eiGst8c6VAkChIdCQp5BtjConWTzDKEzdNTGt75GWiXub4wFI63JntbzWJqd7BgfxyFmVKjITHYYQ/s1919/LWIII%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1567" data-original-width="1919" height="522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGZoGtEGNXpfCJbM6GQMQHFzfQYcx5kwSIMpGaOKGIkCPAQnq-XT4pzLY2fy4sEBt1IK-hFEHuTqfYqbrFWjKt28ecGMCdT5WjwQLqc2HjFp8jk9eiGst8c6VAkChIdCQp5BtjConWTzDKEzdNTGt75GWiXub4wFI63JntbzWJqd7BgfxyFmVKjITHYYQ/w640-h522/LWIII%20copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>by Stuart Penney</b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The title of this piece
comes to you courtesy of Frank Zappa who released a live album of that name in
1986.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Comedy in pop / rock is a
notoriously difficult trick to pull off and few are able to marry the two
successfully. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s one thing to write
brilliant, comedic lyrics, but quite
another to match them with high quality original songs ("Weird Al" Yankovic, I'm looking at you).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In my experience there are just
a handful of artists who have consistently found the sweet spot between dark,
caustic humour and great songwriting / musicianship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heading the list every time is Zappa, of course, closely
followed by Randy Newman at his 70s/80s peak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then, we
have Loudon Wainwright III.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He may be a
tad less celebrated than the other two, but in the pantheon of tragicomic
songwriters LWIII (as we shall call him) is right up there with those giants of
disdain and acerbity. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I’ve been infatuated with Wainwright and his music for more than half a century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His songs have regularly made me laugh and cry (mostly laugh,
now I think about it) and every one of his 30-odd albums is uniformly excellent,
often peppered with flashes of genius.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He’s an engaging and hugely
entertaining live performer too, and while it sounds an unlikely comparison, I often
think of him as Frank Zappa with an acoustic guitar (but with a much friendlier
disposition and the smut level dialled way down).</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But<span style="font-family: inherit;"> how did this fascination with LWIII begin?</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Come with me now as we travel back to the
early 70s.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">After Bob Dylan withdrew
from public life following his mysterious 1966 motorcycle accident, it sparked
all kinds of crazy rumours and crackpot conspiracy theories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One such tale claimed Bob had died and been
replaced with a lookalike. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though Dylan
soon returned to the recording studio he kept a much lower profile than before. His voice was different and, apart from the occasional live appearance (eg Isle
of Wight Festival in 1969), he would not tour again until 1974.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was more than enough solid “evidence”
for some that the “old Bob” was gone forever. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">So, in a move which, at this
distance, can only be described as bizarre, if not a little desperate, the US
music industry and the rock press began the search for someone to fill the void.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hunt was on for what they insisted on
calling the “New Bob Dylan.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Presumably that meant they were looking for a candidate who played acoustic guitar, wore a harmonica rack
around their neck and delivered self-penned deep and meaningful songs in a
wheezy, Dylanesque voice. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Names pulled from the Woody
Guthrie-style denim fisherman’s cap included (but were not limited to) Elliott
Murphy, John Prine, Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Cockburn, Tim Buckley, Steve
Forbert and even Bruce Springsteen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
of all those worthy troubadours there was only one man who had the wit, wisdom and self-awareness
to write a song about the entire sorry business and that was Loudon Wainwright
III.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s a lyric extract from “</span><span style="line-height: 150%;">Talking New Bob Dylan”<b> </b></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">which
appeared on his 1992 album <b><i>History</i></b>:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Out of
commission, had a motorcycle wreck<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Holed
up in Woodstock, with a broken neck<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The
labels were signin' up guys with guitars, <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Out to
make millions, lookin' for stars<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Well,
I figured it was time to make my move<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Songs from the Westchester County Delta country<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Yeah,
I got a deal , and so did John Prine, Steve Forbert and Springsteen, all in a
line<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">They
were lookin' for you, signin' up others<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">We
were "new Bob Dylans" your dumb-ass kid brothers<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Well,
we still get together every week at Bruce's house<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Why, he's got quite a spread, I’ll tell ya, it's a twelve-step program<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I first encountered LWIII in
1971 around the time of his second album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The songs on <b><i>Album II</i></b> - especially “Motel Blues,” “Saw
Your Name In The Paper” and “Plane; Too” - were funny and sardonic in equal measure and they really resonated with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Best
of all was the tender “Be Careful There’s A Baby In The House.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost 50 years later I made sure this beautifully
observed song took pride of place in a Spotify playlist marking the birth of our first
grandchild.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyNP0lCxO9LJNFDLLqfGOHsxl3Kwm2cLRxo5MLmFWBHrFT-PA2x6XXRNckc9pql-YzwYxOHYnOlMK5ztBN8x_7pzuXzpY9yCJjrzDRrVO38uGYbCs-ieB_ynNfDQ8PfV_Nmgdel7SAIHzgmhceeUaN97sxPloHLCCUEZ5h3mxY6KLAvUM7PnKuWmi23ak/s2668/IMG_8164.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2668" data-original-width="2623" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyNP0lCxO9LJNFDLLqfGOHsxl3Kwm2cLRxo5MLmFWBHrFT-PA2x6XXRNckc9pql-YzwYxOHYnOlMK5ztBN8x_7pzuXzpY9yCJjrzDRrVO38uGYbCs-ieB_ynNfDQ8PfV_Nmgdel7SAIHzgmhceeUaN97sxPloHLCCUEZ5h3mxY6KLAvUM7PnKuWmi23ak/w394-h400/IMG_8164.jpg" width="394" /></a></span></span></div><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></p>Then there were the succinct yet jocular album titles themselves. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">His 1970 debut </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Loudon
Wainwright</i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i>III</i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> was followed by </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Album II </i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">and,
as sure as night follows day, we saw </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Album III </i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">in 1972.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Led Zeppelin were using a similar pithy numbering
technique with their LP titles at the same time, but Loudon had a distinct
advantage over Jimmy Page and co – that surfeit of Roman numerals actually formed
part of his name.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">Ed. Note: In what must have been a marketing man's fever dream LWIII and Led Zeppelin actually
appeared side by side as the opening tracks on the 1972 UK sampler LP <b>The New Age
Of Atlantic</b> (Atlantic K20024).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Zeppelin’s “Hey</span></i><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;">,
Hey, What Can I Do” was followed by Loudon’s “Motel Blues.”</span></i><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="color: black; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdqWuAOd2OAk8THRPN9oAugw4TFk64BqKyKbnDWt042NRSE_vGI3HYjay6kJdo7ob0R51rfzqokoWHevHL17XLw-TWYLUWNg_e61ANx85HwMarmZKsLNhLIt_VJTC6Suq79SUAoNompF6Q72bOMQJRLdUUAuOtDahorLSO93POkgPuldGXjGYEqezCkk/s2703/IMG_8171.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2703" data-original-width="2656" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdqWuAOd2OAk8THRPN9oAugw4TFk64BqKyKbnDWt042NRSE_vGI3HYjay6kJdo7ob0R51rfzqokoWHevHL17XLw-TWYLUWNg_e61ANx85HwMarmZKsLNhLIt_VJTC6Suq79SUAoNompF6Q72bOMQJRLdUUAuOtDahorLSO93POkgPuldGXjGYEqezCkk/w393-h400/IMG_8171.jpg" width="393" /></a></i></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>Except possibly on his
somewhat earnest debut album, Wainwright didn’t really sound much like Dylan
and all comparisons would evaporate in later years as his songwriting matured and
his voice became sweeter and more melodic.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit;">He didn’t look like Bob either, being several inches taller and built
like an American footballer.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit;">But he had a
similar unkempt, raggamuffin image and his songs were quirky and confessional.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit;">Did I mention many of them were also very funny? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In 1973 he scored his first
and only hit single with “Dead Skunk,” a banjo and fiddle-driven country flavoured track
lifted from <b><i>Album III</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
eulogy to roadkill is probably still his biggest and best-known song to this
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Milestone or millstone, f</span>or better or worse, it’s his very
own “Stairway to Heaven,” if you will:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Take a
whiff on me, that ain't no rose<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Roll
up your window and hold your nose<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">You
got your dead skunk in the middle of the road<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Stinkin' to high heaven<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBWlw1Tt_Z1YGGK7DbSynK4TZLQtIZ9-po633kMlTaVgHTU4iU7NCJX6nBJoWmSZ7VWCiJ-GGLN4_OKoaq4TTXjXxT6hnLDL9xaRxym1Dx9tl3uQwChYfc1a_fFYz5qAqlTFdDHDa6nAUQqcOHu-jdwhli7GscJst1Bb7RP4-kFsdYGkLb54DB8eO2nU/s800/loudon-wainwright-iii-dead-skunk-cbs-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBWlw1Tt_Z1YGGK7DbSynK4TZLQtIZ9-po633kMlTaVgHTU4iU7NCJX6nBJoWmSZ7VWCiJ-GGLN4_OKoaq4TTXjXxT6hnLDL9xaRxym1Dx9tl3uQwChYfc1a_fFYz5qAqlTFdDHDa6nAUQqcOHu-jdwhli7GscJst1Bb7RP4-kFsdYGkLb54DB8eO2nU/w400-h400/loudon-wainwright-iii-dead-skunk-cbs-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></i></div><i><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i><p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I suspect the first line quoted above sailed right over most AM radio
listeners’ heads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Used by LWIII to imply
“smell,” “Take a whiff on me” was a clever pun borrowed from the title of a much-covered
American folk song of that name referencing cocaine use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first recorded version from 1930 was titled "Cocaine Habit Blues" by the Memphis Jug Band. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the UK there was a 1961 sanitised version
by Lonnie Donegan titled “Have A Drink On Me.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">As the years went by, he continued to release high quality albums on a regular
basis (with the occasional foray into TV or movie acting - eg <b><i>M*A*S*H</i></b><i>)</i>.<i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Times and tastes may have changed but I
always found time for the latest LWIII release: <b><i>Attempted Mustache</i></b>
(1973), <b><i>T-Shirt</i></b> (1976), <b><i>I’m Alright</i></b> (1985), <b><i>History</i></b>
(1992), <b><i>Recovery</i></b> (2008, in which he re-visited some of those
early songs) and the rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike many
artists of his era, his songwriting seemed to improve with age. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I had never seen him play live, but that changed in the mid-90s when
he toured Australia on the back of the album <b><i>Grown Man </i></b>(1995).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In the interim m</span>uch had happened in the Wainwright world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Together with his first
wife, the wonderful and sadly missed Kate McGarrigle (1946 – 2010), Loudon was
now part of an impressive musical dynasty with their offspring Rufus Wainwright
(b.1973) and Martha Wainwright (b.1976).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1EXwXDYYjBJFZf62akkt2L-eX1lCRawhRSsDea3iJ7-zRSnWncEfuaQB3KMQMWxQKvnT5rgWGcoSHLjycBg7v8Wfur1mFGCZxRZ0RLoVtV-Ho-Sn9Ho2bjbRKmdF7J70FEtDLDil6u2AaKpj_tzxk-_GktIRzL_pSIadYXgsFq6D6k5cmdVj-B7ZMt8/s2665/IMG_8167.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2665" data-original-width="2635" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1EXwXDYYjBJFZf62akkt2L-eX1lCRawhRSsDea3iJ7-zRSnWncEfuaQB3KMQMWxQKvnT5rgWGcoSHLjycBg7v8Wfur1mFGCZxRZ0RLoVtV-Ho-Sn9Ho2bjbRKmdF7J70FEtDLDil6u2AaKpj_tzxk-_GktIRzL_pSIadYXgsFq6D6k5cmdVj-B7ZMt8/w395-h400/IMG_8167.jpg" width="395" /></a></span></span></div><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">His fractious relationship with his children proved a rich source of
inspiration for songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These included
“Hitting You” (1992), “Rufus Is A Tit Man” (1975), “Pretty Little Martha”
(1978), “Five Years Old” (1983), “Your Mother And I” (1986) and much to
Martha’s chagrin when she discovered it was written about her, “I’d Rather Be
Lonely” (1992). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In retaliation the kids
wrote their own Loudon-inspired songs, notably Martha’s “Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole”
(2005) and “Dinner At Eight” by Rufus (2003).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Over time LWIII’s albums had grown from sparce, solo recordings into
extravagant full band affairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was
all very well, and it suited the material he was writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for the pure, undiluted Loudon experience,
just one man and his acoustic guitar will always be the only way to
go. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this was how I saw him perform
at the intimate Fly By Night club in Fremantle, Western Australia.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Basically,
a converted Nissen hut, the (sadly now defunct) Fly By Night was laid out
a little like Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in London (albeit, with a capacity of
500, twice the size) with tables up the front and standing room only at the
back, so early arrival ensured a prime spot at a table within touching
distance of the stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Over the two-hour set we saw a textbook LWIII performance: the idiosyncratic face-pulling and bizarre tongue-waggling, the hail-fellow-well-met
anecdotes, the perfectly timed ad libs and continuous banter with the crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, of course, we got all those wonderful
songs, many of them chucklesome, others tender to the point of heartbreaking: (“Dead
Skunk,” “Road Ode,” “Your Mother And I,” “The Swimming Song,” “Men,” “April
Fool’s Day Morn” etc).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His voice was
stronger and more flexible than I remembered and his guitar playing (still
with that ubiquitous Martin D-28), while fairly rudimentary, suited the material
perfectly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAX5TNBrGPEBw8bp5NVOkvcPMwVVMheYCFIxHs_YixUK3PMsKJnL4QGmcih-E4OG5b975WR5MSQQLI_qd-201KeUCVidgl6DzkgaL9BXm9_f1bot_HWW7Z4fYxD4-JTdonmYRxFPqwj52LpmvnhItq2QBGZN_k8tBSja9x1biveoor9epD94ln0Cq9qwE/s1180/Loudon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="1180" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAX5TNBrGPEBw8bp5NVOkvcPMwVVMheYCFIxHs_YixUK3PMsKJnL4QGmcih-E4OG5b975WR5MSQQLI_qd-201KeUCVidgl6DzkgaL9BXm9_f1bot_HWW7Z4fYxD4-JTdonmYRxFPqwj52LpmvnhItq2QBGZN_k8tBSja9x1biveoor9epD94ln0Cq9qwE/w640-h318/Loudon.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">He was
still cracking jokes and joshing around when he came back out after the encore
to mingle with the fans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the
audience had already drifted away, leaving just a handful of die-hards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Ah, my people!” he boomed with mock
braggadocio as they offered up items to be autographed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wisecracking and congeniality continued to the very end. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Before leaving I asked him
to sign my treasured original vinyl copy of <b><i>Album II</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the same one I’d had since first
discovering his music in 1971.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the
record I owned back when he was still in the race to find the “New Bob Dylan.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that, my friends, was quite literally a
lifetime ago. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">As for the somewhat rhetorical title of this essay. As long as the high-quality music in question includes a healthy dose of s</span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #040c28;">atire, irony, pathos
and sarcasm (not necessarily all in the same song), </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">the answer must surely be an emphatic "yes</span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #040c28;">."</span></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6LypBHc41Jp0PxIXOoZlvs?si=54304eaf92d24f4d" target="_blank">A Spotify Playlist To Explore</a></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0IknRoUldprOshqG6fbyzIgukQeW_B-VRd5CyaBjCOgWetSRBEzBNfvVXSXTWMtdSuP5EUPxzpiZl3U344-xke9sOrqwze53Pg3MyyFFoGA4ScZmytQNhHsc6AcaXWPGFIoln4aBaLdZDJta5nIKjXGP-S1mXdIWgZXgh6Ym6W-NBDcriOTBeTC8j-x4/s3632/IMG_8165.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2572" data-original-width="3632" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0IknRoUldprOshqG6fbyzIgukQeW_B-VRd5CyaBjCOgWetSRBEzBNfvVXSXTWMtdSuP5EUPxzpiZl3U344-xke9sOrqwze53Pg3MyyFFoGA4ScZmytQNhHsc6AcaXWPGFIoln4aBaLdZDJta5nIKjXGP-S1mXdIWgZXgh6Ym6W-NBDcriOTBeTC8j-x4/w640-h454/IMG_8165.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span><p></p><br /><p></p>Stuart Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05642732113240014875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-31303880348374217012024-01-15T02:36:00.000-08:002024-03-18T18:53:22.669-07:00The Ultimate Nick Drake Rarity?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33ZUEw1qZoHnnBygxVWVODFk9oVVcwaPLxHN_Np1H6Nsd-h1_GJlbzVDQmdJQrGUZQa3pM718RYu9lzO-QkVoCWMa9mqdT7_7sCpS6J_Hmsmg0_DuFul4YcZ5UQbIqlYfpJ_IllHEfwYooh_CVKCVdD76cvcgWubOTkx33zlGCigPINiea1fcJTbqCqU/s2170/1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1870" data-original-width="2170" height="552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33ZUEw1qZoHnnBygxVWVODFk9oVVcwaPLxHN_Np1H6Nsd-h1_GJlbzVDQmdJQrGUZQa3pM718RYu9lzO-QkVoCWMa9mqdT7_7sCpS6J_Hmsmg0_DuFul4YcZ5UQbIqlYfpJ_IllHEfwYooh_CVKCVdD76cvcgWubOTkx33zlGCigPINiea1fcJTbqCqU/w640-h552/1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: large;">How did an
impossibly rare Nick Drake vinyl LP turn up in a tiny Australian outback
town? <i>Stuart Penney</i> tells the story.</span></span></b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">Nick
Drake’s records have always been somewhat elusive. In fact, until the
digital age arrived, and music became freely available to all, his vinyl LPs
were invariably hard to find and generally quite expensive, too, even as
reissues. Why was this? Let’s put it down to that old cliché supply
and demand. Except, unfortunately for Nick the demand didn't arrive while
he was around to enjoy it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%;">In July 1969 his debut <b><i>Five Leaves Left</i></b> was released
to modest interest from the folk music community, but widespread indifference
from the general record buying public. Initial sales of that LP can only
be described as woeful. I’ve heard it said that just 400 copies of the first
pressing of <b><i>FLL</i></b> were sold in the weeks after
release. That number sounds a little low even for the most willfully
obscure niche artist and </span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #040c28; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I’d guess a couple of thousand copies is probably closer to the mark,
certainly during Nick’s lifetime. B</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%;">ut
then, on the other hand, that low figure could explain the crazy prices we see
today, with pink label original copies regularly changing hands for </span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #040c28; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">£1,000 or more online.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">Poor sales
notwithstanding, <b><i>Five Leaves Left </i></b>had one important
thing in its favour: it was on the Island label. Since diversifying from
Jamaican music and soul into white boy prog, psych, blues and folk around 1967,
it’s probably fair to say Island had released barely a bad album. Just about
everything on Chris Blackwell’s label was worthy of investigation back then and
Nick’s debut surely gained a following wind from groundbreaking releases by his
Island stable mates John Martyn, Traffic, Jethro Tull, Free, Cat Stevens and
the rest, even if it didn’t necessarily translate into sales. If any UK
record company could lay claim to the handle “trademark of quality” at that
time, surely it was Island.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">Sales wise,
Drake’s final two records <b><i>Bryter Layter</i></b> (1971)
and <b><i>Pink Moon</i></b> (1972) fared little better than his first
and a reluctance to play live certainly didn’t help matters. To his
credit Blackwell refused to delete the albums despite the poor sales.
Then, following Nick’s death in 1974, the Island boss vowed that the three LPs
would remain on catalogue as long as he had a say in the matter.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">All of
which brings us to my own copy of <b><i>Five Leaves Left</i></b>.
Although I never owned a first pressing of the LP in 1969, I knew people who
did, and we fell in love with Nick’s hypnotic songs, unique guitar style and
his voice like warm molasses. Robert Kirby’s haunting string arrangements
on four tracks were the icing on a delicious cake.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Naturally,
as fully paid-up wannabe “heads” my pals and I were also acutely aware of the
nudge-nudge nature of the album title. It was a reference to the
insert found towards the end of each packet of Rizla cigarette rolling papers,
warning users they had “only five leaves left.” Despite being
scarcely able to stump up enough cash for a ten-bob deal between us, this
surreptitious reefer reference made us feel like we were somehow part of Nick’s
impossibly hip gang.</span><o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMKMDsWIAIWcg79lFwcTVzu_K-t_4BFFKAv1Gp4o3GFFRa2HHsihLmJ2DYrvTZiRvyJJdjCHp8sV0evt8ubtncxNzOdFwvVVtMNWgXnrwOBRUkI7Pds1vzfi1ZbCEKFTzF97BoeGFHB9GK41vmNpi33htnCq_akcicqWD41PMKeDs6ZXtXrDJtfa3favA/s440/41cGX2YdXmL._AC_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="440" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMKMDsWIAIWcg79lFwcTVzu_K-t_4BFFKAv1Gp4o3GFFRa2HHsihLmJ2DYrvTZiRvyJJdjCHp8sV0evt8ubtncxNzOdFwvVVtMNWgXnrwOBRUkI7Pds1vzfi1ZbCEKFTzF97BoeGFHB9GK41vmNpi33htnCq_akcicqWD41PMKeDs6ZXtXrDJtfa3favA/s320/41cGX2YdXmL._AC_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3BJhlTEgQt6scvzFlu8G1lX4g9vIJh1TfXsDbjSS1aXtglOb2vWwhrP-LN4RV1ErnGMWIsx1yk8RTuEMbJQwEPZwJpgpUJ0Hqzx_bxpxLRLpZ4LxH3V0gztTzxHOfbcDBJIjON1iEmt6L5VofbLzX5txMnXu9Jt8oEFb8ZyV7fATZ6gkYECX2cRQhms/s600/Rizla.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="600" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3BJhlTEgQt6scvzFlu8G1lX4g9vIJh1TfXsDbjSS1aXtglOb2vWwhrP-LN4RV1ErnGMWIsx1yk8RTuEMbJQwEPZwJpgpUJ0Hqzx_bxpxLRLpZ4LxH3V0gztTzxHOfbcDBJIjON1iEmt6L5VofbLzX5txMnXu9Jt8oEFb8ZyV7fATZ6gkYECX2cRQhms/s320/Rizla.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">I watched
over the years as those early, original Nick Drake vinyl LPs rocketed in value, even
after the CDs became available. It seemed that a combination of the
always collectible Island label and the desire to own an original piece of
Nick’s legend had driven prices into the stratosphere. How we wished we’d
had the foresight (or, indeed, the wherewithal) to buy a dozen copies in 1969.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">By the
mid-80s I was living in Western Australia and had started my own second-hand
record store, stocked with thousands of LPs I brought over from London.
As luck would have it, 1985 was the perfect time to open such an enterprise in
Australia. Collectable records were starting to become big business in
Britain, with <b><i>Record Collector</i></b> magazine taking its
first faltering steps and record fairs popping up everywhere. But the
boom had yet to take off down under, especially in the sleepy west coast city
of Perth. So, for a few years I had the rare vinyl field almost to myself,
especially as so many people started to jettison their LPs in favour
of the newfangled CD format.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">One day I
received a call asking if I would be interested in buying a large record
collection. The LPs were located about a two-hour drive east of Perth in
a small country town with a population of (according to Wikipedia) just
725. It transpired that following a divorce, the owner had moved to the
east coast a decade earlier, locking up the house and its contents. Now
he had decided it was time to sell up.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">I was given
the keys by his ex-wife and drove out to take a look. The scene which
greeted me was like something from a Stephen King movie. The electricity
was disconnected, so the house was dark and gloomy, with everything covered in
a decade’s worth of dust and cobwebs.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">The
furniture was old and threadbare and there were torn and dirty bedsheets
covering the windows as makeshift curtains. And there, taking up all
available floor space in every room (bathroom, toilet and an outbuilding
included) were thousands upon thousands of records. When I counted them
later it turned out there were around 8,000 LPs and almost as many
singles. It took three trips with two cars and a box trailer to take them
all back to Perth over a couple of weekends (see below). It was the kind of score
every record dealer dreams of.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">I won’t
bore you with too many details of the collection, but you name it, and it was
probably there: all the early UK Elvis LPs on HMV, both unfeasibly rare Blossom
Toes albums and clean original copies of every conceivable 60s collectible
album, including items by the Artwoods, Davy Graham, the Zombies and countless
more besides. And there, almost unnoticed amid the tsunami of rare and
desirable items was a UK copy of <b><i>Five Leaves Left</i></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">Apart from
a few dozen choice items which I still have, I sold most of the collection over
the years. But I kept the Nick Drake LP simply because it wasn’t in the
best of condition. For a start the sleeve was in two halves, so I assumed
it was damaged and therefore unsaleable. That was not the case, but
thankfully I didn’t know any better at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It proved
to be a good move because since then it’s been identified as an advance promo
copy of <b><i>Five Leaves Left</i></b> sent out to
reviewers and the like with the sleeve (front and back) in two separate pieces,
or “slicks,” which are slightly taller than normal. Other differences
include the Island box logo and catalogue number on the back cover. This
appears in black on all regular released copies but is printed in green ink
here and is the only known Island release to use this colour typeface.</span><o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-line-height-alt: 13.8pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZvkI2t5TO5UnXhawodYCP4xuolcSEDGYsT12wk9RsiwsNUsUwE3UzKbahEBAcetob41NcMDmpvwEqpZVXZWjp9lv5rOp5J81zhMqifiPO6DMEAqwxpRjMRykOqa5gJKPO-b4DrN1D1UBnpzzEXgIt55UuGWV4GtLYT1bhs_mZKzQFEwaF7jUpeO-pYw/s2881/IMG_8075.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2881" data-original-width="2810" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZvkI2t5TO5UnXhawodYCP4xuolcSEDGYsT12wk9RsiwsNUsUwE3UzKbahEBAcetob41NcMDmpvwEqpZVXZWjp9lv5rOp5J81zhMqifiPO6DMEAqwxpRjMRykOqa5gJKPO-b4DrN1D1UBnpzzEXgIt55UuGWV4GtLYT1bhs_mZKzQFEwaF7jUpeO-pYw/w390-h400/IMG_8075.jpg" width="390" /></a></div><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p><span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%;">The matrix
number in the runout grooves is also the lowest one ever seen for this release:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%;">Side One:
ILPS 9105 A//2 111. Side Two: ILPS 9105 B//2 113</span></b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">On side one
the tracks “Day Is Done” and “Way To Blue” are reversed on the label and
sleeve. The album actually plays “Way to Blue” followed by “Day is
Done.” On subsequent pressings this error was corrected on the label, if
not the sleeve.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12pt;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On my copy
the pink Island label has faded almost to white. Whether it was
always like this or has faded due to exposure to the sun, I can’t say.</span><o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPPRadCQ-c5emVUuNVGKPP8Xosell-vs-QTF6EBHMMSXB6oesEV3hQbg5LCKTFLi8k4n9XsxPfY12K6YSNiwSrl7BNBMlKKCSAF0W62U8xJJqlJxvRjnaG0VW3sgzyZpET6OGaP1jSlU6MDIm8aTk2kG95UxiDfUrBKjL1EWHJRpYfUI9jaDjoHQoSF38/s2680/IMG_8076.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2680" data-original-width="2607" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPPRadCQ-c5emVUuNVGKPP8Xosell-vs-QTF6EBHMMSXB6oesEV3hQbg5LCKTFLi8k4n9XsxPfY12K6YSNiwSrl7BNBMlKKCSAF0W62U8xJJqlJxvRjnaG0VW3sgzyZpET6OGaP1jSlU6MDIm8aTk2kG95UxiDfUrBKjL1EWHJRpYfUI9jaDjoHQoSF38/w389-h400/IMG_8076.jpg" width="389" /></a></div><span><p class="MsoPlainText" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 150%;">So, what I initially
thought was a damaged and virtually worthless item was in fact correct and
incredibly rare. I’ve no idea how many were made like this, but I’ve only
ever seen a handful for sale online, so I’d estimate no more than 50 copies were
produced.</span><o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNKgRHJUo9xlxp8TqXptok6zmx6GNLSH6hogPdEJPfl7ifrT314bxdCizg_hN01v1n7t26TmScG0SGwPtOc_qDi9KnNeAc7WEa0llKDdcWITGasGInZvSQ_D286sYL4DPEd6k3hbb2ppq6biuks0CCxYuvpdmVY8_p1Zm8INch4wa8Fyp9KrywRfEMkhM/s1936/IMG_8077.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1751" data-original-width="1936" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNKgRHJUo9xlxp8TqXptok6zmx6GNLSH6hogPdEJPfl7ifrT314bxdCizg_hN01v1n7t26TmScG0SGwPtOc_qDi9KnNeAc7WEa0llKDdcWITGasGInZvSQ_D286sYL4DPEd6k3hbb2ppq6biuks0CCxYuvpdmVY8_p1Zm8INch4wa8Fyp9KrywRfEMkhM/w400-h361/IMG_8077.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">As I write, only one copy
of this item is currently for sale on Discogs with an eye-watering asking price of </span><span style="color: #040c28; line-height: 150%;">£6,000. That figure may seem crazy and who knows if it
will even sell at that price. But such is the collectability of Nick
Drake and the pink Island label today I'm sure it will find a good home
eventually.</span></span><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #040c28; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUctR11h7kXZH4giDoFaRFE9HVsinwzGvH1N-WKS7QjPCCLqAbjPy2Ma6cdI5xeoIanTW17i07eWuMo1-1NGpDU1TAcKWPtfN3mY2jM45VbqFYQp6O9XhOLvTjCnQDXVFSeTzWEdofj2_Q1xbQowVUUjTFUVBAvP93vu-_jbVXyti4YUZBq0AKJMeA34/s2798/IMG_8078.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2798" data-original-width="2729" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUctR11h7kXZH4giDoFaRFE9HVsinwzGvH1N-WKS7QjPCCLqAbjPy2Ma6cdI5xeoIanTW17i07eWuMo1-1NGpDU1TAcKWPtfN3mY2jM45VbqFYQp6O9XhOLvTjCnQDXVFSeTzWEdofj2_Q1xbQowVUUjTFUVBAvP93vu-_jbVXyti4YUZBq0AKJMeA34/w390-h400/IMG_8078.jpg" width="390" /></a></div><span style="color: #040c28;"><p class="MsoPlainText" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #040c28; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Would I part with my
copy? Well, I do also have back-ups in the form of the CD and an early
70s vinyl pressing on the Island pink rim palm tree label (even that is a £150 item in
nice condition), so yes, I probably could live without the original. Maybe
I should take it on </span><b><i>Antiques Roadshow, </i></b>assuming their pop culture expert has even heard
of Nick, that is. But then again, perhaps I’ll hold onto it a while
longer and see where the price ends up five years from now.</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_NObcySubomZrSBeDKD_fuGONOz061a67W9T03kE8Z91BNezwO3on8rZcbLO5_ab9igCJpJ3OWZmTJLbuy1JsxGeqzFD_QlUzDkesRrSyMzS0esRT5affevlQ_MIeDdtbU0tAYSOH7H4SoACTOYDw2R27UgFGNEPvE2BKlrOyExiarBShd9kWqYbgPY/s1632/IMG_1837.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="1632" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_NObcySubomZrSBeDKD_fuGONOz061a67W9T03kE8Z91BNezwO3on8rZcbLO5_ab9igCJpJ3OWZmTJLbuy1JsxGeqzFD_QlUzDkesRrSyMzS0esRT5affevlQ_MIeDdtbU0tAYSOH7H4SoACTOYDw2R27UgFGNEPvE2BKlrOyExiarBShd9kWqYbgPY/w640-h480/IMG_1837.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The first of several loads of records packed and ready to go</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p></span><p></p></div>Stuart Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05642732113240014875noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-51338597919569524662023-11-21T22:31:00.000-08:002024-01-25T20:40:31.299-08:00JFK, the Beatles and an Appendectomy - 60 Years On<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFUfLmfbaqtsUxADshI6t2a7HVNiehdzDg4Xpy-osJk3uAuUjeErZW1pGNi69bT5gocP4ULEVagtIJo_s20LRDtUWOZz9OblCvnPcY5sw-KZZzIWu3m_AaIkIo4dKd68gTGdT75gxE1KGhL13ZA6XTUDJFhyphenhyphenfKiB4JlwC5339NXGbsY33M2XPG3LZStKk/s2367/IMG_7783.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2367" data-original-width="2291" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFUfLmfbaqtsUxADshI6t2a7HVNiehdzDg4Xpy-osJk3uAuUjeErZW1pGNi69bT5gocP4ULEVagtIJo_s20LRDtUWOZz9OblCvnPcY5sw-KZZzIWu3m_AaIkIo4dKd68gTGdT75gxE1KGhL13ZA6XTUDJFhyphenhyphenfKiB4JlwC5339NXGbsY33M2XPG3LZStKk/w400-h395/IMG_7783.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">JFK, the Beatles & an Appendectomy</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>"Hush little children, you'll understand. The Beatles are comin' they're gonna hold your hand" - </i></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bob Dylan: "Murder Most Foul" 2020</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">On the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the Beatles released their landmark second UK album. In the intervening 60 years those two events have become inextricably linked. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Stuart Penney</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> remembers that historic day well.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-9c43faf3-7fff-1645-59cd-abd375e98dce"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">They say everyone knows where they were when they heard the news that JFK had been killed. Well, I'm one of those who can tell you exactly where I was on that fateful day. On Friday, November 22, 1963, I was in a Yorkshire hospital recovering from an operation. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I’d had stomach pains for a day or two, but my mum thought I was malingering, trying to wangle time off school. I’d often used this ruse before, so she was wise to it and delayed calling out the GP until the following day (doctors happily made house calls in those days) by which time I was doubled up in agony on the sofa. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The doc quickly diagnosed a burst appendix and possibly peritonitis as well, whereupon an emergency ambulance was summoned. With bells ringing and blue lights flashing (this was before the banshee wail sirens they use now), I was whisked across Sheffield to the City General Hospital as it was then called (it was renamed the Northern General Hospital in 1967). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Almost as bad as the acute appendicitis was the acute embarrassment I experienced as they carried me from the house on a stretcher. Net curtains in the street twitched furiously and several neighbours even came out of their front doors to see what all the fuss was about. An ambulance visiting our council estate was always a major talking point. I hope I’m not tempting fate when I say this but, at the time of writing, that day in 1963 was the first and only time I’ve ever needed to travel in an ambulance. 60 years later that’s not bad going. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">At the hospital I vaguely recall being wheeled into the bright lights of the operating theatre where they put me under using a face mask and gas of some kind. The next thing I knew, it was all over. The appendix was gone, and I was waking up in the ward. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Trying to make sense of my surroundings, I found I was in a large, stark dormitory ward containing about 20 iron framed beds, most of which were occupied by kids my age or younger. Typically for the time, there was no central heating, just an old-style coal fired stove at one end of the room, its meagre output fighting a losing battle against the late November chill. In another corner of the ward stood a tiny black and white television around which several uniformed nurses were gathered. I was still a bit woozy from the anesthetic and thought I must be dreaming because some of the women appeared to be openly weeping and consoling each other. If this had been a film, the scene before me would have been drifting in and out of focus while something by Jean-Michel Jarre played softly in the background. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Before long more nurses arrived to join them, at which point it became obvious they were genuinely upset about something. When one walked over to check on me, I asked her what was going on. “It’s the President” she whispered solemnly, before elaborating helpfully “You know, the President. Of America. He’s been killed. Shot dead.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Ah, <i>that</i> President. John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, to be precise. Two years earlier in January 1961 at age 10 I’d watched the fuzzy black & white TV coverage of the Kennedy inauguration. So, while not especially politically savvy, I had a vague idea of the magnitude of what had happened. I somehow knew it was a big deal, even for us in Britain. But at age 13 I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with sadness like the adults in the room appeared to be. And, of course, unlike today, we weren’t bombarded with hysterical social media coverage and 24/7 TV rolling news. Besides, apart from the throbbing pain in my side which was slowly growing worse as the anesthetic wore off, I had other things on my mind. Visiting time was approaching and my parents had promised to bring something a little special.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Today, visitors can enter hospitals to see their loved ones seemingly at will, and quite rightly so. But back then visiting was strictly regulated to an hour or so in the early evening, after which the friends and relatives were unceremoniously ushered out by a severe matron, like a scene from a </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Carry On</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> film featuring Hattie Jacques. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That seemingly throwaway Dylan line quoted above became reality in February 1964 following the Beatles’ appearance on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Ed Sullivan Show</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. The unbridled joy they brought really did help lift America out of its post-Kennedy depression. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In Britain we were almost a year ahead in this respect, having fallen under the spell of the Fab Four in early 1963. And when Beatlemania was finally given a name in October the deal was cemented. They could do no wrong from this point forward.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In early November, they had played the Royal Variety Show where Lennon delivered his immortal “rattle your jewellery” line, and their eagerly awaited second Parlophone LP was imminent. So it was that only hours after I’d been under the surgeon’s knife, my parents turned up at the hospital bearing gifts. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">First item out of the bag was “The Beatles by Royal Command” a glossy A4 souvenir booklet published by the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Daily Mirror</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. The front cover shows the group being presented to Princess Margaret at the Royal Variety Show. Ringo is bowing unfeasibly low as he shakes her hand while the other three Beatles grin inanely, showing a little too much deference for my liking, even then. I guess it was the stage make-up, but the boys look curiously clean cut and artificial, like the photo has been touched up. Susan Maughan, who scored her biggest UK hit with a cover of Marcie Blaine's "Bobby's Girl," can be seen standing next to Paul. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpiBkt9KdNuHRibAr9ddLmPsnfSSmBLG7Clej89DQwCaCbw3f9_E4iir3TEm18GsZydMfkSy4a-E8g8HzuO3n8ls2qcAWFvJY_m4glGF7PJrf3n5Q93c8eoYnoMZvgWi4Po4bx6QtknCzRq4DJ8XHwUkPsWVxcmbuFtvzXaReGWsJ7_NILxG3Htt4a6A/s765/s-l1600%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="607" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpiBkt9KdNuHRibAr9ddLmPsnfSSmBLG7Clej89DQwCaCbw3f9_E4iir3TEm18GsZydMfkSy4a-E8g8HzuO3n8ls2qcAWFvJY_m4glGF7PJrf3n5Q93c8eoYnoMZvgWi4Po4bx6QtknCzRq4DJ8XHwUkPsWVxcmbuFtvzXaReGWsJ7_NILxG3Htt4a6A/w318-h400/s-l1600%201.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div style="font-size: 12pt;"><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">But that was just an aperitif for what followed. Perhaps feeling guilty for not treating my near-death appendix experience with the seriousness it so clearly deserved, my wonderful parents had gone out and generously bought me a copy of the </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">With the Beatles </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">LP.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Released on November 22, 1963, the very day of the Kennedy assassination, the timing was clearly accidental, but it couldn’t have been more perfect. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I kept the album in the locker next to my bed for the entire hospital stay (around 7-10 days, I recall, which seems a long time compared with minor surgery today) and memorised every one of the 14 track titles - "All My Loving," "It Won't Be Long," "Money," "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Please Mr. Postman" and the rest. And I must have read Tony Barrow's liner notes a hundred times while counting down the days until I could get home and hear it for the first time on the family Dansette record player. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxES5GsrqjYCeEirJUzdo0but4y3JiQpc86plwSNo1ZwkwFRogIIuskpk2wgWr-XYXi7v_250yuRPJ7i-3bHygg9QgXEWbdNGZ-VRTN35X4pf-S-1vXPAXAzcEIXhtNE9kXY6CXn_13LbFWMaRAPFj6pccAy9ZgrUFLi7wabSctODjPRafY7vN3Gca4w/s800/the-beatles-it-wont-be-long-parlophone-2-ab.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxES5GsrqjYCeEirJUzdo0but4y3JiQpc86plwSNo1ZwkwFRogIIuskpk2wgWr-XYXi7v_250yuRPJ7i-3bHygg9QgXEWbdNGZ-VRTN35X4pf-S-1vXPAXAzcEIXhtNE9kXY6CXn_13LbFWMaRAPFj6pccAy9ZgrUFLi7wabSctODjPRafY7vN3Gca4w/w400-h400/the-beatles-it-wont-be-long-parlophone-2-ab.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I still have that actual copy of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">With the Beatles</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> today. 60 years on, it’s looking a little dog-eared and has been played so many times the grooves have almost worn through to the other side. But although I later picked up several replacement copies over the years, I’ll never part with the original. I may not have realised it at the time, and at the risk of sounding pretentious, that record came into my life at a pivotal time in the history of the western world. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Despite his faults which came to light in later years, has there been a more noble and distinguished president since Kennedy? I can’t think of one. The modern style of US presidency started right there with him. America was traumatised by the manner of his death and it’s not too much of an exaggeration to say the Beatles helped lift the country out of its pain and sorrow and gave them something joyous and pure to be happy about. 1964 was the point where the Beatles career achieved warp speed, when they not only conquered America, but virtually the entire world fell at their feet too. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the era of Trump and Biden it seems unlikely we will ever see another US President with the gravitas JFK brought to the office (although Obama came close). And it hardly needs saying that in this age of instant fame, social media, Spotify and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">American Idol</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> nothing will ever come within light years of the Beatles and their impact on the world. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: medium; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">They killed him once and they killed him twice</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: medium; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Killed him like a human sacrifice</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: medium; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The day that they killed him, someone said to me, "Son</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: medium; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The age of the Antichrist has just only begun"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bob Dylan: “Murder Most Foul” 2020</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWgaHa7GzC08jEac-biwgVM59juwnpQ3pF-5jWIOyqyJZrhGbUMT3AZYb9WNotBZY_KxdPuDLl1kARN7nMUnlhH9djcHp60aOp856Dc8CCW_1HpTwRF-oxdNzwG3l45aT73tz0UAeAZJP2fql6rcTeAY2w_niiHSChcip1vJrAl3h_6ea7bOOzu1lJ9UU/s1160/2615g.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="1014" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWgaHa7GzC08jEac-biwgVM59juwnpQ3pF-5jWIOyqyJZrhGbUMT3AZYb9WNotBZY_KxdPuDLl1kARN7nMUnlhH9djcHp60aOp856Dc8CCW_1HpTwRF-oxdNzwG3l45aT73tz0UAeAZJP2fql6rcTeAY2w_niiHSChcip1vJrAl3h_6ea7bOOzu1lJ9UU/w350-h400/2615g.jpg" width="350" /></a></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCwP_dgQVVuWU0UEXLOfPrmnHt0k9Va9oqh6_9rF94PA4OPBPnZR-9B7QcE8Cgn8BYGyUyBizqj2g4uWWlD5IKppUDAG5QF5PGJtWtZaDhOnmRx81zCeWDLo1Tq6t5OHwJV6zUuqlSLk-d0bAeqa-CHE3bpSH5tO4dZkCMawHw4xTT4klOPtxhjcD1n4/s2764/IMG_7786.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2732" data-original-width="2764" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCwP_dgQVVuWU0UEXLOfPrmnHt0k9Va9oqh6_9rF94PA4OPBPnZR-9B7QcE8Cgn8BYGyUyBizqj2g4uWWlD5IKppUDAG5QF5PGJtWtZaDhOnmRx81zCeWDLo1Tq6t5OHwJV6zUuqlSLk-d0bAeqa-CHE3bpSH5tO4dZkCMawHw4xTT4klOPtxhjcD1n4/w400-h395/IMG_7786.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>Stuart Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05642732113240014875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-46065444708677107692023-11-05T23:16:00.014-08:002024-03-21T20:40:59.919-07:00Great Concerts Revisited: Captain Beefheart, London, 1975<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHsKdIlzfJ8QlF2CDuS2lqLTS6pqsCDbOXF5JsrGm0kotCY9r_2j_uS3p_0uWou_9oByyCZrL-jzeC9WeAgkZTF6L85KiAF91-u8as4dej2ufeFTPwioL2I_o3KQGIhRO6v8BMu28UgiHq-zfCOS9LpRaaD0nvbsNZMcZW5xuzv6CrRovHDS2dnPvMo4E/s3858/header-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2180" data-original-width="3858" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHsKdIlzfJ8QlF2CDuS2lqLTS6pqsCDbOXF5JsrGm0kotCY9r_2j_uS3p_0uWou_9oByyCZrL-jzeC9WeAgkZTF6L85KiAF91-u8as4dej2ufeFTPwioL2I_o3KQGIhRO6v8BMu28UgiHq-zfCOS9LpRaaD0nvbsNZMcZW5xuzv6CrRovHDS2dnPvMo4E/w640-h362/header-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a6e20b12-7fff-4414-9d1b-8f1b23928c71"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>by Stuart Penney</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The first time I heard Captain Beefheart I instinctively knew he was my type of guy. With his eccentric persona and Howlin’ Wolf-on-mescalin vocal delivery, he presented an imposing, shamanistic figure. The music he made with his Magic Band was equally strange and unsettling, yet also dazzlingly complex. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">At first, I thought he might just be another of the rock & roll freaks and crazies Frank Zappa liked to surround himself with during the late 60s. Kind of like Wild Man Fischer or the GTOs. But I quickly discovered this was not true (OK, maybe it was a little bit true). But Beefheart was not simply one of Frank’s social experiments, they were childhood friends, after all. Something else was going on here. I couldn’t get a handle on it at that early stage, but as the name suggested, it was clearly something quite magical.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-2I5bAgg7zW5XCsM1BTcWHGNPANun7t-awjLUWHrXb6Pp5hh0PRWFZkVsC5a4szI4tqcRX85jFehz7EA2UGaIp6o-Jgy_Zf_Ixb42WKg5ig2f9PEQM0Z8EHwHJhIYNcZyjgPgqhLMvjMU25Pi0mpFY51iqcE3F3bwDIMLQB3CTEZ6NS-IaVbiQq8SPQ/s4032/Safe%20As%20Milk%20large.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2390" data-original-width="4032" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-2I5bAgg7zW5XCsM1BTcWHGNPANun7t-awjLUWHrXb6Pp5hh0PRWFZkVsC5a4szI4tqcRX85jFehz7EA2UGaIp6o-Jgy_Zf_Ixb42WKg5ig2f9PEQM0Z8EHwHJhIYNcZyjgPgqhLMvjMU25Pi0mpFY51iqcE3F3bwDIMLQB3CTEZ6NS-IaVbiQq8SPQ/w640-h380/Safe%20As%20Milk%20large.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After the baptism of fire that was his 1967 debut </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Safe As Milk</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, I was well and truly hooked and religiously acquired every Beefheart album as soon as it became available in Britain. And when the digital age arrived, guess what? I went out and bought every one of them again on CD. Don’t ask why. It was just something we did back then. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Yet, despite this unfettered adulation for the man we know and love as Don Van Vliet, I’ve managed to see him in concert only twice. Those shows took place within 12 days of each other in late 1975 and as we shall see, both proved somewhat eventful. But first we need a little background.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I should add here that in Britain </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Safe As Milk</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was belatedly released in late 1967 or early 1968 on Pye International (licensed from the US Buddah label) and was deleted almost immediately. I don’t know for sure, but I’d estimate UK sales of that original pressing didn’t exceed more than a couple of thousand. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">My own first copy was the 1969 reissue on Pye’s budget Marble Arch imprint with just nine tracks. Marble Arch had a nasty habit of removing a couple of tracks from their reissues, presumably to justify the lower price. The missing songs were “I’m Glad” and “Grown So Ugly.” I didn’t get to hear the full 11 track album until a year or so later when Polydor acquired UK / European rights to the Buddah catalogue and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Safe As Milk</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was reissued yet again, this time retitled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dropout Boogie</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAkqMgT8-k9ZpcwFeWQ629VLvlnWY1TOLUXsaFEZ1Shn8y0YtnQ92lE34v1pC5tV8WCaJfvNCYGGiQOkVGvkCI7lTdUjnaO6Daz-TMBJSlfIz0USPyIV4ZfvmERwuRk_8llzIbm6kFo8vwKKwzT5RALLvIQUN-q28xXVPTeP22fzCW85Zps8YldBlpmFW/s800/Knbworth%20ad.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="800" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAkqMgT8-k9ZpcwFeWQ629VLvlnWY1TOLUXsaFEZ1Shn8y0YtnQ92lE34v1pC5tV8WCaJfvNCYGGiQOkVGvkCI7lTdUjnaO6Daz-TMBJSlfIz0USPyIV4ZfvmERwuRk_8llzIbm6kFo8vwKKwzT5RALLvIQUN-q28xXVPTeP22fzCW85Zps8YldBlpmFW/w400-h289/Knbworth%20ad.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">1975 was a busy year for Beefheart. In May he toured the US as a full (if, at times, somewhat superfluous) member of Zappa's Mothers, recording material which would appear on the live album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bongo Fury</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> released in October. In July he was in England with a variation of his own Magic Band to play the Knebworth Festival on an unlikely bill comprising Pink Floyd, the Steve Miller Band, Roy Harper, Linda Lewis and members of Monty Python. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In October and November, Don was back in Europe to play shows in France, Belgium and Scandinavia, finishing up with 16 concerts in the UK. He ended the year with a handful of club shows in San Francisco and Los Angeles, some of them supporting Zappa and the Mothers. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">All this activity came on the back of the controversial </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Unconditionally Guaranteed</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> album released in early 1974. Despite much publicity, including a live appearance on BBC TV’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Old Grey Whistle Test</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> in March, the record divided opinion. Not only did it prove too mainstream for hard core fans, but it was a commercial step too far for the Magic Band, including key members Zoot Horn Rollo, Rockette Morton and Ed Marimba, who bailed </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">en masse</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> to form the spin-off outfit Mallard. With logistical support from Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and featuring journeyman keyboard player John “Rabbit” Bundrick, Mallard recorded two albums for Virgin in 1975 and 1976, the first of which (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mallard)</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> appears to have been released only in the UK. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Interviewed by the UK </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Beat Instrumental</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> magazine in September 1975, Beefheart was brutally forthright when talking about the much maligned </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Unconditionally Guaranteed</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and its follow-up </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bluejeans and Moonbeams,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> saying “Those two albums are disgusting, aren’t they?” Asked why he had made them, Don answered “I’d had a group of people who’d been with me for six years who were very interested in money. I actually made those albums for them. I thought, I owed them that. I shouldn’t have done it though because they came over (to the UK) and talked me down.” Here Don was presumably referring to the Magic Band members who defected to form Mallard. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Beefheart went on to blame his ex-managers for the debacle but reserved his harshest criticism for his UK label Virgin saying, “I want to get a campaign together to get the record company to give their money back to the people who bought those albums.” Spoiler alert: to absolutely no one's surprise, those refunds never happened. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-U5PbyTMP6ghcdWk7j7Q7JYECL5yWtViEBU5djg6TBSj1pWIiqYU4j4EQvXKZty4WLPHOUKnUM1sFW4llLR_pB3KiykW8awNHY-RtJzX_MFf46FUwvJF0I8LgrhgT295UPHuT8d_7UVHnQRsFSYtCrWl4RRIK4b0Grx_-UyeB0a8o-HqWw2n-X4QlZiKZ/s2623/Uncontionally%20Guarnteed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2594" data-original-width="2623" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-U5PbyTMP6ghcdWk7j7Q7JYECL5yWtViEBU5djg6TBSj1pWIiqYU4j4EQvXKZty4WLPHOUKnUM1sFW4llLR_pB3KiykW8awNHY-RtJzX_MFf46FUwvJF0I8LgrhgT295UPHuT8d_7UVHnQRsFSYtCrWl4RRIK4b0Grx_-UyeB0a8o-HqWw2n-X4QlZiKZ/s320/Uncontionally%20Guarnteed.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">My five cents on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Unconditionally Guaranteed</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. It’s certainly a more tuneful and commercial prospect than we had come to expect from Don. But it’s nowhere near as bad as he would have us believe. It contains several decent songs and, most importantly, it still sounds unmistakably like Captain Beefheart. Time has been kind to the album, and I still play it now and then. More often than (whisper it) </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lick My Decals Off, Baby</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> in fact.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzClosT29Cz9dvFYuXAciseVBrvSglHXZqNtbtF6VCQMZ14eEqie3KOz0DrndGXA2LOPcYlf_02PNSiWnSVtD0z0buO4x1TOi6JGeZqNpJIZRZrUGjSnZAHf4hLRZyjF2VI6msw9ZW5GFgKjf1FaYP2_96H-2a0RY2EiM7BFxTUGOT657JvnjmeyD_vjd/s2708/Bongo%20Fury.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2708" data-original-width="2657" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzClosT29Cz9dvFYuXAciseVBrvSglHXZqNtbtF6VCQMZ14eEqie3KOz0DrndGXA2LOPcYlf_02PNSiWnSVtD0z0buO4x1TOi6JGeZqNpJIZRZrUGjSnZAHf4hLRZyjF2VI6msw9ZW5GFgKjf1FaYP2_96H-2a0RY2EiM7BFxTUGOT657JvnjmeyD_vjd/w314-h333/Bongo%20Fury.jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>The Bongo Fury album cover photo was flipped, presumably to ensure Frank was seen first</i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Never the shrewdest businessman, in 1974 Beefheart had somehow managed to sign contracts with more than one record label at the same time, causing all kinds of legal problems. Consequently, Virgin records blocked the British release of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bongo Fury</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> which appeared in America and elsewhere on Zappa’s own DiscReet label through Warner Bros.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The album was allocated a UK Warner Bros catalogue number (K59209) and was even pictured with this number on music press tour ads, before Virgin called the lawyers in and the British release was cancelled. UK white label test pressings do exist, but that's as far as it got. US copies were easily found in the London import stores, but </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bongo Fury</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was not officially issued in the UK until the CD era many years later. Contractual hassles also delayed the release of Don’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bat Chain Puller</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> album. Recorded in 1976, it didn't appear until 2012, following the Captain’s death. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So it was that a brand-new (or should that be re-formed?) Magic Band consisting of veterans </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">John “Drumbo” French (drums), Bruce Fowler (trombone), Elliot Ingber (aka Winged Eel Fingerling) (guitar) and Denny Walley (slide guitar) arrived to play the 1975 European tour. Fowler, Ingber and Walley had all played with Frank Zappa at one time or other, so attendance at the London concerts was more or less a given for me.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvgdt_eX1Yzaj32TWycSSITgcJPqeOwbW7l_yjI0WU1YkF_XQQEg1zEhbs4_RDHOGaXq72lWtml7IzRQ2OD_-SVwDGxKtrISdA_gCsA07c_JqpdXPh61gknJTwzhH6AcbOnk-M5mDKp5EECDXLleTCnOSPfq3uxOwGbHUq-XY10Y3wd6jT3K-HyPDAwcoG/s512/Concert%20ticket%201.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="447" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvgdt_eX1Yzaj32TWycSSITgcJPqeOwbW7l_yjI0WU1YkF_XQQEg1zEhbs4_RDHOGaXq72lWtml7IzRQ2OD_-SVwDGxKtrISdA_gCsA07c_JqpdXPh61gknJTwzhH6AcbOnk-M5mDKp5EECDXLleTCnOSPfq3uxOwGbHUq-XY10Y3wd6jT3K-HyPDAwcoG/s320/Concert%20ticket%201.png" width="279" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">My first Beefheart show was at the New Victoria Theatre on November 14, 1975. Opening as the New Victoria Cinema in 1930, the 2,300-seat venue stands opposite the famous London rail terminus. I’m sure there was no direct connection, but shortly after the two Beefheart concerts (he played early and late shows on the same day) the venue closed for five years, reopening in 1981 re-named the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Today this once great rock music venue is home to mainstream musical theatre and has played host to long running family shows such as </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Starlight Express</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Wicked</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Quite by coincidence I’d met an attractive young lady just a few weeks before the concert and, since I had a spare ticket, it seemed rude not to invite her along. For the purposes of this story, let’s call her Jane (not her real name). We had been introduced through mutual friends and after our first night out I drove her home in my prestigious V8 Rover 3500. The car obviously impressed Jane (she actually said as much) and she seemed more than happy to accept the invitation. In reality I could barely afford to keep the Rover on the road and was obliged to sell it a year later. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 19.7pt 0pt 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Right off the bat she confessed she’d never heard of Captain Beefheart or listened to a single note of his music. I won’t swear to it, but she may even have presumed I was about to take her to some kind of yachting regatta. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 19.7pt 0pt 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In hindsight I suppose this should have been a major red flag, but we were in the first flush of romance, and while it perhaps wasn’t on the same level romantically as, say, a weekend in Paris, taking your girl to a Beefheart concert seemed like the most natural thing in the world to me at that time. That’s not quite how it panned out.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 19.7pt 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I don’t remember much about support band Secret Oyster, other than they were a Danish progressive jazz rock fusion outfit who released four albums on CBS between 1973 - 76. The members came largely from the splendidly named band Burnin’ Red Ivanhoe. I listened to Secret Oyster's 1974 album <b><i>Sea Sun</i></b> on Spotify for the first time in decades while writing this and, while not earth shattering, it's actually quite decent synth heavy prog with some excellent guitar work. E</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">ven at this early stage I could see Jane was starting to get restless. It wasn’t a good sign but, hey, it’s just the support act, I figured. Things can only get better from here. Besides, I was so excited at the prospect of seeing my man Beefheart in the flesh for the first time, I wasn’t paying too much attention at that point. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Captain arrived dressed all in white and stalked the stage menacingly as the Magic Band kicked off a vigorous version of “Moonlight In Vermont.” One of the more accessible (read: less scary) songs from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Trout Mask Replica</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> it was nevertheless a strong opener, if possibly a shock to the system for Jane and others unfamiliar with this kind of music.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Scanning the stage for the bass player, it came as a surprise to discover there wasn’t one to be seen. At least there was no one onstage with an actual bass guitar. It transpired that the bottom end was being held down to great effect by the ever-reliable Bruce Fowler playing his trombone through an octave splitter, thus turning it into what was officially known as an “air bass.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMFSAEVXV-6Yxyr4dZjj9oJLO1kEvrz38fodEGr2kPxfFPC7JZZl6uHHq68PQieckau8jTyRmoRAju1_58WveNgAXwlDKQ2PsPTBwLnnTm377M51EKDMzh91h_GtJRQIZJCmN4n-isa4UcOogDv62wYVoFidpDTv8-Uz3NQlmy0kQNaTX40G3MOW3Dqvds/s2508/Clear%20Spot.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2508" data-original-width="2508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMFSAEVXV-6Yxyr4dZjj9oJLO1kEvrz38fodEGr2kPxfFPC7JZZl6uHHq68PQieckau8jTyRmoRAju1_58WveNgAXwlDKQ2PsPTBwLnnTm377M51EKDMzh91h_GtJRQIZJCmN4n-isa4UcOogDv62wYVoFidpDTv8-Uz3NQlmy0kQNaTX40G3MOW3Dqvds/s320/Clear%20Spot.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Clear Spot</i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The set list was drawn from five albums covering most of Don’s career up to that point. Some Beefheart records, like </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Clear Spot</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>The Spotlight Kid</i>,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> although undeniably quirky, are accessible enough to appeal to mainstream rock fans. But others were (and still are) far more polarising. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lick My Decals Off, Baby</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and the Frank Zappa-produced avant-garde masterpiece </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Trout Mask Replica </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">for example,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">need to be approached with caution lest they turn into certified room-clearers, especially if aired in the wrong company.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFKq8sHxzjmlXGrhttROmgIm-3rWmY3DJM6n9NRUHF0SFQp2ANO1Rgxu6C6W1rC2cNW2NBDxKocInQFwGMgz766ylL5CuDRf-2XI9bOgUE7uWJcz5FkIa0bpaTafW6zVUI_i8RiAXy85UUzlF1kwJDDFlbuO0DVklqH-d2dk31LXs6hJffvraq24xqsVVR/s680/Beefheart%20and%20Peel.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="680" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFKq8sHxzjmlXGrhttROmgIm-3rWmY3DJM6n9NRUHF0SFQp2ANO1Rgxu6C6W1rC2cNW2NBDxKocInQFwGMgz766ylL5CuDRf-2XI9bOgUE7uWJcz5FkIa0bpaTafW6zVUI_i8RiAXy85UUzlF1kwJDDFlbuO0DVklqH-d2dk31LXs6hJffvraq24xqsVVR/w400-h297/Beefheart%20and%20Peel.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Don and the Magic Band with John Peel</b></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Someone (I don’t remember who) once said that </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Trout Mask Replica</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> sounds like a blues band falling down a flight of stairs while continuing to play their instruments. It’s a snappy and chucklesome soundbite right enough, but such flippancy does the music a grave disservice. In reality the album is right up there with the best free jazz rock of the 60s and 70s. And should further recommendation be needed, luminaries such as John Peel and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Simpsons</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> creator Matt Groening have both declared </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">TMR</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> to be their absolute favourite album. See below for a <i><b>Trout Mask Replica</b></i> overview by Tim Earnshaw.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19v3_XuvsRIOztM5hFf7UYXs-tRwOd8i1Pds-odMsSENTk2OFEflYQ7PxfWP_tI3NDop-9e5Q9Y6VJRXEgKamFjBTDPiJuvfdt0OMdDW9G3PKF2-yT_mH6KlAW7QGo5PfEWGlR2QeSByuZ-LfhZmsC2243HM7nJXxHiYlPjdpBcB7nlECnvOVvs4zxG66/s2723/Spotlight%20Kid.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2657" data-original-width="2723" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19v3_XuvsRIOztM5hFf7UYXs-tRwOd8i1Pds-odMsSENTk2OFEflYQ7PxfWP_tI3NDop-9e5Q9Y6VJRXEgKamFjBTDPiJuvfdt0OMdDW9G3PKF2-yT_mH6KlAW7QGo5PfEWGlR2QeSByuZ-LfhZmsC2243HM7nJXxHiYlPjdpBcB7nlECnvOVvs4zxG66/s320/Spotlight%20Kid.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Beefheart may have been accused of “selling out” when he released the radio friendly </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Unconditionally Guaranteed</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> album the previous year. But he certainly wasn’t pandering to mass audience appeal in London as “Moonlight In Vermont” was one of four </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Trout Mask Replica</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> songs we heard, along with “Orange Claw Hammer”, “Dali's Car” and “My Human Gets Me Blues.” In fact, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">TMR</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> turned out to be the most represented album in the set list. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Tight as two coats of paint and incredibly well-rehearsed, the Magic Band sounded simply magnificent, especially Denny Walley whose Danelectro slide guitar was, for me, one of the highlights of the evening. We later came to appreciate Walley’s skills on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bongo Fury</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> album where his delicious, blues-based technique, the notes oozing from his bottleneck like warm molasses, even rivalled Zappa’s own guitar at times. With Beefheart he all-but stole the show.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Abba Zaba” was up next. Along with “Electricity”, it was one of two songs in the set from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Safe As Milk</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. Crowd favourites “Beatle Bones N’ Smokin’ Stones” (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strictly Personal</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">) and “When It Blows Its Stacks” (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Spotlight Kid</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">) followed, before a new (to us, at least) Zappa number, written for the upcoming 1976 US bicentennial. This was the magnificently titled ersatz country song “Poofter's Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead” (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bongo Fury</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The story goes that Frank had been introduced to the British / Australian homosexual pejorative slang term “poofter” by Jimi Hendrix’s English roadie Howard Parker. This is the same man who gifted Zappa the guitar which Jimi supposedly burned onstage at the 1968 Miami Pop Festival (although the provenance of that Stratocaster is still fiercely debated within the guitar world). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Frank instantly loved the word, naturally, and he worked it into the lyric of the song. In fact, “poofter” crops up in no less than two songs on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bongo Fury</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, as Beefheart also slipped it into his recitation “Man With The Woman Head.” It’s quite probable neither Don or Frank knew (or cared about) the true meaning of the word, but simply liked the way it sounded to their American ears. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The show ended with everyone’s favourite “Big Eyed Beans From Venus” in which Denny Walley (in lieu of Mr Zoot Horn Rollo) was required to “hit that long lunar note and let it float” bringing proceedings to a close.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DlJezzFg3ne1HORfNQqfNB18u0ALE26Hg06qOYXLCbh-6lYLQy8Abg0sQ89gGjj1o0Kp7vR7sfsnkuyKY1_euZAawmp9yHl5Uxk0-yJV84wBjAE9PtFOtjzda3klcuM8Gn5RcpUts0Ac-4Y4gpI0LcTnTxowd2g5Fx2JMUCmk9QjFI8W1Qa8TEyp69z_/s800/Concert%20poster.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="544" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DlJezzFg3ne1HORfNQqfNB18u0ALE26Hg06qOYXLCbh-6lYLQy8Abg0sQ89gGjj1o0Kp7vR7sfsnkuyKY1_euZAawmp9yHl5Uxk0-yJV84wBjAE9PtFOtjzda3klcuM8Gn5RcpUts0Ac-4Y4gpI0LcTnTxowd2g5Fx2JMUCmk9QjFI8W1Qa8TEyp69z_/s320/Concert%20poster.jpg" width="218" /></a></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I was on a real high on the drive home, as you often are after a great concert, but Jane was strangely subdued. My attempts to engage her in Beefheart-related conversation fell on stony ground and in truth she appeared confused and shell-shocked at what she had just witnessed.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I’ll spare you the grisly details, the anguish and the tears, but after I dropped her off at her flat (she lived in West Kensington, as I recall) I never saw Jane again. She simply didn’t return my calls and I later found out from the same friend who had introduced us that she viewed the concert (clearly with a certain amount of hyperbole) as “one of the worst experiences of her life.” Ah well. It probably would never have worked out between us, anyway. To misquote Oscar Wilde on his deathbed, if it came to a choice between Jane and my treasured Zappa/Beefheart LP collection, one of them would have to go. And my money probably wouldn’t have been on the records. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Twelve days later on November 26 I found myself at Brunel University in Uxbridge for my second Beefheart concert. Uxbridge is 15 miles west of London out on the very end of the Metropolitan and Piccadilly tube lines and, despite being within easy reach of the city, it has (or it did back then) a distinct feeling of being out in the country. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Founded in 1966 Brunel University London (BUL) was then quite a new seat of learning, less than a decade old at the time. It was dedicated to Isambard Kingdom Brunel, arguably Britain’s most famous 19</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> century engineer, and a man with a name surely worthy of a Magic Band member. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Historically Brunel Student Hall was an important venue on the college rock circuit during the 70s - 90s playing host to countless famous bands including Fairport Convention, Fleetwood Mac, The Who, Deep Purple, Genesis, ELO, The Kinks, Thin Lizzy, Joy Division, The Pretenders, The Specials and The Stone Roses. The Sex Pistols played the first gig of their “Never Mind the Bans Tour” at Brunel in December 1977. Hawkwind, Ten Years After and John Martyn are just a few of the big names I personally saw play there during the 70s.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Brunel Beefheart gig was very different to the one at Victoria. For one thing it was an all-standing show. At my age now I’d much prefer a seated concert, but back in 1975 the ability to move around and experience proceedings from different vantage points in the hall made for a much more relaxed vibe. The set list was identical to the London show, as I recall, but the smaller hall made it a far more intimate experience.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I met up with a group of friends there including my Scottish pal Brian and his flamboyant actress sister Dorothy. Arriving much earlier in the evening than us, Dorothy told us she had gained access backstage and met Beefheart and the band in their dressing room. She even claimed that Don had propositioned her and invited her back to his hotel! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I never found out if any of this was true, or if it actually came to pass. Dorothy was somewhat prone to exaggeration and theatrical flights of fancy at times, especially when drink had been taken. Once at a party at the Putney house of Bob Kerr (he of the Bonzo Dog Band, the New Vaudeville Band and his own Whoopee Band) I witnessed her back Ralph McTell into a corner, insisting she was a famous TV actress who he should seriously consider taking out on tour with him. Ralph had fear in his eyes and soon made his excuses and left. But that’s another story for another day. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Set List: London, November 1975</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moonlight on Vermont</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Abba Zaba</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Orange Claw Hammer</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dali's Car</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When It Blows Its Stacks</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">My Human Gets Me Blues</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Alice in Blunderland</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Natchez Burning (Howlin’ Wolf cover)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Beatle Bones 'N Smokin' Stones</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Improvisation (Featuring Drumbo's Tap Dance)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Poofter's Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Electricity</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Golden Birdies</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Big Eyed Beans From Venus</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Personnel:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Captain Beefheart: vocals, saxophone, harmonica</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">John “Drumbo” French: drums, percussion, dancing, guitar (on “Dali’s Car”)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bruce Fowler: air bass (trombone)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Elliot Ingber: guitar, slide guitar</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Denny Walley: guitar, slide guitar</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpkjzMiBtpfiVFko9MaTJOKAMPRaYWJyckRPF8hSL6PgP_-ZByfIJOshjEiHnO6oHOq6_WPcMWV7juhDEqWqk5bZRumeBxGnUARKlaec-ICL1QJtpXx-sj6ewcaRB5lSmuIgvMAo8yxDORe7kpk05QFVFCkw2u2xz0Oc2Gux8UKQbyW_OHJc8EWVqOsvV/s1500/Header%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="1500" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpkjzMiBtpfiVFko9MaTJOKAMPRaYWJyckRPF8hSL6PgP_-ZByfIJOshjEiHnO6oHOq6_WPcMWV7juhDEqWqk5bZRumeBxGnUARKlaec-ICL1QJtpXx-sj6ewcaRB5lSmuIgvMAo8yxDORe7kpk05QFVFCkw2u2xz0Oc2Gux8UKQbyW_OHJc8EWVqOsvV/w640-h512/Header%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Exclusive Interview with John “Drumbo” French</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 19.7pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">While writing this piece I had the good fortune to catch up with veteran Magic Band member John “Drumbo” French who was happy to share his memories of the 1975 tour. Drumbo played with Beefheart on and off from 1966 to 1980, appearing on the classic albums </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Safe As Milk, Strictly Personal, Trout Mask Replica, Lick My Decals Off Baby, Mirror Man, The Spotlight Kid, Bat Chain Puller</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Doc At The Radar Station</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Q: We read that in 1974/75 the Magic Band virtually mutinied and some members split (to form Mallard) after the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Unconditionally Guaranteed</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> album. One reason given was they thought the record was too mainstream.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bear in mind that I wasn’t there at the time. Artie (Tripp aka Ed Marimba) later wrote me a note about this. There were a number of factors, the first of which was that the band was not being paid regularly, an issue which seemed to constantly be at the forefront. “The money is tied up in Europe” was the common response, which became redundant after a time. Alex Snouffer, who was a member at the time, told me that he went straight to the accountant’s office immediately after their last tour (which I remember as being early 1974) and demanding they “cut him a check” for his services. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Unfortunately, he was the only one who ever got paid for that last tour. I didn’t get the idea that anyone thought the music was “too mainstream,” as they were actually trying to become a bit more mainstream to generate income. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Artie told me that Andy DiMartino seems more intent on commercializing the band in a way that didn’t seem to fit the blues / rock image that the guys felt was the strongest selling point. I heard a tape of the original basic tracks, and it was strong and steady, then, I heard the album later, and was literally horrified with the final result. It was watered down and completely uncharacteristic of anything “Beefheart.” Those were the two main points of contention between Don and the band.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I also remember a story that both Alex and Mark told me. Don came to a rehearsal with Andy DiMartino and mentioned they were going to lunch and that he needed some money. Mark pulled out his welfare money; which was all the money he had for the month. Don grabbed the full amount, got in his new Corvette, and left, laughing out the window as he drove away.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The telling thing here raises the questions: Why were these guys on welfare when they had just returned from a tour? Why was Don the only person who could afford a brand-new car? This moment was a deciding factor in the move to leave. The Magic Band had a meeting and made demands to Don. The meeting was led by Alex Snouffer, who basically accused Don of “stealing from the band.” They called me shortly after this, and I moved from Southern California to Arcata (near Trinidad) to give it a go.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbLEBKYpVnUVd2eb4U6wOOSESbjRXUMTCE7YLls74hJhbtv0lLQY7l5OFXjnjRLosa-CP6XJDLYRYV8N4JqxtgF8lsbGlGmq_5tM_SIyMPodCo-2BLofMASrRUqe1NLu9ssc3n1qLX9CsuN3_JtExc_PnvqaJTOFGvwXCjeyh3A4_E1ynwxxaiP6yJ0pR5/s1200/Knworth%20poster.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="985" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbLEBKYpVnUVd2eb4U6wOOSESbjRXUMTCE7YLls74hJhbtv0lLQY7l5OFXjnjRLosa-CP6XJDLYRYV8N4JqxtgF8lsbGlGmq_5tM_SIyMPodCo-2BLofMASrRUqe1NLu9ssc3n1qLX9CsuN3_JtExc_PnvqaJTOFGvwXCjeyh3A4_E1ynwxxaiP6yJ0pR5/w329-h400/Knworth%20poster.jpeg" width="329" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Q: The band which came to England to play Knebworth in July 1975 was slightly different to the one which played the UK/Europe tour in November 1975. You lost a drummer (Jimmy Carl Black) and gained a guitarist (Denny Walley). Why the changes? </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">During the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bongo Fury</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> tour, Don met Greg “Ella Guru” Davidson in Chicago, who expressed a strong desire to play in the band. Herb Cohen (Frank Zappa’s manager) had been assigned as a temporary manager to Van Vliet and put together two performances; one was a television show in Chicago, the other was as a warmup to Pink Floyd at Knebworth. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The warmup for the television show was Tom Waits, who was, at that time, also handled by Herb Cohen. It was in front of a live audience, and Don choked and couldn’t remember his lyrics - even with cue cards. After several attempts, we left the stage, embarrassed. I was furious, as I was trying to help Don with his “comeback” after his bad reviews for </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Unconditionally Guaranteed</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bluejeans and Moonbeams</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I had taken over as musical director and had to figure out a setlist from scratch of “Best of” material – drawing from every album previous to the two Mercury releases. This was no easy task, as we only had a couple of weeks. Elliot Ingber (aka Winged Eel Fingerling) was the other guitarist, and he was not really adept at understanding odd-time signatures and syncopation. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Jimmy Carl Black – truthfully I had no idea why Don chose him, as he was completely unfamiliar with playing Don’s work, and there were no parts for a second drummer. The bassist was really more of a club player, with a very limited ability who could not play any of the pieces. He was finally fired and replaced eventually by (trombonist) Bruce Fowler on “Air Bass.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We did have an amazing bassist, Buell Neidlinger, audition for bass. I auditioned him with “My Human Gets Me Blues.” I was using the original transcription from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Trout Mask Replica</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, which I wrote in treble clef because I had limited knowledge of music back then. I explained to him the arrangement of the piece on time through, and we gave it a go. Buell NAILED the piece the first time through. He completely astonished me! I hired him, and ten minutes later, Herb came in, pointed to him, and said, “You -- OUT!” Apparently, they had a dispute based upon a union job. Buell left with no comment, I apologized, but was left, again, without a bassist. Fowler was later hired, probably at Frank’s suggestion that he could play the bass parts through an octavider (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">an effect which, among other things, creates a tone an octave up or down).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After the disastrous Chicago show, we flew to London, and were driven up to Knebworth to play the festival. Everything was very high-class: we were picked up in a limousine at the airport, driven to a nice luxury hotel etc. etc. Unfortunately, I couldn’t enjoy much of the trip because I was trying to get Don to learn his lyrics. He was like a five-year old. He had the cue cards Jan had meticulously hand-written, but he seemed to have no idea where they went in relationship to the music. He never rehearsed with the band, so it was completely up in the air what would happen on stage. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I only realized several years later that it was all part of his strategy to maintain control, demand attention, and create tension, which he thought was “necessary” to have a good show. The performance at Knebworth was passable, but nothing to write home about. Greg Davidson and Bruce Fowler and I were really the guys who held it together.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><br /></i></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNOPkerrJcQo5KFLDH_T6mxqeRZeKYdw4LcuUs7HlO_JAvgRrzeWh2lP7HQQdeIu7Op3bBg28ztPbzsKb1V79lbKTdFE9xGwEpevw4LB5R-Vt2CLgwJySl3ZJ5cvMB3cUFtt6bMCUBX0HdmjymNPt2WKX0RloRqecC7r9PxH9dTBL8MYzmK5yIVSYOtfUa/s1062/1975%20tour%20ad.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="694" data-original-width="1062" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNOPkerrJcQo5KFLDH_T6mxqeRZeKYdw4LcuUs7HlO_JAvgRrzeWh2lP7HQQdeIu7Op3bBg28ztPbzsKb1V79lbKTdFE9xGwEpevw4LB5R-Vt2CLgwJySl3ZJ5cvMB3cUFtt6bMCUBX0HdmjymNPt2WKX0RloRqecC7r9PxH9dTBL8MYzmK5yIVSYOtfUa/w640-h418/1975%20tour%20ad.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Music press ad for the 1975 tour showing catalogue number for the unreleased UK version of Bongo Fury</i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Elliot was, quite often, lost. And Jimmy Carl Black humorously played a beer can with a drumstick through half the show. Don did a decent job, much better than I expected, and threw the cue cards one at a time into the audience after each piece was finished. Herb Cohen was there and seemed to “approve.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He booked us into the Roxy for two nights in late July. The interesting thing is that Jimmy Carl Black went back to Texas, which was fine with me, as he wasn’t really necessary, but Don INSISTED that he play, so he was flown back out for the shows. After the second night at the Roxy, Cohen consulted with me outside (I guess I had impressed him in my role of “involuntary musical director”) and asked if I was willing to tour in the fall. I said “yes” as the money seemed good. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Greg Davidson decided not to continue. I think he was somewhat embarrassed by the failed Chicago TV show appearance. His family and friends were in the audience. This is when Frank Zappa talked Denny Walley into replacing Greg. Denny actually “fit in,” quite well, as he was an accomplished slide player with a blues background. He worked hard, understood odd-time signatures and syncopation, and had a great syrupy slide sound that was very powerful.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I talked him into using the slide on his pinky finger, because that was the way Beefheart slide players from Doug Moon, Snouffer (Alex St. Clair), Ry Cooder, Jeff Cotton (aka Antennae Jimmy Semens) and Bill Harkleroad (aka Zoot Horn Rollo) had played (with the Magic Band). Many of the parts demanded that the first through third fingers were freed up. Walley mastered the change within days.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><br /></i></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ut4A11RgU1vnNzrHeWgRPgzWEZR7AgFXxixpXyoA5zccgWFlIDQzeHyzw50pZumUNCcX5-hVt8h9nt8EgCz-i83RdjtBuA93QpAoHpbBQqig6jobx9uJcix2xqOPPNvMVIWqEUU-AWlqn714hrLcq9tcbIbCegv9vA5TGiR6ZhHkBotL03jugp8u97aD/s716/Concert%20ticket%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ut4A11RgU1vnNzrHeWgRPgzWEZR7AgFXxixpXyoA5zccgWFlIDQzeHyzw50pZumUNCcX5-hVt8h9nt8EgCz-i83RdjtBuA93QpAoHpbBQqig6jobx9uJcix2xqOPPNvMVIWqEUU-AWlqn714hrLcq9tcbIbCegv9vA5TGiR6ZhHkBotL03jugp8u97aD/s320/Concert%20ticket%202.jpg" width="223" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Q: The London shows at the New Victoria Theatre in November were something special. The set list was classic material from earlier albums. Do you have any memories of those shows and the UK tour in general. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The tour repertoire was really not that different from the Knebworth show. We played a little over an hour a night. There was some improv allowed, and I decided to tap dance a bit in the shows while Bruce played some great jazz riffs. We kicked off each show with “Moonlight on Vermont,” and ended with “Big-Eyed Beans from Venus.” It was all classic stuff, and I had chosen most of the songs as a “Greatest Hits” kind of approach. We started the tour in Europe – Paris being our first show, and we were there four days before the first performance - some Festival in the middle of the night. I remember that Bruce lost one of his contact lenses on the stage, and he and I were crawling around on the stage trying unsuccessfully to find it for about 10 minutes.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Many thanks to John French and Ian S. MacArthur for their kind help with this piece. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Further reading: Captain Beefheart fans may like to check out the excellent book</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1111; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Beefheart: Through the Eyes of Magic</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1111; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by John “Drumbo” French. Originally published 2010. Reprinted 2021 by Omnibus Press. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 14pt; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihnkJTc5lSqvR4FlPcbqNVp5OczcPCWKGFRyxOaiP329OUq4hrVj-pcVewSABBTYachsGthUDGbO8FwPXOfvBIf-O4joKibxUK7-PfvMtPDeSqxP0uApd26PSvO0ZGaJJA7vEnrakNz-hJI6xuJ-UJejea4KBy-ybYQ5pyt_Wdb78wgakBSJJk_KwMQRD7/s2615/TMR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2615" data-original-width="2615" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihnkJTc5lSqvR4FlPcbqNVp5OczcPCWKGFRyxOaiP329OUq4hrVj-pcVewSABBTYachsGthUDGbO8FwPXOfvBIf-O4joKibxUK7-PfvMtPDeSqxP0uApd26PSvO0ZGaJJA7vEnrakNz-hJI6xuJ-UJejea4KBy-ybYQ5pyt_Wdb78wgakBSJJk_KwMQRD7/s320/TMR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 14pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Trout Mask Replica – An appreciation by esteemed writer and friend of this blog Tim Earnshaw</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 14pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Is that cover brilliant or terrible? Shockingly vivid and borderline disturbing, the brutal image contrasts with the anti-psychedelic elegance of the typography. It's like nothing else, and as such is the perfect wrapper for the contents. Not even </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strictly Personal</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> prepared us for the absolute unforgiving immediacy of this focussed attack, its relentless clatter and stumble. No concessions for the listener, song structure twisted and crumpled and wound tight as barbed wire. You either dismissed it as unlistenable noise, a cynical joke played on the gullible, or you got it, you instinctively </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">knew</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and you hung on, white-knuckled, and rode with it. Guitars, bass, drums - that’s what Buddy Holly used, right? How is this so different? Its pent-up plutonium is undepleted; what went in still bursts out, like a mad-eyed dog. No other album ever sucked you in or spat you out like this one. And although a definitive uneasy listening experience, this is not “Frownland.” It’s a lot of fun. Berserk fun, cracked hall of mirrors fun.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42aw2ttXw4aF_pasDdbaLFOrNWS3HbfXjVHLv6LNWdTer1PfJDGNuRYeA9EGfMmYhqGsDyf3UjM5LwSoNBplLLCF09TMnMps01N8aPl5dDGOBnpCqHR0YXJKlUWlyeIbvRmrDqt9JyU_vaHFW2y27khjCouaoTWLXjnpxcnMQ7S_hebUcsEpA2XXSI6v3/s1274/trout-mask_0002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="1274" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42aw2ttXw4aF_pasDdbaLFOrNWS3HbfXjVHLv6LNWdTer1PfJDGNuRYeA9EGfMmYhqGsDyf3UjM5LwSoNBplLLCF09TMnMps01N8aPl5dDGOBnpCqHR0YXJKlUWlyeIbvRmrDqt9JyU_vaHFW2y27khjCouaoTWLXjnpxcnMQ7S_hebUcsEpA2XXSI6v3/w640-h342/trout-mask_0002.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 14pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Double albums are often said to be “sprawling”, and “better as a single album”, but </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Trout Mask Replica</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> is such a cohesive and consistent work of art that any attempt to edit, improve the flow or whatever is pointless. Every crash, every buzz, growl, howl and stutter represents the whole. It’s a thing - One Song. The German vinyl had unbanded sides, and this is still the best way to listen to it, a side at a time. The CD format is just too much (for your mirror). Pick a side, snap on the trout mask, see the world in a different way. You can always come up for air later.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 8pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read more Beefheart wonderment on Tim’s blog False Memory Foam. Links below:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 8pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strictly Personal:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 8pt;"><a href="https://falsememoryfoam.blogspot.com/2021/07/up-close-and-personal-dept.html" target="_blank">READ IT HERE</a><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 8pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #242424; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Tragic Band:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 8pt;"><a href="https://falsememoryfoam.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-tragic-band-horrible-and-vulgar-but.html" target="_blank">READ IT HERE</a><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8d_ywMeL7DvG7VMltv83tj3DmmwJB7DWQLPp4MC0Oe3TpmerdFhOSxIVNvaUWdNC-mz4Z_jrK1_A3vfycWLPeAUfBT210tIJ4Ss8zlw1Dy00GLHXf1oEq5lI0GydPrudTFb2S1hjAUx198yo4S_l-BV3ZC87xYqIQUrfMUe4EkKR-J3Vv0he2CHjYRzI/s727/Frank%20and%20Don%201975.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="727" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8d_ywMeL7DvG7VMltv83tj3DmmwJB7DWQLPp4MC0Oe3TpmerdFhOSxIVNvaUWdNC-mz4Z_jrK1_A3vfycWLPeAUfBT210tIJ4Ss8zlw1Dy00GLHXf1oEq5lI0GydPrudTFb2S1hjAUx198yo4S_l-BV3ZC87xYqIQUrfMUe4EkKR-J3Vv0he2CHjYRzI/w400-h376/Frank%20and%20Don%201975.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 6pt 0pt 0pt;"><br /></p></span>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-51951610194990385532023-08-19T02:31:00.112-07:002024-03-20T23:21:59.524-07:00Elevator In The Brain Hotel - Part 2 - All The Donovan Albums Ranked<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkM6AVGgEyrg98RXORkoCIRGw_o08Xs9tvruXHturWoeHDdGRwUpr58cHvAVvx4HPSjpXQEy1Pct7j_HsyL616BhIyjKBA8w8xK0DoGwMhvig_Na8vEehvC6AaQhIMGmg_ZT9VcIAgIWLatubLhtuPr1hcSzbwKVeFl4zRJO0xb9YDcivqQgnB076fzI8/s2376/Donovan2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1915" data-original-width="2376" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkM6AVGgEyrg98RXORkoCIRGw_o08Xs9tvruXHturWoeHDdGRwUpr58cHvAVvx4HPSjpXQEy1Pct7j_HsyL616BhIyjKBA8w8xK0DoGwMhvig_Na8vEehvC6AaQhIMGmg_ZT9VcIAgIWLatubLhtuPr1hcSzbwKVeFl4zRJO0xb9YDcivqQgnB076fzI8/w640-h516/Donovan2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: large; white-space-collapse: preserve;">ALL THE IMPORTANT DONOVAN ALBUMS - RANKED WORST TO BEST Part 2</b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>by Stuart Penney</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Here's the second and final part of our mammoth Donovan album extravaganza. This time we count down from 12 to the all-important number one spot. This is where we find the big sellers and the stone-cold classics. Every one of these albums is essential and every self-respecting Donovan fan should own them all. </b></span></span></p><br /><span><span style="font-size: large; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG3axupPYC4czD_EbJopIBPi712Kg9u34tMX6BfPzSQQknEd4SS6kOPeqGkhkABSJYJZs3606TuojMirkRwwSuP8MsEyLhUQOQA3YEzDDYe5-YhAU53nqWPLfomrVy0UW0ThIX4a2Fj6hEpB7vXxGWvE8Vekkqk-lKwZb_m1GwSBr_MER-OYx6TBzh5vPf/s2708/Essence.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2708" data-original-width="2692" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG3axupPYC4czD_EbJopIBPi712Kg9u34tMX6BfPzSQQknEd4SS6kOPeqGkhkABSJYJZs3606TuojMirkRwwSuP8MsEyLhUQOQA3YEzDDYe5-YhAU53nqWPLfomrVy0UW0ThIX4a2Fj6hEpB7vXxGWvE8Vekkqk-lKwZb_m1GwSBr_MER-OYx6TBzh5vPf/s320/Essence.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br /></span></span><p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">12. Essence To Essence</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ee6cd74f-7fff-e89a-d8e1-82abdbbf64e6"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK Epic S EPC 69050</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US Epic KE 32800</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producers: Andrew Oldham, Donovan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: December 1973 (UK) / January 1974 (US)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In which Mickie Most was replaced by Andrew Loog Oldham as Donovan's producer. It seemed an odd pairing, but the material was strong, and the results were encouraging. OK, let’s be honest, time has not been kind to the cover photos, showing Don clad in white and kneeling like a blissed-out guru or shaman figure, but don’t let that put you off, this is a fine album.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The roll call of musicians was even more impressive than the previous LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Cosmic Wheels,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> featuring almost all members of the Grease Band and Derek and the Dominos (minus Clapton), plus the crack LA session crew of Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar and Russ Kunkel. Add Carole King, Peter Frampton, Steve Marriott and Nicky Hopkins to the mix and it begins to look like an embarrassment of riches.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Highlights include the poptastic “Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth,” a reggae tinged “Yellow Star,” “There Is An Ocean” (with Danny Thompson) and “Saint Valentine’s Angel.” The killer song by far, though, is “Sailing Homeward.” This gorgeous, timeless melody features Carole King on piano, backed with a tasteful string and woodwind arrangement. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And yet all was not quite as it seemed. According to Andrew Oldham interviewed by Guy Pratt and Gary Kemp on their excellent podcast “Rockonteurs” (find it in all the usual places where you get your podcasts), “Sailing Homeward” was not working out too well in the studio, so the concert version from Don's Japanese-only album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Live In Japan: Spring Tour 1973</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> recorded earlier in the year was substituted (Japanese audiences are famously quiet, so no applause was picked up on the track). Oldham then took the tapes to LA where he overdubbed Carole King on piano and Tom Scott playing woodwind. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">On the same podcast Oldham describes Donovan as “a fabulous hippy” who regularly “speaks about himself in the third person” - eg when pondering an arrangement, he might say “I wonder if this would work for Don?” Warming to his theme, Andrew also cheerfully admits that he personally “straightened out” (albeit temporarily) from a long-term drug habit in order to produce </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Essence To Essence</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Early pressings had embossed title lettering on the front cover and picture labels. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In September 1974 Donovan released the UK single “Rock N Roll With Me” c/w “The Divine Daze of Deathless Delight.” Side A was a non-album cover version of the David Bowie </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Diamond Dogs </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">song,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> while the B-side was lifted from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Essence to Essence</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After eight years of success, it seemed as if Donovan’s hit-making days were over by 1973. This album failed to chart in the UK and barely made the top #200 in America, peaking at a paltry #174. It did reach #23 in Australia, however. But sales-wise, at least, it was all downhill from here. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Sailing Homeward, Yellow Star, The Divine Daze of Deathless Delight</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVmAvXpr0kpaY3Fl5raYRIzSb4xbGo5PNqiar1X-P3G8mAbNuP5pgUc9AC-NIFttk1toUdAx9QLjumjWsfTjjpAZblk_GtZtxM7QFRNSS0mGtc9udvUZQAVg-1zy_ICHXyT-cKM9ge7MsLtPg6tFwIeJMeb8s3HB-V8mK2RpgHdLb53FzZZCbwuuGAt8sb/s1294/Fairytale%20UK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1294" data-original-width="1270" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVmAvXpr0kpaY3Fl5raYRIzSb4xbGo5PNqiar1X-P3G8mAbNuP5pgUc9AC-NIFttk1toUdAx9QLjumjWsfTjjpAZblk_GtZtxM7QFRNSS0mGtc9udvUZQAVg-1zy_ICHXyT-cKM9ge7MsLtPg6tFwIeJMeb8s3HB-V8mK2RpgHdLb53FzZZCbwuuGAt8sb/s320/Fairytale%20UK.jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">UK Version</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">11. Fairy Tale</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK Pye NPL 18128 (mono) / Pye NSPL 18128 (stereo)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US Hickory LPM 127 (mono) / Hickory LPS 127 (stereo)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producers: Terry Kennedy, Peter Eden, Geoff Stephens </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: UK October 1965 / US November 1965</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is peak early Donovan acoustic era and although similar in approach to the first album, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Fairy Tale</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> is more sophisticated in every way. Eight of the 12 tracks are Donovan originals, leaving only “Candy Man” (traditional), “Circus of Sour” (Paul Bernath), “The Little Tin Soldier” (Shawn Phillips) and “Oh Deed I Do” (Bert Jansch) as the cover songs on the UK version of the album. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Summer Day Reflection Song,” “To Try For The Sun” and “Candy Man” are some of the highlights, but best of all is “Sunny Goodge Street.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">With jazz guitar chords, brass arrangement, cello and the great Harold McNair on flute, this song </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">was a giant step away from the acoustic folk material. The line “Violent hash smoker shook a chocolate machine” was a little risqué for the time and it drew the attention of the notorious Detective Sergeant Norman Pilcher of the Metropolitan Police Drug Squad. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As a result, in June 1966 Don became the first British rock star of note to be busted for possession of marijuana. Rolling Stones Brian, Mick and Keith were next, followed by the prize scalps of George, John and Yoko. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That particular lyric raised more questions than it answered, however. In my experience hash smokers are seldom, if ever, violent and, in any case, who amongst us has even seen an old school chocolate machine (let alone shook one) in more than half a century?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But karma has a habit of catching up with these people and in November 1972 Norman Pilcher was charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Then, in September 1973 he was sentenced to four years imprisonment with the judge commenting "You poisoned the wells of criminal justice and set about it deliberately." Pilcher died in 2021. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In addition to Harold McNair and Shawn Phillips, the <i><b>Fairy Tale</b></i> musicians matched the first album, with Brian “Liquorice” Locking (bass) and Skip Alan (drums). It was also recorded in the basement studio of Southern Music publishers in Denmark Street. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Covered by Judy Collins and Marianne Faithfull among others, "Sunny Goodge Street" was the earliest of several Donovan songs to namecheck a London location. </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLp6T2jC5BpXM-XdIzva-44eDxjL7PulfPK2qtWGG-l5VHCMxKp0X8FkP79B8vkIn0AqgYl-4AFVUolOqRwj-ByglLeMkdSu6sj2OT1IyL13Awoykb6PjKqz1fke3s6QryYXUu_bfKUuL5W6CtJ7PuyqGUgCRV8hFu5nXMkumoeoNwuw01j2SQ9bccbMUF/s1277/Fairytale%20US.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1277" data-original-width="1256" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLp6T2jC5BpXM-XdIzva-44eDxjL7PulfPK2qtWGG-l5VHCMxKp0X8FkP79B8vkIn0AqgYl-4AFVUolOqRwj-ByglLeMkdSu6sj2OT1IyL13Awoykb6PjKqz1fke3s6QryYXUu_bfKUuL5W6CtJ7PuyqGUgCRV8hFu5nXMkumoeoNwuw01j2SQ9bccbMUF/s320/Fairytale%20US.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">US Version</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The front cover shows our hero looking coyly to his left (our right) wearing a battered Lee denim jacket (Lee was one of the big three US 60s jeans makers along with Levi’s and Wrangler), his shirt buttoned in a haphazard fashion. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It’s been claimed that Beverley Kutner (later to be Beverley Martyn after her marriage to John) is one of the people pictured in the background. She was very much part of the 60s UK folk scene and allegedly had romantic dalliances with both Bert Jansch and Donovan. She is pictured on the cover of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It Don’t Bother Me</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, Bert’s second album, so it could well be her on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Fairy Tale</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> also, although the jury is still out on this one. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Beverley covered Donovan’s “Museum” on a 1967 single (Deram DM 137) and he returned the compliment with the song “Sweet Beverley” recorded during the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Barabajagal</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> sessions and eventually turning up as a bonus track on the 2005 CD. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US pressings of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Fairy Tale</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (Hickory LPM/LPS 127) replaced “Oh Deed I Do” with “Universal Soldier” and changed the track running order slightly. The back cover featured copious sleeve notes and photos not seen on the UK version.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Early UK pressings had the back cover credit “Electric guitar on ‘Song with Your Name’ - Shawn Philips” [<i>sic</i>]. The trouble was, no song of that name appeared on the album! Later pressings removed the credit, and the song has never surfaced. Shawn Phillips (note the spelling) did play 12-string acoustic guitar on "Summer Day Reflection Song" and "Jersey Thursday," however. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As with the debut album, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Fairy Tale</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was reissued on Marble Arch (MAL / MALS 867) in 1969 with a new cover (showing a period incorrect image from the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Gift From A Flower To A Garden</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> era) and minus two tracks. In this case “Colours” and “The Little Tin Soldier” were left off.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Later CD pressings featured bonus material from the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Universal Soldier</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> EP and the single “Turquoise” / “Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness).” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Bert Jansch-penned "Oh Deed I Do" was never released by Bert and aside from the <i><b>Fairy Tale</b></i> version, the only other recording I'm aware of is by Canadian Elyse Weinberg on her 1969 LP <i style="font-weight: bold;">Elyse</i> (Tetragrammaton T117).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Sunny Goodge Street, Candy Man, Oh Deed I Do</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLiPy4KeiIl7WlEVaj1KNms6S6xkFaQvl8gryTxpiZtzMfoSPQPFvfwt7t5_L_Wkd4xMcxQXzkoJkPRlTpTQXduRIE37vLlL-95m-_1BJXWAr9-Dwvp9xGdcDQQv0KVsvQpgjKyBxN22iwfrEtB0dA_ELR8nT44U6nPwmHg7JNhqsq_GHf1C9Uuo0TzAaH/s2632/Donovans%20Greatest%20Hits.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2612" data-original-width="2632" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLiPy4KeiIl7WlEVaj1KNms6S6xkFaQvl8gryTxpiZtzMfoSPQPFvfwt7t5_L_Wkd4xMcxQXzkoJkPRlTpTQXduRIE37vLlL-95m-_1BJXWAr9-Dwvp9xGdcDQQv0KVsvQpgjKyBxN22iwfrEtB0dA_ELR8nT44U6nPwmHg7JNhqsq_GHf1C9Uuo0TzAaH/s320/Donovans%20Greatest%20Hits.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">10. Donovan’s Greatest Hits</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK Pye NPL 18283 (mono) / NSPL 18283 (stereo)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US Epic BXN 26439 / PE 26439 (stereo)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Mickie Most</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: March 1969 (UK) / January 1969 (US)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The first official greatest hits compilation was something of a conundrum. The lawsuit brought by Donovan’s original producer and managers which had so disrupted his UK mid-60s releases reared its ugly head again in 1969. This time the album compilers were prevented from using any material recorded prior to the Mickie Most production era. That ruled out the singles “Catch the Wind” and “Colours” which had to be re-recorded specifically for this record. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The re-makes weren’t especially bad, in fact they were quite interesting, but they were so radically different to the originals that buyers expecting the familiar hit recordings were understandably miffed and not a little confused, especially as there was absolutely nothing on the sleeve to indicate the changes. “Catch the Wind” in particular was transformed from the simple acoustic ditty we knew and loved into a full band recording with Phil Spector overtones.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This sleight of hand continued through to the digital era with early CD releases also containing the re-recorded tracks. The situation was finally resolved in 1999 when an updated CD version appeared. The original 1965 recordings of “Catch the Wind” and “Colours” were then re-instated along with four bonus tracks. Although for some reason the LP sides were reversed on the new CD. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60fhjv56NYdgBWP7YtIgdnOmrxgHVcp_dXikOZXFwivxHYjczEav6Eq3CbLZ6w5IysK43iDVcC_fUZ7KgocFKL6hZPQKWEEVz4LHNqZY2vYi1OuBuQ8OhDqWiTjqkEH1HJW16ZckEDNvx5eA-fKY3-QmWPdZFs8a6CJP3L1cXlgqifM7BNHDijuQ7jdud/s717/Donovan%20Greatest%20Hits%20Ad.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="517" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60fhjv56NYdgBWP7YtIgdnOmrxgHVcp_dXikOZXFwivxHYjczEav6Eq3CbLZ6w5IysK43iDVcC_fUZ7KgocFKL6hZPQKWEEVz4LHNqZY2vYi1OuBuQ8OhDqWiTjqkEH1HJW16ZckEDNvx5eA-fKY3-QmWPdZFs8a6CJP3L1cXlgqifM7BNHDijuQ7jdud/s320/Donovan%20Greatest%20Hits%20Ad.jpg" width="231" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That aside, this LP has a great deal to recommend it. For example, this was the first place where the extended version of “Sunshine Superman” could be found. Running at more than a minute longer than the single it features the full guitar solo from Jimmy Page.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Elsewhere, although “Epistle To Dippy,” “Lalena” and “Wear Your Love Like Heaven” were not UK singles (and therefore not strictly “Greatest Hits” on our side of the Atlantic), it was good to finally have ready access to them in Britain. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Original pressings came with a deluxe eight-page stapled booklet. The LP sized photos were uniformly excellent, and most were previously unavailable elsewhere, although the nude image of the baby Donovan would probably not be used today.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Season of the Witch” is listed on all sleeves (UK and US) as side one, track six. While this is correct for US pressings, the song actually appears as the opening track of side two on the UK Pye version. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This was the first-place true stereo versions of “Epistle To Dippy,” “Sunshine Superman,” “There Is A Mountain,” “Season Of The Witch” and “Lalena” became available. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Those controversial 1968 re-recorded versions of “Catch the Wind” and “Colours” ended up as bonus tracks on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hurdy Gurdy Man</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> CD which, chronologically speaking, is exactly where they belonged.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Sunshine Superman (extended version), Lalena, Epistle To Dippy.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAi-N82U04PtxPLGMhdZKe8nWRLn-5ndcZ06mNGZVDc4RWzlgexAT6pdCxJNhPTkXF-dGXvFX9aYhpaB4EzlEoeyi2IWcfwAMGvb-1cxbwUO-NLh8KfEzW2gBuYFHHUPNHW8X9VxJQWRZ0LBqYp-_wTVTe6Kdfsmum7Zlnqe4WlGD-HlDTMw4DhAOIFewp/s1303/HMS%20Donovan%20Front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1282" data-original-width="1303" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAi-N82U04PtxPLGMhdZKe8nWRLn-5ndcZ06mNGZVDc4RWzlgexAT6pdCxJNhPTkXF-dGXvFX9aYhpaB4EzlEoeyi2IWcfwAMGvb-1cxbwUO-NLh8KfEzW2gBuYFHHUPNHW8X9VxJQWRZ0LBqYp-_wTVTe6Kdfsmum7Zlnqe4WlGD-HlDTMw4DhAOIFewp/s320/HMS%20Donovan%20Front.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><span style="font-size: 20pt;">9. HMS Donovan</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dawn DNLD 4001</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Donovan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released (UK Only): July 1971 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Here’s a strange thing, a UK-only Donovan album. In their wisdom, Epic records declined to release </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">HMS Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> in America and so it was issued only in Britain on Pye’s progressive rock imprint Dawn, making this undoubtedly the rarest of all his major label LPs. Although quantities of the album were apparently exported for sale in the US. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Presumably Epic reasoned that a double album of children’s songs and nursery rhymes wasn’t exactly destined for the top of the charts. It was their loss however, because this is a thoroughly charming record with much to recommend it. Plus, it features arguably the best sleeve design of Donovan’s entire catalogue.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcZ5Rme5M1ytAp6hyf8FqVI9i2afz27NGVheRg0e5Wf1cNh32kmfXYG6WRJ4Pi3U1q53IqWvQ6ut0p5fSZa2W3AthJloRBsNDD_KgsOH8H7lGIcfdR4SzVPjd35rIuF15OUvNTU3s469_J4Sjw8iRiiU406-NLLaL6ewjWBXnLwOpA4Wp6rdYBN1wpnBFB/s800/HMS%20Donovan%20poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="800" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcZ5Rme5M1ytAp6hyf8FqVI9i2afz27NGVheRg0e5Wf1cNh32kmfXYG6WRJ4Pi3U1q53IqWvQ6ut0p5fSZa2W3AthJloRBsNDD_KgsOH8H7lGIcfdR4SzVPjd35rIuF15OUvNTU3s469_J4Sjw8iRiiU406-NLLaL6ewjWBXnLwOpA4Wp6rdYBN1wpnBFB/w640-h212/HMS%20Donovan%20poster.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Don returned to acoustic guitar for this album, which perfectly suited conventional tunes such as “Coulter’s Candy,” “Jabberwocky,” and the magnificent “Lord of The Reedy River.” </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dedicated to animal rights activist and 60s model Celia Hammond (then Jeff Beck’s girlfriend), “Celia of the Seals” is the stand-out track, and it became the only UK and US single from the album. Featuring just Don’s guitar and vocal with Danny Thompson creating some ethereal whale sounds on bowed concert bass (earning him a co-credit on the single label) this magical song failed to trouble the UK charts but made #84 in America. In 1986 the Celia Hammond Animal Trust was created with the aim of opening a low-cost neutering clinic to control the feral animal population in Britain.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The fly in the ointment here (for me, at least) is the nine-minute opening track, an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s “The Walrus and the Carpenter.” It was a brave attempt at musical theatre which overreached by some margin. The sound effects and funny voices, including speeded up and slowed down vocals, have not aged well and now sound twee and, it must be said, a little embarrassing. Speaking of twee, the less said about “The Pee Song” the better, except it almost certainly wouldn’t make it onto a record today. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3qgvofiIThvutkBmrO0a6JmNsZxlY11a1z_h1I2pFCW32JVIvzbMwjSdv78LFZanjRqOS5zjFswU1A5ogjLQakIpm8S3-Pmf_Z3MaBMnrRhAF1qYzDse-zMl6C_raGMBGSXu0eULR5Fb3eS5spKDZnyJTaJYmm4231weJNrI5ulR3gDsMcC_EsaXMfNq/s3133/HMS%20Donovan%20guitar%20with%20Caption.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3002" data-original-width="3133" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3qgvofiIThvutkBmrO0a6JmNsZxlY11a1z_h1I2pFCW32JVIvzbMwjSdv78LFZanjRqOS5zjFswU1A5ogjLQakIpm8S3-Pmf_Z3MaBMnrRhAF1qYzDse-zMl6C_raGMBGSXu0eULR5Fb3eS5spKDZnyJTaJYmm4231weJNrI5ulR3gDsMcC_EsaXMfNq/w400-h384/HMS%20Donovan%20guitar%20with%20Caption.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The delightful cover painting was by John “Patrick” Byrne (1940 - 2023), who also designed sleeves for fellow Scots the Humblebums, Stealers Wheel and Gerry Rafferty. In 1968 “Patrick” even submitted a design for the Beatles’ “White Album” which was held over until 1980 when it was used instead for </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Beatles Ballads</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> compilation. Byrne also painted a guitar in similar style for Donovan (seen here) which he played on screen in the 1972 Jacques Demy film <b><i>The Pied Piper</i></b>. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Lord of the Reedy River” was first released on record by Mary Hopkin on her 1969 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Postcard</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> album and was later covered by Kate Bush as the B-side of her 1981 single “Sat In Your Lap”. It was the first non-original song Kate recorded and she added a "Thank You Donovan" message etched into the run-out groove of the record.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Early pressings of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">HMS Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (estimated to be just the first 1,000 copies) came with a large fold-out poster, also designed by “Patrick.” Poor sales on release mean this is one of his rarest albums and copies with the original poster now command a huge premium online.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Homesickness” is the album’s sole electric track. Rumoured to feature Jeff Beck on guitar, it was a leftover from the Mickie Most-produced </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Barabajagal</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> sessions of 1968/69. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAwFoCovREAv6IhDhiEeoGwSPT796UCWM9ii99M-I_PX6GEAOnMf8cbqA45ELaZpL6owfkL18zawIn4F1ML_-zPY4OCZWPB8cXGTxwTn6C86WGEwrobJ2YjR3ikdDvMXTcLZpMu7SC1AOPytbHRRl825n3aP5fUwSNmTRKRYUVHIWByd9fA5scGCIyjy5K/s1500/HMS4.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAwFoCovREAv6IhDhiEeoGwSPT796UCWM9ii99M-I_PX6GEAOnMf8cbqA45ELaZpL6owfkL18zawIn4F1ML_-zPY4OCZWPB8cXGTxwTn6C86WGEwrobJ2YjR3ikdDvMXTcLZpMu7SC1AOPytbHRRl825n3aP5fUwSNmTRKRYUVHIWByd9fA5scGCIyjy5K/w134-h400/HMS4.jpg" width="134" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br />Although not on catalogue very long, there were three distinct pressings of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">HMS Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. First pressings with the poster appeared on the orange Dawn label. This was followed by a second pressing on the lilac label and the final version used the “sunrise” label design. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A truncated 15 track version of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">HMS Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (down from the original 28 cuts) is currently for sale on CD and digital download from Donovan’s website (www.donovan.ie). Re-titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Living Crystal Faery Realm</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> it’s also available on Spotify.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Celia Of The Seals, Coulter’s Candy, Lord Of The Reedy River</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOfW3RwGVSPDOPCFjwffd_epUoffG5RsZrpn3ESbifrqbOu0U3JL82tJqUaCZsv0jezSOUOnHTrDOkfbfua1A0ZfabPT6EK7-5Nb4MmqJiXI2VOYwQ1d_yZVcHEI8_9UyWLrb08KH16Y9qlVBBZNXF_8gHiaba4TFGQs21oMDicMUkeeRDcGUMKX62iQEn/s2593/Barabajagal.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2593" data-original-width="2561" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOfW3RwGVSPDOPCFjwffd_epUoffG5RsZrpn3ESbifrqbOu0U3JL82tJqUaCZsv0jezSOUOnHTrDOkfbfua1A0ZfabPT6EK7-5Nb4MmqJiXI2VOYwQ1d_yZVcHEI8_9UyWLrb08KH16Y9qlVBBZNXF_8gHiaba4TFGQs21oMDicMUkeeRDcGUMKX62iQEn/s320/Barabajagal.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">8. Barabajagal</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Epic BN 26481 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Mickie Most</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: August 1969</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The final Donovan album of the 60s was also his last record which did not receive a British release, for a while at least. The title track, a brilliant one-off collaboration with the Jeff Beck Group, and “Atlantis,” both massive hit singles, need no introduction here. But there are plenty of other delights to be found on this record. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The rocktastic “Superlungs My Supergirl” was recorded at least three times by Donovan and later covered in fine style by Terry Reid. At the other extreme the childlike singalong “Happiness Runs” is charm personified. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This song first appeared on the 1968 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan In Concert</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> album (see #15 in part one) where it was titled “Pebble and the Man”. It was re-worked and re-named for </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Barabajagal</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> a year later with an all-star line-up of backing singers, including Graham Nash, Mike McCartney and Lesley Duncan. It was also covered by Mary Hopkin in 1969 and Bridget St. John (under the original title of “The Pebble and the Man”) in 1970. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Once heard, never forgotten, “I Love My Shirt” is the kind of infuriatingly catchy throwaway that Donovan does so well (see also “The Intergalactic Laxative” on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Cosmic Wheels</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">). It later appeared as the B-side of the UK “Atlantis” single.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The 2005 CD contained no fewer than 13 (count ‘em!) bonus tracks including a number of demos, among them “Sweet Beverley,” “Good Morning Mr. Wind” and “The Swan (Lord Of The Reedy River).” The last two would be re-worked for </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">HMS Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> in 1971.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Barabajagal, Atlantis, Superlungs My Supergirl</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UrRJQFKZYXnSondgHNWijUI4mSByn28nmCvLG37-_lOvRkug15Yg9wujPgPce4W71EGQ37OWFoa9vBkq6EyRQJybyhOppl3aV5QJoafDD4uj3-lKI0XZjyUYFXaJd_734X6ylL1sBSMPLKuWuJDX-iWYa1Orf5EudGXp4HXL0i7kV3DzVvixXF9SBO7D/s2668/Open%20Road%20front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2620" data-original-width="2668" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UrRJQFKZYXnSondgHNWijUI4mSByn28nmCvLG37-_lOvRkug15Yg9wujPgPce4W71EGQ37OWFoa9vBkq6EyRQJybyhOppl3aV5QJoafDD4uj3-lKI0XZjyUYFXaJd_734X6ylL1sBSMPLKuWuJDX-iWYa1Orf5EudGXp4HXL0i7kV3DzVvixXF9SBO7D/s320/Open%20Road%20front.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">7. Open Road</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK Dawn DNLS 3009</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US Epic E 30125</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Donovan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: September 1970 (UK) / July 1970 (US)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Open Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was Donovan’s back-to-basics album, his </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Let It Be</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, if you will. Gone was Mickie Most and with him went the elaborate productions of yore, replaced with a simple rock sound featuring only guitar, bass, drums and piano. Pye records in Britain clearly weren’t expecting much in the way of sales from the album and so Donovan was shunted sideways onto their new progressive offshoot Dawn for his final two records on the label. As it turned out, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Open Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> stalled at #30 in the UK, but did rather better in America, making the top 20. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBWCuTtgUhsvZPROG_PakB8cw-v_VsZUz2kwmLgQXgKAubfwpNupfnGl5Kk5zOEbfLfFQ-h2UC8HQI1NT6Xh9DkasiTKK8b207vQV2KIKQpULxwJtyeK3DsMv0mDDhmwoz7oQDRUvQmsGsLpBnJE-21Ur1Yts7EDCK91-n076_1r0_-C59XoxTuQxflXjh/s824/Open%20Road%20Cashbox%20ad.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="610" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBWCuTtgUhsvZPROG_PakB8cw-v_VsZUz2kwmLgQXgKAubfwpNupfnGl5Kk5zOEbfLfFQ-h2UC8HQI1NT6Xh9DkasiTKK8b207vQV2KIKQpULxwJtyeK3DsMv0mDDhmwoz7oQDRUvQmsGsLpBnJE-21Ur1Yts7EDCK91-n076_1r0_-C59XoxTuQxflXjh/s320/Open%20Road%20Cashbox%20ad.jpg" width="237" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It was recorded at Morgan studios in Willesden, northwest London with a semi-regular band (also called Open Road), consisting of “Candy” John Carr (drums), Mike Thomson (bass and guitar) and Mike O'Neill (keyboards). Although only the trio of Donovan, Carr and Thomson are pictured on the front cover. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">With Mickie Most out of the picture following </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Barabajagal</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, Donovan produced this one himself. The results were less polished than we had come to expect, but the material - dubbed Celtic Rock after the last track on side one - was strong and melodic.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Highlights included "Riki Tiki Tavi" in which Don (kind-of) invents hip hop, "Celtic Rock," "Poke At The Pope" (controversial now, not so much then) and the gorgeous closing track "New Year's Resovolution." Thought to be inspired by Paul McCartney (who apparently loaned a guitar for the sessions) the latter is one of those anthemic, rolling tunes Donovan did so well in his prime.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The title is a clever amalgamation of “Resolution” and “Revolution”. Too clever for some, it seems, as in later years almost all sources (the 2000 Repertoire CD cover, Spotify etc) renamed it, simply, “New Year’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Resolution</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.” It was covered by Helen Reddy on her 1971 self-titled album.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"Poke At The Pope" is an especially interesting song, theologically speaking. Direct criticism of the pontiff was not such a dangerous pursuit in 1970, but it's a very different story today, as Sinead O'Connor discovered to her cost at the 1992 Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A year later the tune of “Celtic Rock” was re-cycled for “Jabberwocky,” a track on 1971’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">HMS Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In August 1970, a month before the album was released in the UK, Donovan played the electric half of his Isle of Wight festival set with the Open Road band. This turned out to be their only live show together, although the band continued to gig without him and even recorded an album of their own under that name. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz1iVMQiOkrOb5G9EnzPwaICNZLWJ_TbTNwqGS6P5BhWS21nlXvhA6gtPDIUpZGRN4nxsczg-0MuWf2ArWw1-R3_PiXfhllCToODFIOLxwlXgbyYpzCKfbNni1hmPLejPXrEAZ0jxc8GVmPtyQRUiVUonJbc1xJnaQbA0wskVb06qSHX4MwR1X0bt09Zvf/s3593/Open%20Road%20gatefold.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1742" data-original-width="3593" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz1iVMQiOkrOb5G9EnzPwaICNZLWJ_TbTNwqGS6P5BhWS21nlXvhA6gtPDIUpZGRN4nxsczg-0MuWf2ArWw1-R3_PiXfhllCToODFIOLxwlXgbyYpzCKfbNni1hmPLejPXrEAZ0jxc8GVmPtyQRUiVUonJbc1xJnaQbA0wskVb06qSHX4MwR1X0bt09Zvf/w640-h310/Open%20Road%20gatefold.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Pye set up their Dawn offshoot in 1969 to release progressive and underground music, just as Decca, EMI and Philips had done with Deram, Harvest and Vertigo respectively. Dawn’s biggest act by a long way was </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mungo Jerry</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> who scored several huge hits in both the singles and LP charts. In fact, the only other Dawn artists to enjoy any UK chart success at all were Donovan with this LP (#30 in 1970) and Prelude, who reached #21 in the singles chart in 1974 with an a cappella version of Neil Young’s “After the Goldrush.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Dawn was active between 1969-75 and</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Open Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was the eighth LP release on the label. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Riki Tiki Tavi, New Year’s Resovolution, Celtic Rock</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRefa0b4ywFWCXra8HdgWHk6UumuhSVZNWRC9n2fJvIKGptGoF2IRfWJ5XzwmzIqqZ6tqfHlY1H-5brdqBbYX90q3Ovb96cxdNVmL8a71sAlDyzHZI5ZugGdGN-LJg7dgQFOgsKXMKvV_2MIwURO-SGibxK4Nzia3baxM4ChILBcESGwGMrUsP6D2QBlE/s1309/Hurdy%20Gurdy%20Man.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="1309" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRefa0b4ywFWCXra8HdgWHk6UumuhSVZNWRC9n2fJvIKGptGoF2IRfWJ5XzwmzIqqZ6tqfHlY1H-5brdqBbYX90q3Ovb96cxdNVmL8a71sAlDyzHZI5ZugGdGN-LJg7dgQFOgsKXMKvV_2MIwURO-SGibxK4Nzia3baxM4ChILBcESGwGMrUsP6D2QBlE/s320/Hurdy%20Gurdy%20Man.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">6. The Hurdy Gurdy Man</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Epic BN 26460 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Mickie Most</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: October 1968</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Unless they had access to an import record store or kept a close eye on the music papers, Donovan fans in Britain might well have missed this late 1968 album entirely. Even though the legal wrangle between Pye and Epic appeared to have been settled, this record was not released in the UK until the CD era. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">All of which was a real pity as it contains some of Donovan’s finest work, including the magnificent title track and “Jennifer Juniper,” both sizable hits. “The Entertaining of A Shy Little Girl” could have come straight from the pen of Paul McCartney, while “Peregrine” and “Tangier” are full of eastern promise. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Although not released in the UK, this album was, as usual, issued in North America, Australia, parts of Europe and even South Africa (where it appeared on CBS, instead of Epic). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The 2005 CD included seven bonus tracks, including the beautiful “Lalena” plus the re-recorded rock versions of “Colours” and “Catch the Wind” previously available only the 1969 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan’s Greatest Hits</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> album (see #10).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For the first time mono was not an option and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hurdy Gurdy Man</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was only available in true stereo. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Hurdy Gurdy Man, Jennifer Juniper, Peregrine </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNrcq572acfM5iqPiD6W4-fnCjVhTfzZ3jAKLhDdy4XWziu5e6E4yLnaa8Wk1yqHq9MhUO6qs1GymOicqQoGGEufFqKmKQwImbMj3Ox-0VcxxHy-TL5CmURpc0lXKY9359C15Pl5Sxw2kNL9x4oUzkS6VuPtn810LGvEJggGVLNn8RPrQU1RI_C-ItLSj9/s2753/Cosmic%20WHeels%20front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2721" data-original-width="2753" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNrcq572acfM5iqPiD6W4-fnCjVhTfzZ3jAKLhDdy4XWziu5e6E4yLnaa8Wk1yqHq9MhUO6qs1GymOicqQoGGEufFqKmKQwImbMj3Ox-0VcxxHy-TL5CmURpc0lXKY9359C15Pl5Sxw2kNL9x4oUzkS6VuPtn810LGvEJggGVLNn8RPrQU1RI_C-ItLSj9/s320/Cosmic%20WHeels%20front.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">5. Cosmic Wheels</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK Epic S EPC 65450</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US Epic KE 32156</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producers: Donovan and Michael Peter Hayes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: March 1973</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">With Mickie Most back in the co-producer’s seat (this time credited under his real name Michael Peter Hayes) and a stellar band including Cozy Powell, Chris Spedding, Alan White, Suzi Quatro, John “Rabbit” Brundick, plus the renowned horn section of Bobby Keys and Jim Horn, this was Donovan’s most commercial rock album in years, and possibly his most accessible record ever. His long-time arranger John Cameron even returned to play electric piano on the closing track “Appearances.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9feGCr7YmiPZszXbP5JlXtopAgAfFuABY__5NK5q1itUGO6nHRpZ0PuY2Q47ytbTL2im2kGrpI1GJT5pbKqh_LBLwUALKgUTXRKWNhl_3qLzgKLclhkVJHDdMk2JuLAEiWa2qBtki8tYXlYdeM54wfUKCno7IBvyhDKENqS-maxU4kveaegw2saCPVFBS/s960/Cosmic%20Wheels%20tour%20poster.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="709" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9feGCr7YmiPZszXbP5JlXtopAgAfFuABY__5NK5q1itUGO6nHRpZ0PuY2Q47ytbTL2im2kGrpI1GJT5pbKqh_LBLwUALKgUTXRKWNhl_3qLzgKLclhkVJHDdMk2JuLAEiWa2qBtki8tYXlYdeM54wfUKCno7IBvyhDKENqS-maxU4kveaegw2saCPVFBS/s320/Cosmic%20Wheels%20tour%20poster.jpg" width="236" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After many years of legal hassles, Donovan’s records were now finally on the same label on both sides of the Atlantic and Epic records pulled out all the stops for </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Cosmic Wheels</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> with some deluxe packaging and a huge promotion campaign. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The less said about “The Intergalactic Laxative” the better, I suppose. Although, I was once at a concert where an audience member requested this scatological ditty. To everyone’s delight it was performed during the encore. “I can’t believe I wrote that song” chuckled Donovan as the applause subsided. Neither can we, Don. Neither can we.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Cosmic Wheels</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> reached #15 in the UK album charts and #25 in America. The singles “Maria Magenta” and “I Like You” were also released in both countries. The latter was the last Donovan single (excluding reissues) to trouble the charts anywhere in the world, creeping into the top 60 in the US and Australia.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0YG709t2ezwUsERIK9gJ6mYLDp0h8ZP2leVF2znmzkQno2tjwHmKz3rj8xK7sefD6VFNolGf5bXoDrjCCXvKXPkIMLQzkqiPmfLEwiVxVpLdXFMuMYqPRQ7d7FXlRuD78xqA1gKb5OqYEhXijfihdsNNYwj3hTIK4LK1WhFnApW9RsnbVxoEZI3zrOcCH/s2936/Cosmic%20Wheels%20poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2917" data-original-width="2936" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0YG709t2ezwUsERIK9gJ6mYLDp0h8ZP2leVF2znmzkQno2tjwHmKz3rj8xK7sefD6VFNolGf5bXoDrjCCXvKXPkIMLQzkqiPmfLEwiVxVpLdXFMuMYqPRQ7d7FXlRuD78xqA1gKb5OqYEhXijfihdsNNYwj3hTIK4LK1WhFnApW9RsnbVxoEZI3zrOcCH/w400-h398/Cosmic%20Wheels%20poster.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This was also the last Donovan album to chart in the UK, although he had a few minor hits in America and elsewhere in later years. Original pressings came in a deluxe gatefold sleeve with a circular poster insert showing a topless Donovan on one side and the song lyrics on the other.</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-Wd-a615eiMQaoQLO1DNw_1S3dOwh356k3UnjRcXo_vAM_Nef9oswDAKao_JxVhjS0RJIG7rXZHpF6bea4X1q76lgwiGzABX1_9qlq1X2y3x6C_-PoF2SOqpsYP5u0TVXTIcZrctNmd0YMVPmZcKBskjSqaGiFiFk5Q4wxNo4z69F-qii9mlncyABfLp/s3596/Cosmic%20WHeels%20inside%20sleeve.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1796" data-original-width="3596" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-Wd-a615eiMQaoQLO1DNw_1S3dOwh356k3UnjRcXo_vAM_Nef9oswDAKao_JxVhjS0RJIG7rXZHpF6bea4X1q76lgwiGzABX1_9qlq1X2y3x6C_-PoF2SOqpsYP5u0TVXTIcZrctNmd0YMVPmZcKBskjSqaGiFiFk5Q4wxNo4z69F-qii9mlncyABfLp/w640-h320/Cosmic%20WHeels%20inside%20sleeve.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">During the recording sessions at London’s Morgan Studios, Don found time to guest on the title track of Alice Cooper’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Billion Dollar Babies</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> album which was partly recorded there.</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The John Kosh designed sleeve shows Donovan playing his hand built Zemaitis “Blue Moon” guitar. This became his number one instrument until around 1996 when it was superseded by “Kelly” a green acoustic made by Danny Ferrington. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The inside cover is an extended adaptation of the Flammarion engraving by an unknown artist, so named because its first documented appearance was in Camille Flammarion's 1888 book "L'atmosphere: meteorologie populaire" ("The Atmosphere: Popular Meteorology"). It depicts a traveller kneeling at the edge of the Earth where it meets the sky and peering out. He discovers a marvelous realm of circling clouds, fires and suns beyond the heavens. <i><b>Cosmic Wheels</b></i>, indeed.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Cosmic Wheels, Maria Magenta, I Like You</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4yj-AmTo-yCQa0H7UZL3IW3QK-ffc9ycMxsQlNnyDQsgHRBq8xxxOZ5dM_eFtJutwno8URVx3Jtis5Nl4hB7NgfxFYMsMkAyrthNoNkSpivleBpENbh4pGwgx_VdV1Y0u7ISGgRSBc-RTsdWjLBBzgCwt6_QV8AGOlmvLza7XpqB8a-5mm8QbcLS3oRM/s1280/Sunshine%20Superman%20UK%20front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="1280" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4yj-AmTo-yCQa0H7UZL3IW3QK-ffc9ycMxsQlNnyDQsgHRBq8xxxOZ5dM_eFtJutwno8URVx3Jtis5Nl4hB7NgfxFYMsMkAyrthNoNkSpivleBpENbh4pGwgx_VdV1Y0u7ISGgRSBc-RTsdWjLBBzgCwt6_QV8AGOlmvLza7XpqB8a-5mm8QbcLS3oRM/s320/Sunshine%20Superman%20UK%20front.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">4. Sunshine Superman (UK version)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Pye NPL 18181 (mono) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Mickie Most</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: June 1967</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">By mid-1967 the legal problems surrounding Donovan’s UK catalogue were finally resolved. He would stay with Pye in Britain until 1973, while Epic would continue to handle his American catalogue.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Meanwhile, his British releases had fallen so far behind their US counterparts that drastic measures were called for, hence this 12-track catch-up compilation LP. Containing seven cuts from the US </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunshine Superman</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> LP (see #3) and five from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mellow Yellow</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (see #2), both of which did not see a UK release until the CD era, it showcased the best tracks from each of the donor albums and it was arguably an even stronger record as a result.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihqs6eC6E5PFEvfkwTbmh1iA2ikGnP2noIb4ryYSH-CwYb94AlUe4w1QKo6PvFXr9GwIk9XKAIgxrLDnFJw5m6ndIpu4nKGJyVrJiPeBzB3Kn1pMzF2JTtn28I3l8L8XllQn-aAykjTUJlsF3SUwqmRbXdp2h2bgq9u0iUQpCSAUuVV2O3-_DGVAb8gmqC/s3150/Sonnets%20programme.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3150" data-original-width="2390" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihqs6eC6E5PFEvfkwTbmh1iA2ikGnP2noIb4ryYSH-CwYb94AlUe4w1QKo6PvFXr9GwIk9XKAIgxrLDnFJw5m6ndIpu4nKGJyVrJiPeBzB3Kn1pMzF2JTtn28I3l8L8XllQn-aAykjTUJlsF3SUwqmRbXdp2h2bgq9u0iUQpCSAUuVV2O3-_DGVAb8gmqC/w304-h400/Sonnets%20programme.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The Sonnets of Donovan Concert Programme</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">While not unattractive, the LP artwork (by Mick Taylor and Sheena McCall) had a whiff of “will this do?” about it, especially the front cover typeface. Maybe that was because it was simply an adaptation of the programme design from the January 1967 concert at the Royal Albert Hall – the modestly titled “The Sonnets of Donovan.” </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mick Taylor (no relation to the Rolling Stones/John Mayall guitarist) and Sheena McCall provided the artwork for several Donovan albums in the 60s as well as singles, concert programmes, posters etc. Their work can be found on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunshine Superman</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (US and UK versions), </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mellow Yellow</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Gift From A Flower To A Garden</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For Little Ones</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Wear Your Love Like Heaven</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hurdy Gurdy Man</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, plus the 1975 Maggie Bell album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Suicide Sal</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Trivia fans will delight in the knowledge that Sheena McCall is the aunt of Davina McCall, who presented the UK version of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Big Brother</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> reality TV show for several years. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Perhaps unusually for a mid-1967 UK release, it was available in mono only, with no fake stereo version for the Brits, thankfully. The true stereo version wouldn’t arrive until the 2011 CD re-issue.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTmzWLmlTTWAZ-fBgXSCIHYPeAVatdzrw25Ni25Ajv5mAdkOG_H-RJ7hF0Fj_UKtpXv-o9pyUTYSST4QMgKGpZZO8-5Xag5MTIWgxpcXgMvtqUjxc_3FsSd7HoyVYb2tQJXh4AHPCmZ0VfLg_cmArnILfn95YdDXIXFpdWlycpve2j_48nXVtnXSrg_N5X/s1800/Sunshine%20SUperman%20uk%20ad.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="1800" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTmzWLmlTTWAZ-fBgXSCIHYPeAVatdzrw25Ni25Ajv5mAdkOG_H-RJ7hF0Fj_UKtpXv-o9pyUTYSST4QMgKGpZZO8-5Xag5MTIWgxpcXgMvtqUjxc_3FsSd7HoyVYb2tQJXh4AHPCmZ0VfLg_cmArnILfn95YdDXIXFpdWlycpve2j_48nXVtnXSrg_N5X/w640-h192/Sunshine%20SUperman%20uk%20ad.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">After such a long delay, it seemed like </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Sunshine Superman</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> had missed the boat. It sold relatively poorly, reaching only #25 in the UK album charts. It didn’t help that Pye muddied the waters by releasing the big-selling </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Universal Soldier</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> compilation LP on their budget Marble Arch imprint a few months later, which raced to #5. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Writer In The Sun, Season of the Witch, Sunshine Superman</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOT_GYTwDqtZ3ZcvtQrw6mVQbgdIfLnZoF88C4C0ty6TI484Qoj5Ciz9c6YD1kVkuCVFJ0kytTEAhw2TCD4l61ZpMJS4IsFU2pRDxxxfXEFAeLQOjb5fwUlLEJEKHzGnqPF3whMPMFM0mgM8wxdBG4nenLmg1DbIM8HeCY64YvKhfXFdGKCOo1JbfV_VIq/s1313/Sunshine%20Superman%20US%20front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1309" data-original-width="1313" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOT_GYTwDqtZ3ZcvtQrw6mVQbgdIfLnZoF88C4C0ty6TI484Qoj5Ciz9c6YD1kVkuCVFJ0kytTEAhw2TCD4l61ZpMJS4IsFU2pRDxxxfXEFAeLQOjb5fwUlLEJEKHzGnqPF3whMPMFM0mgM8wxdBG4nenLmg1DbIM8HeCY64YvKhfXFdGKCOo1JbfV_VIq/s320/Sunshine%20Superman%20US%20front.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">3. Sunshine Superman (US version)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Epic LN 24217 (mono) / Epic BN 26217 (stereo)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Mickie Most</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: August 1966</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This was the album where Donovan left acoustic music behind to virtually (dare I say it) invent psychedelic folk rock. Recorded at top-flight studios in Hollywood and London with masterful arrangements by John Cameron and a poptastic production by Mickie Most, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunshine Superman</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was a quantum leap in every way. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The title cut (recorded at Abbey Road in December 1965 with Jimmy Page on guitar) became a worldwide hit single, while tracks such as “Celeste,” “The Trip,” and “Season of the Witch” (probably his most covered song) explored new and exciting musical territory. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO3zvLYWO6fsqzkFmPsS6sqd_7A1kpW5HzWhcmifqIUBPTaq9Bg4ceK4BZ5flbOMRqWevSHGjiDAW3PkvsTAU0YJZ7uqc_Wg0hQjruOhXUGizo-rtKFlOq2QYH91keNIAR2yQATgzqhYNGmB-XozPy2NOaxxZpu-axC2fCNAqGU790D5qdeo5UmxHJ9247/s873/Sunshine%20Superman%20Billboard%20Ad.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="637" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO3zvLYWO6fsqzkFmPsS6sqd_7A1kpW5HzWhcmifqIUBPTaq9Bg4ceK4BZ5flbOMRqWevSHGjiDAW3PkvsTAU0YJZ7uqc_Wg0hQjruOhXUGizo-rtKFlOq2QYH91keNIAR2yQATgzqhYNGmB-XozPy2NOaxxZpu-axC2fCNAqGU790D5qdeo5UmxHJ9247/s320/Sunshine%20Superman%20Billboard%20Ad.jpg" width="233" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Although this was the album which kick-started Donovan’s huge popularity in America, it was a different story at home. Due to the protracted contractual dispute outlined elsewhere, it was not released in this form in Britain until the CD era. A compilation containing seven tracks from this and five from the US follow-up </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mellow Yellow</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> eventually appeared in June 1967 (see #4). But the knock-on effect of the delay threw Donovan’s UK catalogue into chaos, with the result that only two of the six albums he recorded between 1966-70 were released in their intended form in Britain. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><b>Sunshine Superman</b></i> was Donovan's most successful American album, peaking at #11 in November 1966 and remaining in the <i><b>Billboard</b></i> charts for six months. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We often joke about Donovan’s thinly disguised hubris, especially his relentless claim to have influenced the Beatles’ 1968 “</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">White Album</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.” But, in fact, his impact on the Fabs was real and goes back even further. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">On February 10, 1967, the Beatles recorded the orchestral section of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><b>Sgt Pepper</b></i></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><b>'s Lonely Hearts Club Band</b></i> closing track “A Day in the Life” at Abbey Road. The event was filmed by Tony Bramwell as a “happening” for use in a proposed TV special which never eventuated. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Alongside the 40-piece orchestra and all four Beatles, a host of famous faces were invited to attend. These included Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Pattie Boyd, Mike Nesmith, members of the art collective The Fool and, of course, Donovan.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0CRT_G5MJ1mwy-wQTqjTjFe3LMjLJfPnsMdJ_55SbuaxtmQG8X0wLaM9mCLnoi5PyAg1AAZtAcngNJyDUZkOtOS7MxNT1DSdwM_w2Ig2oMmDfUdpyZn1V67zxJKuqVrQ5bPrr_IGROpQFyk7JmPy54Ot1N68vcug1ETygu8HkOji0cRIj_OtS9gy1mzZ-/s983/Sunshine%20Superman%20French%20LP%20Beatles%20film%20screenshot.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="983" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0CRT_G5MJ1mwy-wQTqjTjFe3LMjLJfPnsMdJ_55SbuaxtmQG8X0wLaM9mCLnoi5PyAg1AAZtAcngNJyDUZkOtOS7MxNT1DSdwM_w2Ig2oMmDfUdpyZn1V67zxJKuqVrQ5bPrr_IGROpQFyk7JmPy54Ot1N68vcug1ETygu8HkOji0cRIj_OtS9gy1mzZ-/w640-h362/Sunshine%20Superman%20French%20LP%20Beatles%20film%20screenshot.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Screenshot from the Beatles' A Day In The Life film</span></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There’s a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment at exactly four minutes in the resulting fast cut edited film where we glimpse a yellow label Epic LP spinning on a turntable. If we freeze frame and zoom in we see that it’s a French pressing of Donovan’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunshine Superman</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. Although not released in the UK, the LP was issued in many other countries, including Australia and parts of Europe. We must assume that Donovan took the French album with him to the Abbey Road shoot to impress his Beatle pals and from there it ended up in the “A Day in the Life” promo film. Watch it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usNsCeOV4GM" target="_blank">HERE</a> : </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjdycOsARYZxRQWjTk-V8sc2DdCJ_XdlAbox4CXk-rS697sDr_za--nFD9EfBZVYUcX9FaqkKPbrEYHqd0pHCMwku9o0sI-IWb0Qn5mfVCjktweIaV-SntGARExV8peWxgsRxeM83-KKFZvV0KnM443V8sWsN-6idRTEqygXgkUP6J1tQYuan9c8iBXlQj/s576/Sunshine%20Superman%20French%20LP%20Beatles%20film%20for%20reference%20with%20swcreenshow.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="576" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjdycOsARYZxRQWjTk-V8sc2DdCJ_XdlAbox4CXk-rS697sDr_za--nFD9EfBZVYUcX9FaqkKPbrEYHqd0pHCMwku9o0sI-IWb0Qn5mfVCjktweIaV-SntGARExV8peWxgsRxeM83-KKFZvV0KnM443V8sWsN-6idRTEqygXgkUP6J1tQYuan9c8iBXlQj/s320/Sunshine%20Superman%20French%20LP%20Beatles%20film%20for%20reference%20with%20swcreenshow.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">French pressing as seen in the Beatles A Day In The Life film</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Once again, the original 1966 US LPs appeared in mono (good) and “electronically re-channelled for stereo” (not so good) versions. A 2011 double CD release featuring the US and UK releases finally rectified the situation with true stereo versions of most tracks for the first time, together with several bonus tracks. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In his 2006 memoir <i><b>White Bicycles</b></i>, Joe Boyd revealed how a track on this record inspired the name of his production company Witchseason. "I had been stumped for a name when Donovan released a song called 'Season of the Witch.' <i>Beatniks out to make it rich. Must be the season of the witch</i>." The distinctive Witchseason logo subsequently appeared on legendary Boyd-produced albums for the Incredible String Band, Nick Drake, John Martyn and Fairport Convention.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"Season of the Witch" quickly took on a life of its own with cover versions by Vanilla Fudge, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills, and Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity arriving as early as 1968. More recently <b><i>Season of the Witch </i></b>was the title of a 2011 Nicolas Cage supernatural horror film and in 2023 <i><b>Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth </b></i>by Cathi Unsworth appeared. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Sunshine Superman, Season of the Witch</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyW8xdX_2fQzgGmkNQ3c-i9Yme25hAnEC2YUTA-JH5vNCJOFruWzU4O5hSKimXbB1QaMpuZ2MTG68t1vMSqyHb11sQY3edAkGD_PnvBC7jZ7aMlJrmoE4Jf4IKxXSeiy07GgGG1JvnhO9FWSes91mrhVE4DpXmkeQRiAreuTyIbAQHgp6v6May6074vFq/s1295/Mellow%20Yellow%20Front%20Signed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1295" data-original-width="1292" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyW8xdX_2fQzgGmkNQ3c-i9Yme25hAnEC2YUTA-JH5vNCJOFruWzU4O5hSKimXbB1QaMpuZ2MTG68t1vMSqyHb11sQY3edAkGD_PnvBC7jZ7aMlJrmoE4Jf4IKxXSeiy07GgGG1JvnhO9FWSes91mrhVE4DpXmkeQRiAreuTyIbAQHgp6v6May6074vFq/s320/Mellow%20Yellow%20Front%20Signed.jpg" width="319" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">2. Mellow Yellow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Epic LN 24239 (mono) / Epic BN 26239 (stereo)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Mickie Most</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: February 1967</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">If </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunshine Superman</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> had mined an especially productive pop psych seam, album number four really hit the acid folk motherlode. John Cameron’s superb string and brass arrangements reached new heights on tracks such as “Writer In The Sun,” “House of Jansch” and “Young Girl Blues,” while Mickie Most’s production gave the record a radio friendly sheen. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdPAmUYorEAs4DaXl6WUFN1APt3PGw9Us-LHnm-mheDebqbrTDX11wvi4wbQ5UoMpyaLXePfp6Y15a382TH3qgpoqxcQapFdz_-uxZAukCEX9QjcrQc1UDF9G9TZ3uK2iowJfRjPWb83Kmeu33XQZzPkSU-ol6KmZnX-eDrNRxudDVAUsjOPxUrBmfXqw/s703/BB%20Mellow%20Yellow%20BB%20Nov%2012%201966.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="495" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdPAmUYorEAs4DaXl6WUFN1APt3PGw9Us-LHnm-mheDebqbrTDX11wvi4wbQ5UoMpyaLXePfp6Y15a382TH3qgpoqxcQapFdz_-uxZAukCEX9QjcrQc1UDF9G9TZ3uK2iowJfRjPWb83Kmeu33XQZzPkSU-ol6KmZnX-eDrNRxudDVAUsjOPxUrBmfXqw/s320/BB%20Mellow%20Yellow%20BB%20Nov%2012%201966.jpg" width="225" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br />Other than perhaps Ray Davies, few 60s musicians wrote better songs about swinging London than Donovan and “Sunny South Kensington” and “Hampstead Incident,” tapped into the upcoming Summer of Love zeitgeist perfectly. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The bulk of the album was recorded at Abbey Road, while the title track was cut at Lansdowne Studios off Ladbroke Grove in West London. It had already been a US top three single in October 1966, but UK release was delayed until February 1967 when it reached #8. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Influenced by a trip Donovan took to New Orleans where he witnessed the traditional brass bands marching through the streets, “Mellow Yellow” sounds simplistic, but it’s infuriatingly catchy and falls just the right side of twee. The brass arrangement by John Paul Jones (who also plays bass) is legendary and you won’t find many kids’ songs featuring John McLaughlin on guitar, or with Paul McCartney contributing background party noises. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This was another victim of the contractual dispute between Donovan’s management and his UK record label Pye, meaning the album was not released in the UK until the CD era. It sold well in America though, reaching #14 in the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Billboard</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> album chart.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TQCP2k6SPjxD8djH6rbBqJMhG30SdlYcYDTI7ajA_cHiO-CNMs4-QcPMKCypY9uqC3uCJvxQtw-ftXTNdUWiv0-ZF407l5AnA2ModK8hQ1eZdXJOfio08RX1Kr4gVP-d_a2a4YRGGit1suSsS57HjtEhREY4-ok7yfOzhAKi2gfML1qBS7qBZr8j0qoF/s1289/Mellow%20Yellow%20back.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1276" data-original-width="1289" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TQCP2k6SPjxD8djH6rbBqJMhG30SdlYcYDTI7ajA_cHiO-CNMs4-QcPMKCypY9uqC3uCJvxQtw-ftXTNdUWiv0-ZF407l5AnA2ModK8hQ1eZdXJOfio08RX1Kr4gVP-d_a2a4YRGGit1suSsS57HjtEhREY4-ok7yfOzhAKi2gfML1qBS7qBZr8j0qoF/s320/Mellow%20Yellow%20back.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Back Cover</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Record Collector Notes</b>:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yet again, the original 1967 US release appeared in mono and fake “electronically re-channelled for stereo” versions. The 2005 CD release was issued in mono only, although some of the 10 bonus tracks appeared in true stereo. </span></p><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The official release date of this album is usually given as March 1967, but it was advertised in </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Billboard</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> as early as February 4, so that is probably closer to the actual release date. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan's effete, hippy persona has long made him a soft target for ridicule or satire (often both) and in 1985 Frank Zappa took aim at the burgeoning 60s revival in the song "We're Turning Again" from his album </span><i><b style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Frank Zappa Meets the</b><b style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Mothers of </b><b style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Prevention</b></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. One line of the lyrics ran "They were mellow, they were yellow, they were wearing smelly blankets, they looked like Donovan fans." It was textbook Zappa - acerbic, sardonic and with a generous side order of comedy. Don was in excellent company here, though, as Frank also cruelly referenced Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Mama Cass and Keith Moon in the same song. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Writer In The Sun, Hampstead Incident, House of Jansch</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbezb42Q-RSfLOdgc74olUBYYdYJ645mUqJzA3SLz-yZC5tbZlUHfT_RSJ7KJd0wD7aZz3PM_kruLo-iFrMWuU1Wki3hOI1AgBplPqoxOQkvQWE_GvDSTG2WVGaGA-Zoen_0hIh0KbTfSNmggRmlVZVtExbFoT35jnDSJnc0zjPA7bm6IyksoJd4pc7c0/s1512/Donovan%20Gift.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbezb42Q-RSfLOdgc74olUBYYdYJ645mUqJzA3SLz-yZC5tbZlUHfT_RSJ7KJd0wD7aZz3PM_kruLo-iFrMWuU1Wki3hOI1AgBplPqoxOQkvQWE_GvDSTG2WVGaGA-Zoen_0hIh0KbTfSNmggRmlVZVtExbFoT35jnDSJnc0zjPA7bm6IyksoJd4pc7c0/w640-h640/Donovan%20Gift.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">1. A Gift From A Flower To A Garden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US Epic L2N 6071 (mono) / Epic B2N 171 (stereo)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK Pye NPL 20000 (mono) / Pye NSPL 20000 (stereo)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Mickie Most</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: December 1967 (US) / April 1968 (UK)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And so we reach the undisputed number one album in our list. Of all Donovan’s records, this remains his most admired, impressive, and enduring body of work. Arriving in an extravagantly packaged two-piece box with otherworldly psychedelic artwork, this lovingly crafted artefact must be a strong contender for pop’s first-ever boxed set. And that’s before we even get to the music. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSVqaOQTgKgYaeN3AvQjsMaUirot-TUdWBbcMnxEnXYpH7CjyncJx4SRFvenA8LbZmEjBgU3UBqz2u_ppXe8Y7JHSytsIYdTNuKD-TrhfyW40xQt8TnAJ13iG7T0g30YitNtb_HmoSPR6EizKkVOWA-cVlh_B3f0UgxTD-Rtb7U4Y-oM-DNISI1dwsaEw/s960/AGFAFTAG%20ad.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="760" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSVqaOQTgKgYaeN3AvQjsMaUirot-TUdWBbcMnxEnXYpH7CjyncJx4SRFvenA8LbZmEjBgU3UBqz2u_ppXe8Y7JHSytsIYdTNuKD-TrhfyW40xQt8TnAJ13iG7T0g30YitNtb_HmoSPR6EizKkVOWA-cVlh_B3f0UgxTD-Rtb7U4Y-oM-DNISI1dwsaEw/s320/AGFAFTAG%20ad.jpg" width="253" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br />One of the records contains 10 strange and wonderful acid rock tracks recorded with a full band, while the other features a dozen wistful solo acoustic guitar numbers with just a flute (or occasionally bird noises and a crying baby!) for accompaniment. Inside is a folder containing illustrated lyric sheets for each song from the acoustic half of the set. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The title is embossed along the spine in silver foil (on US pressings) and glued on the back of the box is a picture of Donovan holding hands with everyone’s favourite 60s guru and man of the moment, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Leading off record one, the pop/psych classic “Wear Your Love Like Heaven” is the undisputed killer track among a veritable embarrassment of riches, including the trippy “Skip-a-Long Sam,” “Mad John’s Escape,” “Little Boy In Corduroy” and what must surely be the only documented Shakespeare / Leitch co-composition “Under The Greenwood Tree.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Being almost totally acoustic, record two is more low key, but “Lullaby Of Spring,” “Isle of Islay,” “The Mandolin Man and His Secret” and the rest beguile and delight in a way that only Donovan at his best could do. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Often imitated but never bettered, this is peak acid folk and one of the five greatest albums released in 1967. I’ll leave you to work out what the other four are.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dpTXaOcO-NyktpGdJ3GdSNVMYDAweGA_uiyO9fQm3iQYkGmsdEVhx0T8KkxeWCW1PVo4XhxQBvmexiGit8w29VDmxr9bjACDpBBNbEJxbGc8r6YfEs0WaJjXP7QFm0Mmzq34L27I11KyZ22ADFpWCwGGQtD02-qiJm-uo5qlvpWI0xTF9YBZq97mJ8HA/s898/dONOVAN%20gIFT%20Billboard%20ad.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="651" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dpTXaOcO-NyktpGdJ3GdSNVMYDAweGA_uiyO9fQm3iQYkGmsdEVhx0T8KkxeWCW1PVo4XhxQBvmexiGit8w29VDmxr9bjACDpBBNbEJxbGc8r6YfEs0WaJjXP7QFm0Mmzq34L27I11KyZ22ADFpWCwGGQtD02-qiJm-uo5qlvpWI0xTF9YBZq97mJ8HA/s320/dONOVAN%20gIFT%20Billboard%20ad.jpg" width="232" /></a></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A four-month delay meant the UK didn’t get this box set until April 1968. It didn’t chart in Britain but reached #19 in the US. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyisaihRd6mVxPWTiB3o1IU12IYP6GDLJUKvuv0nAnVwtxUixsl61GOSH3KWp04LEpiluksE1GkdN7m-xbjPy5XEasWmm__DWJq3S567oU8QJJH4-F56gbKwtD4t_FReC_SrB_BjdnBcAQfmjF7fHRWxYG_3uA0hFgp893qu7TH3BCyxDw7KpkD3VeP-Qe/s2596/Wear%20Your%20Love%20Like%20Heaven.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2586" data-original-width="2596" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyisaihRd6mVxPWTiB3o1IU12IYP6GDLJUKvuv0nAnVwtxUixsl61GOSH3KWp04LEpiluksE1GkdN7m-xbjPy5XEasWmm__DWJq3S567oU8QJJH4-F56gbKwtD4t_FReC_SrB_BjdnBcAQfmjF7fHRWxYG_3uA0hFgp893qu7TH3BCyxDw7KpkD3VeP-Qe/s320/Wear%20Your%20Love%20Like%20Heaven.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In America the two LPs were also sold individually (in mono and stereo) as </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Wear Your Love Like Heaven</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (Epic LN / BN 34349) and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For Little Ones </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(Epic LN / BN 34350)</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. In fact, in some territories (eg Australia, S.E. Asia and parts of mainland Europe) the box set was considered too extravagant for local release and the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Gift From A Flower To A Garden</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> material was released only as these two separate records.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6K9zTcBpngkB9rDG8d8faPtjjW66txLDD63nicbVZdUY1yWEc62YeLEyp8gsTh1dK7jD0pSzci8Y5bWnOgnFObbIp0RzWa4KaBOUVFITRvwjl-suR1__-H-WUUpFBJBpDomCJEGE3owM9NcaMJnXng2qKRfOqU1WwYXUVFWOKHqh5_1kvRfYca9jC0YaJ/s2735/For%20Little%20Ones.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2735" data-original-width="2735" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6K9zTcBpngkB9rDG8d8faPtjjW66txLDD63nicbVZdUY1yWEc62YeLEyp8gsTh1dK7jD0pSzci8Y5bWnOgnFObbIp0RzWa4KaBOUVFITRvwjl-suR1__-H-WUUpFBJBpDomCJEGE3owM9NcaMJnXng2qKRfOqU1WwYXUVFWOKHqh5_1kvRfYca9jC0YaJ/s320/For%20Little%20Ones.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The pair were scheduled for release in Britain and were even allocated catalogue numbers (Pye NPL / NSPL 18222 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For Little Ones</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and Pye NPL / NSPL 18223 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Wear Your Love Like Heaven</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">) but they were cancelled at the eleventh hour. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This album was a particular favourite of Nick Drake who, we are assured, especially loved the track “Skip-a-Long Sam.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Wear Your Love Like Heaven, Skip-a-Long Sam, Isle of Islay</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Hickory Years</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Like so many artists who were part of the 60s British Invasion, Donovan was snapped up by one of the American independent record labels. But unlike his UK Pye label mates, the Searchers and the Kinks, who ended up on the decidedly more pop focused Kapp and Reprise labels respectively, Don found himself signed to the Nashville based Hickory records, the recording arm of the giant Acuff-Rose music publishing house.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It seemed a strange choice as Hickory was primarily a country label representing the likes of Roy Acuff and Don Gibson, with just a tiny roster of pop artists, such as Sue Thompson, the Newbeats and Frank Ifield. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hickory had begun licensing material from the UK Pye label around 1964, issuing US singles by British artists such as Lonnie Donegan, The Overlanders, Julie Grant, Migil 5 and Joe Brown. But Donovan and (British-born Aussie) Frank Ifield appear to have been the only non-US artists to release albums on the label. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Although it had access to only the approximately 34 tracks Donovan recorded during 1965 - ie two UK Pye albums, plus the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Universal Soldier</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> EP and the first four Pye singles and B-sides - Hickory exploited the material for all it was worth, stretching it out to no fewer than five albums and eight singles between April 1965 and November 1969. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">By the time the final Hickory LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Best Of Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> appeared in late 1969 (presumably they had the rights to the material for five years) they were even cheekily using a cover photo of Donovan in hippy garb from the psychedelic “Hurdy Gurdy Man” era, even though the material on the record dated only from his 1965 acoustic period. Four years was an eternity in the 60s, both in music and fashion. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">All the Donovan albums on Hickory were released in both mono and stereo but, as was the American way back then, the so-called “stereo” LPs invariably turned out be a mix of true stereo tracks and the dreaded electronic (ie fake) stereo. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The legal shenanigans which so disrupted Donovan’s UK releases seems to have spilled over into the Hickory era too. By July 1966 when the US “Sunshine Superman” single appeared he was already contracted to the Epic label in America, and no material recorded after that point was released on Hickory, although the label continued to recycle the older 1965 tracks until their licensing deal expired in 1969. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Meanwhile, the British arm of Hickory had a very low profile, releasing only a few dozen records between 1964-66. These were distributed by Pye, naturally. Their biggest UK success came with a couple of top 20 singles by the Newbeats, a blue-eyed soul trio from Shreveport, Louisiana whose hits “Bread and Butter” and “Run Baby Run” were delivered in an improbable falsetto. Some of the Newbeats' other releases were popular on the UK Northern Soul scene of the 70s.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In Canada, Donovan's early releases appeared on the local arm of Pye records which at the time was controlled by the Allied Record Corporation. But even here several oddities appeared. Compilations such as <i><b>Do You Hear Me Now!</b></i> (Pye NPL / NSPL 30101) and <b><i>The Real Donovan</i></b> (Pye NPL / NSPL 30091) had sleeves which were unique to Canada. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: large; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan’s Hickory Albums (with US chart placings)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEkvRJ294GTkWFLzxFUOIHn8JChycU9QOmLGymUp_flRd78m8d1PMfiaUohZi9EMyqAW_sfNsdl3a5LYaE3SAKLSXEHWBxjTZjE9SuYquKB75UgM-RIlaqfpjO8RW1_UmAbo6KjFC3M6pgZmLnTEHezkNFXg3Ei_y56QKknLorFJ5u_rUSxf7m10ReeRH/s2707/IMG_7038.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2707" data-original-width="2683" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEkvRJ294GTkWFLzxFUOIHn8JChycU9QOmLGymUp_flRd78m8d1PMfiaUohZi9EMyqAW_sfNsdl3a5LYaE3SAKLSXEHWBxjTZjE9SuYquKB75UgM-RIlaqfpjO8RW1_UmAbo6KjFC3M6pgZmLnTEHezkNFXg3Ei_y56QKknLorFJ5u_rUSxf7m10ReeRH/s320/IMG_7038.jpg" width="317" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Catch the Wind (Hickory LPM / LPS 123 - July 1965 - #30)</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbXt8N2EhNzW15l1Z5X8DvCMemBcbv3iw2nJQqT_qOldz0SBkciE-xfC4EWmQz5R5m6SJFWcYs8I-gvmjh5CPAiMqYnEONOg_OTUmW8dPxVgAaO2MVRDuMO9eJF_mgbBu6Sa1j8h_Rb83GaHhSt4ajW3bwd3CogAxI54Uf5wqO06T6NSiVodgBkOJoktq/s2631/IMG_7037.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2631" data-original-width="2582" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbXt8N2EhNzW15l1Z5X8DvCMemBcbv3iw2nJQqT_qOldz0SBkciE-xfC4EWmQz5R5m6SJFWcYs8I-gvmjh5CPAiMqYnEONOg_OTUmW8dPxVgAaO2MVRDuMO9eJF_mgbBu6Sa1j8h_Rb83GaHhSt4ajW3bwd3CogAxI54Uf5wqO06T6NSiVodgBkOJoktq/s320/IMG_7037.jpg" width="314" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Fairy Tale (Hickory LPM / LPS 127 - December 1965 - #85)</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4KeyR3Uf7wBd-HRiBqz37fS-NJ7CqKLrfzjzixCBGpSu-ncr1hHtfqBn4aGhHmfUzpYx_FzhrPkm0L1a2sFWfmtLPGwyX6Aqn9G8CI4hX7A_I2CRAkLZFhMHca7dfL56gkncHKP9wOoRpMSFu6YOvaPuKAf8Vv02dbhrtFq6QVqrJSF9NFcIPzjGuYpHO/s2655/IMG_7034.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2655" data-original-width="2655" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4KeyR3Uf7wBd-HRiBqz37fS-NJ7CqKLrfzjzixCBGpSu-ncr1hHtfqBn4aGhHmfUzpYx_FzhrPkm0L1a2sFWfmtLPGwyX6Aqn9G8CI4hX7A_I2CRAkLZFhMHca7dfL56gkncHKP9wOoRpMSFu6YOvaPuKAf8Vv02dbhrtFq6QVqrJSF9NFcIPzjGuYpHO/s320/IMG_7034.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>The Real Donovan (Hickory LPM / LPS 135 - September 1966 - #96)</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhcmiIRkM9hWNMNlTwDpbTSHx_U_fqEtK8DPZVlKixHFClZED04tHtiZaGf-0TFJ_30iyDxBfY94o3oaw_nQ4Xq6Uo7zyEG6aBB1KTgpeOJIJXGdE0A6sarZqtA_dVcZTrY_EA1BSE0AiLlVdxIeyLzQil733PJRgla-0Mio6G-MoCw5LmtdDKBQRU3eA/s2665/IMG_7035.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2641" data-original-width="2665" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhcmiIRkM9hWNMNlTwDpbTSHx_U_fqEtK8DPZVlKixHFClZED04tHtiZaGf-0TFJ_30iyDxBfY94o3oaw_nQ4Xq6Uo7zyEG6aBB1KTgpeOJIJXGdE0A6sarZqtA_dVcZTrY_EA1BSE0AiLlVdxIeyLzQil733PJRgla-0Mio6G-MoCw5LmtdDKBQRU3eA/s320/IMG_7035.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Like It Is, Was, and Evermore Shall Be (Hickory LPM / LPS 143 - March 1968 - #117)</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBTMLkc8a6booW4qJjpg1eL3YJgjZIPYqi6HNUsNQ6lDJ-UHZ2eAqHZngjZo4HWOqjvh8tOyWkYsg8I7pWSy1XAtHTi-Ww9zUuMwNO6QMvBthC2Ta8Nqgfh2o7vz6mhmG0qcB_eODLNoTOLZe3S_Pui9315iWZtiqrgdClGcGV6y9H53-rJvBkMa_5RgLI/s2713/IMG_7036.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2696" data-original-width="2713" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBTMLkc8a6booW4qJjpg1eL3YJgjZIPYqi6HNUsNQ6lDJ-UHZ2eAqHZngjZo4HWOqjvh8tOyWkYsg8I7pWSy1XAtHTi-Ww9zUuMwNO6QMvBthC2Ta8Nqgfh2o7vz6mhmG0qcB_eODLNoTOLZe3S_Pui9315iWZtiqrgdClGcGV6y9H53-rJvBkMa_5RgLI/s320/IMG_7036.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>The Best of Donovan (Hickory LPS 149 - October 1969 - #135)</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan’s Hickory Singles</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">45-1309 - Catch The Wind/Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do (April 1965)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">45-1324 - Colours/Josie (July 1965)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">45-1338 - Universal Soldier/Do You Hear Me Now (September 1965)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">45-1375 - You’re Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond (Edit)/The Little Tin Soldier (March 1966)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">45-P-1402 - To Try For The Sun/Turquoise (July 1966)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">45-P-1417 - Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness)/The War Drags On (October 1966)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">45-P-1470 - Sunny Goodge Street/Summer Day Reflection Song (July 1967)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">45-P-1492 - Do You Hear Me Now/ Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do (January 1968)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Here's a list of Donovan’s full-length albums in release order</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What’s Bin Did and What’s Bin Hid</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (UK) (1965)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Catch The Wind</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (US) (1965)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Fairy Tale</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1965)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunshine Superman</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (US) (1966)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mellow Yellow</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1967)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunshine Superman</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (UK) (1967)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Gift From A Flower To A Garden</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1967)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan In Concert</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1968)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hurdy Gurdy Man</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1968)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan’s Greatest Hits</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1969)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Barabajagal</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1969)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Open Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1970)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">HMS Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1971)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Cosmic Wheels</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1973)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Live In Japan: Spring Tour 1973</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (Japan only 1973)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Essence To Essence</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1974)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">7-Tease</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1974)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Slow Down World</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1976)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1977)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Neutronica</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1980)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Love Is Only Feeling</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1981)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lady Of The Stars</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1984)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sutras</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (1996)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sixty Four</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (2004)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Beat Café</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (2004)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Shadows Of Blue</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (2013)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Jump In The Line</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (2019)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Gaelia (The Sultan Sessions)</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (2022)</span></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9mqpX26CNKgK67H7gBGOTEsETU0lyIwd9bBMoOZdhDt4xhaIDfJMlDOKqBci64_LPv31TRjPQ6REv-sUwa-Fh_OmRAB3yWyk3xcdc3qZZ3SxrjATspe8CWjpWKw8RcnICZxEYc5hENA0sI3fNy3aV-9gnK25ZwBJVJF2YYhBOYOOmiu5aCjOMrrdVX3f/s3009/IMG_6903-Text.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3009" data-original-width="2784" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9mqpX26CNKgK67H7gBGOTEsETU0lyIwd9bBMoOZdhDt4xhaIDfJMlDOKqBci64_LPv31TRjPQ6REv-sUwa-Fh_OmRAB3yWyk3xcdc3qZZ3SxrjATspe8CWjpWKw8RcnICZxEYc5hENA0sI3fNy3aV-9gnK25ZwBJVJF2YYhBOYOOmiu5aCjOMrrdVX3f/w592-h640/IMG_6903-Text.jpg" width="592" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b><span style="font-size: medium;">In case you missed it</span></b> - <a href="https://andnowitsallthis.blogspot.com/2023/08/elevator-in-brain-hotel-part-1-all.html" target="_blank">HERE'S PART 1</a><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><br /></span></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-69977916594495072182023-08-03T20:20:00.091-07:002024-03-20T23:32:49.989-07:00Elevator In The Brain Hotel - Part 1 - All The Donovan Albums Ranked<p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><p style="font-size: medium; text-align: center; white-space-collapse: collapse;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4mAKQFlVvMDPeci620EAwZZoKbHokqVOQ1jjE8So58XiI23mCCL3fcBI3dtkI01Pi2_b7X90OuBucGooBhCHJXfW8w2X4M4I7xacO-1CfhbE76lzfsdHhTZyl6x4dwP1X_Xt3h0zj6Cr7ZgQZQ_VA8yeKBi7vM0mLjvsEOX4w2vriskW4tgJHCyOCZG4/s3096/IMG_6962_text.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2627" data-original-width="3096" height="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4mAKQFlVvMDPeci620EAwZZoKbHokqVOQ1jjE8So58XiI23mCCL3fcBI3dtkI01Pi2_b7X90OuBucGooBhCHJXfW8w2X4M4I7xacO-1CfhbE76lzfsdHhTZyl6x4dwP1X_Xt3h0zj6Cr7ZgQZQ_VA8yeKBi7vM0mLjvsEOX4w2vriskW4tgJHCyOCZG4/w640-h544/IMG_6962_text.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p style="font-size: medium; text-align: center; white-space-collapse: collapse;"><b style="font-size: large; white-space-collapse: preserve;">ALL THE IMPORTANT DONOVAN ALBUMS RANKED WORST TO BEST: Part 1</b></p><div><b style="font-size: 12pt;">by Stuart Penney</b></div><div><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></b></div></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-62a885eb-7fff-fa16-6af2-d6618c7bad1c"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Want to know where to start listening to Donovan? Maybe you already own most of his records but are interested in seeing how they stack up today or perhaps how strongly you disagree with our assessment? This album-by-album guide should give new fans and the undecided alike some idea where to begin with the tousled troubadour who influenced the Beatles (even though he really doesn’t like to talk about it much) and along the way gave us a run of albums virtually unparalleled in the late 60s. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan’s golden era was undoubtedly 1966-73. The moon was in the seventh house, Jupiter had aligned with Mars and peace was guiding the planets. It was the dawning of the age of Aquarius. Acid rock and psychedelia had captivated an entire generation and... (<i>Get on with it!! Ed</i>). </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">During that period, aided and abetted by the combined genius of producer Mickie Most and arranger John Cameron, he made records the equal of almost anyone in popular music. His importance naturally faded in the 70s as the scene changed around him and the world became a very different place. But even so, there are still many gems to be found scattered throughout his later work. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So, here, cherry-picked from this extraordinary body of work are what I consider the 26 most important Donovan long players ranked worst to best (or least-best to most-best, if you prefer). Sorry vinyl fans, a few titles are CD-only releases, but that can’t be helped. And you’ll find most of them on Spotify, anyway.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABkAkKBob8DAbnSmRyXd-MYeWWc2Tu7DrqXGtjItnclaKocI3--et40o95l_-pOZfd5wiqG1D32gjmAx5WyuER5hWaMJ9UpryakJ6IGVYTgo7YsPR8bwHv3UsSoRJEKIAUSwp7Lj4m3SASNsftvGbcuwkpjlIuwQr8yUz0uaG-q6eCeuvUj7vDYnksdmr/s735/BB%20Feb%205%201966.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="735" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABkAkKBob8DAbnSmRyXd-MYeWWc2Tu7DrqXGtjItnclaKocI3--et40o95l_-pOZfd5wiqG1D32gjmAx5WyuER5hWaMJ9UpryakJ6IGVYTgo7YsPR8bwHv3UsSoRJEKIAUSwp7Lj4m3SASNsftvGbcuwkpjlIuwQr8yUz0uaG-q6eCeuvUj7vDYnksdmr/w400-h321/BB%20Feb%205%201966.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sue Me, Sue You Blues</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">First, a word of explanation regarding the huge discrepancy between Donovan’s early UK and US discographies. In December 1965 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Billboard</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> magazine carried a story confirming that he had severed ties with his trio of managers Geoff Stephens, Terry Kennedy and Peter Eden to sign with Ashley Kozak. Around the same time, he also struck a deal with producer Mickie Most and the notorious business manager Allen Klein, soon to become infamous for his association with the Stones and the Beatles. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Most’s productions were licensed exclusively to CBS in America (EMI in UK) and this in turn led to a US record deal with Epic (a Columbia / CBS subsidiary) for Donovan. The deal was signed in June 1966, and it’s claimed that Donovan was the first artist brought to the label by Columbia / CBS Vice President Clive Davis.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But since his UK label Pye already had a US licensing deal with Warner Brothers / Reprise* this created all manner of legal problems, causing Donovan's British releases to be virtually frozen for more than a year as the writs flew thick and fast. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">*Ed. Note: Warner / Reprise in the US had the right of first refusal for UK Pye releases, leaving smaller independent labels such as Kapp, Laurie, Cameo and Hickory to pick up the leftovers. See part two of this piece for the story of Donovan’s Hickory releases.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbO9MjLwDDyNNJLWSnuifjpkCX7rHtGkTtSGR-xucV1YlYiGQSPcbDdkRt87dvhlSTgY5MfzZ7UmZBGtVMVqSo3OXiiiFLTBU1j3BUbEHmz4i0cwjsMdFMx0wCh3ElmbOBVFtjGeJxOJSqOOkjZJojb9B8OJMoImaLquaGyM-QAT9lETsAyhsygBH2UG8/s676/BB%20June%2018%201966.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="670" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbO9MjLwDDyNNJLWSnuifjpkCX7rHtGkTtSGR-xucV1YlYiGQSPcbDdkRt87dvhlSTgY5MfzZ7UmZBGtVMVqSo3OXiiiFLTBU1j3BUbEHmz4i0cwjsMdFMx0wCh3ElmbOBVFtjGeJxOJSqOOkjZJojb9B8OJMoImaLquaGyM-QAT9lETsAyhsygBH2UG8/w396-h400/BB%20June%2018%201966.jpg" width="396" /></a></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The management situation was finalised in February 1966 with Stephens, Kennedy and Eden receiving a financial settlement, but the label problem dragged on. By the time the legal shenanigans were ironed out, Donovan’s UK catalogue was in disarray with several records delayed or not released at all in Britain. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the end Donovan stayed with Pye records (and their progressive affiliate label Dawn) in the UK until 1973 at which point </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Cosmic Wheels</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> became his first album to be released worldwide on the Epic label. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Now we’ve got that out of the way, let’s crack on with part one of the list. Part two will follow very soon.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeth5lPgcqUE-Tx2kfT1thKQmWAESih_gc0qglbM0yWnY2f85-H4qqFzpEZ2QViFlSmdCcodKLEGBd6OfrMVWa3KlI9UImmFuQHZf6QxvFAC-iyVJzX4aGeBp8_PyUpAFNXpULQgM8N4eIifQ8BxUOEaynpvyDSv4nkGg88a3gQF-o0L91awBQPzc4E0a/s2693/Lady%20of%20the%20Stars.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2652" data-original-width="2693" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeth5lPgcqUE-Tx2kfT1thKQmWAESih_gc0qglbM0yWnY2f85-H4qqFzpEZ2QViFlSmdCcodKLEGBd6OfrMVWa3KlI9UImmFuQHZf6QxvFAC-iyVJzX4aGeBp8_PyUpAFNXpULQgM8N4eIifQ8BxUOEaynpvyDSv4nkGg88a3gQF-o0L91awBQPzc4E0a/s320/Lady%20of%20the%20Stars.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">25. Lady Of The Stars </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK RCA PL 70060</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US Allegiance AV 437</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Jerry Wexler, Dee Rob, Bruce Robb</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: October 1983 (UK) / January 1984 (US)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This was his first LP to gain a US release since the self-titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> in 1977 and it was indeed a strange and confusing album. Five of the ten tracks were shameless re-recordings of older songs including the title track, “Sunshine Superman,” “Season of the Witch,” and “Local Boy Chops Wood.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The album sank without trace, and it proved to be Donovan’s last recording for 12 years. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lady of the Stars</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> has been reissued countless times on numerous labels with different titles and assorted covers. In 1993 it appeared on CD as </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Till I See you Again</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> with a 1965 era cover photo. A year later it was retitled (confusingly) </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunshine Superman,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> this time with a variation of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For Little Ones</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> album sleeve photo taken at Bodiam Castle in East Sussex. Some of the endless reissues even suffered the indignity of being sold in the Pound / Dollar / Euro stores.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiREhxqWgYAbPbGBLcErp2lMJEpf9DTJ9k76m-k6oaHS8bOP9xj_ZGuWnOINHMkHcDJsNdWBauDCIXP0FzUege7fI-3vG7pD4uRHNX-PqfmDNZ4UfLZM1y315FP_xlnvv0NNunJOL2a1FGw0-4rWXFSPKC5o3Rx6dxtixZNRPb6p6G8gRw3kkP4Ghvv097c/s600/donovan-golden-tracks-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiREhxqWgYAbPbGBLcErp2lMJEpf9DTJ9k76m-k6oaHS8bOP9xj_ZGuWnOINHMkHcDJsNdWBauDCIXP0FzUege7fI-3vG7pD4uRHNX-PqfmDNZ4UfLZM1y315FP_xlnvv0NNunJOL2a1FGw0-4rWXFSPKC5o3Rx6dxtixZNRPb6p6G8gRw3kkP4Ghvv097c/s320/donovan-golden-tracks-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">In 2022 a vinyl reissue re-titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Golden Tracks </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">(Cleopatra CLO2578LP BM) appeared. Pressed in Canada, the original back cover photo was moved to the front, and it was available in blue marbled vinyl.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbEtvTtAySgoLvE-1xln6wCJmS4a_FzjgJ8SUjvReFPMCW3h1C6OnIlK2COza6r6xfIWIs0KTU2MOblDFlKOnTBxBpAFdhzEjElkfTtw4TYv1XLkcpYEbVsHRS6fIG-KzZIJ_2PkEPUMifsySOCe9N52sh1HrL3LiYLvLM1r3pnLpLxbxDFIDyewBlSAZf/s2714/Neutronica.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2680" data-original-width="2714" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbEtvTtAySgoLvE-1xln6wCJmS4a_FzjgJ8SUjvReFPMCW3h1C6OnIlK2COza6r6xfIWIs0KTU2MOblDFlKOnTBxBpAFdhzEjElkfTtw4TYv1XLkcpYEbVsHRS6fIG-KzZIJ_2PkEPUMifsySOCe9N52sh1HrL3LiYLvLM1r3pnLpLxbxDFIDyewBlSAZf/s320/Neutronica.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">24. Neutronica </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">France - Barclay 200 149</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">W. Germany - RCA 28429</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Italy - Bubble BLU 19602</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Australia - Interfusion L37811 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Donovan, Peter Walsh</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: 1980</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Things had reached a pretty pass by 1980 when, for the first time ever, a studio album by Donovan was not released in either the UK or US. Following a European record deal with RCA, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Neutronica</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was issued only in France, West Germany, Italy and, surprisingly, Australia. These were dark times indeed for Donovan.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Much of the album directly related to Donovan’s political views concerning world hunger, war, military spending and the like. The synth-based rock tracks were most un-Donovan like, but they were tempered by a handful of softer acoustic songs which were more successful. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Best of all was a version Eric Bogle’s moving WWI ballad “No Man’s Land” (aka “Green Fields of France”) and the traditional “The Heights of Alma.” Donovan plays a cittern / octave mandolin on this rousing Crimean War song. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Erstwhile Keef Hartley band guitarist Miller Anderson guests on “We Are One.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Neutronica</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> remained unreleased in the UK until 2001 when Pilot Records issued it on CD with seven bonus tracks. These comprised live recordings of “The Heights of Alma” and “Universal Soldier,” plus acoustic demos of “Only to Be Expected” and “Split Wood Not Atoms” and alternate versions of “Shipwreck” and “Madrigalinda.” Also included was an a cappella song “Fair Ye Well.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: The Heights of Alma, No Man’s Land</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxW0f5L-r2f175_R7bHmXSZvELhFGP5QeO0_tUwSLTIiLpM1Itu2q-gueIOVFtmXneWcH1vw8IXMd_PGFbYTH_5NibNiU-ErH3y05XGqcFUiqgip3AGE35GlMbasCfEGzQzC9_ookxYPgKmabpRq2UTqEEI7tveBIl2GKfRZBr5TmPh5SBr5k-olF3Ern/s2716/DOnovan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2716" data-original-width="2688" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxW0f5L-r2f175_R7bHmXSZvELhFGP5QeO0_tUwSLTIiLpM1Itu2q-gueIOVFtmXneWcH1vw8IXMd_PGFbYTH_5NibNiU-ErH3y05XGqcFUiqgip3AGE35GlMbasCfEGzQzC9_ookxYPgKmabpRq2UTqEEI7tveBIl2GKfRZBr5TmPh5SBr5k-olF3Ern/s320/DOnovan.jpg" width="317" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">23. Donovan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK RAK SRAK528</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US Arista AB 4143</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Mickie Most</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: October 1977 (UK) / August 1977 (US)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He’d been with the Epic label for over a decade (in the US, at least), but by 1977 Donovan’s contract had expired (or possibly it was terminated) and he signed a one album deal with Mickie Most’s RAK label, home to glam and pop luminaries Suzie Quatro, Hot Chocolate, Mud, Smokie etc (in fact, three Smokie members even contributed backing vocals to this album). With Most himself back in the producer’s seat and John Cameron returning to handle string and horn arrangements it was almost like old times. Almost. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Featuring a contemporary rock and pop sound, this was not the best record to release in the year of punk and it was not well received, failing to chart on both sides of the Atlantic. Glimpses of the old genius shone though in places, notably “Lady of the Stars” and “Maya’s Dance,” but this is a long way down the list of essential Donovan albums.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Musicians included drummer Colin Allen (John Mayall, Stone the Crows, Focus etc) and virtuoso guitarist Isaac Guillory who had recorded with Al Stewart. Sleeve images were provided by Gered Mankowitz who photographed virtually everyone worth photographing in the 60s and 70s. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">RAK records didn’t have much of a footprint in N.America where their releases were licensed to a number of labels. As a result, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was released in the US and Canada on Clive Davis’s Arista label with a rearranged track listing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Local Boy Chops Wood, Lady Of The Stars, Maya’s Dance</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4o3WtmqcQk061PJ2vByPKwZPIYAaynzvJIWgtPEA2-GcMidcazRNs6sx8cDTSgVNXUQNkpFZOaVo1CoJbyYVSqVL4bGo0Wfu6tV4WWY1OcFyTE0GEs3jPBMx72Wvupl59smJPPGWrQjnLcZzKIUu3LgrhYvR2vEbvtaf2Fw9EgaX0apcVUkJIlLynbet/s2641/Sutras.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2635" data-original-width="2641" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4o3WtmqcQk061PJ2vByPKwZPIYAaynzvJIWgtPEA2-GcMidcazRNs6sx8cDTSgVNXUQNkpFZOaVo1CoJbyYVSqVL4bGo0Wfu6tV4WWY1OcFyTE0GEs3jPBMx72Wvupl59smJPPGWrQjnLcZzKIUu3LgrhYvR2vEbvtaf2Fw9EgaX0apcVUkJIlLynbet/s320/Sutras.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">22. Sutras</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">EU American Recordings 74321 39743 2</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US American Recordings 943075 2</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Rick Rubin</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: October 1996</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And so, we reach the first Donovan album (other than compilations) to be released only on CD, with no vinyl option (to date). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the mid-90s Rick Rubin was arguably the hottest producer on the planet, having worked with everyone from AC/DC and Slayer to the Beastie Boys and Mick Jagger. He also had a reputation for making veteran artists relevant again, most notably Johnny Cash. The 1994 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">American Recordings</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">album had been a great success for The Man In Black and so Rubin decided to try his hand with another 60s heritage artist whose vintage material was enjoying something of a resurgence at the time. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">His hip hop / thrash metal leanings notwithstanding, the producer had apparently been a longtime Donovan fan and persuaded him to revert to the meditative acoustic style of his early Pye recordings. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Recorded during 1995 and 1996 with Danny Thompson (double bass), Nigel Kennedy (violin) and Benmont Tench from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (keyboards) providing sympathetic backing, it was Don’s first studio record in 13 years and his most retro sounding album in decades. “Please Don’t Bend” was perhaps the strongest track and this was regularly performed in concert during the late 90s. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Contemporary reviews of the album were mixed, with many finding it too one-paced and lacking in variety. It was a brave attempt but sold poorly and is the only collaboration between Rubin and Donovan released. Even so, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sutras</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> served to re-establish him as a current artist releasing new material after a lengthy absence from the studio. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The record company press release told us, presumably with a straight face, that Donovan “had prepared over one hundred songs for the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sutras</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> recording sessions.” In a scathing yet chucklesome 1996 review in </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Q</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> magazine, David Hepworth picked up on this unlikely nugget and quipped “…just the hundred songs...which indicates he has much to learn about the virtues of concentration,” before concluding “extraordinary to consider quite how dull the 80 rejected songs must have been.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Regarding Donovan’s “florid enunciation” Hepworth declared him to sound “like a Victorian actor-manager reciting Chaucer.” </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Q</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> awarded </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sutras</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> a measly two stars out of a possible five. Harsh but, under the circumstances, entirely fair. 27 years later only a pedant would point out that, allowing for the 12 tracks on the CD, the number of rejected songs would have totalled 88. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A 1998 follow-up to </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sutras</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, provisionally titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Promise</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was planned but never materialised. Presumably, this would have featured some more of those “one hundred songs” we heard so much about.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US pressings of the CD omitted the final track “The Garden” but, as if to compensate, the American version had a considerably more substantial booklet than the EU edition. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For those wondering about the album title. In Buddhism, sutras are like scriptures, containing the teachings of the Buddha. Similarly, in Jainism, sutras are the sermons of a spiritual teacher. In Sanskrit, sutra means "thread," and traditional ancient literary sutras attempted to weave knowledge, threadlike, around and into their few simple words or syllables. It was good to see that, yet again, Donovan was not handicapped by modesty. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Track: Please Don’t Bend</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO72_FGS1nUR7Aee8iCKASWgpZW9J4p_tf5LlGAfGkvfM-eP2Yy3w9tjOpIQfh9q360oJadX8b99yKQ5nQ1rHxXjf1hnn25l_2NoteKHDWyZjChpnr-FBQF3MjDeqPWuB1ZBzlZRHGbRjyh7tVT8MopI0j0sx394vNW-kCN6qc-r6THebFIeDGNqsi6DIA/s450/Love%20Is%20ONly%20Feeling.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO72_FGS1nUR7Aee8iCKASWgpZW9J4p_tf5LlGAfGkvfM-eP2Yy3w9tjOpIQfh9q360oJadX8b99yKQ5nQ1rHxXjf1hnn25l_2NoteKHDWyZjChpnr-FBQF3MjDeqPWuB1ZBzlZRHGbRjyh7tVT8MopI0j0sx394vNW-kCN6qc-r6THebFIeDGNqsi6DIA/s320/Love%20Is%20ONly%20Feeling.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">21. Love Is Only Feeling </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK RCA 24872</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Germany RCA 28472</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Donovan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: October 1981 (Germany) / 1983 (UK)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">With a stripped down backing of Danny Thompson (bass), John Stevens (drums) and Tony Roberts (woodwind, brass) this was a return to old school acoustic Donovan. All the ingredients were in place, but it was let down by a lack of strong, memorable material. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Accompanied by daughter Astrella, Donovan plays a cittern / octave mandolin on the title track which is a re-working of “Someone’s Singing” from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Gift To A Flower To A Garden</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Another album which didn’t see a US release, this was issued only in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, Australia and, belatedly, UK. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Track: Lady of the Flowers</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGKnhq9qmvQbAxYFjSFSel83x3QjujN8lcDxqIYLV5Mp13rIDNYitUi4dwo-JsnLuFqWwUok-6Nm8brw09bi9wdZ8orqF1d808is7XLb9dafxzC1E-_gBFV4sdxIfqbaF1v4RDYZknekSizjsvRpC5p8BeVK641v6kSriHiSicKRqBPulhkU2XpPIW3sXW/s2783/Beat%20Cafe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2405" data-original-width="2783" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGKnhq9qmvQbAxYFjSFSel83x3QjujN8lcDxqIYLV5Mp13rIDNYitUi4dwo-JsnLuFqWwUok-6Nm8brw09bi9wdZ8orqF1d808is7XLb9dafxzC1E-_gBFV4sdxIfqbaF1v4RDYZknekSizjsvRpC5p8BeVK641v6kSriHiSicKRqBPulhkU2XpPIW3sXW/s320/Beat%20Cafe.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">20. Beat Cafe</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Appleseed APR CD 1081</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: John Chelew</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: August 2004 (UK)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The first album of new material in the eight years since </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sutras </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">arrived to generally positive reviews. The beatnik themed material was largely successful, although a hipster jazz adaptation of Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle” was, vocally at least, a little over-egged. As always, Danny Thompson and Jim Keltner were impeccable throughout and Donovan himself contributed some nice slinky lead guitar. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The first 1,000 copies were numbered and autographed and sold via Donovan’s website. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"Poorman's Sunshine" and "Lord of the Universe" were revamped recordings from the 1969 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Barabajagal</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> sessions, while "Lover O Lover" was originally released on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Love Is Only Feeling</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> in 1981.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Whirlwind, Two Lovers, The Cuckoo</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy76tr4sOTvXNw8OivWzs6U0dTb2PEmdB5m4XS6vo8rgY1ZfGa8k2vqBQvsNY8-5Q5UOed-oq5_GJXk9MhwVpzgNwORPLAUEU5fKWxTz3FdgJYU0MIkBzsM0A1kIM1fbeXY8-ztr2G_XJaHMXaK-_LjSCwK3CMuftRimuUZeo2uV_IlstwBSzA0B9ClxYc/s600/Sixty%20Four.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="600" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy76tr4sOTvXNw8OivWzs6U0dTb2PEmdB5m4XS6vo8rgY1ZfGa8k2vqBQvsNY8-5Q5UOed-oq5_GJXk9MhwVpzgNwORPLAUEU5fKWxTz3FdgJYU0MIkBzsM0A1kIM1fbeXY8-ztr2G_XJaHMXaK-_LjSCwK3CMuftRimuUZeo2uV_IlstwBSzA0B9ClxYc/s320/Sixty%20Four.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">19. Sixty Four: The Donovan Archive Volume 1</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan Discs ddcc0001 CD / V10001 LP</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: February 2004 CD / 2017 Vinyl LP</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This collection of pre “Catch The Wind” solo acoustic demos had been kicking around for a long time in the twilight world of bootlegs, but it took 50 years to surface officially on CD, and another 13 after that before a vinyl version appeared. Both are / were available by mail-order via Donovan’s website. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Still playing his cheap Zenith guitar with “This Machine Kills” sticker, the 18-year-old emerged fully formed as a competent performer, strong of voice and a decent instrumentalist too. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Isle of Sadness” was reworked as “Belated Forgiveness Plea” on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Fairy Tale</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, while “The Darkness Of My Night” later turned up with a full band arrangement as “Breezes of Pachulie” during the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunshine Superman</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> sessions, proving he was capable of writing strong material even at this tender age. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Talkin’ Pop Star Blues” was performed on those early </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Ready Steady Go!</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> appearances. It’s pure early Dylan - although Don would probably say they both lifted the format from Woody Guthrie - either way it’s now hopelessly dated lyrically. Elsewhere a brace of Jesse Fuller songs “Crazy 'Bout A Woman” and “Keep On Trucking” are basic folk club fare with kazoo and harmonica much in evidence (“Truckin’” was subsequently re-recorded for the debut album). “London Town” and “Co’dine” had already appeared on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Troubadour</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> box (see #14) but it was good to finally hear them in context. Together with Ewan MacColl’s “Dirty Old Town” they are by far the best of the nine tracks here. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The cover photo was first seen on a 1965 Canadian compilation LP <i><b>The Real Donovan</b></i> (Pye NSPL 30091).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: London Town, Co’dine, Dirty Old Town</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLkkdpVjMl6B-07CM8a5p7y_7-yAWGLF9hqQLHv2SfY7PeR11ICYTELEd-XTu9uDZ6c1hqwWjiXzGtfVpWyIeZSEqK-yU_3cej0CRNejYhg3odWRTfGAGLqPvX0RaMYvP0ojKNpcZGuCF9PGKAfbevbmgAXYyLBVNVs9McOKqxILx201VTzTxrr6RPfdNA/s2708/Slow%20Down%20World.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2698" data-original-width="2708" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLkkdpVjMl6B-07CM8a5p7y_7-yAWGLF9hqQLHv2SfY7PeR11ICYTELEd-XTu9uDZ6c1hqwWjiXzGtfVpWyIeZSEqK-yU_3cej0CRNejYhg3odWRTfGAGLqPvX0RaMYvP0ojKNpcZGuCF9PGKAfbevbmgAXYyLBVNVs9McOKqxILx201VTzTxrr6RPfdNA/s320/Slow%20Down%20World.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">18. Slow Down World</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK Epic S EPC 86011</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US Epic PE 33945</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Donovan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: June 1976 (UK) / May 1976 (US)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Recorded at A&M studios in Hollywood, Donovan’s thirteenth studio album fared no better sales wise than the previous two. He could still attract the big-name backing musicians however and Jim Keltner, Klaus Voorman, Tom Scott, Leland Sklar, Wilton Felder and Jesse Ed Davis made for an impressive line-up. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Opening track “Dark-Eyed Blue Jean Angel” is vintage acoustic Donovan with a lush string and flute arrangement. Don’s old friend, muse and mentor from the 60s Derroll Adams receives songwriting credits on two songs: “The Mountain” is performed solo with acoustic guitar while “My Love Is True (Love Song)” uses minimal backing, and both sound all the better for it. Donovan is best experienced without a fussy production. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A well-meaning ode to the women’s movement, "Liberation Rag" falls at the first hurdle with some painfully twee lyrics. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Another no show in the British charts, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Slow Down World</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> scraped in at #174 in the US, matching </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Essence To Essence</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> from two years earlier. This was Donovan’s final record for Epic (it’s rumoured his contract was cancelled by mutual consent) and it would be the last time a new release album from him would trouble the charts.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6pGqcxdQ5czLaFKKefFh3EQAa7Be0xSeoWyqFkL3m6-c8WmKIB4B1SUHx45Wf_IlIKqdQSGbG-iWtV-KmVO7vBAgjHkKdPK7U_iz45o02t2jX-s-jgmkgU7_2xKfV4pZdWVhFdto-pax63Povc0NmNf71xxfLI2AzdR-ICN6prakbpRc2891H5BzggxO/s795/SLow%20Down%20World%20ad.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="628" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6pGqcxdQ5czLaFKKefFh3EQAa7Be0xSeoWyqFkL3m6-c8WmKIB4B1SUHx45Wf_IlIKqdQSGbG-iWtV-KmVO7vBAgjHkKdPK7U_iz45o02t2jX-s-jgmkgU7_2xKfV4pZdWVhFdto-pax63Povc0NmNf71xxfLI2AzdR-ICN6prakbpRc2891H5BzggxO/w506-h640/SLow%20Down%20World%20ad.jpg" width="506" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700;">Record Collector Notes:</span></span></span><div><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Slow Down World</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was briefly issued on CD in 2004 as a 2-on-1 release with </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">7-Tease</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. This is now long deleted, and copies sell for crazy money online. The album is freely available on Spotify and iTunes / Amazon download, however, with two previously unavailable bonus tracks “Earthquake View” and “Black Gal Swing.”</span></span></div><div><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Dark-Eyed Blue Jean Angel, My Love Is True (Love Song)</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyUTFrqOsI9Bd0krrIZu3U397g2fj8CIjKk9IxP5YUyyIfFlx8EHK3Ux40_eplfTIdnNdZxquZdZ621Vbfn166RfxXnkFI4Jeii8xmAG4Ewy9MJB_zhVDemfgC7LHJrzfj8InRVsuwyqdUZPhtgEkZuZYen4kSHkBQZSUxklGJcSYBfguYCRQ7AtL1K1YC/s2714/7%20Tease.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2645" data-original-width="2714" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyUTFrqOsI9Bd0krrIZu3U397g2fj8CIjKk9IxP5YUyyIfFlx8EHK3Ux40_eplfTIdnNdZxquZdZ621Vbfn166RfxXnkFI4Jeii8xmAG4Ewy9MJB_zhVDemfgC7LHJrzfj8InRVsuwyqdUZPhtgEkZuZYen4kSHkBQZSUxklGJcSYBfguYCRQ7AtL1K1YC/s320/7%20Tease.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">17. 7-Tease</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK Epic S EPC 69104</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US Epic PE 33245</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producers: Norbert Putnam, Donovan, Mark Radice</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: January 1975 (UK) / November 1974 (US)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The title says it all. The sixties were well and truly over and here was Donovan, now aged all of 30, looking squarely down the barrel of the seventies and feeling nostalgic for the glory days of the previous decade. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Recorded in America with a cast of thousands, including Nashville session cats Kenny Buttrey, David Briggs and Reggie Young, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">7-Tease</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> featured a much harder rock sound than we had come to expect from Donovan, much of it bordering on over production. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The acoustic tracks such as “Your Broken Heart” and “Sadness” were vintage Donovan however and recalled the best of his 60s work. Not so good was “The Ordinary Family.” Despite a catchy tune it misfired badly with some cringeworthy lyrics. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“The songs on this album are taken from a Musical Tale entitled 7-TEASE which I am bringing to the Concert Stage. I invite all my old friends and any new friends to come and celebrate our new movement towards Harmony - all ages are welcome - bring a heart.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So reads, in part, the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">7-Tease</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> sleeve notes. The “Musical Tale” never materialised and after one more release for the Epic label Donovan went into semi-retirement, during which he moved from California back to England and then to Ireland where he still resides today. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">7-Tease</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> saw no chart action in Britain and limped to only #135 on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Billboard</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> top 200. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A 2004 Repertoire CD reissue featured four bonus tracks including single versions of “Rock and Roll Souljer” and “Salvation Stomp.” The other bonus tracks “Age of Treason” and “What the Soul Desires” had already appeared on the 1992 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Troubadour</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> CD compilation (see #14).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Your Broken Heart, Sadness </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaFqtAkwNMUWAKBRHh_iZvRyfU2kh-LZTOxBkNk6IjFfFXBTaGcMjyfnr-a16BNUyQrKtuogGHi_L0F5Lm5VjO3hmNMhNL8lNXg_lXSi1YZx0yMdGvdV7J8_aOCvw1K7LOgzBIevFWINC9uSIVxLsgFd-iQ_gCnL9yKvXoP9zFfElvJIGOByGoSIx1jZdJ/s912/Live.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaFqtAkwNMUWAKBRHh_iZvRyfU2kh-LZTOxBkNk6IjFfFXBTaGcMjyfnr-a16BNUyQrKtuogGHi_L0F5Lm5VjO3hmNMhNL8lNXg_lXSi1YZx0yMdGvdV7J8_aOCvw1K7LOgzBIevFWINC9uSIVxLsgFd-iQ_gCnL9yKvXoP9zFfElvJIGOByGoSIx1jZdJ/s320/Live.jpg" width="316" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">16. Live 1965 - 1969</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">London Calling LC2CD 5033</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: 2019</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It’s the only unofficial release in our list, but this 30-track double CD of previously unavailable BBC radio archive material certainly deserves a place here. Alongside unique performances of chart hits and reworked album tracks are several rare and unreleased songs, plus some entertaining introductions and interviews by the legendary BBC radio presenter Brian Matthew. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The earliest recordings date from May 1965, not long after the unknown Donovan first appeared in the nation’s living rooms during his three-week residency on Britain’s coolest TV pop show </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Ready Steady Go!</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> The first thing you notice is how good his voice was back then. Strong, confident and pitch perfect, it’s easy to see how the precocious 19-year-old folk ragamuffin became so big, so quickly. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Most of these sessions were made at the BBC’s Paris Studios in Lower Regent Street, central London. While many original tapes were wiped or lost, transcription discs made for overseas broadcast thankfully survived. These are the versions as they went to air, complete with voiceover introductions and (very much of their time) interviews.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Of these 30 tracks, four have never appeared on any official Donovan releases. They include two obscure Dylan songs (“Who Killed Davy Moore” and “Daddy, You Been On My Mind*”) one by Bert Jansch (“Running From Home”) and the traditional “Working On The Railroad.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>*Don changed the gender of this Dylan song from "Mama" to "Daddy," just as Joan Baez had done when she covered it in 1965 on the album </i><b><i>Farewell Angelina</i></b><i>. Don’t ask me why, but it was probably due to Joanie's influence.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Other songs feature different arrangements and / or changed lyrics, including several which were still unreleased at the time of broadcast and appear in prototype or stripped-down form. The early, acoustic folk recordings will be of interest strictly to Donovan completists but it’s the later more mature pop psych material where the real value of this collection lies. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The songs appear in date order of recording and despite the CD title, it’s interesting to note there is nothing from 1966 here. This is possibly because Donovan’s career was in hiatus for part of the year, due to the ongoing legal wrangles mentioned elsewhere. There is also a dearth of sleeve note information regarding backing musicians, but we can make educated guesses for the key personnel on most tracks.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Skip Along Sam, Running From Home, Barabajagal</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgveZf8Tupj3jssMF2w4JrMciaW7YfeUDTjpfeCY9m4TJdjzRAnxYPMK-5Gaoi4QjNKigw-Pnw42xybGxGxAEqUWuAFnnrGJaAZmQZrSTN1Lyps2RymAf00dZb5vvHCgIK4cSFHY3bpij4DSzzIF3Hm72DYLfLvkxbS1xMoYbYVEslT0Ks4meq9W8-pjUJj/s1280/In%20Concert.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1265" data-original-width="1280" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgveZf8Tupj3jssMF2w4JrMciaW7YfeUDTjpfeCY9m4TJdjzRAnxYPMK-5Gaoi4QjNKigw-Pnw42xybGxGxAEqUWuAFnnrGJaAZmQZrSTN1Lyps2RymAf00dZb5vvHCgIK4cSFHY3bpij4DSzzIF3Hm72DYLfLvkxbS1xMoYbYVEslT0Ks4meq9W8-pjUJj/s320/In%20Concert.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">15. Donovan In Concert</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">US Epic BN 26460 (stereo)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK Pye NPL 18237 (mono) / NSPL 18237 (stereo)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producer: Mickie Most</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: July 1968 (US) / September 1968 (UK)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Welcome to the phenomenon of Donovan” intones KRLA radio personality and MC Rhett Walker gravely, before launching into a few minutes of hyperbolic waffle, culminating in the story of how the star of the show miraculously stopped the rain, messiah-like, at a Hollywood Bowl concert. The microphone is then handed over to Donovan’s father (and erstwhile co-manager) Donald Leitch to make the introduction proper.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Recorded at the then newly opened Anaheim Convention Center, 40 minutes south of Los Angeles, the album was drawn from two concerts at the 7,500-seat venue on November 17, 1967. Such was Donovan’s US popularity at that point he could easily sell out sizable west coast arenas such as this.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Don was backed by stalwarts Harold McNair (flute and saxophone), Tony Carr (drums) and the unrelated “Candy” John Carr (bongos and percussion). A long-time collaborator, “Candy” would team up with Donovan for the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Open Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> album and subsequent band of that name at the 1970 Isle of Wight festival. Local musicians Lorin Newkirk (piano) and Andy Troncosco (bass) were brought in for the US concerts. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpw1fnbZHeVFttOnb-CGxtcbyJ2EZh2ZUyoSDt7D72clWAhMvZZ7vi4t5HopQQzw_U8Ys8fknpanOIS1ybI56UAcuC4lPTJGSSfm7Ex5Iyh4YAiUdYC-wO75NmcVkO8x5LF24fWkjko4nm3Suz1fB2WzMxvtHM2HFz76e2iFAIWo1GfIZopIFyi1zJJYv/s1654/Donovan%20In%20Concert%20advert.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1654" data-original-width="1060" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpw1fnbZHeVFttOnb-CGxtcbyJ2EZh2ZUyoSDt7D72clWAhMvZZ7vi4t5HopQQzw_U8Ys8fknpanOIS1ybI56UAcuC4lPTJGSSfm7Ex5Iyh4YAiUdYC-wO75NmcVkO8x5LF24fWkjko4nm3Suz1fB2WzMxvtHM2HFz76e2iFAIWo1GfIZopIFyi1zJJYv/w256-h400/Donovan%20In%20Concert%20advert.jpg" width="256" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You probably had to be there to appreciate this one, as the live recordings tend to lack the impact of the studio versions. Still, it’s a reminder of how Donovan sounded on stage in 1967 and as such has powerful historical significance. Plus, it features a few oddities such as “Rules and Regulations” a song much bootlegged but never released officially elsewhere. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A double CD version released in 2006 titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan In Concert (The Complete Anaheim 1967 Show)</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> contained 23 tracks from the November 17 concerts, including eight songs not featured on the original LP. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The spoken intro is much extended on the double CD and appears to be taken partly from the earlier show. There is a lengthy pause before Donovan’s dad appears during which the band vamps instrumentally. When he eventually arrives, Donald requests that the noisy air conditioner be turned off before the show begins. The track running order is also somewhat different to the original LP with some longer song introductions.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The front cover shows a reproduction of the painting “Desert Journey” by US writer and artist Fleur Cowles (1908 - 2009). In the liner notes Donovan claimed he found the image in a book of her paintings titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Tiger Flower</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> but, confusingly, the painting does not actually appear in this book. In 1950 Cowles launched the short-lived fashion and lifestyle magazine </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Flair</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. She died in England at the grand age of 101. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Celeste, Preachin’ Love, Guinevere</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetEUKQXp-9QjTUB9eAsta30uN2Ac79AX6inOr5-PPiIppy__R67qj2dhBAQ1fa3XmECJ6yRPZ3M5HhMezw1xCJW45AgYCkmVen8NOKtV8ReKr7wI1nITMO1SqUZt_1ELxnjJDhqzm1Vbimt8XZYQ9AZEYSVHbLEfxzbANj0KF5eCJ-gVoSbnoVIJGIpLV/s1856/box%20sets.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1395" data-original-width="1856" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetEUKQXp-9QjTUB9eAsta30uN2Ac79AX6inOr5-PPiIppy__R67qj2dhBAQ1fa3XmECJ6yRPZ3M5HhMezw1xCJW45AgYCkmVen8NOKtV8ReKr7wI1nITMO1SqUZt_1ELxnjJDhqzm1Vbimt8XZYQ9AZEYSVHbLEfxzbANj0KF5eCJ-gVoSbnoVIJGIpLV/w400-h301/box%20sets.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">14. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Troubadour: The Definitive Collection 1964-76</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Epic Legacy E2K 46986</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: August 1992</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">14a. Try For The Sun: The Journey of Donovan </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Epic Legacy E4K 93919</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: September 2005</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There have been innumerable Donovan compilation CDs over the years, but only a couple are worthy of inclusion here. His first boxed set </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Troubadour: The Definitive Collection 1964-76</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">arrived in 1992 and while most of the 44 tracks were obvious choices, there were also five previously unissued songs and three alternate takes, plus several interesting remixes.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMZDgRNrrpABFHEP-o9zWVLHOpjj1iwe9C39L58iGvmlgm4XQ9cfkt4ifjEj-z1rVjACOTFl2eZVzdTKOhXMc3Hm__u2PY5xujYClLAaQuBucaSswETeL7bZW6Rtz3VsanqTrykrIisM1m9X3bx1262wWPMTSK1pKGtAG5nzZ5YvYq_dUE_3aU6gIG7Vw/s1803/troubadour%20box.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1803" data-original-width="932" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMZDgRNrrpABFHEP-o9zWVLHOpjj1iwe9C39L58iGvmlgm4XQ9cfkt4ifjEj-z1rVjACOTFl2eZVzdTKOhXMc3Hm__u2PY5xujYClLAaQuBucaSswETeL7bZW6Rtz3VsanqTrykrIisM1m9X3bx1262wWPMTSK1pKGtAG5nzZ5YvYq_dUE_3aU6gIG7Vw/s320/troubadour%20box.jpg" width="165" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>The unreleased tracks were:</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Disc One:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> “London Town,” “Codine” (1964 Denmark Street demo recordings of songs written by Tim Hardin and Buffy Sainte-Marie respectively. Both later appeared on the album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sixty Four</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">). “Breezes of Pachulie,” “Museum,” “Super Lungs” (outtakes later added to the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sunshine Superman</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> CD as bonus tracks). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Disc Two: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Age of Treason,” “What The Soul Desires” (both songs later added to the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">7-Tease</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> CD as bonus tracks). “Riki Tiki Tavi,” (alternate longer version recorded October 1969 and still unreleased elsewhere). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">13 years later came </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Try For The Sun: The Journey of Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> a 4 disc box set comprising 60 tracks over 3 CDs, plus a bonus DVD. This featured 16 tracks which were either unavailable at the time, or simply hard to find. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Disc One:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> “Co’dine” (later released on the album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sixty Four</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Disc Two:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> “Epistle to Derroll,” “To Try For The Sun,” “Someone’s Singing,” “The Tinker And The Crab” (these four 1967 live tracks later appeared on the 2006 expanded CD of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Donovan In Concert</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">). “Lord of The Reedy River” (later released as a bonus track on the 2005 expanded </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Barabajagal</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> CD. “Moon In Capricorn” (from an aborted album of the same name, this track recently turned up on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Buried Treasures 1 - The Morgan Studios Sessions 1970 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">available by mail order from Donovan’s website). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Disc Three: </b>"</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Ferryman's Daughter," "She Moved Through The Fair," "The Traveling People (from the aborted album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moon In Capricorn</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. Still unreleased elsewhere). “Young But Growing,” “Keep On Truckin’,” “Stealin” (these three live tracks recorded in November 1971 at the John F. Kennedy Center, Washington DC. Still unreleased elsewhere). “A Working Man,” “Tinker Tune” (from the album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Live In Japan: Spring Tour 1973</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> vinyl LP released only in Japan), “Happiness Runs (2004 Version)” (still unreleased elsewhere).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Disc Four: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">DVD </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There Is An Ocean.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> A 38-minute film documenting the time Donovan spent in Greece with the Open Road band in 1970 (still unreleased elsewhere).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Try For The Sun</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">arrived in a long box covered in purple velvet (what else?) while the CDs inside were clad in individual card sleeves with suitably Celtic designs.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Troubadour</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> came in several different configurations. First pressings arrived in a long box format with a deluxe 40-page book insert plus a second photo booklet. With each subsequent reissue the set was diminished. First to go was the box and photo booklet, leaving the double CD in a thick jewel case with the book insert. Finally, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Troubadour</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was reduced to a slimline double jewel case with just a two-page insert. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLtmaMmZ8Zkz5QIn5yIKBrCyyOyyD5bdwkQvdnOsZHJxw-R61YapE9TQiyj2qVcnXFXxg-yzVGEkHeX_KpTNq95RYJLFBqvvCg5r91otpyoJV_EiGdMbwecgC0scwzhSF4RXUt6IfPs71k7R8_TJbIjyAMaI9rBXqX46JTnjDEdBiLvicnFk5J3RDJj5O/s3314/Try%20For%20The%20Sun%20box%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2771" data-original-width="3314" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLtmaMmZ8Zkz5QIn5yIKBrCyyOyyD5bdwkQvdnOsZHJxw-R61YapE9TQiyj2qVcnXFXxg-yzVGEkHeX_KpTNq95RYJLFBqvvCg5r91otpyoJV_EiGdMbwecgC0scwzhSF4RXUt6IfPs71k7R8_TJbIjyAMaI9rBXqX46JTnjDEdBiLvicnFk5J3RDJj5O/w640-h536/Try%20For%20The%20Sun%20box%20(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br />In 2003 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Troubadour</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was re-issued in Australia as a 3 CD set by the budget label Rajon (CDR 0221). Re-titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Great Donovan,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> it omitted the alternate version of “Riki Tiki Tavi.”</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwyRmeNguote2S79F3XpCvj9jLRWLv37I2oyUlPnGnTAPzXjWir8MaHTwyFGDjLoJuyF5hx1ADuZY9dv5phP8pYH7Y6JktzV9ClCP4e38_o3RmW2MYo0QWi3DrYETx3NVobcnTMhFokYl-9Yy63-x9WIrnm_f2qfbri8rgBx0wlCyrDaNscBmvXBf93qp/s2639/Whats%20Bin%20Did%20UK%20front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2623" data-original-width="2639" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwyRmeNguote2S79F3XpCvj9jLRWLv37I2oyUlPnGnTAPzXjWir8MaHTwyFGDjLoJuyF5hx1ADuZY9dv5phP8pYH7Y6JktzV9ClCP4e38_o3RmW2MYo0QWi3DrYETx3NVobcnTMhFokYl-9Yy63-x9WIrnm_f2qfbri8rgBx0wlCyrDaNscBmvXBf93qp/s320/Whats%20Bin%20Did%20UK%20front.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">13. What’s Bin Did and What’s Bid Hid (UK)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Pye NPL 18117 (mono)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">13a. Catch The Wind (US)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hickory LPM 123 (mono) / Hickory LPS 123 (stereo) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Producers: Terry Kennedy, Peter Eden, Geoff Stephens </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Released: UK May 1965 / US June 1965</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqobNomfjhNfclUqakb2hQPgWL9EpT9s0svc-VtA99jaWoSZnrdYidp1Wh3bkIhiAPJo46sdlsj7jcuyvYodT0hfGmwjehZNl1vU51y9twuCtDPCOvaeVRqRT_SpjvIUaMP3o1kGGM5bd2OKVPa4lv3CSuRBzRONnPyng6-64Pz8iEpkDqlrc5GSnBYiE/s1280/Catch%20the%20Wind%20US%20mono.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1266" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqobNomfjhNfclUqakb2hQPgWL9EpT9s0svc-VtA99jaWoSZnrdYidp1Wh3bkIhiAPJo46sdlsj7jcuyvYodT0hfGmwjehZNl1vU51y9twuCtDPCOvaeVRqRT_SpjvIUaMP3o1kGGM5bd2OKVPa4lv3CSuRBzRONnPyng6-64Pz8iEpkDqlrc5GSnBYiE/s320/Catch%20the%20Wind%20US%20mono.jpg" width="317" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>US Stereo Release</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br />Things moved fast in the sixties. Donovan didn’t even have a record deal in January 1965 when he was invited to play a short residency on Britain’s hippest TV pop music show </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Ready Steady Go!</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> But within weeks the 19-year-old had been signed to Pye records and by March his first single “Catch the Wind” was in the charts. He also began work on his debut album around the same time. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It was recorded at a demo studio in the basement of the publishing house Southern Music at 8 Denmark Street, London’s Tin Pan Alley. Variously known as Spark, Peer or Meridian studios, the facility wasn’t exactly state of the art, but for a debut album it was a solid effort. Nothing too fancy, but the sound was good, and the feel was right. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Arriving at the peak of the short-lived Donovan vs Dylan media beat-up, the material was basic acoustic fare with six originals including “Josie,” “To Sing For You” etc, alongside covers by Woody Guthrie (“Car Car”) and Mick Softly (“Goldwatch Blues”). “Donna Donna” and “You’re Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond” were listed as “traditional” although the former is a well-known Yiddish stage musical song dating from 1941 with English lyrics written a decade later. The self-penned single “Catch the Wind” was re-recorded for the album minus the strings and vocal echo heard on the hit version. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The instrumental “Tangerine Puppet” was a clear attempt to write and record something along the lines of Davey Graham’s “Angi,” the 60s guitar showcase every self-respecting folkie was required to learn back then. It didn’t quite succeed but it was a pretty tune nonetheless, and it was a darn sight easier to play than Davey’s knuckle-busting epic. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">On upright bass was Brian “Liquorice” Locking, a veteran of the 2i’s Soho coffee bar rock & roll scene of the late 50s. He played bass guitar for the Shadows during 1962-63, replacing Jet Harris (before himself being superseded by John Rostill). A multi-instrumentalist, Locking got the nickname “Liquorice” from his early days playing the clarinet, sometimes dubbed “the liquorice stick.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The drummer was Skip Alan, who would later work extensively with the Pretty Things, while Don’s buddy Gypsy Dave was credited with “kazzoo” [<i>sic</i>] on “Keep On Truckin’.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Despite those tiresome Dylan comparisons</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> What’s Bid Did and What’s Bid Hid</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> turned out rather well, becoming Donovan’s highest charting album in Britain, reaching #3. In America (re-titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Catch the Wind</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">) it stalled at #30.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6c2YXKpzut4-q6-CiP7fPgCLSRxDMcrmPnpgXaVucoD16tmFcMQwrnOSeQUaIYbM3O82tTNZbjIi2LU4guMfPXrFnFvgmI6DEwdYzbOPq8GDJF-KlPAJlGb9FFzdZj0sh0l91_m1D8MiV7tLh06XlCWI8qV8m-B_lWQFiUOD9gqho_aQQJGQORGkLlWG/s798/What's%20Bin%20Did%20advert.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6c2YXKpzut4-q6-CiP7fPgCLSRxDMcrmPnpgXaVucoD16tmFcMQwrnOSeQUaIYbM3O82tTNZbjIi2LU4guMfPXrFnFvgmI6DEwdYzbOPq8GDJF-KlPAJlGb9FFzdZj0sh0l91_m1D8MiV7tLh06XlCWI8qV8m-B_lWQFiUOD9gqho_aQQJGQORGkLlWG/w482-h640/What's%20Bin%20Did%20advert.jpg" width="482" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Alan French, who went on to play keyboards with the pop/psych band Dr. Marigold’s Prescription worked at Southern Music in the mid-60s and was familiar with the basement studio. He told me: “The studio was just a few steps away from the area where I often worked. Sheet music from the previous decades was stored there. It was very dirty and dusty with a concrete floor, which didn’t help matters. It would be a health and safety issue these days. I hated it down there. As for the studio, I used to have a crafty peek, but I wasn’t really switched on, so I never realised the importance of things. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“When I was working on the ground floor musicians of all kinds passed me by on their way to the studio. My most vivid memories are of seeing (session drummer) Clem Cattini, he was a regular. I also saw Jon Lord (then playing keyboards with the Artwoods, but later with Deep Purple) and Mitch Mitchell carrying his own drums. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“In 1966 I witnessed Mitch talking to someone about joining Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames. I was waiting for a bus in Charing Cross Road to go home to Islington at the time. After that I went out and bought Georgie Fame’s album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sweet Things </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(released May 1966). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“I remember we had a huge push on the sheet music for The Who’s “My Generation” single (released October 1965) and gave it a big display in the front window. The Ivy League were also regular visitors. I saw Ken Lewis more than the other two. Of course, they had a big connection with Southern Music.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Peer Music and Southern Music were part of the same company. I actually met Mr Peer once. He was the big boss. I had to deliver some reels of 16mm film to his hotel. He was staying at the Hilton, or it may have been the Savoy. I guess he was on a visit from the States. He asked me what music I liked, putting me on the spot. I don’t know why, but I told him Chet Atkins. He promised me an album and mentioned Hoagy Carmichael, old school. I never did get that album.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Record Collector Notes:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The US Hickory version of the LP was re-titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Catch the Wind</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and although the track listing matched the UK Pye release, there were several differences. Whereas the British version appeared in mono only, the American release was available in both mono and the dreaded “electronically enhanced” stereo, although even on headphones it's hard to tell them apart.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcwL1pwSvusD5A0njSKbDt8d4q248QZTv6Tn4-BjX2JQYwO5FAHdfWB2cyU2eXDrjpQDQ3VJE95jKybnShwPslwc12ljUxWmO1I4mOxwh08aVq3u90PoDcQQb2_1kAscQgWmBzq8fg3sDYZE2RbemT7dcBgrtm2oJ3_QaUlIFsLrf_Jr6TcCiudbNOJ4a_/s1338/Catch%20the%20Wind%20US%20stereo.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1338" data-original-width="1335" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcwL1pwSvusD5A0njSKbDt8d4q248QZTv6Tn4-BjX2JQYwO5FAHdfWB2cyU2eXDrjpQDQ3VJE95jKybnShwPslwc12ljUxWmO1I4mOxwh08aVq3u90PoDcQQb2_1kAscQgWmBzq8fg3sDYZE2RbemT7dcBgrtm2oJ3_QaUlIFsLrf_Jr6TcCiudbNOJ4a_/s320/Catch%20the%20Wind%20US%20stereo.jpg" width="319" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>US Mono Release</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The cover shows Don playing his newly acquired Martin D28 guitar although, curiously, the US mono sleeve flipped the front photo, turning Donovan into a left-handed player. The stereo sleeve has the photo the correct way round.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">UK pressings had the lyrics to “Catch the Wind” on the back, while the US version favoured autobiographical sleeve notes (probably ghost-written by manager Terry Kennedy), some of them quite fanciful. They included the extraordinary claim that Donovan “spent two weeks in Strangeways jail” for supposedly “robbing a cinema of 5,000 cigarettes an’ some chocolate.” Perhaps it was thought this implausible story might give Don a little Jack Kerouac-style street cred? Less seriously, perhaps, Donovan’s birthdate was also incorrectly shown as 10 February 1946 instead of May. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwX6ooT37hGlqI3YKqA__JtaJ5oHaNgGpfkPma0iDf6zAP-Je-lw09CvI0KHZi2-V8bMzKoUeqrwH_XaoC92-As03n4h9pe0teVlXj-OD2OTN5FkGIPivpSGJdf9cmYTa-bUJFmsNN06_pRjuypRHLtwBWQVqqpRUUTrI4xDEULJOM_A82redzoWPxbtfl/s2539/Whats%20Bin%20Did%20Marble%20Arch%20reissue.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2502" data-original-width="2539" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwX6ooT37hGlqI3YKqA__JtaJ5oHaNgGpfkPma0iDf6zAP-Je-lw09CvI0KHZi2-V8bMzKoUeqrwH_XaoC92-As03n4h9pe0teVlXj-OD2OTN5FkGIPivpSGJdf9cmYTa-bUJFmsNN06_pRjuypRHLtwBWQVqqpRUUTrI4xDEULJOM_A82redzoWPxbtfl/s320/Whats%20Bin%20Did%20Marble%20Arch%20reissue.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A UK pressing in true stereo eventually turned up in 1969 on the Marble Arch reissue (MALS 795). Pye had a habit of lopping off a couple of tracks when re-issuing full-price LPs on their budget label offshoot. In this case “Car Car” and “Donna Donna” were jettisoned. The Marble Arch cover photo featured Donovan in his trademark denim fisherman’s cap complete with a War Resisters International badge on the front. This showed a pair of hands breaking a rifle in half. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">2002 CD releases of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What’s Bin Did and What’s Bin Hid</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> added four bonus tracks, comprising singles and B-sides plus “Every Man Has His Chain” a song which was previously available only on a French EP. The US </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Catch The Wind</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> album had already appeared on CD in 1996 with three of the same bonus tracks but omitting “…Chain.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In 1966 a certain Tommy Erdelyi and John Cummings were briefly in a band called the Tangerine Puppets, named after the instrumental track on this LP. In 1974 the pair were rebranded as Tommy and Johnny Ramone when they formed - the Ramones.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Key Tracks: Catch the Wind, Josie</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: large; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Part two is <a href="https://andnowitsallthis.blogspot.com/2023/08/elevator-in-brain-hotel-part-2-all.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2A5Z2in68W7bU-k-s3YcQUtmG6tOCAxveVcS0ADda4S_TmE1WoC5S14dtvlNADI9ruVYlhmItOkCLpNjIiEJdtfssrwWnWOazwaGElZpVteAuhmAS8Vicb__AO7zGQLonxnFNcaqfHevOucNdJ6ehcThdpH5uilxOK1eDKRJSu4hfKLqPDzHtmfBsZDpP/s3096/IMG_6962_text.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2627" data-original-width="3096" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2A5Z2in68W7bU-k-s3YcQUtmG6tOCAxveVcS0ADda4S_TmE1WoC5S14dtvlNADI9ruVYlhmItOkCLpNjIiEJdtfssrwWnWOazwaGElZpVteAuhmAS8Vicb__AO7zGQLonxnFNcaqfHevOucNdJ6ehcThdpH5uilxOK1eDKRJSu4hfKLqPDzHtmfBsZDpP/s320/IMG_6962_text.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-30964789648681899162023-07-15T17:02:00.042-07:002023-08-02T20:54:03.483-07:00 Paul McCartney Meets the Press Downunder<p><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Q8A160Y0sZTTbDpUdIJiJmQrbyycNzhJnaFFoOMAO4h378hOevjWVF-JdAFaFJKgLZC6X-hZGMnW-6VwV9MYLGs7sqlNo9BayubRZvAxiYo2RDgNI1ZoSHqb02kvl7UaMD06SOnVNcF0gn4MzRy7ptSItGZYl-_z_XHYeXn55dEtZGl7VNwWUR04TMow/s1400/Header.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="1400" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Q8A160Y0sZTTbDpUdIJiJmQrbyycNzhJnaFFoOMAO4h378hOevjWVF-JdAFaFJKgLZC6X-hZGMnW-6VwV9MYLGs7sqlNo9BayubRZvAxiYo2RDgNI1ZoSHqb02kvl7UaMD06SOnVNcF0gn4MzRy7ptSItGZYl-_z_XHYeXn55dEtZGl7VNwWUR04TMow/w640-h426/Header.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><b><br /></b></span></span><p></p><p><b style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">by Stuart Penney</b></p><p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">30 years ago on March 4, 1993, I attended a Paul McCartney press conference in Perth, Western Australia. It didn’t go entirely to plan.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-32523ad9-7fff-d1ef-c30a-364dce8672c9"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There is, we are told, much to be said for being a big fish in a small pond. Similarly, and stretching the metaphor to breaking point for the purposes of this story, even an ambitious minnow can sometimes get lucky in an isolated city such as Perth. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Located way out on the west coast of Australia, Perth is said to be the most remote capital city on the planet. It’s a spectacularly beautiful and relaxed place to live. The skies are enormous, and the sun nearly always shines. But it is also a mighty long way from anywhere else, something the locals can get a little touchy about if it’s mentioned too often. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The facts are inescapable, however. With a population of around two million, Perth sits a scarcely believable 2,693 km (1673 miles) from Adelaide, the closest city of comparable (or, indeed, of any) size. To give some indication, that’s further than London to Moscow. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There are pros and cons to this extreme isolation, naturally. The tyranny of distance and the time difference between the east and west coasts mean that Perth had to create, by necessity, its own self-contained entertainment microcosm. This was especially true before the internet brought instant communication and made the world a somewhat smaller place. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">At one time all the major record labels had offices in Perth and most of the national radio and TV stations still do. Just about every international rock tour from Europe and the US invariably started or ended here. It was (and still is) geographically expedient for them to do so. The one notable exception being the Beatles, who skipped Perth completely during their sole Australian visit of 1964.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the early 90s I freelanced for the street paper </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">X-Press</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> magazine</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Focussing on music, movies, the arts and entertainment, it was a kind of Perth “what’s on” freesheet - think of it as an inky version of London’s famous </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Time Out</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, if you will. Given away at record stores, pubs, nightclubs, shopping malls and the like, its revenue came purely from advertising. Every Australian state capital city had at least one such publication back then and the big population centres such as Sydney and Melbourne had two or three competing titles.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I was recruited as the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">X-Press</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> heavy rock reviewer. 1991 was the year when grunge and thrash started to take off in a big way and the magazine urgently needed someone who could write about it. This was not nearly as glamorous as it sounds. I wasn’t exactly a heavy metal expert but since absolutely no one else at the mag wanted the job (in fact, most looked down their noses at the genre) I decided to give it a go. How hard could it be, I reasoned. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Before long I was interviewing big-name bands such as Metallica, Megadeth, Faith No More, Iron Maiden, Kiss and Def Leppard on a regular basis. Along with the weekly album and live reviews I even had my own column titled, somewhat unimaginatively, “Full Metal Racket.” There’s the Perth small pond syndrome at work in a nutshell.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The freelancers were paid a pittance, but by way of compensation we did get shedloads of free records and CDs plus tickets for almost every concert which came to town. For a Perth music writer in the 90s life was good. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Pre-release album previews and concert meet and greet events were also a big thing back then. And just occasionally there were the press conferences. So it was that in March 1993 I got a call from the local EMI office asking if I was interested in attending a Paul McCartney press conference scheduled to take place ahead of his first Australian tour in 18 years. Was I interested? I’d not enjoyed some of his recent albums around that time, it’s true (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Press To Play </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">and</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Off The Ground</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> were particularly limp affairs) but this was Paul bloody McCartney, after all. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After confirming that I was, indeed, interested I was instructed to report to a specific entrance at the concert venue, Subiaco Oval, an Australian Rules Football stadium the following afternoon. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There I was ushered into a holding room along with a bunch of newspaper reporters, TV and radio presenters and a smattering of local media types. I recognised a few of them from television, but we freelancers were a long way down the journalistic pecking order, so pleasantries were not exchanged. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Since Perth was to be the first concert of the 10 date Australasian leg of McCartney’s 1993 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The New World Tour</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, reporters from Sydney and Melbourne had also flown in to preview the show before it reached the all-important east coast cities. These were Macca’s first Australian dates since the 1975 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Wings Over the World</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Tour</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and media interest was running high. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We were each handed a press pack consisting of a folder containing several 8 x 10 glossies of Paul, plus assorted biographical info and details about the tour itself. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">McCartney’s energetic publicist Geoff Baker then bounded into the room to deliver a pre-conference pep talk. Fashionably unshaven with wire-rimmed glasses and wild hair, he resembled a hip geography teacher combined with perhaps a hint of Frank Zappa. He was not at all what you might expect from the high-powered PR man of arguably the biggest rock star in the world. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Baker briefed us on what was about to happen and exactly how the press conference would play out. We were advised which topics to avoid during the Q&A section (these were mostly of the “will the surviving Beatles ever reform” type, although this directive was largely ignored by the mainstream newsmen) and told that Paul would sign autographs for us when it was all over.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nwo_smqLPnpQF8Jy4-K2atfk-CF70oMYgdiayKS5urIy_vwNI7ZcESTJHSJK9CHDnUEAUE7Y3jLsND-NTYW4NjcPyUTQL-o3o55luR6i3MN-DXhEZTpT2ZJSJRxmTPBbGMtEFCcGxmaiP3MGBFumHM6yTrmG9OyhAEtC3bsoBjbs-PaUu0nGp7WULt3A/s450/01_big.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nwo_smqLPnpQF8Jy4-K2atfk-CF70oMYgdiayKS5urIy_vwNI7ZcESTJHSJK9CHDnUEAUE7Y3jLsND-NTYW4NjcPyUTQL-o3o55luR6i3MN-DXhEZTpT2ZJSJRxmTPBbGMtEFCcGxmaiP3MGBFumHM6yTrmG9OyhAEtC3bsoBjbs-PaUu0nGp7WULt3A/s320/01_big.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Formerly the showbiz editor of the unashamedly downmarket UK red top tabloid </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Daily Star</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, Geoff Baker worked for McCartney for around 15 years, but it all ended badly in 2004 when he was sacked amid accusations that, in Paul’s words, “his work had failed to meet professional standards.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Baker had, in fact, previously been briefly dismissed and re-hired in 2003 after he tipped off journalists about Macca’s late-night visit to see illusionist David Blaine during his 44-day endurance stunt in a glass cage by the river Thames. This resulted in an unseemly press scrum with some photographers claiming they were roughed-up by McCartney’s security team. But it was when Paul’s second wife the abrasive Heather Mills entered the picture in 2002 that Baker’s position became untenable, and he was finally let go two years later.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After the briefing we trouped out to the football field where several rows of plastic chairs were arranged on the grass in front of a raised platform with a desk, upon which sat maybe 20 microphones. This was to be an open-air press conference and there was a small PA system off to the side. At this point Baker left us to wait under the unforgiving Western Australian sun for what seemed like an eternity.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFkFtrgLFC6kw6mOAjcy1gIkbcmYg0_ji-jy7kW0LA953hVnhWo60lbtvIf7Jgq_TYblERBLO7IQZhnjXeRP_mjkNBR9zIUw8e1PWnwZeW5Znj-K-fJfhJA0BJflNQnpuAIj7FHunHnpPsRSSAXv874rgNP69x0lZ5Cd_MTMKn8ySDyi3Y6xuNtiEBzcQ/s404/Geoff%20Baker.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="224" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFkFtrgLFC6kw6mOAjcy1gIkbcmYg0_ji-jy7kW0LA953hVnhWo60lbtvIf7Jgq_TYblERBLO7IQZhnjXeRP_mjkNBR9zIUw8e1PWnwZeW5Znj-K-fJfhJA0BJflNQnpuAIj7FHunHnpPsRSSAXv874rgNP69x0lZ5Cd_MTMKn8ySDyi3Y6xuNtiEBzcQ/s320/Geoff%20Baker.jpg" width="177" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geoff Baker</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Eventually, a top-of-the-line Ford LTD limousine (a stretched version of a Ford Falcon/Fairlane and probably the most prestigious Aussie-built car at that time) entered the field and parked on the grass a couple of hundred yards away from where we were sitting. Paul and Linda got out and, shadowed by an enormous bodyguard built like a sumo wrestler, they walked to a roped-off area some distance from us where a gaggle of photographers was waiting. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It was at this point I left my seat to take a closer look. There was no way I was going to sit idly by while an actual Beatle was posing for photographs only yards away. Significantly, I was the only one from the press enclosure to do so. This would prove to be a miscalculation.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I made my way circuitously to the roped-off section and stood behind the photographers as they furiously snapped away. It was bedlam with the newsmen jostling for position and calling out inanities like “This way Paul!” “One more!” and “Over here Linda!” But the couple remained utterly unfazed throughout. The thought occurred that McCartney had been living this fishbowl existence for 30 years, his entire adult life, in fact, so this was just another day at the office for him. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Standing just a couple of feet away, I was struck by how tanned and attractive Linda looked in a blue floral dress and without a hint of make-up. Her bare legs were heavily freckled, and she was the picture of health. Sadly, within five years she would no longer be with us. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The photo call completed, Paul’s entourage began to make its way to where the actual press conference was due to take place. This was awkward. I didn’t want to cut in front of them to re-take my seat, so I hung back, deciding to take the long way around and enter the area from the back.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">At this point a heavily built man in a suit and carrying a walkie talkie who I assumed to be part of the stadium security stepped in front of me and stuck his arm out, blocking my path. “Where do you think you’re going?” he barked aggressively. “Er, back to my seat over there,” I said sheepishly, pointing in the general direction of the press conference area. He became angry and not a little flustered at this, “You shouldn’t have been at the photo call in that case!” he spluttered. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I don’t think he believed me at first, thinking I was just a chancer who had wandered in off the street. Although that would have been extremely unlikely because as I noticed when arriving at the stadium earlier there was rigid security at every conceivable entrance. I’d been asked to produce ID to gain access and my name was checked against a list. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He was becoming more obnoxious by the second and at one point it seemed as if I was about to be ejected. Eventually I produced my </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">X-Press</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> laminate and he finally seemed satisfied, albeit grudgingly, snapping “Hurry up and sit down, then, for God’s sake!” I did as I was told and scrambled back to my seat just as Paul reached the platform and the press conference began.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I suppose it lasted around 30 minutes with questions ranging from the mundane (“What can fans expect from this tour?”) to the parochial (“How does it feel to be back in Australia?”) via the inevitable (“Do you have any plans to work with George and Ringo again?”). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Serious questions were asked about drugs (Paul said while he was against the hard stuff, he was in favour of decriminalising marijuana); the hole in the ozone layer (a huge topic at the time) and animal rights, including laboratory experiments on monkeys. The Royal Family and the Charles and Diana phone scandal were also discussed. The so-called “Camillagate” and “Squidgygate” tapes had just been released by the media to huge public interest. “Do you believe those tapes?” he said in bemused amazement. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Paul was his usual upbeat, matey self throughout, offering friendly, non-controversial answers to even the most boring and unimaginative queries. I was just happy to be there as an interested observer and didn’t raise my hand to pose a question. If I had done so it probably would have been something painfully dull about guitars or similar. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oPXQImlYoN_HN3qIEyrC1nLKwgCLInzELSztjq-1_Nd1G_0yEcp_LDaxDj__bET6HHGUtAAsfPU-596yFb_36AnDcM1uaYDuv47jqYmEbHsUR2DHoizTnOIrQuc1St8Wu1Zo5EYgY_oq5YsuTYCmO8TRGHA88kdc6dcIKiVRIryi9Bz6rvUQxiDJVQkS/s3056/IMG_6818.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3056" data-original-width="2278" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oPXQImlYoN_HN3qIEyrC1nLKwgCLInzELSztjq-1_Nd1G_0yEcp_LDaxDj__bET6HHGUtAAsfPU-596yFb_36AnDcM1uaYDuv47jqYmEbHsUR2DHoizTnOIrQuc1St8Wu1Zo5EYgY_oq5YsuTYCmO8TRGHA88kdc6dcIKiVRIryi9Bz6rvUQxiDJVQkS/w299-h400/IMG_6818.jpg" width="299" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finally, the press conference was over and Geoff Baker stepped up to announce that Paul would now sign autographs. At this juncture all hell broke loose. I was surprised to see hard-nosed TV newsmen and serious journalists in smart suits make a mad scramble towards the raised platform like crazed teenage Beatle fans. They were literally elbowing each other out of the way and knocking over chairs in their haste to get a signature. Items were roughly thrust at Paul from all directions, and he calmly and diligently began to sign them all. He’d clearly experienced this a thousand times before. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Not wishing to get caught up in the unseemly scrum, I decided to hang back and wait for the crush to thin out before offering up one of the 8 x 10 glossies to be signed (pictured here). The signature was rushed (not surprising under the circumstances) and we didn’t make eye contact. Polly, a friend and journalist colleague from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">X-Press</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> had the foresight to take the colour photo insert of Paul from the Beatles’ “White Album” to get autographed and I cursed myself for not bringing something more imaginative.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After every last photo and scrap of paper had been signed, we were asked to wait in the enclosure while Paul and Linda, accompanied by the bodyguard, walked back to the limo and left the stadium. And then it was all over. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I should add at this point that I didn’t attend the McCartney concert on March 5. It was one of those rare events where free tickets were in very short supply and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">X-Press</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> was only allocated a couple which were immediately snapped up by others. It seems crazy to say this now, but that run of poor McCartney albums from the late 80s/early 90s had dampened my enthusiasm somewhat. I can offer no further excuses than that, m’lud.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Running for 78 shows in 19 countries and spanning five continents, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">New World Tour</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> kicked off in late February 1993 with concerts in Italy and Germany before ending in Chile, South America just before Christmas. Along the way it took in Australasia, North America, Japan and most of Europe. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The touring band consisted of Paul and Linda, Robbie McIntosh (guitar), Hamish Stuart (guitar, bass), Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens (keyboards) and Blair Cunningham (drums). This was the line-up which had recently completed the album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Off The Ground</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. The tour was commemorated with the concert album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Paul Is Live</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, released in November 1993. Although mostly recorded in the US, it also featured three tracks from the March shows in Sydney. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">By coincidence, Bob Geldof was also in Perth in March 1993 doing a week-long stint as a DJ on the local radio station 96fm. Geldof and McCartney had been mates since Live Aid in 1985 and Paul was invited on the show where they chatted on air between records. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A journalist for the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">West Australian</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> daily newspaper found himself in the centre of a media storm after filing a scathing review of the concert. Veteran writer Ron Banks claimed the Perth show was a “limp squib” (perhaps he intended to write “damp squib”?) and that some fans had left the venue after an hour. The review also got some of the song titles wrong.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It transpired that, to meet the deadline, Banks had dictated his copy mid-way through the concert using a primitive early mobile phone and, to add insult to injury, the sub-editors at his newspaper had mangled his words making the show seem even worse. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Geoff Baker responded with a press release: “It is always the people, not the critics, who matter, and we were touched to hear of your concerns that we might be leaving Perth with a bad feeling (because of the blue meanie Ron Banks).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Worry not - you have been nothing but kind to us since we arrived here, and we leave with your cheers in our hearts.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The backlash from fans around the world proved so strong that Ron Banks was obliged to retract his original review and issue a clarification. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Paul did not return to Perth until late 2017 with his </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">One On One</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> tour. Subiaco Oval had closed since his last visit and this time he played the nib Stadium, a football (soccer) ground close to the city centre. We live in the era of ground sponsorship and this stadium has had no few than six different names in recent years. At the time of writing, it goes under the name HBF Park.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It wasn’t the end of McCartney’s link with the suburb of Subiaco, however. On November 30, 2017, he performed an intimate rehearsal concert and Q&A session in front of 20 selected fans at the historic Regal Theatre. Opened in 1938 the art deco venue has a seating capacity of just over 1,000.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Set List, Subiaco Oval, </span><span style="font-size: 21.3333px; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">March 5, 1993 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">1. Drive My Car</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">2. Coming Up</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">3. Get Out Of My Way</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">4. Another Day</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">5. All My Loving</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">6. Let Me Roll It</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">7. Peace In The Neighbourhood</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">8. Off The Ground</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">9. I Wanna Be Your Man</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">10. Robbie's Bit</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">11. Good Rockin' Tonight</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">12. We Can Work It Out</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">13. And I Love Her</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">14. Every Night</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">15. Hope Of Deliverance</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">16. Michelle</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">17. Biker Like An Icon</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">18. Here, There And Everywhere</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">19. Yesterday</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">20. My Love</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">21. Lady Madonna</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">22. Live And Let Die</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">23. Let It Be</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">24. Magical Mystery Tour</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">25. The Long And Winding Road</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">26. C'Mon People</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">27. Paperback Writer</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">28. Fixing A Hole</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">29. Penny Lane</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">30. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Encore</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">31. Band On The Run</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">32. I Saw Her Standing There</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">33. O Sole Mio (snippet)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">34. Hey Jude</span></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLG7WFzxi5P8FqyglCThW3XH5_FucLtQJP2wAxnkH5wAHFeXnO37oQE4VYdR5UhZDGUYePEQ-x-VdY64Rtcc3AQUAf5jt1K3grzqKgtaj2xERMTQ0l6Jei-Hm_Ornd3Bh8tiLg2WqKhv7m1f1cYTH52Vnl7WaC0q7Wf8kBqQHeUKISZH71YOS-6hcGKHf/s500/PAUL_MCCARTNEY_AND_WINGS_THE+NEW+WORLD+COLLECTION-16186.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="500" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLG7WFzxi5P8FqyglCThW3XH5_FucLtQJP2wAxnkH5wAHFeXnO37oQE4VYdR5UhZDGUYePEQ-x-VdY64Rtcc3AQUAf5jt1K3grzqKgtaj2xERMTQ0l6Jei-Hm_Ornd3Bh8tiLg2WqKhv7m1f1cYTH52Vnl7WaC0q7Wf8kBqQHeUKISZH71YOS-6hcGKHf/s320/PAUL_MCCARTNEY_AND_WINGS_THE+NEW+WORLD+COLLECTION-16186.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Stop Press:</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">In August 2023 it was announced that McCartney's <b><i>Got Back</i></b> tour would play six dates in Australia during October/November. Sadly, no Perth dates were scheduled this time.<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-4464950231794131102023-05-19T23:31:00.036-07:002024-01-18T19:30:44.422-08:00The Ones That Got Away: Near Misses With Rare Records - #2 Robert Plant<span id="docs-internal-guid-cccbfb77-7fff-f04f-6581-856ff672b84b"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn3j__j-xxLQoOtOY_AZPrQRr0SJjlxamhNj8DbX2D5VWp0zu6dhZpzfb22O_xEDdOhWyKSryC2_b18S6MqMmUZOrpKQtBmVN7dvvY9PGhWWVcJ2FlEWxRR6Sr9G7W-5dCpgugSVJCPto2MakZpncExjVGPYbUa-EBnfYP9g2QC6Nc2Abtmq29-8yjm7U/s851/plant.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn3j__j-xxLQoOtOY_AZPrQRr0SJjlxamhNj8DbX2D5VWp0zu6dhZpzfb22O_xEDdOhWyKSryC2_b18S6MqMmUZOrpKQtBmVN7dvvY9PGhWWVcJ2FlEWxRR6Sr9G7W-5dCpgugSVJCPto2MakZpncExjVGPYbUa-EBnfYP9g2QC6Nc2Abtmq29-8yjm7U/w376-h640/plant.jpg" width="376" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">by Stuart Penney</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Continuing our occasional series of tales of disappointment and squandered opportunity, here’s the story of the time I foolishly passed up the chance to buy both of Robert Plant’s impossibly rare (and now insanely valuable) pre-Led Zeppelin solo 7” singles for just a few pennies. But first, a little background. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before joining Zeppelin, Plant had a brief and unsuccessful solo career, during which he recorded a pair of decidedly MOR singles for CBS:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our Song / Laughin’, Cryin’, Laughin’</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (CBS 202656) Released March 31, 1967</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The CBS press release for “Our Song” reads: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"A new solo singer from Birmingham, Robert Plant makes his debut on CBS with "Our Song.” Robert used to sing with groups like The Listen and Black Snake Moan but recently decided that his soul-sound voice could be used to better effect as a solo artist." </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-wswboxXs3ddRUDGV6sfaA7Kgs-UXy3FM3lmUTWTLo-OClaNxN_pEHzGe1-Ek9YAR0HOzUwtsP0YiVn0qUmtHJ2rUFrKR0WdyHsV9wB-NHJws5RXFanUGJJ21pc4EkCXtwg5X4BqM9s62pV5GAXYuxgCm0nWxEIzq_AQBUJAPanUTRF5E4CPBSiSxg/s602/Robert%20Plant%20Our%20Song.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="602" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-wswboxXs3ddRUDGV6sfaA7Kgs-UXy3FM3lmUTWTLo-OClaNxN_pEHzGe1-Ek9YAR0HOzUwtsP0YiVn0qUmtHJ2rUFrKR0WdyHsV9wB-NHJws5RXFanUGJJ21pc4EkCXtwg5X4BqM9s62pV5GAXYuxgCm0nWxEIzq_AQBUJAPanUTRF5E4CPBSiSxg/s320/Robert%20Plant%20Our%20Song.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />The A side is a cover of an Italian song, “La Musica è Finita.” It first appeared at the January 1967 Sanremo Song Festival where it was performed twice by two different singers - Ornella Vanoni and Mario Guarnera - and ended up in 4</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> place. And, should anyone still care about this kind of thing, the winners of the festival were Iva Zanicchi and Claudio Villa with the song "Non pensare a me."</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the co-writers of “La Musica è Finita” was Umberto Bindi who also penned "Il Mio Mondo." An English language version of the song became a May 1964 UK chart topper for Cilla Black as “You're My World.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The English lyrics for "Our Song" were written by Tony Clarke (1941 - 2010). Between 1967 - 1978 Clarke produced seven albums for the Moody Blues and oversaw the recording of the 1965 live debut LP by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Long Time Coming / I’ve Got A Secret</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (CBS 2858) Released July 14, 1967.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The heartfelt A-side ballad was first released (as “It Took A Long Time Coming”) in early 1967 by American singer Laura Lynn on the UK President label (PT 104). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’ve Got A Secret” is a cover of a song by St. Louis soul outfit The Sharpees. It originally appeared as the A-side of a 1966 single on the Chicago based label One-derful (4843). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Predictably, since Plant was a total unknown at the time, both records flopped and sank without trace. I can’t say how many copies were sold, but I’d guess there was a pressing run of around 500 copies each, most of which would have been returned to the record company unsold (or flogged off cheap, as we shall see). As often happens with records which become hugely collectable years later, “A" label promotional copies (as shown here) are more plentiful than stock copies. It’s likely a hundred or so promo pressings were sent out to UK radio stations and the music press for review, outstripping actual over-the-counter sales.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiM2KxIwMkoYKwrXfLzpN5kNp-jDlABYazgcn10VZ9lG4sGtp1CP2v1TPpvBNyrTNuFoehZm-p9Hv6yNkPHegpXxBHEK_3wrxpotfYw77t-2YEVSv3Vssm2SyGo7mOF7cUAqQ3PgaTd6VqQuKI68Hduin9nFY51NnBpR37JP-V1YhGHqBS1ur7ip-FbA/s721/robert-plant-long-time-coming-1967-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="721" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiM2KxIwMkoYKwrXfLzpN5kNp-jDlABYazgcn10VZ9lG4sGtp1CP2v1TPpvBNyrTNuFoehZm-p9Hv6yNkPHegpXxBHEK_3wrxpotfYw77t-2YEVSv3Vssm2SyGo7mOF7cUAqQ3PgaTd6VqQuKI68Hduin9nFY51NnBpR37JP-V1YhGHqBS1ur7ip-FbA/s320/robert-plant-long-time-coming-1967-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fast forward to mid-1969 and the record department of Boots the Chemist in High Street, Sheffield. That’s right, the record department. In a chemist. Alongside the beauty products and medical requisites Boots also sold records back in the 60s and 70s. But just like </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Woolworths before them, they had scant knowledge and very little interest in the music they stocked. As often happened, the girl who might serve you at the record counter in Boots (or Woolworths) was, in all probability, selling cosmetics the week before. So, any questions regarding the new releases by Dr. Strangely Strange, Third Ear Band, Principal Edwards Magic Theatre or Captain Beefheart would inevitably be met with the blankest of blank stares</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNT8nY0Lxhphx48TlGIm9kbaeWvkaGdCFmH-rT_ebrvEBBgSYM8QZRqooPHmyCPimPqp4CFbgSaY67RMvgfecnjFuxaMH3GVi9vIEx_Egh_k8zjMLxoblgUs4CsjMm8w3_tEz-RPivFE3cX4HtE1-1mVOYDzVdz6ueZf6WUrRKOkD6nPz6dx6zV_nnQ/s1138/Boots%20High%20Street%20Sheffield%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="1138" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNT8nY0Lxhphx48TlGIm9kbaeWvkaGdCFmH-rT_ebrvEBBgSYM8QZRqooPHmyCPimPqp4CFbgSaY67RMvgfecnjFuxaMH3GVi9vIEx_Egh_k8zjMLxoblgUs4CsjMm8w3_tEz-RPivFE3cX4HtE1-1mVOYDzVdz6ueZf6WUrRKOkD6nPz6dx6zV_nnQ/w640-h418/Boots%20High%20Street%20Sheffield%203.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span><b>Boots the Chemist in High Street, Sheffield as it looked in the 60s</b></span></div></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But despite that, Boots record department was always worth a visit for a couple of reasons. Their chart singles were usually a little cheaper than the dedicated record stores and they also tended to heavily discount slow selling titles, so there were often bargains to be had. It seems the record company reps could talk the buyers at Boots head office into ordering anything, no matter how obscure, with the assurance it would be a big seller. Naturally, other than the big-name artists, this was seldom true, and the stores ended up with a lot of dead stock which was invariably knocked out cheap (seemingly below cost price) just to get it out the door.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYlpQuyBi-kX4k-Zvs6ZioJfoIXhIU1qNHc8QX8W9IIGf9AixNFbwrD7LdO8BpqPzlyCdIXmZj8yudVcgcZHh-MinJVrQeJkZ8eaqsuKySCALjtF5C-xpIyOVU03mC-XT_ESXnLAQOrNuYlBJbVlkAiyei1cn6tDEtwl7keEcwdpZAwn3pr-hzaYqj7A/s702/1967-boots.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="328" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYlpQuyBi-kX4k-Zvs6ZioJfoIXhIU1qNHc8QX8W9IIGf9AixNFbwrD7LdO8BpqPzlyCdIXmZj8yudVcgcZHh-MinJVrQeJkZ8eaqsuKySCALjtF5C-xpIyOVU03mC-XT_ESXnLAQOrNuYlBJbVlkAiyei1cn6tDEtwl7keEcwdpZAwn3pr-hzaYqj7A/s320/1967-boots.jpg" width="150" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so it was that one day in mid-1969 while browsing the discount bins I found new old stock copies of not one but both of the aforementioned Robert Plant solo singles in Boots’ Sheffield store marked down to 1s/6d each (that’s 7½p in new money). A full-price single was 6s/8d (33p) at that time.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I pulled the records from the box, still in their correct orange CBS die-cut sleeves, and carefully turned them over to read the B-sides. After noting the 1967 release dates, I silently mused “Robert Plant. Hmmm. That name looks familiar. I wonder if this could be the singer with Led Zeppelin. I didn’t know he’d made records before joining the band.” At this point I should have quietly handed over my three shillings (15p) for both records like any sane person would have done and walked away merrily whistling “Communication Breakdown.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I didn’t do that. Oh no. Instead, I inexplicitly put the records back in the discount box and kept on browsing. Finding nothing else of interest, I left the store without a second thought. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRk6N-59qZ7mIWtyjjn9Oen40IkB1g73lBqvqtrmoXddi9sLCczX0A5i8qYtdUErrx1ZVattlGNEgfpNTgoQQ8n9XuQk95SiZkxu0MVO8HInotTdMj5hfOG9aJn9q7rM8QcHF0PT3rCzQsza8-bNbTaVTllJ3MY23qb-Vs_DTKMdtg8QgB1gm1bi0Wtc/s2746/Boots.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2746" data-original-width="2200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRk6N-59qZ7mIWtyjjn9Oen40IkB1g73lBqvqtrmoXddi9sLCczX0A5i8qYtdUErrx1ZVattlGNEgfpNTgoQQ8n9XuQk95SiZkxu0MVO8HInotTdMj5hfOG9aJn9q7rM8QcHF0PT3rCzQsza8-bNbTaVTllJ3MY23qb-Vs_DTKMdtg8QgB1gm1bi0Wtc/w320-h400/Boots.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>From the book A-Z Record Shop Bags by Jonny Trunk</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today those Robert Plant singles can sell for up to £1,000 each in mint condition and their value will surely increase in the years ahead. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caveat emptor: in recent years we've seen unofficial (ie counterfeit) copies of "Long Time Comin'" in orange vinyl and "Our Song" in white vinyl for sale. Even these can sell for </span><span style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">£40 or more.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the sake of completion, I should also mention that Plant had previously appeared on a 1966 single by Midlands band Listen. The A-side "You'd Better Run" is a cover of a song by the Young Rascals while the B-side "Everybody's Gonna Say" is a Listen original. During the recording the band was replaced by session musicians leaving Plant as the only Listen member to appear on the record. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZvdMP0TxAQF3OZZER2sV9h3klbi7RG1EDg2kJGUNqf2zuT29F83mbbn3Jb2J2kiBkxeezGeiKSq1SMvP-dWWa7dR_ucv_bwVRwB8UseCuRtFiVHGMEzvsBcFTRNjR1d6J1vyqZfxoc4lu9TsKpTjPwOFKqdbSVY6hqzM_Wuy0M0Z9A5ZdyxaT1xm6w/s701/listen-youd-better-run-1966-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZvdMP0TxAQF3OZZER2sV9h3klbi7RG1EDg2kJGUNqf2zuT29F83mbbn3Jb2J2kiBkxeezGeiKSq1SMvP-dWWa7dR_ucv_bwVRwB8UseCuRtFiVHGMEzvsBcFTRNjR1d6J1vyqZfxoc4lu9TsKpTjPwOFKqdbSVY6hqzM_Wuy0M0Z9A5ZdyxaT1xm6w/s320/listen-youd-better-run-1966-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>You'd Better Run / Everybody's Gonna Say</b> (CBS 202456) Released November 26, 1966.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Footnote:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Boots the Chemist was established 1849 in Beeston, a suburb of Nottingham by John Boot. It was built into a household name by his son Jesse with stores all over Europe and the Far East. As of August 2019, Boots had 3,063 branches across six countries. In 2007 Boots the Chemist Limited was re-branded Boots UK Limited.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnB9ot2GOw-pjvHzc_4wZLwCdTh-zkdhTRLfI2tdR8SpGncaP4n6pkSWvkYUTH_lvgUYQOvfoho18DOdYgvxXOdjF4SNr67LaDR4r5sotPOdXvW5ISMsrP-VodAmj1TMsoL9OgBt5kR5kcp1aH_PL_UQl2oT3LbnW3PqEU7Ai--aLq7rq5ACm9p0Lokw/s894/OurSongpink35.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="726" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnB9ot2GOw-pjvHzc_4wZLwCdTh-zkdhTRLfI2tdR8SpGncaP4n6pkSWvkYUTH_lvgUYQOvfoho18DOdYgvxXOdjF4SNr67LaDR4r5sotPOdXvW5ISMsrP-VodAmj1TMsoL9OgBt5kR5kcp1aH_PL_UQl2oT3LbnW3PqEU7Ai--aLq7rq5ACm9p0Lokw/w325-h400/OurSongpink35.jpg" width="325" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first chemist branch outside Nottingham opened in 1884 in Sheffield. The branch at 4-6 High Street, Sheffield was opened in May 1898 and is still there today in the same location. Needless to say, it’s been a long time since they sold recorded music.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #0f1419;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidni09Anf-44chevfDHr4iP_nHdLXQXAf2C_55JlTlFBIAJdfI6hddlpeLUA2Th16bjFeExL9F5EDT4K578pMkBnTOHQCxkea07jQWiUohvJcONNZjoTuXABZJDfeMV3Xm-0lZakwK1fnG2uBI6QR0a2-111EURb2EMk6mry6eHbD3p8J4Kzew6I7quA/s850/Boots%20High%20Street%20Sheffield%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="613" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidni09Anf-44chevfDHr4iP_nHdLXQXAf2C_55JlTlFBIAJdfI6hddlpeLUA2Th16bjFeExL9F5EDT4K578pMkBnTOHQCxkea07jQWiUohvJcONNZjoTuXABZJDfeMV3Xm-0lZakwK1fnG2uBI6QR0a2-111EURb2EMk6mry6eHbD3p8J4Kzew6I7quA/w289-h400/Boots%20High%20Street%20Sheffield%204.jpg" width="289" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-a59abadc-7fff-a098-1b34-a85f5c94828c"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0f1419; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More Record Trivia:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0f1419; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Robert Plant wasn’t the only hopeful with a record in the shops on Friday March 31, 1967. The very same day “Our Song” was issued, the UK CBS release sheet listed the following singles:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 202610 - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Paul Revere and the Raiders - Ups and Downs / Leslie</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">202642 - Guy Darrell - Crystal Ball / Didn't I</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">202645 - Romeo Z - Come Back Baby Come Back / Since My Baby Said Goodbye</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0f1419; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 202652 - The Executives - Sensations/Smokey Atmosphere </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 202653 - The Harry Roche Constellation - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Casino Royale (Have No Fear, Bond Is Here)/In the Pad of the Mountain King</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 202654 - Roger Bloom’s Hammer - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Out of the Blue / Life's A Gamble</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0f1419; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 202655 - Gene Latter – Always / A Woman Called Sorrow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0f1419; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 202656 - Robert Plant – Our Song / Laughin’, Cryin’, Laughin’</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0f1419; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 202657 - Joan Regan – No One Beside Me / A Love So Fine </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 202658 - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dr. West's Medicine Show And Junk Band - Gondoliers, Shakespeares, Overseers, Playboys And Bums / Daddy I Know</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 2668 - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stan Butcher His Birds And Brass - Somethin' Stupid / Janie</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of those, only Paul Revere & the Raiders had a realistic chance of becoming a hit. But despite making the lower reaches of the US charts “Ups & Downs” failed to sell in Britain. Joan Regan was a big name in 50s UK pop but her time had passed by 1967 and “No One Beside Me” was roundly ignored. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More interesting was Dr. West's Medicine Show & Junk Band’s “Gondoliers Shakespeares, Overseers, Playboys And Bums.”</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> They scored a minor US hit with their follow-up “The Eggplant That Ate Chicago” and while both singles failed to sell in the UK, band member</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Norman Greenbaum went on to score a worldwide #1 in 1969 with “Spirit In the Sky.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0f1419; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few months later the UK CBS release sheet for July 14, 1967 looked like this:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 2843 - Gene Latter - A Little Piece Of Leather / Funny Face Girl</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 2846 - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Statler Brothers - Ruthless / Do You Love Me Tonight</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 2847 - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lynne Randell - Ciao Baby / Stranger In My Arms</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 2858 - Robert Plant - Long Time Coming / I’ve Got A Secret </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS 2859 - The Buckinghams – Mercy, Mercy, Mercy / You Are Gone</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">UK born Lynne Randell emigrated to Australia as a child where she became a successful pop star, touring America on the same bill as the Monkees and Jimi Hendrix. “Ciao Baby” was her biggest hit, reaching #8 in Australia and becoming a hugely sought-after Northern Soul classic.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0f1419; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” started life as a jazz instrumental by Cannonball Adderley. Among several vocal covers was this one by “Kind Of A Drag” hitmakers The Buckinghams which flopped in Britain but reached #5 in the US. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhn2yGh8m1HPp8upKD2p_0Om-Ti-LiDS6nPRuVzd79r8NVCk3ZU9cazKIuiRWE6mKszyklDOZfLp98Zy3ayCCDKdcCf3IDiyP_8RNjKwJ4SAr5TqHo4fqQD9-k2svthtE7O_vNPCYE5cGROXiFXBnKnnd_lDX2n0xmQ7Q3YD8Q2b3FBEumAdOARZZtDg/s1428/Boots%20Nilsson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1428" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhn2yGh8m1HPp8upKD2p_0Om-Ti-LiDS6nPRuVzd79r8NVCk3ZU9cazKIuiRWE6mKszyklDOZfLp98Zy3ayCCDKdcCf3IDiyP_8RNjKwJ4SAr5TqHo4fqQD9-k2svthtE7O_vNPCYE5cGROXiFXBnKnnd_lDX2n0xmQ7Q3YD8Q2b3FBEumAdOARZZtDg/w448-h640/Boots%20Nilsson.jpg" width="448" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #0f1419; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-28523069124771341792023-05-03T19:03:00.043-07:002023-12-31T06:19:02.869-08:00Led Zeppelin - The Greengrocer Strikes Back<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpAr8XD40LG9SddqbG3T5h86UqqNG9_fM5QDfDytj53uRPtM86MRLbinnqmi_QKqzMwavz9sKSXE2SQtMNumAHGW3lLn1df7W-OwuNc3kLtnj6aQHtzxENmUtU7uX0DX0uf5Kqqq5Wl0mCcgfQewF7Le78pTXXdMakGvT1mm3XyI9ejeAwbuPvUEDC1fE/s900/Record%20Stall%20Led%20Z%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="900" height="570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpAr8XD40LG9SddqbG3T5h86UqqNG9_fM5QDfDytj53uRPtM86MRLbinnqmi_QKqzMwavz9sKSXE2SQtMNumAHGW3lLn1df7W-OwuNc3kLtnj6aQHtzxENmUtU7uX0DX0uf5Kqqq5Wl0mCcgfQewF7Le78pTXXdMakGvT1mm3XyI9ejeAwbuPvUEDC1fE/w640-h570/Record%20Stall%20Led%20Z%20copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Record Shopping In Berwick Street, 60s Style</span></div></span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d09f24c4-7fff-aeed-9f11-18da6d0e9667"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>by Stuart Penney</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What springs to mind when we think of Berwick Street? For <b>Oasis</b> fans it's probably the band's second album <b><i>(What's The Story) Morning Glory?</i></b> Love it or loathe it, this 1995 release is one of the biggest selling UK albums of all time and its clearly identifiable cover photo put Berwick Street firmly on the London pop locations map.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For others it could be the record stores. In recent decades this humble Soho thoroughfare has become world famous for its profusion of CD and vinyl shops. Every year on Record Store Day men of a certain age (and it </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> nearly always men, let’s be honest) can be seen queueing outside </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sister Ray</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or other participating shops in all weathers well before daybreak. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They do this in order to be first in line to secure that limited edition </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Morrissey</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 12” single in blue vinyl, or whatever other coveted RSD release has taken their fancy. That same 12” single will, in all probability, be up for sale on eBay before the day is out, but that’s another story (morning glory).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqXzQ7YL_ZpJ13OKhOCD1k2bBMVDxgC7TFYB6OmxTjYgEPqOgDEnA8syFav2IYE9dUkCvBsRB8w3c-DuGEIjm9V-Ef5jKusLjxgjRItsIEyAqSA3rlWXi2fMVev7my1wthAmNCVklYC1-dEp-80uieaulDofoul-nLwI6nbt6aUGaDGdCcykPFBQe_A/s2390/Sister%20Ray.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1761" data-original-width="2390" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqXzQ7YL_ZpJ13OKhOCD1k2bBMVDxgC7TFYB6OmxTjYgEPqOgDEnA8syFav2IYE9dUkCvBsRB8w3c-DuGEIjm9V-Ef5jKusLjxgjRItsIEyAqSA3rlWXi2fMVev7my1wthAmNCVklYC1-dEp-80uieaulDofoul-nLwI6nbt6aUGaDGdCcykPFBQe_A/w640-h472/Sister%20Ray.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Record Store Day was inaugurated in 2007, and Sister Ray were one of the first UK participants. But record shops had been thriving in Berwick Street for years – </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reckless Records</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> moved there in 1984, followed by Sister Ray in 1989 and others soon followed. More recently the advent of streaming, plus the COVID lockdown, saw a sharp reduction in the number of music outlets in the area, but several have survived. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaYzV7dBvelEzRj2VM1vt5OcNtFsEjME3EgSdWqsnefxRu094TVNZaXor0V1XfZhl6YeI3IQfC7oHEDhdzNx5_zTq7v9DX65vsWUVzDyV4X5lE6FOYXJe-2F6qVxjQE09Yf1-vXhH4Ty7FxJVKnjIAf-2uCaKMzTUNPRTDmEd4YXYGyCrO2r2SurcEuA/s943/MusiclandBerwickSt1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="943" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaYzV7dBvelEzRj2VM1vt5OcNtFsEjME3EgSdWqsnefxRu094TVNZaXor0V1XfZhl6YeI3IQfC7oHEDhdzNx5_zTq7v9DX65vsWUVzDyV4X5lE6FOYXJe-2F6qVxjQE09Yf1-vXhH4Ty7FxJVKnjIAf-2uCaKMzTUNPRTDmEd4YXYGyCrO2r2SurcEuA/w400-h259/MusiclandBerwickSt1.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before any of this, however, there was </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Musicland</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Operating from 1968 to 1975 at the junction of Berwick and Noel Street, this legendary record store was a mecca for imported US vinyl. Back then many albums were released in America weeks or even months before we saw them in Britain and, together with </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One Stop Records</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in nearby Dean Street, Musicland always had the latest and best selection of imports in Soho. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvCcXilDEhhu1_IF3L6UQu0ln1CDSHBjld1SKySsgVGOa3erNVoId5-H6xq2xKKYA372ZgAjPrv0pEvu85uEUmybndsM_18KnVhJH7LaV_ddw4paEevshxjC542JwCMMezfN02qs9H6F7EVor6CzPXguRMPX8axeWe0NR1rttuUBuePExcsfdoBSAaw/s800/One%20Stop.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvCcXilDEhhu1_IF3L6UQu0ln1CDSHBjld1SKySsgVGOa3erNVoId5-H6xq2xKKYA372ZgAjPrv0pEvu85uEUmybndsM_18KnVhJH7LaV_ddw4paEevshxjC542JwCMMezfN02qs9H6F7EVor6CzPXguRMPX8axeWe0NR1rttuUBuePExcsfdoBSAaw/w400-h225/One%20Stop.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All this was pre-megastore, of course. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Virgin</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> opened their first shop in 1971, but at that point they were a small concern operating above an Oxford Street shoe store.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6_Hqauz0wGo-cWNtNkm7SLlwyPsabkg5Qr1VnWIUSU9mJxyotSpy8J6_zNgj52_DvKBtxDqTANQ3tK51C5cjweYrvTY3CG7JwvY6KKF2BuMIy-94z_nomTP5zr_NuCtun8-1yGycvthroxp-XVNP6-lNmrCQDHODSFTZ_zTiyMb4f7VXpK_QkmgHUA/s517/Musicland%201969.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="517" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6_Hqauz0wGo-cWNtNkm7SLlwyPsabkg5Qr1VnWIUSU9mJxyotSpy8J6_zNgj52_DvKBtxDqTANQ3tK51C5cjweYrvTY3CG7JwvY6KKF2BuMIy-94z_nomTP5zr_NuCtun8-1yGycvthroxp-XVNP6-lNmrCQDHODSFTZ_zTiyMb4f7VXpK_QkmgHUA/w400-h160/Musicland%201969.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My trusty record buyer’s diary from the period (in reality, just a dog-eared school exercise book) tells me I scored John & Yoko’s <b>Plastic Ono Band</b> - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Live Peace in Toronto</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (shrink-wrapped with calendar) from Musicland just before Christmas 1969. Other significant purchases around that time included the first </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">T. Rex</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> single </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Ride A White Swan”</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (October 1970), a trio of US-only </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> albums </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hurdy Gurdy Man, Barabajagal </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Mellow Yellow </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(various dates during 1968-69) plus </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Frank Zappa</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hot Rats</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (February 1970). </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Literally on the doorstep of Musicland was the famous Berwick Street market. First officially recognised in 1892, but established more than a century earlier, it’s one of the oldest street markets in London with a long and chequered history. For the purposes of this story, however, all we need to know is that in the late 1960s the market had a rather excellent record stall.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUUuomPvzGC_y3BxEsv3ymEE3pir1gKd44JEhe-1qVzZrIgT6h205P3TqUdq6O40EQeQu8DxFI5qlm-ZWlSxr3Vb8ArBkf3yE9t5vQQJi_lC5yJTB3ZjxA5FrklISqBpPFldlwKN-bGfTaz4ZyfJaJtao-7uJbBheduMnHeUdI8QGDHvaU5C42M-8Vbg/s1253/Record%20Stall%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="1253" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUUuomPvzGC_y3BxEsv3ymEE3pir1gKd44JEhe-1qVzZrIgT6h205P3TqUdq6O40EQeQu8DxFI5qlm-ZWlSxr3Vb8ArBkf3yE9t5vQQJi_lC5yJTB3ZjxA5FrklISqBpPFldlwKN-bGfTaz4ZyfJaJtao-7uJbBheduMnHeUdI8QGDHvaU5C42M-8Vbg/w640-h381/Record%20Stall%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In time honoured tradition, record company sales reps and music journalists alike would supplement their income by offloading unwanted samples and review copies at the Berwick Street market record stall, turning it into a goldmine for obscure new releases and promo records of every description. I picked up countless rare gems there, some of which I still have and many others I regret parting with. One memorable visit yielded a dozen or so Blue Horizon “A” label promo singles, including items by </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fleetwood Mac, Otis Rush</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chicken Shack</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9klSPhxsjM8pXBzXjjsnvXPM8K8_hzfrRu4qncC8Ju3Sq6Zsy6iAboRfm-sRDCFWkcBGINDJUfmykVDZ8KHPdNtfjC--dKlHs1JMY4eMjvTXOZ3IC8_8sD7u3X4CjvqhVPK-FvC_oFIWra73lEbmz9v1n4TSzDQGci0vqhYXHpj2dpOLZ7Cx97hHdw/s800/LZ%20II.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="795" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9klSPhxsjM8pXBzXjjsnvXPM8K8_hzfrRu4qncC8Ju3Sq6Zsy6iAboRfm-sRDCFWkcBGINDJUfmykVDZ8KHPdNtfjC--dKlHs1JMY4eMjvTXOZ3IC8_8sD7u3X4CjvqhVPK-FvC_oFIWra73lEbmz9v1n4TSzDQGci0vqhYXHpj2dpOLZ7Cx97hHdw/s320/LZ%20II.jpg" width="318" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, one day toward the end of October 1969 I was at the stall checking out the new arrivals, as I did most lunchtimes, when </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Whole Lotta Love,”</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the opening track from the recently released</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Led Zeppelin II </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">album</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">came bursting from the speakers. This was a big deal. Zeppelin were poised to become the world’s biggest band and there was a huge media buzz around their eagerly awaited second album. I decided to hang around the stall as long as possible to hear more. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, immediately alongside the record seller was a fruit and vegetable stall, one of several in Berwick Street. With his textbook cockney accent, fingerless gloves and toothpick thin roll-up permanently clamped to his bottom lip, the fruit and veg seller could have come straight out of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eastenders</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> central casting, had the venerable TV soap existed at the time. His well-honed cheery patter could often be heard above the music as he served the customers, forever charming the ladies with a cheeky “Mind how you go, darlin’.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It goes without saying that he also had the full complement of greengrocers' apostrophes on his signs - apple's, orange's, banana's etc. Of course he did. But that’s probably a gripe for another day. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixA5ka4O4Wn1XIedsF7wYqL_irEScliFSJMCoWHCBLuwN_QRSUeWX3g8WfTMRVOxPtJcEl8J6jzTJIkPWOGEgbCdadZDEte9VsIQ-6S7MJT9Qq5TuVfBl-vrO61LwQv5-X4h4K32fDXW67Lt9Y72ZyMv-K9G2x9obrD7cV7Oy_qPtsBKLu_TFRqbBbJw/s2875/LZ%20II%20label.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2875" data-original-width="2801" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixA5ka4O4Wn1XIedsF7wYqL_irEScliFSJMCoWHCBLuwN_QRSUeWX3g8WfTMRVOxPtJcEl8J6jzTJIkPWOGEgbCdadZDEte9VsIQ-6S7MJT9Qq5TuVfBl-vrO61LwQv5-X4h4K32fDXW67Lt9Y72ZyMv-K9G2x9obrD7cV7Oy_qPtsBKLu_TFRqbBbJw/s320/LZ%20II%20label.jpg" width="312" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fruit and veg man didn’t seem too thrilled with the music emanating from the record stall, however, and judging from the disapproving glances he kept firing in our direction I could tell he wasn’t much of a heavy rock fan.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By this point </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Whole Lotta Love”</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was nearing the end. We’d negotiated the strange orgasmic middle section where the swirling sound effects move disconcertingly back and forth across the stereo spectrum, and now Jimmy Page was peeling off those life affirming staccato guitar phrases which lead back into the song. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There we were, serious record browsers all, heads bowed over the LP crates, nodding along with the music as Robert Plant launched into the coda around a minute from the end. "I'm gonna give ya every inch of my love" he threatened ominously, before bellowing “Shake for me girl, I wanna be your back door man" in a clearly suggestive manner. This was followed by a series of wordless grunts and moans, each one more exaggerated than the last. Then at exactly the 4:58 mark Plant let out an extended groan which seemed louder, longer and noticeably more strained than anything which had gone before. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was at that point the fruit and veg man finally spoke up. With perfect timing he raised his voice above the general hubbub and with a look of undiluted disdain called out: “Farkin’ hell! What’s wrong with ‘im? He sounds like he's bleedin' constipated!” Everyone, including the record seller, roared with laughter. How could we not? </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtnlz7jw63uFyZvW8G5W_ttZLI1GIU2A06m_HvbyEkz_tOhlT89A3TwYEBNX3PEHR_iT5VkLMuSU8RTd0ONm-V3nKhhOEhioPqKbGvan0dpyvLigYS2wBNE3lfe-Ln01aKAZ63wovp941fq9ripwbzblsmq2C9GF4jgd3ExOfrJQXa4q97J5Cqb_fWg/s900/MusiclandBerwickSt.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="900" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtnlz7jw63uFyZvW8G5W_ttZLI1GIU2A06m_HvbyEkz_tOhlT89A3TwYEBNX3PEHR_iT5VkLMuSU8RTd0ONm-V3nKhhOEhioPqKbGvan0dpyvLigYS2wBNE3lfe-Ln01aKAZ63wovp941fq9ripwbzblsmq2C9GF4jgd3ExOfrJQXa4q97J5Cqb_fWg/w400-h321/MusiclandBerwickSt.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a priceless moment and one which has stayed with me to this day. Even now, more than half a century later, I can never hear the final minute of “Whole Lotta Love” without thinking of the fruit and veg man and his perfectly executed interlocution. It was the kind of witty put down our dads might well have said at the time, had they thought of it. But it also comprehensively pricked the pomposity of Plant’s performance (if you’ll excuse the accidental alliteration) without taking anything away from the timeless recording itself. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve dined out on this story endlessly over the years and even passed it onto my son who now quotes the line freely whenever he hears the song. Probably to the bafflement of his peers I shouldn’t wonder.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxJfECChhbIyknvJbQbENKnHaLGuHSoS6_KL-zpXNEtTA5kHw3iYL7JXPhq7ov5-w1Ic0_WN0NJMDlQpY8HVk6xBwIeY_nNy8LX--QLRp29ludm0PdFquKUGSkcy-ueAio4d6YoN1LDYoCGNc4gwjc6vrpEd_D_JJKWPF_7ToWr9R1cZzus_8Z8hrDA/s778/bs-twitter-crop.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="778" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxJfECChhbIyknvJbQbENKnHaLGuHSoS6_KL-zpXNEtTA5kHw3iYL7JXPhq7ov5-w1Ic0_WN0NJMDlQpY8HVk6xBwIeY_nNy8LX--QLRp29ludm0PdFquKUGSkcy-ueAio4d6YoN1LDYoCGNc4gwjc6vrpEd_D_JJKWPF_7ToWr9R1cZzus_8Z8hrDA/w400-h371/bs-twitter-crop.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><br /></span>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-60572211142166652612023-04-12T01:07:00.023-07:002023-05-24T21:30:25.325-07:00Keith Reid – The Last Fandango<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKSV1sDAAUvZIXdbdQEuGibG8kpwLLNe-I09EqO8ntCgmRSkFxd9MEoMDC44ht2AUQDrVTFWxaNWdCYdaWDmQGLfXd3G7dsX49Wgm42iiT1wwmgI63c2ohcD00ncDutAaKCesdUil1357fKEDC7_8VMOdvZX8iLAOGVSe9X2oTH0PGeeMzhmXMDGp5jw/s900/FsdlMXdXgAEKPVO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKSV1sDAAUvZIXdbdQEuGibG8kpwLLNe-I09EqO8ntCgmRSkFxd9MEoMDC44ht2AUQDrVTFWxaNWdCYdaWDmQGLfXd3G7dsX49Wgm42iiT1wwmgI63c2ohcD00ncDutAaKCesdUil1357fKEDC7_8VMOdvZX8iLAOGVSe9X2oTH0PGeeMzhmXMDGp5jw/s320/FsdlMXdXgAEKPVO.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-32c43ef7-7fff-91a5-5408-ade42c061a86"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Stuart Penney</span></span><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, farewell to wordsmith extraordinaire Keith Reid, who died on March 23 at the age of 76. I encountered him only once, extremely fleetingly. Shortly after I moved to London in the summer of 1967 my job as a messenger boy for a West End music publisher took me to Golden Square in Soho, not far from Regent Street. On this particular day I was tasked with delivering a package (on foot, as usual) to the offices of one of the film companies located there.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQAGBPj2Sz9mlaeOvCyeuFIt_jkadCJqKv1i9T6m4upRCYV1Vxb1VKJQYcVuJdxgClHXYr-P_wCPjDR8wkTUqxYK2U8ftPsxkKNnXOvXn0Rjp6QELCJo60qDRDo-mT56iMjNradn_KhDpF3Elqu6d2havQ6IaBBV5FS-mXpmKBsgveNGyd2GKMh4AwQ/s393/kreid2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="258" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQAGBPj2Sz9mlaeOvCyeuFIt_jkadCJqKv1i9T6m4upRCYV1Vxb1VKJQYcVuJdxgClHXYr-P_wCPjDR8wkTUqxYK2U8ftPsxkKNnXOvXn0Rjp6QELCJo60qDRDo-mT56iMjNradn_KhDpF3Elqu6d2havQ6IaBBV5FS-mXpmKBsgveNGyd2GKMh4AwQ/s320/kreid2.jpg" width="210" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I crossed the square, I became aware of a stylish figure walking a few yards in front. He had an impressive Hendrix-style halo of curls, a Carnaby Street military style jacket and, best of all, he was wearing an extremely desirable pair of red Cuban heel boots. In 1967 those boots would have cost him close to £25, or the equivalent of three-week’s wages for the likes of me. As Cuban heels were, ahem, inclined to do, the boots affected his gait somewhat, causing him to teeter slightly forward as he walked. 56 years later I can picture that image now as vividly as if it were yesterday.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He entered the office block slightly ahead and turned to hold open the door. During this random act of courtesy, I saw his face for the first time and recognised the man in the wire granny glasses right away. It was Keith Reid who had written the words to what was indisputably the biggest hit single of 1967, “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGL3P8e_gf00aMbA2npeNKLfyCmMYcZ3NgWP41PAvZsVDtiHIdKZqhqCtj6HoL4xOX6HJgb6FoYzwrrpX9_AaNV8ijrJf1MVtdiY4Ovr_bR4Jql6icqmRsW6NZVOcRsShswSTLyP5fq0sqnY4Rgfcw2YQ-Js0j-CDs3hsYhbF1pYuzLwF9ojEVmQ4I6g/s901/Procul.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="645" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGL3P8e_gf00aMbA2npeNKLfyCmMYcZ3NgWP41PAvZsVDtiHIdKZqhqCtj6HoL4xOX6HJgb6FoYzwrrpX9_AaNV8ijrJf1MVtdiY4Ovr_bR4Jql6icqmRsW6NZVOcRsShswSTLyP5fq0sqnY4Rgfcw2YQ-Js0j-CDs3hsYhbF1pYuzLwF9ojEVmQ4I6g/w286-h400/Procul.jpg" width="286" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He asked for directions to whatever office he was visiting. I can’t recall where I was headed, but it was on different floor to his destination. So, I directed him to a board showing a list of businesses in the building and went on my way. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As founder and non-performing member of Procol Harum, Reid wrote the lyrics for every one of their albums and singles from 1967 to 2003. “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” their first and biggest hit, topped the UK charts for six weeks and reached number one in dozens of other countries around the world, eventually selling 10 million copies along the way, one of the few singles ever to achieve this figure. Although not performing with Procol onstage, he was often pictured with them in the music press, making him instantly familiar to those of us who pored over such details.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXc84ey3oQln613nSGYlYqXqhUFrX-DFcZS6tR8_czu1z7lrLQfTqMi9N6RF_SOTN4Ibkop8suZ1oQMjs0XmM0awGgiRNt006AweUxsDiguasNg2xGX7WSnGNRZ0lVES16zgGxva86K02o4-dTMCpzxvEY6v8Mf39Bia2X3EoVhiOehowkRSs3LeDh_g/s1083/Procol.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1083" data-original-width="1047" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXc84ey3oQln613nSGYlYqXqhUFrX-DFcZS6tR8_czu1z7lrLQfTqMi9N6RF_SOTN4Ibkop8suZ1oQMjs0XmM0awGgiRNt006AweUxsDiguasNg2xGX7WSnGNRZ0lVES16zgGxva86K02o4-dTMCpzxvEY6v8Mf39Bia2X3EoVhiOehowkRSs3LeDh_g/w618-h640/Procol.jpg" width="618" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghBK8BDv91mli4UGJ3sweOPcFGAs3EpFBEGvC000zip4dQMs_lfF1so4hwef31730KrD_bPbPxLmPCfcoOkfzJcSqdA_oyWlnNc0ugXdfLuewYM5A96MzkmaR1ix3Re_qTwXTv53Xz6jdAEqdP1H1bi_362f8H0MDZZXvOTI-AQWd2pM9OFjjFnbjfVQ/s800/procol-harum-a-whiter-shade-of-pale-1967-59.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="616" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghBK8BDv91mli4UGJ3sweOPcFGAs3EpFBEGvC000zip4dQMs_lfF1so4hwef31730KrD_bPbPxLmPCfcoOkfzJcSqdA_oyWlnNc0ugXdfLuewYM5A96MzkmaR1ix3Re_qTwXTv53Xz6jdAEqdP1H1bi_362f8H0MDZZXvOTI-AQWd2pM9OFjjFnbjfVQ/w308-h400/procol-harum-a-whiter-shade-of-pale-1967-59.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_ofuUuja2rRxVCkRA6NwzJmZ6hVFr2o9BIseIBaqVU5rs7ldjlkY_dCg4IKSymyHUO_fXofZUTf-rthfaxDmFE-RCogR3qbpjPXJvA7u9kPazGeQ-fh-KMpAHdCoQD7g6GyL2-pc9dfi-rfKVAiKpI4EFUGxiSMB5ZcPOONnkpWIGIPsrzJ_rByV_Q/s800/procol-harum-a-whiter-shade-of-pale-1967-71.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjXri772Ws6lzT_fJZMonZa9wEfZzQ_v7nd3nMO4LeEpOo7qrOIoIM7qR6BoOeJQwgo7ULVCVEYeTBZdnFMt09JXgJ9q97FakoLCr8myzfdwycuOC06ENfvIp2OIPSNjFDB5daRzhh1gS7SBe_Kah-i64Pr3aHb_F1v_ERGZRRB98eoaWYYh5EtUGt_g/s800/procol-harum-a-whiter-shade-of-pale-1967-71.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjXri772Ws6lzT_fJZMonZa9wEfZzQ_v7nd3nMO4LeEpOo7qrOIoIM7qR6BoOeJQwgo7ULVCVEYeTBZdnFMt09JXgJ9q97FakoLCr8myzfdwycuOC06ENfvIp2OIPSNjFDB5daRzhh1gS7SBe_Kah-i64Pr3aHb_F1v_ERGZRRB98eoaWYYh5EtUGt_g/s320/procol-harum-a-whiter-shade-of-pale-1967-71.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2hutBAEMOvfNAfpKRlLB3GibFTcg93AbZHDJ-nD0WjsdLalmNHTQoVMyGEY46Ohn7wtwW5-UpUY7yCPYqkmCKDq4OvEjZ_0p0vzHZC25ig76m4QiLrhBjjc8LURiaoS_ciWrIZGbmTIRMW0iN55xT7ZmM8yR00utPQ9KXELEAHoYNVCi22HMViP6GQ/s500/R-458296-1285642137.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2hutBAEMOvfNAfpKRlLB3GibFTcg93AbZHDJ-nD0WjsdLalmNHTQoVMyGEY46Ohn7wtwW5-UpUY7yCPYqkmCKDq4OvEjZ_0p0vzHZC25ig76m4QiLrhBjjc8LURiaoS_ciWrIZGbmTIRMW0iN55xT7ZmM8yR00utPQ9KXELEAHoYNVCi22HMViP6GQ/s320/R-458296-1285642137.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But Reid didn’t confine his writing skills to Procol Harum. He also penned lyrics for others. In 1986 he co-wrote “You’re the Voice” for John Farnham, one of Australia’s most enduring pop stars. The song appeared on Farnham’s album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whispering Jack</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which was a massive hit down under, achieving sales of 24 x platinum* and becoming the biggest selling Australian album of all time. It also sold well in other parts of the world, particularly Scandinavia. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*(In Australia an album qualifies for platinum certification if it exceeds 70,000 copies shipped to retailers. So, 24 x platinum equates to 1,680,000 albums, or one record in approximately every five homes. Not bad for a country of just 26 million people).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ueSs94exWQ-3KYQZfFKa7p5yaZiuRNjAr_FaGpL9E0axW0r8V69itva2u9EIlFVAYGAn4bux9dvzgQLMEfoCV5le94W9QVQ0HsSWS8TrN_lIqQSH4cG29ACbtapVpUEewjHu315ArXmXuHRlRvn8ulcnMSjEMANn8-nCnVvQi_2ZORTEN4EV3UVOlQ/s500/R-394058-1286184642.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ueSs94exWQ-3KYQZfFKa7p5yaZiuRNjAr_FaGpL9E0axW0r8V69itva2u9EIlFVAYGAn4bux9dvzgQLMEfoCV5le94W9QVQ0HsSWS8TrN_lIqQSH4cG29ACbtapVpUEewjHu315ArXmXuHRlRvn8ulcnMSjEMANn8-nCnVvQi_2ZORTEN4EV3UVOlQ/s320/R-394058-1286184642.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You’re the Voice” was named 1987 Australian single of the year. It topped the singles chart in Germany and reached the top ten in the UK and elsewhere. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In an attempt to rally voters, the song has been used in TV adverts during Australian state and federal elections and during the COVID 19 pandemic “You’re the Voice” was played by anti-lockdown protesters in Melbourne and elsewhere.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNm7WVvdjxmGipZxXNWTAUi58Hc3HjuWM2worZJr0n507byJrvP-pUA7QLUDCfgXOim2rk74j5MT94Whj4nkGuR0rq-hlqPFLrtbasjiH9JdSa33JOcf-b5Vaf-EB3bcuetfgSW48FmtxqSUMRC6OfwK6wME0ZnLRhJ_E_3EWHkyDuoslJ246G8o9hQ/s500/R-458296-1285642152.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNm7WVvdjxmGipZxXNWTAUi58Hc3HjuWM2worZJr0n507byJrvP-pUA7QLUDCfgXOim2rk74j5MT94Whj4nkGuR0rq-hlqPFLrtbasjiH9JdSa33JOcf-b5Vaf-EB3bcuetfgSW48FmtxqSUMRC6OfwK6wME0ZnLRhJ_E_3EWHkyDuoslJ246G8o9hQ/s320/R-458296-1285642152.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Consequently, it was no surprise when, in an act of unabashed patriotism and/or blatant parochialism, virtually all the Australian newspaper obituaries I saw of Reid featured headlines such as “You’re the Voice Songwriter Dies” and covered the John Farnham connection in great depth before mentioning “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” almost as an afterthought. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF_FiktwpdkED-5d8lDaHz89-Yi1ygiPXyxoxaBn4Os3ZiyQ5aCWgQwWLF0f9MjYPw45ZEgXziXAyWXHmMF6UtEUIM1-V62pj3v53DTbD8Fhyopieq79kXmmToxHRSBQE3yZVr2Y1LXptoDVcPMAKlbFttDnvGCTxeG9uDnF6T4AHBUcgxn_loaEu5Hg/s1680/procol-harum-a-whiter-shade-of-pale-1967-7-COLLAGE%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1680" data-original-width="1680" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF_FiktwpdkED-5d8lDaHz89-Yi1ygiPXyxoxaBn4Os3ZiyQ5aCWgQwWLF0f9MjYPw45ZEgXziXAyWXHmMF6UtEUIM1-V62pj3v53DTbD8Fhyopieq79kXmmToxHRSBQE3yZVr2Y1LXptoDVcPMAKlbFttDnvGCTxeG9uDnF6T4AHBUcgxn_loaEu5Hg/w640-h640/procol-harum-a-whiter-shade-of-pale-1967-7-COLLAGE%20(1).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_m_6DwE15kLVtO4qVPN2R8RTR4zbg5Gx-lbAU0_jcQtYCGZuS7Y6sr_TiK-09dK55YtFHLUA0wQMPBO592FvMJT2BdNhjtWovLRDuGvG3bEM_8rnI7FhU5mCir-GOsptppUMa6LMYXG__WENAV2DNfp7GBz1VTGShOICv2cBdOffYilM3kZaI5p8FA/s1392/Keith-Reid-fourth-from-left-with-Procol-Harum-in-1970.-Credit-Gijsbert-Hanekroot-via-Redferns-1392x884.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="884" data-original-width="1392" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_m_6DwE15kLVtO4qVPN2R8RTR4zbg5Gx-lbAU0_jcQtYCGZuS7Y6sr_TiK-09dK55YtFHLUA0wQMPBO592FvMJT2BdNhjtWovLRDuGvG3bEM_8rnI7FhU5mCir-GOsptppUMa6LMYXG__WENAV2DNfp7GBz1VTGShOICv2cBdOffYilM3kZaI5p8FA/w640-h406/Keith-Reid-fourth-from-left-with-Procol-Harum-in-1970.-Credit-Gijsbert-Hanekroot-via-Redferns-1392x884.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></span><p></p><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-89364280703973000822023-04-06T23:14:00.037-07:002024-01-09T19:41:14.669-08:00Syd Barrett - A Madcap Mystery Solved<p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJ7u29f2wGou_FdooDn2phjnFCeA1MCaDn24z8_mUnkU-UH8nt7mgG3665I-Tyi9HZkw8M26JYTjiKp9fNW2EPLxaaSuZsvUfpUH2axU6KskrIeb7Pf4t_vpmKhTvyWc5TuNGEdc8gv5hgFHlGl89exjZzkP71EIZzdNFVtvbhKPxfCfGdKfOrYU_pFI/s1855/Syd%20B%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1855" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJ7u29f2wGou_FdooDn2phjnFCeA1MCaDn24z8_mUnkU-UH8nt7mgG3665I-Tyi9HZkw8M26JYTjiKp9fNW2EPLxaaSuZsvUfpUH2axU6KskrIeb7Pf4t_vpmKhTvyWc5TuNGEdc8gv5hgFHlGl89exjZzkP71EIZzdNFVtvbhKPxfCfGdKfOrYU_pFI/w640-h310/Syd%20B%20copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The Strange Tale of Syd Barrett's Mystery LP</b></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-fd98dd1a-7fff-98a6-b7d4-a16e9ec90064"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Stuart Penney</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In late 1969* photographer Mick Rock visited Syd Barrett at his flat in Wetherby Mansions, Earls Court to take pictures for the cover of Syd’s first solo album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Madcap Laughs</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Those images are among the most powerful rock photos of the era and many ended up in the hugely collectible (and now very expensive) book </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Psychedelic Renegades</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Plexus Publishing 2007). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*(Ed. Note: Mick Rock has said the photo session took place in Autumn 1969, while other sources claim it happened much earlier in the year. We assume Mick's date is correct).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0oWQpVE6nT1jqNrDU5BY0ej1WZTA5sLTUymmy3d0ZDLyQrKbyktoHIfHXSZWMWBZOycyIidKE6M9aIV9OuJvZ41bqDzR_kbp8LJqOtmuZB7-NyEI87LuDVo-DJp6kJCCKGV8tWO4mgCdHRmDPcA0bi2jIkbvgUs5GkU8zhh27kLhCAbxkLPe-g9NEKw/s1025/Wetherby%20Mansions.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="1025" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0oWQpVE6nT1jqNrDU5BY0ej1WZTA5sLTUymmy3d0ZDLyQrKbyktoHIfHXSZWMWBZOycyIidKE6M9aIV9OuJvZ41bqDzR_kbp8LJqOtmuZB7-NyEI87LuDVo-DJp6kJCCKGV8tWO4mgCdHRmDPcA0bi2jIkbvgUs5GkU8zhh27kLhCAbxkLPe-g9NEKw/w400-h260/Wetherby%20Mansions.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Due to his “erratic behaviour” Barrett had been ousted from Pink Floyd in early 1968 and embarked on a hesitant and short-lived solo career. While Syd was not officially fired from the band, the Floyd members have said they simply stopped calling ‘round to pick him up for gigs.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8X2rDRkebFWepnHXgBKK7yE90i6vtRKOJqjDkgavRW-QpEg8mpQTcvdhRs6h015Ruzb6fgIRk9h6EdLaeHDn8D6ASSormszSVqMUvxEuz7lO3aBJwr6vpcd0DeVZ-WCLJrxtXuhsTPIZSZfXn2mKEr6yH7h9uNBP1ICBpNoZxL8RZeJSGKV4TtMBwqQ/s655/3736.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="655" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8X2rDRkebFWepnHXgBKK7yE90i6vtRKOJqjDkgavRW-QpEg8mpQTcvdhRs6h015Ruzb6fgIRk9h6EdLaeHDn8D6ASSormszSVqMUvxEuz7lO3aBJwr6vpcd0DeVZ-WCLJrxtXuhsTPIZSZfXn2mKEr6yH7h9uNBP1ICBpNoZxL8RZeJSGKV4TtMBwqQ/w400-h263/3736.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>The Madcap Laughs</b></i> was eventually released in January 1970, followed later in the year by <i><b>Barrett</b></i>, his second and final album. After this Syd went into rapid decline, disappearing from public view in the mid-70s and eventually moving back to his hometown of Cambridge. Barrett’s mental health may have been fragile in autumn 1969, but Mick Rock captured him at his lithe, handsome best. With wild, tousled hair and eyes heavily lined with kohl Syd cut a magnificent figure and it’s probably true to say that he never looked better than in the series of photos taken that day.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD4kfh4xcAG3ZJGZbF_VQxkYgDstGLLxjadKLLmYmTyYxA2l98zmES9flCh4pi7GWlK04JBs7gIwIclm_yAoArawW5P_Kvwgb8IBwUGjMysigwgCKguy0CWZS9Mw5Hc9kW6sYMDkMPaZQjaiL_BBPUOgGuOwz-iPVpJKu4uLlr4Yati94d_8FiceWddw/s422/Syd%20car.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD4kfh4xcAG3ZJGZbF_VQxkYgDstGLLxjadKLLmYmTyYxA2l98zmES9flCh4pi7GWlK04JBs7gIwIclm_yAoArawW5P_Kvwgb8IBwUGjMysigwgCKguy0CWZS9Mw5Hc9kW6sYMDkMPaZQjaiL_BBPUOgGuOwz-iPVpJKu4uLlr4Yati94d_8FiceWddw/s320/Syd%20car.jpg" width="227" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A few outdoor shots show Syd stretched along the bonnet of his 1959 dark blue Pontiac Parisienne in red velvet trousers and regulation rock star Cuban heel shoes from Gohil’s.* The enormous left-hand drive American car languished, neglected and undriven, for months in the street outside the Earls Court mansion block until it was eventually removed (some say Syd gave it away). The car was later pictured on the back cover of the <b><i>Barrett</i></b> LP.</span></span></span><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48dgkzTmh77s5xgMbXd3gwLK59njjzHYF-hSgdXZBwE4xlF0QhAUetr03_R3GHJojnd0ATNcB0oWuWMsVeAidWNbCMloGwt6uFeDnlQXXKP9MlNhYzIDr-AHb75Q1H-5gXk5c4GM6u_-u0CSzyDmb9YWQkqLDfllXQXdbxS61sepYMrPdIHgORLjYEQ/s1224/Syd%20car%20best.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="1057" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48dgkzTmh77s5xgMbXd3gwLK59njjzHYF-hSgdXZBwE4xlF0QhAUetr03_R3GHJojnd0ATNcB0oWuWMsVeAidWNbCMloGwt6uFeDnlQXXKP9MlNhYzIDr-AHb75Q1H-5gXk5c4GM6u_-u0CSzyDmb9YWQkqLDfllXQXdbxS61sepYMrPdIHgORLjYEQ/s320/Syd%20car%20best.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><br /></span></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*(Ed. Note: Velji Gohil opened his Camden store in 1966 making handmade leather boots and shoes which became popular with the rock aristocracy. Roger Waters later name-checked the shop in the song “Nobody Home” on side three of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Wall</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: “I’ve got a pair of Gohills </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[sic] </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">boots, and I’ve got fading roots.”)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpUpB5zsa19v3vBWfUCFj8iGHsyqlxua0cX7sBjFl93VYC2jZYBAplRiM79ZCfP-O_rxETK0zxN7PyePtRP82Z3U6ndnS7sr-xiDu2VGAX_XVgkmGxXcs96nE_s8uiqkSIBZ6iiKjuU0lczRpgozS2mOQ3AXysfXyFlv0u7Fa0FN3WvkWB8ezXXvPXQ/s960/1959%20Pontiac%20Pink.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="960" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpUpB5zsa19v3vBWfUCFj8iGHsyqlxua0cX7sBjFl93VYC2jZYBAplRiM79ZCfP-O_rxETK0zxN7PyePtRP82Z3U6ndnS7sr-xiDu2VGAX_XVgkmGxXcs96nE_s8uiqkSIBZ6iiKjuU0lczRpgozS2mOQ3AXysfXyFlv0u7Fa0FN3WvkWB8ezXXvPXQ/w400-h208/1959%20Pontiac%20Pink.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Pontiac resurfaced in the 1970 black comedy film </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Entertaining Mr. Sloane</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, wearing the same London registered number plate VYP 74 but resprayed bright pink. As to the car’s history, the story goes that Mickey Finn of T.Rex bought it in an auction at the Royal Albert Hall but didn’t like the attention it brought him. So, a swap was arranged. Syd became the new owner of the Pontiac, while Mickey got Barrett’s Mini in exchange. True or not, it’s a great tale.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UUQ5shy4SAw34zc0JixdqZhxNziwvFiM6s1OG3OFGHpQg7vYMLkZ7HbxcKa6eZ2rzCGVEzHGxpT9eT8Qq_O7Dbd6Lla08234jgE3mzsxFerhWqT52byLj2qRbExg6blUvttBJyYFj7GzNjqe3X5ohhPAlc58lYNgkbJRVm_5HD9L_FgHvockCc71Pw/s960/1959%20pontiac%20parisienne%20Pink.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="960" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UUQ5shy4SAw34zc0JixdqZhxNziwvFiM6s1OG3OFGHpQg7vYMLkZ7HbxcKa6eZ2rzCGVEzHGxpT9eT8Qq_O7Dbd6Lla08234jgE3mzsxFerhWqT52byLj2qRbExg6blUvttBJyYFj7GzNjqe3X5ohhPAlc58lYNgkbJRVm_5HD9L_FgHvockCc71Pw/s320/1959%20pontiac%20parisienne%20Pink.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Another photograph shows a shirtless Syd crouching next to an open window, with the sunlight streaming in. The bare wooden floorboards have been painted alternately orange and dark blue, the kind of project which probably seemed like a great idea at the time before it became clear, in the cold light of day, that the high gloss paint would probably take an eternity to dry. The same photo also shows some unpainted floorboards, indicating the job was unfinished (a paint pot and brush are visible nearby). Those famous Wetherby Mansions floorboards can be seen in all their striped glory on the front cover of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Madcap Laughs.</span></span></div><div><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1-kAQb-nZaMaxLgA5lOwUuZxJMbFWhTY4i4IUbU-dOblFeSLmDuHUoWyitTG531ImlGFWdMHXlUpRwDCF6vBgAKR3ruZtDO3E0PR-nGkwFXAenEZuMiZY3hWmKXpu8LA9-T6N9kKy5XutzyJN5mEKqvOzMp4tIdAfNgBEfR2XG5LmGX_o_MYBSiSHg/s797/syd-barrett-the-madcap-laughs-8-ab.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="790" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1-kAQb-nZaMaxLgA5lOwUuZxJMbFWhTY4i4IUbU-dOblFeSLmDuHUoWyitTG531ImlGFWdMHXlUpRwDCF6vBgAKR3ruZtDO3E0PR-nGkwFXAenEZuMiZY3hWmKXpu8LA9-T6N9kKy5XutzyJN5mEKqvOzMp4tIdAfNgBEfR2XG5LmGX_o_MYBSiSHg/s320/syd-barrett-the-madcap-laughs-8-ab.jpg" width="317" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To the right of the photo is a stereo separates system. Sitting next to an amplifier of indeterminate make we see a Garrard SP-25 Mk 1 idler drive turntable, then standard issue hi fi equipment for budget conscious music lovers across the land. Introduced in 1967 the SP-25 is a four speed semi-automatic turntable capable of playing records at 16, 33, 45 and 78 rpm. It wasn’t exactly high-end audiophile gear, but it was robust enough and did the job just fine. A pair of giant loudspeakers (possibly Wharfedales) are placed haphazardly in the centre of the room, atop which sits a domestic reel-to-reel tape recorder.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim7_PfkLA3MHCKVtK9cwPldJfRPI7gmKs3KhEJShSUMPxllCzXh-6wqADk0ODre7Z9CDph6ROVFvpnGtJY5RBG-ub4bOMQXjFJZQXjyo7b4SxUZhgEjVat-dQNGWTnRp5eUM8Nh2oUIOiyGzZYrXVl4ZDzeTYCZ6TyjaN0Okso0_KwjWfeGGLWUTYAhg/s500/2825681_140620160414_DSC_7010.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="500" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim7_PfkLA3MHCKVtK9cwPldJfRPI7gmKs3KhEJShSUMPxllCzXh-6wqADk0ODre7Z9CDph6ROVFvpnGtJY5RBG-ub4bOMQXjFJZQXjyo7b4SxUZhgEjVat-dQNGWTnRp5eUM8Nh2oUIOiyGzZYrXVl4ZDzeTYCZ6TyjaN0Okso0_KwjWfeGGLWUTYAhg/s320/2825681_140620160414_DSC_7010.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitwOL0agbBYVZuRiJCcshP2YAWCKHMMP_HWxqlgLqsEN5upA1dIc5n6BW1v9ah1Ev7O0auZXa_WNeOl_cmub7AAoVR61aZsrxgEiGGGWbAh8ODMP6U8cu8cnL-BXeoQZo1IEoSAAD42FJwavdKH21yhMkolNeAtL7NJlxC9e35APEXWq54memXzIMXBg/s600/L-46542-1650690980-8751.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="600" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitwOL0agbBYVZuRiJCcshP2YAWCKHMMP_HWxqlgLqsEN5upA1dIc5n6BW1v9ah1Ev7O0auZXa_WNeOl_cmub7AAoVR61aZsrxgEiGGGWbAh8ODMP6U8cu8cnL-BXeoQZo1IEoSAAD42FJwavdKH21yhMkolNeAtL7NJlxC9e35APEXWq54memXzIMXBg/s320/L-46542-1650690980-8751.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />On the turntable is an LP with a yellow label. Keen-eyed record spotters will quickly identify the Direction label, a CBS offshoot launched in 1967 to issue mainly American soul and R&B in the UK. Direction didn’t flourish, however, and CBS closed the label in 1970 after releasing only around 26 albums and approx 100 singles. But since we can't read the label and the sleeve is nowhere to be seen, how can we identify the LP on Syd’s turntable?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_rEH6tm-bGPIF2UB3UNsp5HidXnwTVcaeXkWD-6zZ-qQ69FDLss17J9iaq3dg8QHO9f_RkPTD19V5F3M4LZDScTaQzqdeJ_DHrMHT4zYffcmchD94BWLGkLGmHefmnw0AgBAMCAtq7RLRuIoJ6piY7pH23BrMW0cDmIWF1TWNxbtFIV35hMuZH8zHYw/s1579/IMG_6078%20(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1579" data-original-width="1428" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_rEH6tm-bGPIF2UB3UNsp5HidXnwTVcaeXkWD-6zZ-qQ69FDLss17J9iaq3dg8QHO9f_RkPTD19V5F3M4LZDScTaQzqdeJ_DHrMHT4zYffcmchD94BWLGkLGmHefmnw0AgBAMCAtq7RLRuIoJ6piY7pH23BrMW0cDmIWF1TWNxbtFIV35hMuZH8zHYw/s320/IMG_6078%20(2).jpg" width="289" /></a></div></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fortunately, with only around two dozen Direction LPs to deal with, it was a relatively easy task to work out that the record is </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Natch’l Blues </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Direction</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> S58-63397) the second album by bluesman <b>Taj Mahal</b> and the 10th LP on the label. It was a fairly new release in the UK at the time, appearing in March 1969 (although the US version had been released several months earlier on Columbia with a totally different sleeve design). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do we know this? Zooming in, Syd’s record shows five banded tracks. Four of them are roughly the same width, but the last one “Done Changed My Way Of Thinking” is much wider, running around seven minutes. Not one of the other 25 Direction LPs have tracks which exactly match this pattern (yes, I methodically worked through all 50+ sides). So, by a process of elimination, it can only be side one of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Natch’l Blues.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_iB0eSCnbqfOF4gCSBac5hCCX__LYN-hWkDSp_rSjBWnGnqfQREe_VlrT0GDrLRFnBCzfYpMeaqnGdvxNSCKbpHctPDZET7Je384LfTZ_0o8J2Jd7ac_cF5jNOkZ3_GCoeXiJIpYqxrpbm7H_BkNZCNWb1SsovfDPH54k5Eyf3GkL52WNMu4GL4PZuQ/s800/taj-mahal-the-natchl-blues-5-ab.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="792" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_iB0eSCnbqfOF4gCSBac5hCCX__LYN-hWkDSp_rSjBWnGnqfQREe_VlrT0GDrLRFnBCzfYpMeaqnGdvxNSCKbpHctPDZET7Je384LfTZ_0o8J2Jd7ac_cF5jNOkZ3_GCoeXiJIpYqxrpbm7H_BkNZCNWb1SsovfDPH54k5Eyf3GkL52WNMu4GL4PZuQ/s320/taj-mahal-the-natchl-blues-5-ab.jpg" width="317" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Furter evidence emerged in a January 1970 interview which appeared in issue #17 of the mid-70s Barratt fanzine <i><b>Terrapin</b></i>. When asked what music he'd been listening to, Syd said: “During the past six months there have been some very good things released. The best things I've bought are the new Taj Mahal album, Captain Beefheart and The Band. I don't think any of them have influenced my writing though. I've been writing in all sorts of funny places.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, in the interview Syd could have been referring to the third <b>Taj Mahal</b> album, the double </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Giant Step / De Ole Folks At Home</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Direction S8-63820/1) which was released in the UK in November 1969, but I like to think he meant </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Natch’l Blues</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i>All photos of Syd by Mick Rock (1948 - 2021)</i></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FkSGl110IHzouuncZqh3LFClOhDL1x7OrBGqdyTg_K3d4Yy5MyJlISMmtxewsrYnqiu9QpvRnU35vC4tVovS_-SVMsp2LVyGq8JxISzeTvKV9XSNvOi5PDdO2lfdE5UmCqOCnslDHSGeAbdHQ76UBCWmW9rgpwonn3LBQvAGCojHOFazI7VI5Uqh-A/s1488/Header1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="942" data-original-width="1488" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FkSGl110IHzouuncZqh3LFClOhDL1x7OrBGqdyTg_K3d4Yy5MyJlISMmtxewsrYnqiu9QpvRnU35vC4tVovS_-SVMsp2LVyGq8JxISzeTvKV9XSNvOi5PDdO2lfdE5UmCqOCnslDHSGeAbdHQ76UBCWmW9rgpwonn3LBQvAGCojHOFazI7VI5Uqh-A/w640-h406/Header1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW5zXGJQLkWiV38c6iD_obOvKoGJcRBCYaFtYq-2aVrzzbwwfDUajBT3Bn3N4fV5_bvuNNlI7JH4mQxne5hVngFOIY98ExoSazG2Xdp0FLn4zvGSzD4hMQIb5t__c8CniOxvJPwfQWLBi8fl-1SE7JYmyP2pUuBqNdTOTC_pYQgZgJ2mPm0MHVXswuEAc/s795/taj-mahal-the-natchl-blues-4-ab.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="795" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW5zXGJQLkWiV38c6iD_obOvKoGJcRBCYaFtYq-2aVrzzbwwfDUajBT3Bn3N4fV5_bvuNNlI7JH4mQxne5hVngFOIY98ExoSazG2Xdp0FLn4zvGSzD4hMQIb5t__c8CniOxvJPwfQWLBi8fl-1SE7JYmyP2pUuBqNdTOTC_pYQgZgJ2mPm0MHVXswuEAc/w400-h400/taj-mahal-the-natchl-blues-4-ab.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvltvtHrFjFHxkjoSJ0JuDXIxVYP_eSWGXVrhhQRrBY3TZTjDGZzkBqV1dngFwbrKURZBTElPWLzrFt7x3HDEs1FLFToJj12YXv1WnaUqDfbQ3ySEcMBYv40-QWTRhQJ7DLiC5-0q3J8AkTZSPF9AF0zdadZC-11YPmlZcQYzaikBYGbPt-DZdp9tOzg/s432/madcap2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvltvtHrFjFHxkjoSJ0JuDXIxVYP_eSWGXVrhhQRrBY3TZTjDGZzkBqV1dngFwbrKURZBTElPWLzrFt7x3HDEs1FLFToJj12YXv1WnaUqDfbQ3ySEcMBYv40-QWTRhQJ7DLiC5-0q3J8AkTZSPF9AF0zdadZC-11YPmlZcQYzaikBYGbPt-DZdp9tOzg/s320/madcap2.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-37994101650029355372023-03-18T00:50:00.048-07:002024-01-06T21:32:56.063-08:00Bob Dylan - The Australian Connection - Part 2: Masterpieces<p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQcgD2DRfgQeHmtLZoD9sctUVyt9YlMQqFYZgqc5NZYiN-PSnpSi6qIg6PLDd3jEAy0uOF_FMoJ6GyFyuNgbxZVj_8v6I5bEc395BgtyiNR_fLOj3xAhAGuIZ1bTsSUJtN6oKrevgZGHbd6LEDMD3X2d4gvdLA_uYbm492I9uNLWvpNvDxSaTg5AwYA/s751/Aussie%20Tour%20Programme%201978.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="586" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQcgD2DRfgQeHmtLZoD9sctUVyt9YlMQqFYZgqc5NZYiN-PSnpSi6qIg6PLDd3jEAy0uOF_FMoJ6GyFyuNgbxZVj_8v6I5bEc395BgtyiNR_fLOj3xAhAGuIZ1bTsSUJtN6oKrevgZGHbd6LEDMD3X2d4gvdLA_uYbm492I9uNLWvpNvDxSaTg5AwYA/w500-h640/Aussie%20Tour%20Programme%201978.jpg" width="500" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />by Stuart Penney</span><p></p><p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">1978 was an unusually busy year for Bob Dylan. In January he re-signed a long-term contract with CBS and embarked on a 114-date world tour which ran (with breaks) from February through to December. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a15081f0-7fff-6845-543e-1cfefebf8bbe"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Along with the albums </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Street Legal</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (June) and</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Bob Dylan at Budokan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (August), we also got a trio of singles, two of which (“Is Your Love In Vain” and “Baby Stop Crying”) appeared on the new-fangled 12” format, a first for Bob. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the movie front the four-hour arse-numbing marathon that was </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Renaldo & Clara</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> arrived in cinemas to mixed reviews in January, followed in April by his show-stealing appearance in The Band’s concert film </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The Last Waltz</b>.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And as if that weren’t enough Bob action, 1978 also saw the release of another significant Dylan record, one which many fans in Europe and America were blissfully unaware of at the time.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_je9LHLtw_SnF-nPVRwFeU7aQ09QNrptoyvo38aXu32gXm_wP4p99lonaXExSSa_n1tlnZP8DMBlryN67PNNiG0OOkcIW8tVTUU4bJh9KnH05mqTsSDG-W7OBrDn-4wGtlW8h-hVC9C1q0sB0z0kKBJArYpdFQ9MreVYHSIqVfB_QGheBUaLXDkDWw/s2655/IMG_5992.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2655" data-original-width="2625" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_je9LHLtw_SnF-nPVRwFeU7aQ09QNrptoyvo38aXu32gXm_wP4p99lonaXExSSa_n1tlnZP8DMBlryN67PNNiG0OOkcIW8tVTUU4bJh9KnH05mqTsSDG-W7OBrDn-4wGtlW8h-hVC9C1q0sB0z0kKBJArYpdFQ9MreVYHSIqVfB_QGheBUaLXDkDWw/s320/IMG_5992.jpg" width="316" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Continuing our trawl through Dylan’s Australian catalogue, we arrive at the triple compilation album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS S3BP 220502)</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Released March 1978 exclusively in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, presumably to tie-in with the Oceania leg of his World Tour, it represents arguably the finest overview of his 60s and 70s work this side of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Biograph.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Alongside the big hits and familiar classics, it also contained quite a few surprises, which we will examine below. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I acquired my first vinyl copy of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in the early 80s when a girlfriend brought one back from a visit to Australia. It was an extremely desirable item in those pre-internet days with import record shops in London charging huge prices for it. Although containing only one genuinely rare cut (“Mixed Up Confusion”) there are several other obscure and unusual tracks, plus singles and B-sides which were either difficult to find, or unavailable on album at the time, making it an important piece of the Dylan discography. In Australia the triple vinyl set was immediately well received, selling well enough to reach #2 in the album chart and it was certified gold within four weeks of release, despite retailing at more than twice the price of a regular LP. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsoJqQqB4_ewP6RNlvVdMKchFoXogwlJFz9SyXyDb-x4Sv-DspdAYiE9eL4HIM3zRJlDtniwknzxqAwGMOLvivx1cGX2V6u4h591oKlTGgduBGvUF-2IaH0DC31HWzRlEvOAgwUTsBMqUA61eOyXk-uhTllrYhRt1vLRW6iPHw24v-Zd0C3J8UfF7YQ/s2455/IMG_5999.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2455" data-original-width="2421" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsoJqQqB4_ewP6RNlvVdMKchFoXogwlJFz9SyXyDb-x4Sv-DspdAYiE9eL4HIM3zRJlDtniwknzxqAwGMOLvivx1cGX2V6u4h591oKlTGgduBGvUF-2IaH0DC31HWzRlEvOAgwUTsBMqUA61eOyXk-uhTllrYhRt1vLRW6iPHw24v-Zd0C3J8UfF7YQ/s320/IMG_5999.jpg" width="316" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">With 39 selections spread over six sides and practically no sleeve information other than the track listing, buyers were left to figure out for themselves where the songs originated. Most were obvious enough but tracks such as “Like A Rolling Stone” and “The Mighty Quinn,” for example, unexpectedly turned out to be the live </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Self Portrait</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> versions from the 1969 Isle of Wight festival. It wasn’t until we played the records that this, and a whole lot more, was revealed. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Cover:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although not credited anywhere on the sleeve the front cover image is a tightly cropped head shot photo of Bob by Ken Regan (1939-2012) who was the official photographer on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rolling Thunder Revue</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> tour of 1975 / 76. A wider shot is shown below. Another photo from the same session later turned up in the booklet of the 2003 SACD release of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Desire</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2vCeYhFO565HVZ6bzv96uEd0ky9-OvLl8VErih5fTNozdmNc7EMb6l2IS4OhCjYox5KCT7gHqC5Ps80kY0YOGD3MTHmz0ai4UQOn9bFH0wY90Q1ncs7Wz9-4lgQHbIg5VPmiVw7RdY6l2pdXnyD-QOXaieg1REqbqyv4jRe-AWNdNJAKbSSaPcepWCw/s935/Ken%20Regan%20full%20Masterpieces%20cover%20photo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="935" data-original-width="669" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2vCeYhFO565HVZ6bzv96uEd0ky9-OvLl8VErih5fTNozdmNc7EMb6l2IS4OhCjYox5KCT7gHqC5Ps80kY0YOGD3MTHmz0ai4UQOn9bFH0wY90Q1ncs7Wz9-4lgQHbIg5VPmiVw7RdY6l2pdXnyD-QOXaieg1REqbqyv4jRe-AWNdNJAKbSSaPcepWCw/w286-h400/Ken%20Regan%20full%20Masterpieces%20cover%20photo.jpg" width="286" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The hat Dylan is wearing shows up in countless photos from that period and is the same one seen throughout the movie </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Renaldo & Clara</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> and on the sleeves of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Desire</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">The Bootleg Series Vol.5 – Bob Dylan Live 1975</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> which were also photographed by Regan.</span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjewJWWZsDgS6Lj802KBOcMdk7wXJqEeJWWhklKcm7hhePhJePa794msqjfISgYrlpj5uvs-S58Jabcd6vKZAvOBLD1lWQKNzSy3x-wGpW8nod99N0hEK-_jiELHYbjNs02RaXhCK7Yl_FK9hxY8UGj832fz99KJHaHOFL3wiLmaCNdObB0-xJwk7ih5Q/s2709/IMG_5993.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2709" data-original-width="2682" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjewJWWZsDgS6Lj802KBOcMdk7wXJqEeJWWhklKcm7hhePhJePa794msqjfISgYrlpj5uvs-S58Jabcd6vKZAvOBLD1lWQKNzSy3x-wGpW8nod99N0hEK-_jiELHYbjNs02RaXhCK7Yl_FK9hxY8UGj832fz99KJHaHOFL3wiLmaCNdObB0-xJwk7ih5Q/s320/IMG_5993.jpg" width="317" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Ken Regan’s photos appeared on many Dylan albums, including </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Empire Burlesque, Biograph</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> and several volumes of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">The Bootleg Series</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">. His work can also be seen on records by David Bowie, the Rolling Stones and countless others. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite the paucity of liner notes, the tri-fold sleeve of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was nonetheless impressive, featuring several full-page photos of Dylan from the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rolling Thunder Revue</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> period. Three showed him wearing the distinctive loose-fitting bandana or middle eastern headgear adopted by virtually all band members onstage during the tour. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Sid Griffin’s book </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shelter From The Storm: Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Years</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (2010), T.Bone Burnett insists the bandana style head coverings were inspired by bricklayers who were building a wall at Dylan’s house around that time. The workers wore rags around their heads “to stop them getting concrete and various bits of plaster or whatever in their hair.” Dylan picked up on this look and, naturally, where Bob went so did those around him.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0EXO-REcFC6xQNarqzArlsD-TirzVSouHL3LlnnhhasnbAVNv0IqF87rx-aVZM1SplwKC3lJxMuYP6ySkZDhVa2VlKMeA1PqOLxW9Sh3DVQ6WgNDGYDvgDx1XSDuGaZuutCYeEqWNgvCJjwvu2WzFKndYDizLAEe9ddt0vIzoT4-YUZGhVGo0TUXOw/s1832/IMG_5995.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1825" data-original-width="1832" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0EXO-REcFC6xQNarqzArlsD-TirzVSouHL3LlnnhhasnbAVNv0IqF87rx-aVZM1SplwKC3lJxMuYP6ySkZDhVa2VlKMeA1PqOLxW9Sh3DVQ6WgNDGYDvgDx1XSDuGaZuutCYeEqWNgvCJjwvu2WzFKndYDizLAEe9ddt0vIzoT4-YUZGhVGo0TUXOw/s320/IMG_5995.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the back cover, together with the track listing, we see a picture of Bob onstage at the Starlight Ballroom in the Belleview Biltmore Hotel, Clearwater, Florida. The </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rolling Thunder Revue</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> played two shows there on April 22, 1976, both of which were filmed for a possible one-hour TV special. The film was never broadcast but with a little judicious searching the footage can be found online. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the photo Dylan is wearing a bandana with a distinctive Om (or Aum) Hindu symbol and playing a small body Martin 00-21 acoustic with slotted headstock. This is the guitar he used throughout the 1974 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before the Flood</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> tour with The Band, and it was later seen onstage in September 1975 at the Tribute to John Hammond show in Chicago. Perhaps more importantly, we are assured this is the very same instrument Dylan used to record “Tangled Up in Blue” in late 1974.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-DW2tGyLMgem4yxYXp_hX5Qe5ttUktLaaos3T6DHTcpqErCQ-zgkxZXwC6sLxIxHwcIV3BkxB7iqBxUPKzS9FPsyK6t9DGWOvObFY2Igh7QMHe3ldNV6qRXpEntnm3yP4lsUQaTP_liuTNFZkzjAmGsxt9fKPYYPFuHvij4cF20xvcpUih1jlGCzsVg/s1661/IMG_5994.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1646" data-original-width="1661" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-DW2tGyLMgem4yxYXp_hX5Qe5ttUktLaaos3T6DHTcpqErCQ-zgkxZXwC6sLxIxHwcIV3BkxB7iqBxUPKzS9FPsyK6t9DGWOvObFY2Igh7QMHe3ldNV6qRXpEntnm3yP4lsUQaTP_liuTNFZkzjAmGsxt9fKPYYPFuHvij4cF20xvcpUih1jlGCzsVg/s320/IMG_5994.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although the Australian pressing was nicely presented in a triple fold-out sleeve, the Japanese, predictably, went one better with their deluxe version (CBS/Sony 57AP-875/6/7) which boasted all manner of extras including an impressive 40-page lyric/photo/discography book, an individually numbered "Fan Certificate" card, a poster and an obi (paper title strip), none of which were included with the Aussie or New Zealand versions.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xgTOtPo1lN_BMvtVYnRGTsxPK5_WXHnEeJLtz-EuZDClnFqY26e0FsZZ3tY5UsPz1-Lt5Fd0pPDzNo5lwTL5Mantj4uZcs-uE9cLWwsU3K8qv_DiQM7H8hTEpKjNHTMpAwYAoe0wpqHPf2xdMDc9rr-hFWQwuHsZPJtc8g0DP5EPrs7ZbU0_VaNRgA/s2407/IMG_5996.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2318" data-original-width="2407" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xgTOtPo1lN_BMvtVYnRGTsxPK5_WXHnEeJLtz-EuZDClnFqY26e0FsZZ3tY5UsPz1-Lt5Fd0pPDzNo5lwTL5Mantj4uZcs-uE9cLWwsU3K8qv_DiQM7H8hTEpKjNHTMpAwYAoe0wpqHPf2xdMDc9rr-hFWQwuHsZPJtc8g0DP5EPrs7ZbU0_VaNRgA/s320/IMG_5996.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some of the eight Tokyo concerts from February and March were recorded and released in August 1978 as the double album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bob Dylan at Budokan </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(CBS/Sony 40AP 1100-1). This was initially available only in Japan, until huge demand forced a worldwide release in April 1979.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg6Bc3SFunNXgYsedu_-21XQmOoO5zhkZ0fNcVD3Qq_P81I3dbbV8WXYPGDj_QfYzpvlrODI9JzXBcksEICl8lh5SkgwM6vgqb5IBXAEGz5HuQIkrpyU2gQo2YaV260d8uHFvBIoDlJjYGPgKjHKscS_l2F5a5TAOZ3Hx1fYh4v6hytYjcAogcV_anvQ/s2717/Japan%20Budokan%20LP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2717" data-original-width="2702" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg6Bc3SFunNXgYsedu_-21XQmOoO5zhkZ0fNcVD3Qq_P81I3dbbV8WXYPGDj_QfYzpvlrODI9JzXBcksEICl8lh5SkgwM6vgqb5IBXAEGz5HuQIkrpyU2gQo2YaV260d8uHFvBIoDlJjYGPgKjHKscS_l2F5a5TAOZ3Hx1fYh4v6hytYjcAogcV_anvQ/s320/Japan%20Budokan%20LP.jpg" width="318" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meanwhile, back in Australia there is a story that in 1978 a beer company ran a special promotion whereby purchasers of a 24-can carton of grog could get a free copy of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">! The story may well be apocryphal, but I feel it really ought to be true. It is Australia, after all. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dylan opened the 1978 world tour with 23 concerts in Japan (his first ever shows there), New Zealand and Australia. These dates ran from late February, through March and into early April, making the March 1978 release of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> perfect timing, for Australian and New Zealand fans, at least. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguwDx-4Jw0SXGSemovWqocs2x9vA-kQODmJ2sBjS5i9lunFNMcHPVVsddmO5viudhHDF8gSpk9Biua9eKS_02GkSU_av3eDu6pgVvgXNRkR6Qz_GKJDnJZt2VhYgKN6jkDK5aElqRCoi_D2q3rY5jTs6VzFUh-7HrSK0DDBVHTUcsKdO22uwpVCrRdeg/s600/R-8288784-1550654558-8702.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="599" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguwDx-4Jw0SXGSemovWqocs2x9vA-kQODmJ2sBjS5i9lunFNMcHPVVsddmO5viudhHDF8gSpk9Biua9eKS_02GkSU_av3eDu6pgVvgXNRkR6Qz_GKJDnJZt2VhYgKN6jkDK5aElqRCoi_D2q3rY5jTs6VzFUh-7HrSK0DDBVHTUcsKdO22uwpVCrRdeg/s320/R-8288784-1550654558-8702.jpg" width="319" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Compact Discs:</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The CD version of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was released only in Australia, and it appeared in three distinctly different variations. First in 1987 came a cruelly truncated two CD version with only 35 tracks (instead of 39 on the vinyl version). The four missing tracks on this first CD pressing (CBS 462448 2) are “Idiot Wind,” “I Want You,” “Song To Woody”</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Love Minus Zero: No Limit”. Meanwhile, “Rita May” and "George Jackson,” although included, suffered the indignity of early fade-outs. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1991 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was restored to its full 3 CD/39 track glory (Columbia 462448 9) and unbelievably, it appears just a single complaint to the record company brought about the change.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMPoJEDutwBgXRSeyQD7B6F75XfDyL-lu6c7XNQHrtOV9FVQqi32yd-Amn5J3vCah7AmBBuXET-ysunW8cnNqVzUUpdZjt6eydsnoJP36iiQ6WRGBNUqW6xziJGSX0QgKRicBtTerX1VgqSDJ9fq7i4M-zrO9iVsYXCqqzmBYlU6i3l2bnePSHC2LZOw/s3326/IMG_6001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1701" data-original-width="3326" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMPoJEDutwBgXRSeyQD7B6F75XfDyL-lu6c7XNQHrtOV9FVQqi32yd-Amn5J3vCah7AmBBuXET-ysunW8cnNqVzUUpdZjt6eydsnoJP36iiQ6WRGBNUqW6xziJGSX0QgKRicBtTerX1VgqSDJ9fq7i4M-zrO9iVsYXCqqzmBYlU6i3l2bnePSHC2LZOw/w400-h205/IMG_6001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgic5j0LasKa4FecyR_K9y6AU_l6YpubPp_TWTtTmf1QrtPEUlNn5MReSKw9xUYsXsTJcy8BiMfetNMHVJ1LI-pPqNAA2xoFWWu-brUr0dD2o4-djmtOpOu-PwWtBegN5xJoLxPfwKqbFvuOSdsSg1DB89w67umrkNQPp1zz4eZvqWNL0t5DKIuOn0lMQ/s3444/IMG_6002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1832" data-original-width="3444" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgic5j0LasKa4FecyR_K9y6AU_l6YpubPp_TWTtTmf1QrtPEUlNn5MReSKw9xUYsXsTJcy8BiMfetNMHVJ1LI-pPqNAA2xoFWWu-brUr0dD2o4-djmtOpOu-PwWtBegN5xJoLxPfwKqbFvuOSdsSg1DB89w67umrkNQPp1zz4eZvqWNL0t5DKIuOn0lMQ/w400-h213/IMG_6002.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>John Lattanzio</b>, a Dylan fan based in Melbourne has claimed sole credit for the corporate U-turn. He told me: “I wrote to Sony and complained about the fact that they'd edited songs by making them fade more quickly so they could fit on 2 CDs. I said this was artistically reprehensible and it was like cutting pieces off the Mona Lisa to make it fit in the new frame. I got a reply from someone who said they agreed with me, and they would immediately remaster it for a 3 CD set. I was surprised! I asked how many people complained and he said, ‘Only you, but we thought about it, and we agreed with you.’”</span></p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seemed like a major win for the fans except, unfortunately, at this point Sony also changed the front cover to the rather unflattering close-up sepia photo of Dylan, taken from the inside centre panel of the LP gatefold sleeve. Later CD pressings from 1992 mercifully reverted to Ken Regan’s original “blue sky” cover photo.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was also released as a double cassette in Australia with both CD cover variations.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3rvLDa5Q8mVOk6E0_Z46j291HEZtDPXX-Q-YkyUuWn2sGiajN5p-Y2H4I91rNMmsA-AGf32ek6G6W53XpeXhfrEGpOQiMFxMsjuuZtRSb5BVxUJVnkJHzVnGJhqEMFsegY8eIojoveL1pJ11NVGrpbpdn7U1lXYOaPQv5cCz3bwVDaBAUAMlCbM3qQ/s600/Cassette.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="600" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3rvLDa5Q8mVOk6E0_Z46j291HEZtDPXX-Q-YkyUuWn2sGiajN5p-Y2H4I91rNMmsA-AGf32ek6G6W53XpeXhfrEGpOQiMFxMsjuuZtRSb5BVxUJVnkJHzVnGJhqEMFsegY8eIojoveL1pJ11NVGrpbpdn7U1lXYOaPQv5cCz3bwVDaBAUAMlCbM3qQ/s320/Cassette.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Track Listing:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Record 1, Side 1/CD 1:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Knockin' On Heaven's Door </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(from</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1973)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Tambourine Man </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bringing It All Back Home</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1965)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Just Like A Woman</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blonde on Blonde</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1966)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I Shall Be Released</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (acoustic duet with Happy Traum from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Greatest Hits Vol. II </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[aka</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">]</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1971)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tears Of Rage</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Basement Tapes</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1975)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All Along The Watchtower </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John Wesley Harding</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1967) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> One More Cup Of Coffee</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Desire</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1975)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Record 1, Side 2:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like A Rolling Stone</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(live 1969 Isle of Wight version from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Self Portrait </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1970</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (live 1969 Isle of Wight version from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Self Portrait </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1970</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tomorrow Is A Long Time</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (April 1963 live recording at Town Hall, New York City - from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Greatest Hits Vol. II </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[aka</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">]</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1971</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lay, Lady Lay</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (live version from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hard Rain</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1976)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Idiot Wind</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (live version from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hard Rain </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1976)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Record 2, Side 1/CD 2:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mixed Up Confusion</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (mono alternate take of the 1962 single with later overdubs. A stereo remix of this version was later included on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Biograph</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> box set)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 3pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Positively 4th Street</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (single version 1965)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 3pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Please Crawl Out Your Window?</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (fast version from the 1965 single)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (recorded live in Liverpool, May 1966 and originally released as the B side of the June 1966 single “I Want You”)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spanish Is the Loving Tongue</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (mono B side of the 1971 single “Watching the River Flow.” A different version, recorded in 1969, appears on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dylan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album 1973)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 3pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">George Jackson (Big Band Version)</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (B-side of the 1971 single)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rita May </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(B-side of “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” live single. From the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Desire</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sessions 1975. In some territories “Rita May” was the A-side) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 3pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Record 2, Side 2</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blowin' In The Wind</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1963)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1963)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 3pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Times They Are A Changin'</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Times They Are A-Changin’ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1964)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masters Of War</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1963)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hurricane</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Desire</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1975)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Record 3, Side 1/CD 3: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 3pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maggie's Farm</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (live version from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hard Rain</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1976)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 3pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Subterranean Homesick Blues</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bringing It All Back Home</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1965)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ballad of A Thin Man</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Highway 61 Revisited </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1965)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mozambique</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Desire</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1975)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This Wheel's On Fire</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Basement Tapes </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1975)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I Want You</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blonde on Blonde</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1966)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rainy Day Women #12 & 35</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blonde on Blonde</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1966)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Record 3, Side 2</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don't Think Twice, It's All Right</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1963)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Song To Woody</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bob Dylan </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1962)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It Ain't Me Babe</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another Side Of Bob Dylan </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1964)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Love Minus Zero: No Limit</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bringing It All Back Home</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1965)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'll Be Your Baby Tonight</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John Wesley Harding</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1967)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If Not For You</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Morning </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1970)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If You See Her, Say Hello</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blood On The Tracks </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1975)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sara</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Desire</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1975)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1978 Australian Tour Dates:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 9, 12, 13, 14, 15 - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brisbane Festival Hall</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 18 - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Adelaide Westlake Stadium</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 20, 21, 22 - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melbourne Myer Music Bowl</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 25, 27, 28 - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perth Entertainment Centre</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 1 - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sydney Sportsground</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />CBS or Columbia?</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As every Dylan fan knows, until 1991 Bob’s records appeared on the Columbia label in North America and on CBS in the UK and elsewhere. Although the two labels were part of the same parent company it often seemed like they operated independently of each other. But why was this?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The story of how the music world ended up with two very different and competing record labels named Columbia is a long and complex one involving endless mergers, takeovers and bankruptcies dating back more than a century. Here’s a quick and (hopefully) relatively simple explanation:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It all started in 1889 in the District of Columbia (which is the “DC” in Washington DC) where the Columbia Phonograph Company had a monopoly on sales and service of phonograph players in DC and the surrounding states. The company also manufactured commercial recordings of its own and by 1908 it had jettisoned the cylinder format in favour of the new flat disc records.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1925 the Columbia Phonograph Company was bought out by its UK subsidiary the Columbia Graphophone Company (“Graphophone” was the name and trademark of an “improved” version of the phonograph).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1931 the UK Columbia Graphophone Company merged with the Gramophone Company, which sold records under the name His Master’s Voice (HMV), to form Electrical and Musical Industries (EMI). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point EMI sold off the US arm of the Columbia Graphophone Company which was absorbed by Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in 1938. From then on CBS/Columbia (US) and EMI/Columbia (UK) parted ways and operated as entirely separate companies. The UK branch kept the Columbia “magic notes” logo which had originated with the US company in the early 1900s. This logo continued to be used on British pressings until relatively recently.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7k1BARUb0v9-9D5CnDKzH-_UvSlhgiR73eD5fDgtyh6Sxs7l9KI-tYsoabn-TRjam2XA6G0zsn__Q1Zrahr1arxF8lBr6f4yir47KktcZGSMczXg70i2yQEsXUz3-K_9lj0moU_FBcQPHcYofS1KQoSCOtXs_wstGQ_z4p2h6S1E16KVYhfayW-qLsw/s939/IMG_7050-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="939" data-original-width="939" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7k1BARUb0v9-9D5CnDKzH-_UvSlhgiR73eD5fDgtyh6Sxs7l9KI-tYsoabn-TRjam2XA6G0zsn__Q1Zrahr1arxF8lBr6f4yir47KktcZGSMczXg70i2yQEsXUz3-K_9lj0moU_FBcQPHcYofS1KQoSCOtXs_wstGQ_z4p2h6S1E16KVYhfayW-qLsw/w400-h400/IMG_7050-COLLAGE.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The CBS label was launched in Europe in 1962 (until then their releases had appeared in the UK via the Philips group of labels). Consequently, from 1962 to 1991 all US Columbia Records were released outside of North America on the CBS label to avoid conflict/confusion with EMI’s Columbia Gramophone Company. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EMI guarded their own Columbia copyright fiercely and whenever the US made records were exported into the UK/Europe any mention of “Columbia” had to be painstakingly blacked out (some might say "redacted") by hand on the labels and sleeves. Anyone who frequented the London import record stores in the 70s will surely have noticed this puzzling phenomenon, sometimes known as the "doughnut labels" because of the black rings covering the Columbia name and details. Sometimes CBS stickers were added to these Columbia export copies but more often than not they were left with no label identity at all. </span></p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">UK Columbia had once been arguably the most powerful and successful British label in the EMI group (certainly in the pre-Beatles era), but it was eventually overtaken by its erstwhile poor relation Parlophone. During the late 70s it was gradually wound down, releasing its last single in 1989, after which the UK Columbia name and trademark were sold to the Japanese company Sony Music. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conveniently, Sony had already acquired Columbia Records in the US and Canada in 1988 and since it now owned the rights to both the US and UK labels, this left the door open for the American Columbia name to finally be used worldwide. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The CBS label identity was then quickly phased out and since 1991 all Dylan’s releases have appeared on the Columbia label regardless of country (including the second CD version of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). Sometimes we saw a nod to the old EMI imprint, such as when </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Time Out Of Mind</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> used the Columbia “magic notes” logo on the disc, presumably to add a retro feel. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We live in an age where record labels have disappeared to the point where just two or three multi-national entertainment companies now own virtually everything there is to own in the music business. So, it’s worth remembering that Columbia, the flagship label of Sony Music, remains as the oldest surviving brand name in recorded music. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxCpvg8QnA_39XSJDpmCvbsQbDaAm5Uk6jOGibpho-g8Jfcetc4zC2srYcoVXl2Zb6nXG1gE2Ml16ImHG-7NNUGgxvgv_GghTGsko-MkiRLegvMALZHDbGrvZTihXxiOjCYH2o9dj-YQFoeTx2M3UhNlwIUbLlBCfscxMMROV62NSmXH6ZAy_iqqHug/s1507/Magic%20notes%20logo%20UK.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1507" data-original-width="1391" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxCpvg8QnA_39XSJDpmCvbsQbDaAm5Uk6jOGibpho-g8Jfcetc4zC2srYcoVXl2Zb6nXG1gE2Ml16ImHG-7NNUGgxvgv_GghTGsko-MkiRLegvMALZHDbGrvZTihXxiOjCYH2o9dj-YQFoeTx2M3UhNlwIUbLlBCfscxMMROV62NSmXH6ZAy_iqqHug/s320/Magic%20notes%20logo%20UK.jpg" width="295" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just The Facts:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of the 39 tracks on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, 32 are drawn from 16 different Dylan albums. The other seven tracks, all of them located on side two of record two (or at the start of disc two of the three CD set), are singles and B-sides, including the alternate take of “Mixed Up Confusion.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every CBS/Columbia album released up to 1976 is represented, with the exception of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nashville Skyline</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and (perhaps unsurprisingly) </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dylan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Obviously, there is also nothing from the two 1974 breakaway albums </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Planet Waves</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before the Flood</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which were first released on Asylum (US) and Island (UK). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Desire</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Freewheelin’</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> fare best with four tracks each, followed by </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hard Rain, Bringing It All Back Home</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blonde on Blonde</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with three apiece. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Greatest Hits Vol.II, The Basement Tapes, John Wesley Harding</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Self Portrait</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">get two tracks each, leaving seven albums represented by just a solitary track. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the benefit of hindsight, it was clearly a mistake to use live versions of “Like A Rolling Stone” and “Lay Lady Lay” in preference to the far superior and more popular studio recordings. In 2023 the Spotify streaming figures tells us that the original versions of these songs are the second and ninth most popular Dylan tracks with 294 million and 82 million streams respectively. On the other hand, side one, track one of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> leads off with “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” the most popular Dylan song of all with almost 300 million Spotify streams, so they got that one right. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> includes six of the top ten most popular Dylan songs on Spotify today, with a further two represented by live versions. Not a bad strike rate for an album compiled 45 years ago. It also helps that there is nothing more recent than “Hurricane” (1976) in the Spotify Dylan top ten, I suppose. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Values:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At least seven different Australian vinyl pressings of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> have been identified dating from 1978 to the mid-80s. All of them used the yellow/orange CBS label and the only differences appear to involve publishing credits, label typesetting, matrix number variations and the like. Today, copies in top condition can be picked up for around AUD$50 - $70 (US$30 - $50 approx.) regardless of pressing.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPEepQ8FWAl0iMj568MVvG5g3gCrsvLhlw287ppN1fjd4fakJbHBGCgJV0NRHGKiHXZ-Y5klezEB9EBEjDNVRABYhBgi-YHBEj8jJDKmg3Q9PUwuKu3wBe-2fiHBBu-YtjPWikmoC-ZHlECwhiF82T82MgvH3eDu76hQIphDMPWPa8pzaPqdCahce3w/s1200/Masterpieces%20Japan%20front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1154" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPEepQ8FWAl0iMj568MVvG5g3gCrsvLhlw287ppN1fjd4fakJbHBGCgJV0NRHGKiHXZ-Y5klezEB9EBEjDNVRABYhBgi-YHBEj8jJDKmg3Q9PUwuKu3wBe-2fiHBBu-YtjPWikmoC-ZHlECwhiF82T82MgvH3eDu76hQIphDMPWPa8pzaPqdCahce3w/s320/Masterpieces%20Japan%20front.jpg" width="308" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Japanese vinyl version, complete with all inserts, is much harder to find and prices exceeding AUD$300 (US$200 approx.) are not uncommon. The CDs were only released in Australia, and all versions regularly turn up for around AUD$50 (US$30 approx.) or less. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThbDLPugbuWuQvACPDsvZDdg4EGXfe62IgZGPw9EKteUTeuleRvXE--2Wddw9CV0tDOK6IPUpB4fwiXVqwlq7d8Jra6atLKDmQkyCxMC2NxWx5DnDCy5ErZxvxZ_QD7z_7Qtz-TUF4RikNL0fWsQk8UX4f4IpTUxqCZz2AVZkdClc8ieAN1r4O9C7rQ/s1600/Masterpieces%20Japan%20booklet.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThbDLPugbuWuQvACPDsvZDdg4EGXfe62IgZGPw9EKteUTeuleRvXE--2Wddw9CV0tDOK6IPUpB4fwiXVqwlq7d8Jra6atLKDmQkyCxMC2NxWx5DnDCy5ErZxvxZ_QD7z_7Qtz-TUF4RikNL0fWsQk8UX4f4IpTUxqCZz2AVZkdClc8ieAN1r4O9C7rQ/s320/Masterpieces%20Japan%20booklet.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIu9V5lOotxPM9F4A0mok8roMnONnM-I2GK514MhDpf2CH8Ec9PwsrmPUM6JXTWhseVE7Yk4D3P3sk5UzoEIodJyWyGo5Cn2Jk7lnm9e-iTPZhJlcmaxSbHV7_FZIVV3CHnnI74PStQcGS7UcoYTN28ZOHmBlJ4GDR-nnWMugj6q9Ul5tBlHSMJOwzQ/s447/Masterpieces%20Japan%20Fan%20Card.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="447" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIu9V5lOotxPM9F4A0mok8roMnONnM-I2GK514MhDpf2CH8Ec9PwsrmPUM6JXTWhseVE7Yk4D3P3sk5UzoEIodJyWyGo5Cn2Jk7lnm9e-iTPZhJlcmaxSbHV7_FZIVV3CHnnI74PStQcGS7UcoYTN28ZOHmBlJ4GDR-nnWMugj6q9Ul5tBlHSMJOwzQ/s320/Masterpieces%20Japan%20Fan%20Card.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi95ExvX_QBNhQLp_YsNET6q0nAttXXshFwqFejffKuu3ahTpvQExGfmQtQdc9IptOmSSz3oIUwaSofV6Au7-LqCPOlGSBnwCS7UjsYyfnpSV0rsr5FJ49Lgxrs04EJKLLBJb7Hu9JZ7W-pn-TOUfxazA7L096tIpe3BrytHmfgJvZyJjE5X-Lu75LIMw/s500/Masterpieces%20Japan%20discography.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="500" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi95ExvX_QBNhQLp_YsNET6q0nAttXXshFwqFejffKuu3ahTpvQExGfmQtQdc9IptOmSSz3oIUwaSofV6Au7-LqCPOlGSBnwCS7UjsYyfnpSV0rsr5FJ49Lgxrs04EJKLLBJb7Hu9JZ7W-pn-TOUfxazA7L096tIpe3BrytHmfgJvZyJjE5X-Lu75LIMw/w640-h462/Masterpieces%20Japan%20discography.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />This is a heavily revised and expanded version of a feature which first appeared in “It - The Australian Record Collectors Magazine” issue #29, dated December 1998 – January 1999. At that point Bob Dylan’s current album was </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Time Out Of Mind</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since this article was first published, several of the obscure tracks on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Masterpieces</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> have been officially released as downloads or as physical records/CDs. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many thanks to John Lattanzio.</span></p><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-54081503044470297572023-02-08T23:09:00.107-08:002024-03-09T14:55:35.563-08:00The Thrill Is Gone: Why I No Longer Listen To Bob Dylan<h1 style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfbeYeIpsdhDifVJeyDfmK8V1j_wgu13tu69wsF6PYtL_WzBYeKBr5uzxajV0qi5l5JRbFdv67xlqHGPAUNYDfoU2YnmY4PG3LlVCywpjivuKW8z7cVuN7AfwZEsNe0jp_gQv1mRDCH5pIFn1Nbg1xOPQv1QkuISjkrXvqPez7aDOOQq0rcMWy5JMQIpI/s3735/Dylan-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3275" data-original-width="3735" height="562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfbeYeIpsdhDifVJeyDfmK8V1j_wgu13tu69wsF6PYtL_WzBYeKBr5uzxajV0qi5l5JRbFdv67xlqHGPAUNYDfoU2YnmY4PG3LlVCywpjivuKW8z7cVuN7AfwZEsNe0jp_gQv1mRDCH5pIFn1Nbg1xOPQv1QkuISjkrXvqPez7aDOOQq0rcMWy5JMQIpI/w640-h562/Dylan-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">by Stuart Penney</span></div></h1><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I probably won’t be buying the inelegantly named <i>The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments - Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997)</i>, due for release this month. I’m writing this in February 2023, and it seems my almost 60-year love affair with the music of Bob Dylan is drawing to an end. Sorry, Bob, it’s not you, it’s me. But with each passing year and every new album the relationship is getting harder to maintain. Disclaimer: in reality the title of this piece should probably be something more mundane and less clickbait-y such as “Why I No Longer Enjoy Dylan’s Recent Music.” But now that I've got your attention, gather ‘round folks while I tell you a story. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyaf6FtAQBE3OyVi0d6acry5apaaGkLhA07JlGIGBhSClKmWhFrgZB_8_kQDxwLe_WAqxPOt4x2BVtodyTiQzsQjqUjnWP-Jso3ynAxWeklbkcVha9Cnddoh9GfUUDrL5Pm752BkWbRK95OkltIVdDiEopVgdFZi-0or-cjd9Ilh0t40c8kt20l_qO8g/s2674/Times%20LP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2674" data-original-width="2630" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyaf6FtAQBE3OyVi0d6acry5apaaGkLhA07JlGIGBhSClKmWhFrgZB_8_kQDxwLe_WAqxPOt4x2BVtodyTiQzsQjqUjnWP-Jso3ynAxWeklbkcVha9Cnddoh9GfUUDrL5Pm752BkWbRK95OkltIVdDiEopVgdFZi-0or-cjd9Ilh0t40c8kt20l_qO8g/s320/Times%20LP.jpg" width="315" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I was just a lad going-on 14 years-old and still in high school when I first discovered Bob Dylan. I’d read about him and seen photos in <i>Record Mirror,</i> then a classmate generously loaned me his copy of <i>The Times They Are A-Changin’</i> LP and I was hooked right away. The desperately cool image, the powerful songs, the acoustic guitar high in the mix and the voice like sand and glue – it couldn’t have been more perfect. Around the same time Bob appeared on the early evening BBC TV current affairs show <i>Tonight</i>. Introduced by the avuncular Cliff Michelmore he sang “With God On Our Side” and it was, as we would later learn to say, Game Over.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This was May 1964 and, barely a year after the Beatles had won our hearts and our fashion sense, along came Dylan to capture our minds. Together they gave my generation a new way to look and a new way to live. A new way to <i>be</i>, in fact. Between them they became part of the fabric of our lives and took custody of our musical DNA. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">For reasons unknown, the very first UK Dylan single was “The Times They Are A-Changin’” b/w "Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance" released in March 1965. It was an odd choice as both songs came from albums which were, in those fast ‘n’ furious pop picking times, already considered “old” (<i>Times They Are A-Changin’</i> and <i>Freewheelin’</i>, respectively).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuOWR_G8oL2NXZG-N06axWl5nscJdq1sk7kqDtvk7ddYHyayMDgm6mxSu4tofI6W89OGsHd6VwPIyLjTXQV9_6MX7RNmb7AqLCVbzLDuQkY7r-GnQjUiemXalykAaULuHKxTS7spC13IoItSYYro0cdbgtewzIGTyv47hDhkH-QHEX1u25ujm0djw0ZQ/s1125/Times.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="837" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuOWR_G8oL2NXZG-N06axWl5nscJdq1sk7kqDtvk7ddYHyayMDgm6mxSu4tofI6W89OGsHd6VwPIyLjTXQV9_6MX7RNmb7AqLCVbzLDuQkY7r-GnQjUiemXalykAaULuHKxTS7spC13IoItSYYro0cdbgtewzIGTyv47hDhkH-QHEX1u25ujm0djw0ZQ/w298-h400/Times.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But Dylan mania was sweeping Britain during 1964/65. In the space of 18 months all six of his LPs released thus far entered the UK top 20, with five of them reaching the top 10 and two (<i>Freewheelin’</i> and <i>Bringing It All Back Home</i>) peaking at #1. That was Bob’s entire catalogue at that point. In the top 20. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvUBCyLjjLFn_IEoP894lH2qS1CmbNbDkPAF-Owm8OMnP5nEo_mKYenqvTakluYCtYkKIh103gQYzbuaXMAf11M0TMSA6ufCW-qwEKCOgDqWWkyaYboqNp-6SsIqm_6TZhI5VFxE4mMkhl9Ec5vup-JM6yAXK--0hMD1tqOr85J8HZjTDEldaPkW3FJw/s800/bob-dylan-times-they-are-achangin-1965-4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvUBCyLjjLFn_IEoP894lH2qS1CmbNbDkPAF-Owm8OMnP5nEo_mKYenqvTakluYCtYkKIh103gQYzbuaXMAf11M0TMSA6ufCW-qwEKCOgDqWWkyaYboqNp-6SsIqm_6TZhI5VFxE4mMkhl9Ec5vup-JM6yAXK--0hMD1tqOr85J8HZjTDEldaPkW3FJw/s320/bob-dylan-times-they-are-achangin-1965-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />His May 1965 tour of England was captured in the D.A. Pennebaker film <i>Don’t Look Back</i> (released in 1967) which is still regarded as one of the greatest rock documentaries of all time. Oh yeah, and unlikely as it now seems, that “The Times They Are A-Changin’” single also made the UK top 10. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiufCIoxi93xSBMy3VUsS5IGZdt-56qKvWGIfyvGlgRV8UWjcvm6twziHP2h_MbrNaWWxAmCiGAcKbDPe9HDsTY4HhECtR74w1iqGTL7ZoNhg3Spr0W0EJZxpMZSGR7B_MAu0BcLZ8n96wcOWDV35hae7tllr8yxipGy6b9N0FafhaN9Nox6Ehq0vJBwQ/s800/bob-dylan-bringing-it-all-back-home-26-ab.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="792" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiufCIoxi93xSBMy3VUsS5IGZdt-56qKvWGIfyvGlgRV8UWjcvm6twziHP2h_MbrNaWWxAmCiGAcKbDPe9HDsTY4HhECtR74w1iqGTL7ZoNhg3Spr0W0EJZxpMZSGR7B_MAu0BcLZ8n96wcOWDV35hae7tllr8yxipGy6b9N0FafhaN9Nox6Ehq0vJBwQ/s320/bob-dylan-bringing-it-all-back-home-26-ab.jpg" width="317" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The first Dylan record I bought with my own money (to use that limp cliché) was his fifth LP <i>Bringing It All Back Home</i> in mid-1965. From there I gradually acquired the earlier releases (usually second-hand) while somehow scraping up the cash to buy each new record as it appeared. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This trend continued unabated and uninterrupted for the next 50 years or so. Believe me when I tell you that for five solid decades, I bought absolutely everything concerning Bob I could find: official LP releases (mono and stereo where applicable, naturally), bootlegs, CDs, singles, EPs and compilations (including every one of the cripplingly expensive <i>The Bootleg Series </i>box sets, of which more later), plus books, t-shirts, videos, DVDs and ephemera of all kinds. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">At a rough estimate I have well over a hundred Dylan LPs taking up several feet of shelf space on my record racks, plus an equal amount of CDs (following <i>Oh Mercy </i>in 1989<i> </i>I switched from vinyl to CDs, by necessity, but we won’t go into that). There are multiple copies of most of his 60s LPs, too (eg <i>Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde</i>) because I simply can’t bear to leave them in the shops whenever I see original pressings for sale at an affordable price. They must be originals, though. I can’t be doing with the look, feel or (yes, really) the synthetic smell of today’s overpriced vinyl reissues. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I’ve written reviews and articles about Bob for various record collecting magazines and until recently seldom missed an opportunity to see him in concert. I’ll be the first to admit that I may have taken my Dylan obsession too far at times. So, where did it all go wrong?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This may be controversial, but I’m of the opinion that his last great album of new (as opposed to archive) material was the <i>Infidels</i> LP in 1983. It’s a fabulous rock record with top notch songs (“Jokerman,” “Man of Peace,” “License To Kill” etc), a fine band (Mick Taylor, Sly & Robbie, Mark Knopfler) and Bob’s voice is at its early 80s peak. It’s an album where he sings with passion, as if his life depends on it. He belts it out like he really cares. <i>Infidels</i> still gets played regularly around here, although these days it tends to be via the magic of Spotify. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">As often happens with Dylan’s records, some great material was left off the released version, including “Blind Willie McTell” and “Foot Of Pride.” Both of these tracks were later mopped up on the first volume of <i>The Bootleg Series</i> in 1991, but there are dozens of other outtakes which will make a great <i>Infidels</i> box set one day.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdLobgK2J2SqsbqFjqsO0UCtvGSpPK79SyxkWu6gTrD57hLjMRIR7_AV1GUE8EDHj31UfiNnkl9PLwyoJRWUb4wH1K84rq-bjnSjcc8H7vI9dmIa6p-K6zmkdSoyWfamHWXPPgsmuPJPars6WzTlemYaVNAWxAzKK1JBuMkazzEmTYvqyDwFeUja5lQ/s2604/Infidels%20LP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2604" data-original-width="2584" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdLobgK2J2SqsbqFjqsO0UCtvGSpPK79SyxkWu6gTrD57hLjMRIR7_AV1GUE8EDHj31UfiNnkl9PLwyoJRWUb4wH1K84rq-bjnSjcc8H7vI9dmIa6p-K6zmkdSoyWfamHWXPPgsmuPJPars6WzTlemYaVNAWxAzKK1JBuMkazzEmTYvqyDwFeUja5lQ/s320/Infidels%20LP.jpg" width="318" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">While on the subject of <i>Infidels</i> it’s worth noting that this perfectly formed album has, somewhat bizarrely, been the subject of controversy in recent years with the tracks “Neighborhood Bully” (pro-Israel), “Union Sundown” (anti-union) and “Sweetheart Like You” (misogyny) singled out for criticism in some quarters. This is ironic considering Bob started his career as the darling of the left-wing protest movement. Iconoclasm is rife today and few of our heroes are immune from its insidious reach. But that’s probably a debate for another time and place. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Infidels</i> was followed by some comparatively low-key records. I’m thinking of <i>Empire Burlesque </i>(1985), <i>Knocked Out Loaded </i>(1986) and <i>Down In The Groove </i>(1988) here. All of them had high points, of course, (eg “Brownsville Girl” on <i>Knocked Out Loaded</i>) but none were what might be called enduring Dylan classics. But the first album which made me question if my relationship with Bob had run its course was <i>Time Out Of Mind </i>in 1997.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Despite some good songs (“Not Dark Yet,” “Tryin’ To Get To Heaven” etc) Daniel Lanois’ swampy, mid-tempo production made many tracks sound alike and I simply couldn’t warm to it. Yet <i>Time Out Of Mind </i>sold very well, won awards and was widely hailed as “a return to form” (another dreadful cliché) by the critics, so what do I know? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The most melodic cut by far was “Make You Feel My Love.” It became a surprise 21st Century classic which has, we are told, already been covered more than 450 times (<i>citation definitely needed here. Ed</i>.) by the likes of Adele, Neil Diamond, Boy George and Bryan Ferry. It subsequently became a popular choice of contestants on those <i>Pop Idol</i> style talent shows where it is invariably performed - melismatic style - by warbling Gen Zers who have, in all probability, never heard of Bob Dylan. And so it goes. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Not everyone agrees with my assessment of this album, clearly. <i>Los Angeles Times</i> music critic and author Robert Hilburn [@roberthilburn] recently said this on Twitter (not my caps): “If Bob Dylan had STARTED his career with <i>Time Out Of Mind</i> and that great string of albums, he STILL would be considered one of America's greatest songwriters.” </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">By “that great string of albums” Hilburn was presumably referring to <i>Love & Theft </i>(2001), <i>Modern Times </i>(2006) and <i>Together Through Life</i> (2009). The first of these includes “Mississippi,” a fabulous song (and a <i>Time Out Of Mind</i> leftover) which came in at #4 in the <i>Rolling Stone</i> list of “The 25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century.” Number one on the list incidentally was “Things Have Changed” a non-album track which earned Bob an Oscar and a Golden Globe when it appeared in the film <i>Wonder Boys</i>. It was a promising start to the new millennium for our man. But then in 2009 came the ludicrous <i>Christmas In The Heart</i> album and things really did begin to change in the Dylan world.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_f4HAtrGnAqtCHoMNyZJTnu0fEBKoYQetGKl4bFwRt362q8TxV9ECDo0z2wM0OyoocNu4WhhchHGuUr3y4PQLaObV2J_cwyf6_6PeyzKml4eLt25XNQp5cJPCK5EzCoEV4JAm4-tE6EZMGOhkPyjNYxejhoqIOKnCINNVpIcT_-54QaIAxliFZDvkpw/s800/bob-dylan-christmas-in-the-heart-ab.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="799" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_f4HAtrGnAqtCHoMNyZJTnu0fEBKoYQetGKl4bFwRt362q8TxV9ECDo0z2wM0OyoocNu4WhhchHGuUr3y4PQLaObV2J_cwyf6_6PeyzKml4eLt25XNQp5cJPCK5EzCoEV4JAm4-tE6EZMGOhkPyjNYxejhoqIOKnCINNVpIcT_-54QaIAxliFZDvkpw/s320/bob-dylan-christmas-in-the-heart-ab.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bob Dylan recording a Christmas record? "WTAF?!?" as I believe the young people say. But those familiar with Bob’s highly entertaining <i>Theme Time Radio Hour</i>* were happy to give him the benefit of the doubt and many assumed he was possibly having a joke with us. Tracks such as “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Must Be Santa” were, after all, fun and enjoyable in a kitsch, tongue in cheek kind of way. Based on a German polka tune and structured as a boisterous call and response song, “Must Be Santa” was by far the highlight (it even came in at #24 on that <i>Rolling Stone</i> list but, then again, <i>Christmas In The Heart</i> had set a very low bar). But the traditional songs and carols on the album such as “The First Noel” and “O Little Town Of Bethlehem” were less enjoyable. In fact, most were simply dismal. It was a mighty long way indeed from “Visions Of Johanna.”</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK4zpRALu2Ryshf8it2EQ7cKMOcjLD4Sa35yulDF9gkoe2KUJha3e0wGTim6GS9hSEbZ3DD450b7Iz9Q79hWSn9OvcBbTTZDKBp1e_HRaA_B-eoLMk1Dh1Cw5gJgLvtAa3DShPR3XLrtkUq5YXSZJB1kZzubq1ZEkskPtcHWxBFMewI13SLIMtxViPyA/s720/mitch-miller-and-the-gang-be-a-santa-columbia-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="720" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK4zpRALu2Ryshf8it2EQ7cKMOcjLD4Sa35yulDF9gkoe2KUJha3e0wGTim6GS9hSEbZ3DD450b7Iz9Q79hWSn9OvcBbTTZDKBp1e_HRaA_B-eoLMk1Dh1Cw5gJgLvtAa3DShPR3XLrtkUq5YXSZJB1kZzubq1ZEkskPtcHWxBFMewI13SLIMtxViPyA/s320/mitch-miller-and-the-gang-be-a-santa-columbia-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">With a simple (yet quite delicious) twist of fate, “Must Be Santa” was first recorded in 1960 by the choral group Mitch Miller and the Gang (cover versions by Tommy Steele, Alma Cogan, Joan Regan and others soon followed in Britain). Bandleader and record executive Miller released dozens of huge selling “sing along” choral albums in the 50s and 60s, becoming one of the most influential names in easy listening pop. But in his day job as head of A&R at Columbia records, it was Miller who objected most strongly when producer John Hammond brought Dylan to the label in 1961. The painfully un-hip bandleader actively disliked Bob’s singing and he thought that “Hammond’s Folly” (as Dylan became known within the company) was simply not good enough to be given a record deal with Columbia. Miller died in 2010, a year after <i>Christmas In The Heart</i> was released. His views on Bob’s interpretation of “Must Be Santa” are not recorded.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLn-bdWNCY3Z0ILQ2RF-JcyHZMVTlSLjmWUqjgUOR6qaMvhzPaRAqtuyzag6vUEpRucltJmyeFvZ7FhVndZVc0D3GkhL0WZW8eOfXBnpq8-iq-zik4NwLvg-JYcTjUiOeB9t0_u2HV-yEczQ3xoOsFHty_-xuxhlyYLbH-HhXu1Zm536o97jSRuTKXkA/s800/bob-dylan-must-be-santa-columbia.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="800" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLn-bdWNCY3Z0ILQ2RF-JcyHZMVTlSLjmWUqjgUOR6qaMvhzPaRAqtuyzag6vUEpRucltJmyeFvZ7FhVndZVc0D3GkhL0WZW8eOfXBnpq8-iq-zik4NwLvg-JYcTjUiOeB9t0_u2HV-yEczQ3xoOsFHty_-xuxhlyYLbH-HhXu1Zm536o97jSRuTKXkA/s320/bob-dylan-must-be-santa-columbia.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A Twitter pal recently tried to defend <i>Christmas In The Heart</i> by saying: “Well, if Tom Waits recorded a Christmas album, you’d probably love it.” He was presumably trying to compare Bob and Tom’s vocal styles. But it wasn’t quite the “gotcha” moment he was hoping for. Aside from his largely ignored early albums, Waits has nearly always employed the heavily stylised vocal technique we hear from him today. The same is not true of Dylan. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWshi2CK8AVvI3g2aQq6CazKDohRY97XxYgcC99nxV8gngKA0QYt666KQLJg7iluDXIj4fKWHL8S1X0-6JvovwY67OS5LWJpY11uVgz_uN-MAPiRBcjQjildEAw57i5XMbggTJU75YDq1a99LnAyHPvbeBcjYGH0GOXQuk-FHlwtFyteEUHTXZtzEsDA/s599/Theme%20Time%20Radio%20Hour.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="599" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWshi2CK8AVvI3g2aQq6CazKDohRY97XxYgcC99nxV8gngKA0QYt666KQLJg7iluDXIj4fKWHL8S1X0-6JvovwY67OS5LWJpY11uVgz_uN-MAPiRBcjQjildEAw57i5XMbggTJU75YDq1a99LnAyHPvbeBcjYGH0GOXQuk-FHlwtFyteEUHTXZtzEsDA/w400-h356/Theme%20Time%20Radio%20Hour.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">*On episode #34 of <i>Theme Time Radio Hour – Christmas & New Year’s</i> (first aired December 2006), Dylan played a recording of “Must Be Santa” by Texas polka/rock outfit Brave Combo, from their 1991 album <i>It’s Christmas Man!</i> (Rounder CD 9033). It was this arrangement Bob used on <i>Christmas In The Heart</i>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Another hugely significant nail in the coffin was when Dylan gave up playing the guitar. Extensive research (ie two minutes on Google) tells me the last time he played one onstage was 2012, in Chicago. Seeing him perform without a guitar is like seeing Dolly Parton without her wig, Alice Cooper minus make-up or Angus Young devoid of his school uniform. It looks all wrong. Bob’s guitar playing, rudimentary as it may have been in later years, was an essential part of his stage presence and the instrument was inseparable from his image and his music.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It was the late, lamented Jeff Beck who said something like “Hang an electric guitar around the neck of any good-looking kid and he’s instantly a star.” Beck was, in fact, comparing the briefly popular (but subsequently reviled) keyboard guitars, as favoured by jazz/rock fusion players such as Jan Hammer, to traditional electric instruments, but his point was well made. Jeff could well have added: take that guitar away and suddenly the kid is Mel Tormé or Tony Bennett. Or Robbie Williams, if you prefer.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRyS_GltwiZMXxP1FHRiQYlWyoSodBogI6B8Spq5QVnv_FlvfKauHvRjzX3x3CK5YM3UvDorEyW6bj3gx0G4yq0Pk1i2f0Xkxn9D-izjeuWOL_zmnX7kxxOHr5jK0hMaKDlsrxKH8PuU7-7BuUbnPfG3ojkzNy9heN-lVDr3EYLbQtcl5vwbZ8blOw4w/s1028/news-bobdylan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1028" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRyS_GltwiZMXxP1FHRiQYlWyoSodBogI6B8Spq5QVnv_FlvfKauHvRjzX3x3CK5YM3UvDorEyW6bj3gx0G4yq0Pk1i2f0Xkxn9D-izjeuWOL_zmnX7kxxOHr5jK0hMaKDlsrxKH8PuU7-7BuUbnPfG3ojkzNy9heN-lVDr3EYLbQtcl5vwbZ8blOw4w/s320/news-bobdylan.jpg" width="280" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />We’re told the reason Bob doesn’t play guitar anymore is due to tendinitis and/or arthritis in both arms making it difficult for him to strum. That’s fair enough, he’s now well into his 80s, for heaven’s sake. But he always has at least two other hotshot guitar slingers in the band taking care of business and his own instrument has been little more than an onstage prop for decades (just as it was with Elvis much of the time). That said, I don’t want to see Bob behind a cheap keyboard on a chrome stand looking like a superannuated member of the Dave Clark Five any more than I want to see him wandering around the stage holding just a microphone, cabaret style. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Following <i>Tempest</i> in 2012, things went from the sublime to the ridiculous with a trio of albums in which Bob groaned his way through five (count 'em) CDs-worth of Sinatra covers and American standards. The first instalment <i>Shadows In The Night</i> (2015) sold well, reaching #1 in the UK and several other countries. This was followed by <i>Fallen Angels</i> (2016) and <i>Triplicate</i> (2017). They didn’t fare quite as well, but both made the charts. And, yes, I foolishly bought them all, including the massively overpriced <i>Triplicate</i>, Bob’s only triple album to date (excluding compilations). Old habits clearly die hard. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">He might have got away with releasing one such album, but five discs spread over three albums was stretching the friendship somewhat and hinted at a shortage of new original material. The last time Dylan suffered from an extended bout of writer’s block he gave us the acoustic covers albums <i>Good As I Been To You</i> (1992) and <i>World Gone Wrong </i>(1993). Although not earth-shattering, both were at least firmly on-brand and <i>Good As I Been To You</i> is worth owning if only for Bob’s gorgeous version of Lonnie Johnson’s “Tomorrow Night.” Incidentally, and somewhat off topic, if you like this kind of thing, check out Bob’s achingly beautiful cover of the 1952 Jo Stafford hit “You Belong To Me” from the 1994 <i>Natural Born Killers</i> movie soundtrack. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Several big-name rock artists have gone down the old standards path, of course, notably Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney and even Ringo. Despite what they may try and tell us, this usually happens when the muse deserts them, and/or new material is proving hard to find. It’s a quick and easy revenue source, after all. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Rod in particular had some of the biggest sellers of his career with the multi volume <i>The Great American Songbook</i>. But it’s a tricky thing to carry off successfully and in my view, only Harry Nilsson managed it with any degree of dignity on his excellent 1973 release <i>A Little Touch Of Schmilsson In The Night</i>. But for me (and plenty of others I’ve spoken to) the stumbling block on all three of the Dylan albums was Bob’s voice. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ah, yes, let’s talk about Dylan’s voice. It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it. In the 60s our parents tried to tell us he couldn’t sing. That was never true. Not for a second. He didn’t sing like anyone else, perhaps, but his unique vocal style was one of the main things we loved about him. It was powerful, clear and always absolutely in the pocket (as musicians like to say). And, as his voice changed over time we happily went along for the ride. From the hillbilly twang of <i>Freewheelin’</i>, to the amphetamine fuelled nasal whine of <i>Blonde on Blonde</i>. From the silky croon of <i>Nashville Skyline, New Morning </i>and <i>Self Portrait</i>, to the rebel yell of <i>Hard Rain </i>and <i>Rolling Thunder</i>, we lapped it up and came back for more. For 40 years I flew the flag for Bob’s vocals and defended him against detractors every step of the way. If ever there was a hill I was prepared to die on, it would have been this one. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYG9VNbn3LBFgypBEzzOe4EgIrWTU-F5xH2_pfiZdR3tuRhU8iDhPdUgIrIBVW2dRWLJZQ_ZLKw1q2CwbShEx8ocKHA2h_QWUApZDkGQ3jJk-yM9v7-tYmRWKdAlsn9pRoEoXUjPcu59cwZnAtKfntIW3bIxZi002LWMv5a5QrECKJDQgt0b-2uq094A/s800/bob-dylan-another-side-of-bob-dylan-14-ab.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="800" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYG9VNbn3LBFgypBEzzOe4EgIrWTU-F5xH2_pfiZdR3tuRhU8iDhPdUgIrIBVW2dRWLJZQ_ZLKw1q2CwbShEx8ocKHA2h_QWUApZDkGQ3jJk-yM9v7-tYmRWKdAlsn9pRoEoXUjPcu59cwZnAtKfntIW3bIxZi002LWMv5a5QrECKJDQgt0b-2uq094A/s320/bob-dylan-another-side-of-bob-dylan-14-ab.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But nothing lasts forever and by the early 2000s Bob’s vocals were no longer the thing of beauty and wonder they had once been. To put it bluntly, his voice seemed virtually ruined. It happens to the best of them as old age creeps up. To some degree or other it’s also happened to Robert Plant, Paul McCartney and Elton John, to name just three of Dylan’s contemporaries. All have lost their range and none of them can project as powerfully as they once did, and we have no right to expect them to. These are men who are a decade or more past pensionable age, after all. But Bob’s voice has suffered more than most. His present-day vocal sound has been called many things, most of them unflattering. “A consumptive death rattle” being just one of the kinder descriptions. His new way of singing alienated many older die-hard fans and, whether they admitted it or not, some young converts found it heavy going, too. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The musical waters became further muddied in the early 2000s as fresh volumes of <i>The Bootleg Series </i>began to appear regularly alongside his new recordings, often causing Dylan overload. The retrospective box sets were uniformly excellent, which often diverted attention from his sometimes-patchy new records. But it was his concert performances which really divided opinion. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Now, I can’t claim to be a regular attendee of <i>The Never Ending Tour</i> but I have seen Dylan play live a dozen or so times, starting with the life-changing 1966 UK tour. I was also at the Isle of Wight in 1969 and the 1978 Earls Court comeback shows. All of them were excellent and important concerts in their own way and I think I can say I’ve seen Bob perform at his peak. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfZVxSOSueigY4y_RIjTRulJwEjwOv21FBpMwutxILRW9N6UJz5gc-xcjNkVxNptixWUOpdlfUXWGfM-Vz56MpRmx7GD1M8qrZh-ANog7n9Eqr8Yto4ZhdNg4U8MR0IYNIiS9CN03biAFaWGOHQbODX_TJaBps6UsO9SjplzNRjJVXmzGb-SCuXPO9Q/s840/bobdylan-2014-australia.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="594" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfZVxSOSueigY4y_RIjTRulJwEjwOv21FBpMwutxILRW9N6UJz5gc-xcjNkVxNptixWUOpdlfUXWGfM-Vz56MpRmx7GD1M8qrZh-ANog7n9Eqr8Yto4ZhdNg4U8MR0IYNIiS9CN03biAFaWGOHQbODX_TJaBps6UsO9SjplzNRjJVXmzGb-SCuXPO9Q/w453-h640/bobdylan-2014-australia.jpg" width="453" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The last concert I attended was 2014 in Perth, Australia. We had front row seats which always improves the concert-going experience, and it was a major thrill to be sitting just a few yards from the man in a smallish (2,500 seat) venue. To paraphrase Bob himself, I was close enough to study the lines on his face, which was worth the price of admission alone.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But, as with all his concerts I’ve seen in the last 20-odd years, musically it was something of a challenge. In fact, the last really great Dylan show for me was the True Confessions Australian tour of 1986 with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (released on video as <i>Hard To Handle</i>). The band was cooking, Bob’s voice was in great shape, and he chatted freely to the audience, giving rambling introductions and cracking jokes between numbers. Best of all, every song was perfectly recognisable.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwTF1CHqV4OSPOMB15tpvsg4W2WrcgovuWbhTXWXw6BnWrlKRe2vNiZ6NX6iVN50gisoYbd-_idsxLUWGURgs85Zo7M9KVOs44lwT5Xy7bzdUiBt771iWyPLrIj_ET5YIagFV57ehh-IbEuZV924tXcYIVmLPDRms9she6L7HDgxm06CHgwljcD51x0Q/s959/merchant_568.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="959" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwTF1CHqV4OSPOMB15tpvsg4W2WrcgovuWbhTXWXw6BnWrlKRe2vNiZ6NX6iVN50gisoYbd-_idsxLUWGURgs85Zo7M9KVOs44lwT5Xy7bzdUiBt771iWyPLrIj_ET5YIagFV57ehh-IbEuZV924tXcYIVmLPDRms9she6L7HDgxm06CHgwljcD51x0Q/w400-h217/merchant_568.jpeg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Now, I know this is a touchy subject with some Dylan zealots, but it has to be said. I’ve never enjoyed how Bob began mangling his songs around the turn of the millennium. He started changing them almost to the point where (to borrow a line from Alan Partridge) they could only be identified by reference to their dental records or, at best, a few words picked up here and there. I well remember concerts in the early 2000s where fans looked blankly across at each other as yet another unidentified song kicked off. Then someone would recognise a line and hiss “It’s Positively 4th Street” (or whatever it was) along the row and we would all relax until the next number, when the spot the tune game would begin again. Some of the lofty excuses offered were “They’re his songs, so he can sing them how he wants,” or “The songs are not set in stone, they’re organic.” But I’ve never subscribed to that view.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In moderation this technique can sometimes prove interesting, however. The version of “Like A Rolling Stone” on the <i>Bob Dylan At Budokan</i> 1979 live album is a case in point. The backing is stripped back and the chord sequence is markedly different to the original (some chords are missing, although perhaps only a musician would notice this), giving the song a more urgent feel, which works perfectly. 20 years later Bob would take these rearrangements to undreamed of (some might say ridiculous) extremes. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Then there was the hit and miss nature of the performances themselves. Whenever I expressed disappointment with a Dylan concert, I was often blithely told “Oh, you must have seen a bad show, but every now and then Bob will perform the best concert ever. Three nights later in Dublin (or wherever) the show was especially good. You just have to be lucky and catch him on a good night.” Well, excuse me, but the thought of paying hundreds of dollars for tickets with the slim chance that I might “get lucky” and see him deliver a decent show no longer seems particularly appealing. In fact, it turns the audience/performer dynamic on its head.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGgQN1O1dm05LM0tU7V_mxCZkKEgUHStvewQqi0_1bDguDQp5AsyyExyVjC-1MB-snZ36P59vHFwjKCsQdxdKELnyrBU6tItjzUB5xce7EcRx02Lcfyg-DrnciWFmiiMCMudbnxivdeaYAlAS8B8u8ZO-3ObW6BRR88jb5PKsziCB0qQmTOz8kwD1RXg/s2285/BD_TOUR_HOME-scaled.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="907" data-original-width="2285" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGgQN1O1dm05LM0tU7V_mxCZkKEgUHStvewQqi0_1bDguDQp5AsyyExyVjC-1MB-snZ36P59vHFwjKCsQdxdKELnyrBU6tItjzUB5xce7EcRx02Lcfyg-DrnciWFmiiMCMudbnxivdeaYAlAS8B8u8ZO-3ObW6BRR88jb5PKsziCB0qQmTOz8kwD1RXg/w400-h159/BD_TOUR_HOME-scaled.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />And yet, every time a new leg of <i>The Never-Ending Tour </i>kicks off, we see a tsunami of superlatives from fans on Twitter proclaiming they've witnessed the best concert in the history of the world, by anyone, ever. Inevitably, a few devotees even claim to have invested their life savings flying from city to city to attend every show in North America and Europe (how’s your carbon footprint, guys?) It’s almost as if they consider the Dylan tours to be like visiting a famous museum or art gallery which they can then tick off their bucket list. Others appear to view their attendance as an act of ecumenical worship. For some, Dylan’s concerts have now become analogous to religious gatherings it seems.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In the final analysis it’s all a matter of personal taste of course. Bob Dylan is no longer the same performer whose music we thrilled to 40 or 50 years ago. His most recent studio album <i>Rough and Rowdy Ways</i> arrived unannounced in 2020 preceded by the extraordinary 17 minute spoken poem “Murder Most Foul” (#5 in the <i>Rolling Stone</i> list). </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Although I couldn’t decide if he was celebrating or mocking the Fab Four with the line “The Beatles are comin’, they’re gonna hold your hand,” it was nevertheless a thrill to hear him name-check them in a song. It seemed we had gone full circle and arrived back to 1964.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZork7DFDGXFUU3J8tq7z8sFaWrKlwC_1S3Tn1gx7eXLrgXwBRAZNMCcsLSoH7p1li591vLNWa_SGBQ0R7Dch0oJzP--L2sM2QkPKDy-7l-3X6EZH2Vl5lfH6gpSyOXpgRVDffXxoHdKkA6qv108hRgFktoJD0-0goTpdH7iiVIwUkSglnvOQYSJThg/s788/bob-dylan-rough-and-rowdy-ways-cd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="788" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZork7DFDGXFUU3J8tq7z8sFaWrKlwC_1S3Tn1gx7eXLrgXwBRAZNMCcsLSoH7p1li591vLNWa_SGBQ0R7Dch0oJzP--L2sM2QkPKDy-7l-3X6EZH2Vl5lfH6gpSyOXpgRVDffXxoHdKkA6qv108hRgFktoJD0-0goTpdH7iiVIwUkSglnvOQYSJThg/s320/bob-dylan-rough-and-rowdy-ways-cd.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Aside from a couple of generic blues numbers, invariably credited to Dylan but often indistinguishable from old songs (a recurring theme of his 21st Century albums - Bob cheekily even claimed authorship of “Rollin’ & Tumblin’” on <i>Modern Times</i>), the bulk of <i>Rough and Rowdy Ways</i> consisted of semi-spoken wordplay over an unremarkable instrumental bed. The novelty soon wore off. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But no matter how good, bad or downright bizarre the albums and the live performances, the weight of his legend and the importance of his back catalogue will always carry him through. Such is Dylan’s cultural significance today he has become almost a mythical figure for many, especially among those who weren’t around to see him play live in the 60s (ie most people). </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">As of 2023, Bob has been performing and making records for more than 60 years. It’s been said he keeps touring because he doesn’t know how to stop. But how much longer can he continue before he <i>has</i> to stop? Another five years perhaps? He’ll be 87 by then and we’ll be sailing deep into uncharted waters with a strong following wind. Few, if any, artists in rock have ever maintained a career for that long. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It goes without saying that I’ll always listen to Dylan’s early records. At least, all those where his voice was still in good shape, plus the seemingly endless supply of <i>The Bootleg Series </i>retrospectives as well. Yes, the first 27 years of his catalogue (up to and including 1989's <i>Oh Mercy</i>) will do me just fine, thanks. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I like to think Bob’s music has always given more than it took from me, but the gap has narrowed considerably in recent years and I’m fast running out of stamina. Thanks Bob, it’s been a long, strange trip. And, like I said, it’s not you, it’s me. Or, as an old girlfriend once quipped before flouncing out the door for the final time “I’m not incompatible, you are.”</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>Thanks to:</b> Dylan writer and Twitter hound Roy Kelly for his encouragement and inspiration. Find Roy on Twitter @stanyanfan49</i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOORajTNFeAq0gO9-1jdFn52nkEARewbnrmJmX8I_VOjIWHE141-J_D_HJJ36aBIpPJGxzYX_Oih1qJZMZf4oN5Np4pXQ3HTebbf0PvUuBzH-OmMCC2mJNv2mfOHQg_nc2HFWkzbqJcjvhcwQUIG9LNRPnWufEMf3dcA_4adieWvUA27vWgy70hwRhcw/s800/bob-dylan-the-bootleg-series-vol17-fragments-time-out-of-mind-sessions-19961997-deluxe-edition-cd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOORajTNFeAq0gO9-1jdFn52nkEARewbnrmJmX8I_VOjIWHE141-J_D_HJJ36aBIpPJGxzYX_Oih1qJZMZf4oN5Np4pXQ3HTebbf0PvUuBzH-OmMCC2mJNv2mfOHQg_nc2HFWkzbqJcjvhcwQUIG9LNRPnWufEMf3dcA_4adieWvUA27vWgy70hwRhcw/s320/bob-dylan-the-bootleg-series-vol17-fragments-time-out-of-mind-sessions-19961997-deluxe-edition-cd.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-88122693882028269532023-01-20T21:39:00.078-08:002024-01-09T19:42:38.629-08:00In Praise Of Strawberry Fields Forever<p> </p><span id="docs-internal-guid-43b39b02-7fff-2775-75d6-d748d6131d9d"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nothing To Get Hung About - The Day My Beatles Single Almost Caused A Riot</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 28pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsnlnoNlhkEeUiklKkqG4pGfOZzSjIR1bQpKU58SitqH-cDt6nDaycBq2KW8QtDixcA1Rm5bpMV-hJSU3ZdXCJ_jf2Ufw7JhWQ46X0hZDTZ-7qeoRymB0jA9WTZyobwPDRlDKJckv_K0OLY4QvRwKB94yT5w9WzWEM2iQjaHFPSvaANroeIlAB1ugtw/s764/Straberry_field_sign.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="764" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsnlnoNlhkEeUiklKkqG4pGfOZzSjIR1bQpKU58SitqH-cDt6nDaycBq2KW8QtDixcA1Rm5bpMV-hJSU3ZdXCJ_jf2Ufw7JhWQ46X0hZDTZ-7qeoRymB0jA9WTZyobwPDRlDKJckv_K0OLY4QvRwKB94yT5w9WzWEM2iQjaHFPSvaANroeIlAB1ugtw/w640-h346/Straberry_field_sign.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 28pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><i style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The Beatles are turning awfully 'funny', aren't they?"</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - HRH Queen Elizabeth II to EMI chairman Sir Joseph Lockwood, October 1967.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Strawberry Fields Forever” will be 56 years old in February of 2023. As we approach the Emerald (+ 1) anniversary of the Beatles’ landmark 14th UK single </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stuart Penney</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> remembers buying the record on the day of release and the unexpectedly hostile reception it received from some of his peers.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXS_FymyrgDHRNi_rP_YWVnMNkQqXQjvJ4zkhlzK4RIzjBkE8Yt23xP0GX86LcJS8D6UNYP0m4T-KfwO8h8u-9Xfe_RUA7egewAunsgLYn4xxbBt33dvCjwEVYyp0KoZx1xL7vGrkRaBUcPZpZyT0-wtsOFJCQ2nxX8uDKGP5HJnvmGAJ-er6z3OfxQ/s711/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-parlophone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXS_FymyrgDHRNi_rP_YWVnMNkQqXQjvJ4zkhlzK4RIzjBkE8Yt23xP0GX86LcJS8D6UNYP0m4T-KfwO8h8u-9Xfe_RUA7egewAunsgLYn4xxbBt33dvCjwEVYyp0KoZx1xL7vGrkRaBUcPZpZyT0-wtsOFJCQ2nxX8uDKGP5HJnvmGAJ-er6z3OfxQ/s320/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-parlophone.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><div><span><br /></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I heard “Strawberry Fields Forever” on the radio today. It came up on one of those set-and-forget oldies stations and, as always, I stopped what I was doing and listened to all 4 minutes and 7 seconds of it from start to finish. To encounter this most weirdly magnificent Beatles’ track in such a place came as something of a surprise, I don’t mind admitting. It’s one of those songs I never grow tired of hearing, and yet it seemed somehow inappropriate to find it rubbing shoulders with prosaic “classic rock” staples by the likes of Billy Joel, Meat Loaf and Buckingham-Nicks era Fleetwood Mac. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhRgvgt0uEUYUCsU5GRk8I3LoYZPKVU3tIhjixx04yZn0f9xwDVBck9PXzCSC8oFPM2noMw3ql6yHuHIvQEBSWFjOyyzoS3ljhTmYPggES20k2Mq0ZO2-_1Dn5C15jbrSdKEy-UnrlWNmjIKn-lZnEzdtuWpGwlnMAcWoFX5e-NZyYqIh_26u5I9SVnA/s696/SFF.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="562" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhRgvgt0uEUYUCsU5GRk8I3LoYZPKVU3tIhjixx04yZn0f9xwDVBck9PXzCSC8oFPM2noMw3ql6yHuHIvQEBSWFjOyyzoS3ljhTmYPggES20k2Mq0ZO2-_1Dn5C15jbrSdKEy-UnrlWNmjIKn-lZnEzdtuWpGwlnMAcWoFX5e-NZyYqIh_26u5I9SVnA/w323-h400/SFF.jpg" width="323" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They often play Beatles’ records on the radio station in question, of course they do, but rarely does “Strawberry Fields” get an airing. Even now, over half a century after it was released, it’s a record that demands the listener’s attention from the very first note. 56 years later it still sounds weird, otherworldly and unsettling, yet infuriatingly catchy at the same time. It’s quite unlike anything else that made it to the top of the charts at that time. And before you pedants jump in, I’m fully aware that “SFF” was cruelly kept off the UK number one spot by </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Engelbert Humperdinck’s sappy</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Release Me,” thus interrupting the Fabs’ unparalleled run of 11 straight chart toppers. But that little nugget of trivia only adds to the mystique. It may make for a great pub quiz factoid, but after this slight blip the Beatles went on to effortlessly score six more UK number ones as if nothing had happened. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZ1Jesd3P-BEAe4adtRPDnOXMcNgRXeFmesLyY7-f4sz7NoIUkAqNiz14QSlxjsVA4T53Nk_p9WAwc9OHLvlW-pxmJ9JCVfSnVAhViNofYQAai7lXfwK03v1rMakP_A8ifQXJB3dw9HP5vk-NmtkXePUx31KPUNX3rxU_kBf_PBaprRdtPkY6UJA4EQ/s800/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-1967.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="800" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZ1Jesd3P-BEAe4adtRPDnOXMcNgRXeFmesLyY7-f4sz7NoIUkAqNiz14QSlxjsVA4T53Nk_p9WAwc9OHLvlW-pxmJ9JCVfSnVAhViNofYQAai7lXfwK03v1rMakP_A8ifQXJB3dw9HP5vk-NmtkXePUx31KPUNX3rxU_kBf_PBaprRdtPkY6UJA4EQ/w400-h270/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-1967.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But if “Strawberry Fields” with Paul’s wonky Mellotron intro (played on the “flute” setting, fact fans), John's heavily processed vocals and George Martin's dreamlike string and brass arrangement still seems eerie and captivating now, imagine what it sounded like in February 1967 when it first arrived. We tend to think of the song as emblematic of the psychedelic era but together with its equally wonderful joint A-side “Penny Lane,” recording actually began in late 1966, making it one of the earliest records of its kind. As with almost everything else they turned their hands to, the Beatles got there first.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Iz-TD2s020S_9w4KqujLwfjLnCSFQiIpiG9ZYJfn_HK4kVlIr36gflBdrkr8IvZpkbNQPS0_8ZT7N6nI1VliyspPS8oRdY_yGnDOwNvkR98rHS4JWdYn5gr4aWD8UGGPSJ9TLRH_q4um7W8AbkdCNlqZpB9-9rF3fCx3QEph7xCG_jgDfI-xsmDyBw/s716/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-parlophone-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Iz-TD2s020S_9w4KqujLwfjLnCSFQiIpiG9ZYJfn_HK4kVlIr36gflBdrkr8IvZpkbNQPS0_8ZT7N6nI1VliyspPS8oRdY_yGnDOwNvkR98rHS4JWdYn5gr4aWD8UGGPSJ9TLRH_q4um7W8AbkdCNlqZpB9-9rF3fCx3QEph7xCG_jgDfI-xsmDyBw/s320/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-parlophone-2.jpg" width="313" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As any fan worthy of the name will tell you, “Strawberry Fields” and “Penny Lane” were the first two songs recorded during the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">album sessions. It had been six months since their last single "Yellow Submarine"/"Eleanor Rigby" and in an era when four singles and two LPs a year (plus maybe a couple of EPs as well) was the norm, the Fab Four were starting to look like slackers. Also, it was the first time since 1963 they hadn’t had the number one Christmas single (Tom Jones claimed it in 1966 with “Green, Green Grass Of Home”). So, because the album was taking longer than usual to complete, the two songs already in the can were rushed out as a single to keep the public happy. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s something typically British about that. Two of the finest pop songs of the sixties were hurriedly put out together on the same single, meaning that one of them was, in purely commercial terms at least, effectively wasted. Until the Beatles came along to turn them into an art form, B-sides were not considered terribly important. They were traditionally makeweight, disposable songs, often written by the artist (or someone close to them, such as their producer) in order to secure a share of the composer royalties via the back door (the writer of the B-side received the same royalty rate as the A-side composer). </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSBwbPwCSFtThO5cpFNCZlxamVwApEDrZSu7pB1hxni7zkqcLch66PMzn-bVZbhnhZxfpY0XGDEh8YZ71xtrErynrB7j2levnVQW7oXo2Ks8I-92z5ZVggyAtGAwBb1cAFRek7jYrCFZL1Mo1x5wcX06uM8Uhxgk4V_-sR9JcQvhOY9HvYl-9_IH1iJg/s700/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-1967-54.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="523" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSBwbPwCSFtThO5cpFNCZlxamVwApEDrZSu7pB1hxni7zkqcLch66PMzn-bVZbhnhZxfpY0XGDEh8YZ71xtrErynrB7j2levnVQW7oXo2Ks8I-92z5ZVggyAtGAwBb1cAFRek7jYrCFZL1Mo1x5wcX06uM8Uhxgk4V_-sR9JcQvhOY9HvYl-9_IH1iJg/w299-h400/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-1967-54.jpg" width="299" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They could quite easily have made two singles out of “Strawberry Fields” and “Penny Lane” with a couple of existing LP tracks as B-sides and both would have been equally huge hits. But the Beatles didn’t work like that. They didn’t care to make people pay twice for the same songs so, in Britain at least, their singles generally comprised brand new songs and not recycled album tracks, as routinely happened in America. This egalitarian approach meant that those two magnificent songs ended up together as possibly the greatest double-sided pop 45 of all time. As the Ferrero Rocher advert once famously said “Ambassador, you are really spoiling us.” </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4-V7spS_jiUgXfuqvIes3JpQ6Ktmghf2PU2S5jqyuowS1Z-b2Z2Tiw6Xb2h4QzGcBcHEz5XhGo42TsLtlIS890g7XP4oChYaAIZxOcoXO0BdPULWdc0cNgs_1rx3ij7F_RXfmdDbcWt_rzsluZtvJGGpyBdzWTB1yFwSjnqfORUMVfYs2Z0I-y40tA/s800/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-1967-86.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="800" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4-V7spS_jiUgXfuqvIes3JpQ6Ktmghf2PU2S5jqyuowS1Z-b2Z2Tiw6Xb2h4QzGcBcHEz5XhGo42TsLtlIS890g7XP4oChYaAIZxOcoXO0BdPULWdc0cNgs_1rx3ij7F_RXfmdDbcWt_rzsluZtvJGGpyBdzWTB1yFwSjnqfORUMVfYs2Z0I-y40tA/w400-h274/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-1967-86.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">News of the single first appeared in </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on January 14, 1967, barely two weeks after recording was completed. In a short news item on page one under the headline “Beatles Record” it read (using strangely mangled tense) </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Beatles had recorded several tracks of their new LP at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios in London by the end of last week. Brian Epstein told the MM:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Any track could be the next single, but it won’t necessarily come from the LP. The third track would make a great single for anyone else, but the next Beatles single must be supreme.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The record might be released in February. One rumoured title is “Strawberry Fields Forever.”</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The story went on to cover news of a proposed Beatles TV spectacular and a one million dollar offer by American promoter Sid Bernstein for the group to play two shows at Shea Stadium. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s not clear what song Epstein was referring to when he said “the third track” but, according to Mark Lewisohn’s book </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Hamlyn 1988), “When I’m Sixty-Four” was recorded concurrently with “Strawberry Fields” and “Penny Lane” during December 1966, so it could have been this. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On January 28 the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> front page headline announced, in giant 54-point typeface, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Beatles Record – You Can Buy It On Feb. 17.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The story went on: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Beatles new single is “Strawberry Fields Forever” – as exclusively named in the MM two weeks ago. The other side (there is no A or B side) is “Penny Lane.” The Single will be released on February 17. Both are Lennon-McCartney compositions. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first 250,000 copies of the single will be sold in a colour presentation sleeve specially prepared by EMI. This is the first Beatles single since “Eleanor Rigby” and “Yellow Submarine” was released on August 5 last year. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just the first quarter million copies came in a picture sleeve, then? In this age of downloads and streaming, 250,000 physical copies of any record is an undreamed-of amount, but such were the Beatles’ sales figures in 1967 when each new release filled warehouses across Britain. And after the picture cover copies were sold out, the record probably went on to sell a similar amount in a generic Parlophone company sleeve.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With scant regard for factual accuracy, plus a certain amount of guesswork, the story continued </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Strawberry Fields Forever” is about a Liverpool reform school for girls. “Penny Lane” is the name of a road in the northern part of Liverpool – near the areas where John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison lived.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Strawberry Fields Forever” is very much a John Lennon composition. It has none of the lyrical McCartneys </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[sic]</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> qualities. It’s a medium tempo number and doesn’t tell a connected story in the way that “Eleanor Rigby” does. The words are rather bleak.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The group are continuing to work on their next LP and may do a TV spectacular based on the tracks on the album when it is released. No release date has been set.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4UosmmhKwTS0wpYZd2PMNNyt7BjsubxAKNlYduNIrLkTfyKfF_8NVZeShXvoGz2ZlqCAQr0VuATmRVJyKHu6BFAEF8PXgpgi-nKL3M85SrrrYXfupaG0EBkoup8V34mTslnc_fzJoyTAvTC3fFTI7na7geJXb6fGJlHXwtsyr7nsSpTaOFEseu23z2A/s1251/Strawberryfieldgate.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="1251" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4UosmmhKwTS0wpYZd2PMNNyt7BjsubxAKNlYduNIrLkTfyKfF_8NVZeShXvoGz2ZlqCAQr0VuATmRVJyKHu6BFAEF8PXgpgi-nKL3M85SrrrYXfupaG0EBkoup8V34mTslnc_fzJoyTAvTC3fFTI7na7geJXb6fGJlHXwtsyr7nsSpTaOFEseu23z2A/w640-h406/Strawberryfieldgate.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In reality Strawberry Field (there is no "s" at the end) was a Gothic Revival style mansion set in extensive grounds just a few hundred yards from John Lennon’s childhood home "Mendips" in Menlove Avenue, Woolton. Built circa 1870 as a private residence, it was acquired in 1934 by the Salvation Army and converted to an orphanage (for both boys and girls). The house itself was demolished in 1973, after which the children’s home continued until 2005 in new buildings constructed within the grounds. The original wrought iron gates at the entrance were stolen in 2000 and sold to an antiques dealer who later returned them after he realised where they had come from. Strawberry Field was opened to the public in September 2019.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On his death in 1980 Lennon left a donation in his will to the children’s home and a few years later Yoko Ono gifted £50,000 towards the upkeep of the orphanage. As for Penny Lane, the street lies well to the southeast of Liverpool city centre, not the north as the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> story reported. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was in my second year at college in Chesterfield when “Strawberry Fields” was released on Friday, February 17, 1967. As with virtually every Beatles single since “She Loves You” four years earlier, I bought the record on the day of release. Whether by accident or design (I never discovered which) for several years during the 60s British 7” singles sold for six shillings and eight pence each (that’s 33p in new money). It sounds like an odd amount today, but thanks to the idiosyncrasies of the pre-decimal monetary system, it meant you could get three 45s for exactly one pound, something that has always struck me as a wonderfully neat and symmetrical thing. But I digress. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I handed over my 6s/8d at Hudsons record shop in the Chesterfield Market Hall during my lunch break and hurriedly took the single (Parlophone R5570) back to the college common room where we had a standard issue Dansette mono record player. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJAH6pP2TGZYO1OZdYfM_3IQyRFJz1P7nUGFjYQ1mXZnTR5T5OAm9momIQIhBwsuGF2KD69M2xYXBrSuCtIkZV2hhagGw5TOeC7coyHROjg3JG6D22WFK0T523brrtJ8Cda1E-8iIIc2ufKoX7oAV7ClwYK2cWWs8c9ZsaKYCUg1TQyDT0wO75qah8Q/s500/R-1686518-1254137214.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJAH6pP2TGZYO1OZdYfM_3IQyRFJz1P7nUGFjYQ1mXZnTR5T5OAm9momIQIhBwsuGF2KD69M2xYXBrSuCtIkZV2hhagGw5TOeC7coyHROjg3JG6D22WFK0T523brrtJ8Cda1E-8iIIc2ufKoX7oAV7ClwYK2cWWs8c9ZsaKYCUg1TQyDT0wO75qah8Q/s320/R-1686518-1254137214.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">had predicted, the record came in an attractive picture sleeve, which was most unusual for UK singles at that time. Countries in mainland Europe had been issuing their 45s in picture covers for years, but this didn’t become standard practice in post-austerity Britain until the late 60s/early 70s. One side of the sleeve showed the Beatles in their new psychedelic garb set within an elegant picture frame, while the other featured childhood photos of the four. We’ve seen those pictures reproduced many times since in books and the like, but in early 1967 they were a revelation, especially the modern photo showing their brand-new image. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No longer the cuddly mop tops, all four now had moustaches and George was sporting a goatee beard. John’s National Health wire spectacles were in evidence for the first time while George was wearing a long jacket seemingly of Indian design. Paul and Ringo, meanwhile, simply looked cool in dark suits, double-breasted jackets and scarves or cravats. Spotlights were positioned alongside each band member and aimed directly at the camera. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Dansette sat on the floor at the far end of the common room and a group of students gathered round in expectation as I placed the single on the turntable. As “Strawberry Fields” began to play, we listened in silence, trying to make sense of this curious record. Then, as it reached the end, we began to hear the first rumblings of dissent. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2nlhEcBIo7SslONmrhSfL7TS_okuovXl6CWZQlbgVj3FlxJhEBBR2GHOfvlRim3tl3D4fcvGfE56IjpZF36r0uYUGT1_um8jLbgBjL7wsZs6jz1gQT_lnCpxMNrIRf46mEL53jdJ2e6iWs3l6hn4j_0x-acd6EuavNhCONGeDcIYQ9gXyvk234Fj0w/s500/R-1686518-1254137260.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2nlhEcBIo7SslONmrhSfL7TS_okuovXl6CWZQlbgVj3FlxJhEBBR2GHOfvlRim3tl3D4fcvGfE56IjpZF36r0uYUGT1_um8jLbgBjL7wsZs6jz1gQT_lnCpxMNrIRf46mEL53jdJ2e6iWs3l6hn4j_0x-acd6EuavNhCONGeDcIYQ9gXyvk234Fj0w/s320/R-1686518-1254137260.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chesterfield College of Technology, as it was then called (it became simply Chesterfield College in 1984), housed a range of students. Some, like me, were full-time scholars who fancied themselves as wannabe bohemian university types, but there was also an intake of part-time day-release students, many of whom came in from the nearby rural areas of Derbyshire a couple of days a week to study for apprenticeships in engineering, building work, animal husbandry and the like. There was an uneasy dynamic between the two disparate groups and as Rudyard Kipling wrote in 1892, never the twain shall meet. But on the rare occasions when they did cross paths, it sometimes ended badly.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was one such red-faced farm boy who initially complained about the music. Just as the strange backwards ending of “Strawberry Fields” began to drift back in, he came striding purposefully across the room and, elbowing his way through the gaggle of students around the Dansette he demanded, in his flat North Derbyshire vowels, “Turn that bloody rubbish off!” Thus emboldened, some of his mates then joined in. “I’ve never heard owt like it”, spluttered one, shaking his head. Eventually one of the day-release boys reached down and unceremoniously ripped the tone arm from the record, causing a dreadful screeching sound as the stylus raked across the vinyl. It’s the one sound every record buff has learned to fear above all others. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">From there the situation escalated into an unseemly slanging match with insults flying and both sides getting heated. There was even some pushing and shoving amid the verbal abuse, but it thankfully never developed into real fisticuffs. Just as well, really. We were the ineffectual, long-haired students and they were, for the most part, brawny farm boys and factory workers. Had violence eventuated, it would have been a one-sided contest, I fear. We had by far the better vocabulary, though, and batted away their crude expletives with what we fondly imagined to be witty, Wildean rejoinders.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of my college classmates at the time was none other than John Tams, soon to become properly famous in the world of folk music and acting. He recorded with the Albion Band in the late 70s and appeared in the 90s TV series </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sharpe </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">where he played rifleman Daniel Hagman alongside Sean Bean as the eponymous star of the show. It was Tams who introduced me to acoustic folk music and blues with records by Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Tom Paxton, Lightning Hopkins, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee and others. In May 1966, together with some other student friends, Tams and I went to see Bob Dylan at the Gaumont cinema in Sheffield. I wrote about that momentous day here: <a href="https://andnowitsallthis.blogspot.com/search/label/John%20Tams" target="_blank">LINK</a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijng6t61HSPoS-zJThFyabHvMsJ_HLXCTNmAzAkYt8k-5RzwyLb3v1gRX3wT-hjZ2BMMNr4ZYwLNCseTylvHJjViqD-C1l2D1lEvlVCIRFMIEYNtjLvX2-T8CcpVoEaIORTct-w1tOhujcuoQXrjneMIQ7cFFxH8nmaMWPYS3y7yapZ1tO3j8_ke3q-A/s800/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-1967-3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="800" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijng6t61HSPoS-zJThFyabHvMsJ_HLXCTNmAzAkYt8k-5RzwyLb3v1gRX3wT-hjZ2BMMNr4ZYwLNCseTylvHJjViqD-C1l2D1lEvlVCIRFMIEYNtjLvX2-T8CcpVoEaIORTct-w1tOhujcuoQXrjneMIQ7cFFxH8nmaMWPYS3y7yapZ1tO3j8_ke3q-A/s320/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-1967-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Always the level-headed one, it was John Tams who eventually calmed things down that February lunchtime, and both sides drifted away amid muttered threats and insults. But the fact that a humble pop record (albeit an extraordinarily good one) could provoke such intense feelings and conflicting emotions among what were, after all, a bunch of teenagers seems quite astonishing today. It really was a textbook case of two very different worlds colliding.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every Beatles’ single was a huge deal, of course, but “Strawberry Fields” was a massive leap forward even for them. They had been re-writing the pop music rule book with each new release since 1963 and this record took things to levels undreamed-of, setting the scene for the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sgt Pepper</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album which arrived a few months later in May 1967. If they weren’t already unassailable, from this point on they had surely staked their claim for music immortality.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for me, I was left feeling disgruntled with bruised pride and a nasty scratch across my brand-new copy of “Strawberry Fields.” It was years before I managed to replace it with another and the clicks and pops on the original forever reminded me of that memorable ruckus in the student common room at Chesterfield College of Technology. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hudson's record store sadly closed its doors in 2012 after trading in Chesterfield for an incredible 105 years. I'm told it was the oldest family run record store in the world. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikWO64VkvWBG_EsykYZZs1iu5W2h3T5d0UVCuSJekiQyOQyUNb6rp1JpxrRy9DGA64gpIHrTBujLLy20KvRZmez-MlhuVe1XTy7vsTqdXkHBsRTgWdKSuXoKKlJqObBQGJavIVGrgS0dek9vJxRepLn0ZWIHwAwzq1laBkif6O34n-3WWFzFId6BG0ug/s480/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-parlophone-4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="479" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikWO64VkvWBG_EsykYZZs1iu5W2h3T5d0UVCuSJekiQyOQyUNb6rp1JpxrRy9DGA64gpIHrTBujLLy20KvRZmez-MlhuVe1XTy7vsTqdXkHBsRTgWdKSuXoKKlJqObBQGJavIVGrgS0dek9vJxRepLn0ZWIHwAwzq1laBkif6O34n-3WWFzFId6BG0ug/s320/the-beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-parlophone-4.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700;">Seven Interesting Facts About Strawberry Fields Forever </span></div></span></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-34b93a7b-7fff-89bb-b7fe-b8ed244c6b43"><br /><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: -18pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Recording began on November 24, 1966 and was completed on December 29. The finished version stitched together two different recordings of the song (takes 7 and 26), one slowed down and the other speeded up, so they exactly matched each other in pitch and tempo. Take a bow George Martin. The edit comes at exactly 60 seconds into the released single after the line “Let me take you down ‘cause I’m going to…” Spot it if you can. </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: -18pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In February 1967 “Strawberry Fields Forever”/“Penny Lane” peaked at #2 in the UK singles chart but barely made the top ten in America. It reached number one in Australia and several countries across Europe, however.</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: -18pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane” weren’t heard in the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Magical Mystery Tour</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> film, their first appearance on album came when both were included on the US version of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MMT</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LP released at the end of November 1967. </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: -18pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On January 30 and 31, 1967 the Beatles shot a promo film clip for “Strawberry Fields Forever” at Knole Park in Sevenoaks, Kent. A week later they filmed part of the promo for “Penny Lane” at the same location. </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: -18pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In March 1976 “Strawberry Fields Forever”/“Penny Lane” re-entered the UK singles chart, reaching #32 as part of EMI’s Beatles reissue programme. Then, between 1982-1990 all 22 of the Beatles’ UK singles were reissued once again on the 20</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> anniversary of their original release. “Strawberry Fields Forever”/“Penny Lane” reached #65 in February 1987. All their UK Parlophone and Apple singles were also made available as 7” picture discs during this time. </span></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: -18pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the backwards coda section of the record, John is heard to say "cranberry sauce." In America this was misheard as "I buried Paul" providing an early so-called "clue" in the risible "Paul is dead" rumour of 1967.</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: -18pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many unreleased versions and remixes of “SFF”, from John’s home demo to the finished released version and all points in between, have appeared on the Beatles’ albums </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anthology 2</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1996), </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Love</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (2007) and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 50</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Anniversary Box Set (2017).</span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkJHfxRia94jZp4EnT7CY7wIz81b8R2_JPqozMtUuCvXkdEJpWkNBqRDXAJheA3C20pYlONGG4vE0wfa8DfaNBCFlZGYlTiYhnp4D7RHoTkREOV19_Kk6RcWLAYQljp-hIMEAnK30T6ZLjo_l4IK0ONNh_kgxZ3P8PN5HM5I3E2kzI7ke2X7WukbEVA/s3421/Hudsons-Market-Hall.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3421" data-original-width="2550" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkJHfxRia94jZp4EnT7CY7wIz81b8R2_JPqozMtUuCvXkdEJpWkNBqRDXAJheA3C20pYlONGG4vE0wfa8DfaNBCFlZGYlTiYhnp4D7RHoTkREOV19_Kk6RcWLAYQljp-hIMEAnK30T6ZLjo_l4IK0ONNh_kgxZ3P8PN5HM5I3E2kzI7ke2X7WukbEVA/w299-h400/Hudsons-Market-Hall.jpg" width="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small; text-align: start;"><i>Hudsons record shop, Chesterfield, pictured circa 1969</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmw2JGMFZoQ_Tw46gmFYr9uk_4EChoGT3dLev9lcLLnriVQZ6IgVjXTV9XWfY-_a827bytjQCZwpj7q0YFp7Omul7Rp5g0Uq-vztQmffcfnIhTh5Kcz00amqAJHFfLfY9oiO8QPj1jiX7n7zUn7avGXhF23ZMnfGXwh0FYhyzHL15R816ZtTXHlJtow/s1160/beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-odeon-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="1160" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmw2JGMFZoQ_Tw46gmFYr9uk_4EChoGT3dLev9lcLLnriVQZ6IgVjXTV9XWfY-_a827bytjQCZwpj7q0YFp7Omul7Rp5g0Uq-vztQmffcfnIhTh5Kcz00amqAJHFfLfY9oiO8QPj1jiX7n7zUn7avGXhF23ZMnfGXwh0FYhyzHL15R816ZtTXHlJtow/w400-h400/beatles-strawberry-fields-forever-odeon-COLLAGE.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div></li></ol></span>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-62773079690662628232022-12-10T00:17:00.032-08:002024-03-15T23:36:06.344-07:00Strange Tales From the Rock & Roll Coalface<p> </p><span id="docs-internal-guid-23b69376-7fff-371c-6852-c2ba4368cab6"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkPBi-vLutHDQ_9ZxcXaPtYxSpfa0vgrvPl8yy5CtRi76JbQtf7ZI2V6ehguij7gvcXSN9KcAYgrCdKB0cSWuBufC7tzbV8u-mx5VvHmzk_KNvi586PeNxEjLyytPKZhqTG7jbKZBnXvXYafmEk58DGKvU8QKuDuJHuZmuBMng5Kr-q_b899nuAcjceE/s1038/Afghan%20Hound%20-%20Header%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1038" data-original-width="820" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkPBi-vLutHDQ_9ZxcXaPtYxSpfa0vgrvPl8yy5CtRi76JbQtf7ZI2V6ehguij7gvcXSN9KcAYgrCdKB0cSWuBufC7tzbV8u-mx5VvHmzk_KNvi586PeNxEjLyytPKZhqTG7jbKZBnXvXYafmEk58DGKvU8QKuDuJHuZmuBMng5Kr-q_b899nuAcjceE/w506-h640/Afghan%20Hound%20-%20Header%20copy.jpg" width="506" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>by Stuart Penney</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometime during 1971 I answered an advertisement in the London </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Evening Standard</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for a casual job as a house and flat cleaner. It certainly wasn’t the kind of employment I would normally undertake but I was, how shall I put it, “resting” at the time. That is to say, I was signing on at the Labour Exchange and sponging off my girlfriend while simultaneously pursuing an increasingly unpromising career as a musician. With the UK unemployment figures sitting at a low 2.5% and </span><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">jobs plentiful</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the DHSS (Department of Health and Social Security, as it was then) took an understandably dim view of long-term benefit claimants, so urgent measures were called for before the dole cheques dried up.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The advert made the job sound almost attractive. It promised flexible hours, implying you could choose to work only when it suited, thus avoiding those tiresome early morning starts, which I thought seemed perfect. How wrong I was. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For a start, the pay was beyond pitiful, even for the time. The workers received a paltry </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #292b2c; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">£1.50 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">per cleaning job, out of which we gave 50p commission to the agency. And you really couldn’t do more than two jobs a day, even if you had the inclination, or the stamina, since you had to find your own way to each location by bus or tube and pay all travel expenses yourself. Plus, the bookings were often in far flung suburbs of London, involving huge travel time and plenty of walking. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cleaning agency’s HQ was a seedy office above a Carnaby Street boutique and there always seemed to be a number of oddball characters coming and going, lending the place an air of danger. On my second visit there I encountered infamous black power activist Michael X (1933-1975) furiously berating another man on the stairs over an apparent late delivery (of what I never discovered) and I began to suspect the agency might possibly be a front for something other than house cleaning.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-DeZrLTq68QrkvCes72XRH1_kA7zJNl-LWrGWxylJ84K1ka9RucaGqdR815GQ--Z36qYCAweYDVa5x8SExWK8TCZ19Nxde2ZYOtftptc8fmjFg8_B-WscqAZLWaUhCeZdxyLHXzeNWGixeBF_s7Q9NGHN4ecZDBWSztknVGNPil9eoaeiPtQ6zj6b3Q/s933/Michael%20X.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="933" height="389" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-DeZrLTq68QrkvCes72XRH1_kA7zJNl-LWrGWxylJ84K1ka9RucaGqdR815GQ--Z36qYCAweYDVa5x8SExWK8TCZ19Nxde2ZYOtftptc8fmjFg8_B-WscqAZLWaUhCeZdxyLHXzeNWGixeBF_s7Q9NGHN4ecZDBWSztknVGNPil9eoaeiPtQ6zj6b3Q/w640-h389/Michael%20X.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I never quite figured out the extent of his connection with the company, but Michael X (real name Michael de Freitas, aka Abdul Malik) was often seen hanging around the office, acting like he owned the place and silently glowering at anyone who dared pass the time of day with him. Why the self-styled "most powerful black man in Europe" was involved with a down-at-heel cleaning agency was unclear. He certainly wasn’t cleaning houses, that’s for sure. Despite a somewhat murky past, which included working as an enforcer for notorious slum landlord Peter Rachman and serving jail time for stirring up racial hatred, he had, paradoxically, become the darling of London’s left-wing counterculture and stories of his exploits regularly appeared </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in the underground press, including </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">International Times</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oz</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> magazine.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUrT9mh-u9612QbFMqXhqBHN4wou36fHFPZVTdkriVRCZ7wYLNkoBFKTl591OQljIXvsPuBC0Y0CgUN_n6w8k_GFAISRqxzJlae0Y0RueiffBgwt8gA56dgDOhOL7A6qneepjpRQ5-hpIyW0nfsqANR2U5_xLRDu3NNt5lXt5E1FIXo6T6BzEZ8LezMQ/s1000/Michael%20X%20and%20J&Y%20biggest.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="1000" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUrT9mh-u9612QbFMqXhqBHN4wou36fHFPZVTdkriVRCZ7wYLNkoBFKTl591OQljIXvsPuBC0Y0CgUN_n6w8k_GFAISRqxzJlae0Y0RueiffBgwt8gA56dgDOhOL7A6qneepjpRQ5-hpIyW0nfsqANR2U5_xLRDu3NNt5lXt5E1FIXo6T6BzEZ8LezMQ/w640-h398/Michael%20X%20and%20J&Y%20biggest.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1967 he hooked up with Swinging London scene maker and UFO club co-founder John “Hoppy” Hopkins (1937-2015) and was instrumental in organising the first outdoor Notting Hill Carnival. He eventually entered John & Yoko’s orbit and after the couple famously shaved off their flowing locks for charity in early 1970, they donated a bag of their hair to be auctioned in aid of one of Michael’s revolutionary causes. The Lennons were going through their pro-active political phase at that time and so were ripe candidates for the kind of radical sloganeering Michael X and his unsavory acolytes were espousing. </span><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> John & Yoko's largesse even extended to paying Michael's bail when, along with four others, he </span><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">was arrested for extortion in 1971. A month later he skipped the country with unseemly haste.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXI0-JjmlQYtPo7r-AON1hppJDey-yQagitV27f9tyv4WqoxxIIRmdbBpASw8gAq_qqylnpNMN3b0UTIFqYtZHy3k0Aw2nnUegvAdz2hYozB6CijCOtYLMCdu5nHYUP5w6k-VM4-H6kV5SIExWx-T7BpGaOps4ChbEu3b1sIcu8rhPU2iGQSRlLmofZQ/s640/john-lennon-yoko-ono-michael-x_03.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="640" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXI0-JjmlQYtPo7r-AON1hppJDey-yQagitV27f9tyv4WqoxxIIRmdbBpASw8gAq_qqylnpNMN3b0UTIFqYtZHy3k0Aw2nnUegvAdz2hYozB6CijCOtYLMCdu5nHYUP5w6k-VM4-H6kV5SIExWx-T7BpGaOps4ChbEu3b1sIcu8rhPU2iGQSRlLmofZQ/w640-h434/john-lennon-yoko-ono-michael-x_03.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The man who ran the agency, a smooth-talking Arthur Daley type, told me he had been the manager of Liverpool band the Koobas and while his claim seemed a little random, as I believe the younger generation say, I had no reason to doubt that he was telling the truth (although, to be fair, he looked nothing like Tony Stratton Smith). The group never made the big time, and few would have heard of them - then or now - so why bother to invent such a tale? To add to his claim, a copy of the Koobas’ LP sat permanently propped up on a bookcase behind his desk and he always seemed keen to talk about the band who had supported the Beatles in 1965 and Jimi Hendrix in 1967 but had broken up before their sole album was released. Now unfeasibly rare, original pressings of that self-titled Koobas record regularly sell online for more than </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #292b2c; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">£1,000 today, despite being reissued several times along with their entire recorded output on retrospective labels such as The Beat Goes On.</span></span><div><span style="color: #292b2c;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #292b2c; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfDXTYEbn596TVmpND9fy4fj4XPkAITDhKq1IcsssTKBQcDH8HmP2lJsLJ-s_TF3Wlhz_D1S_r35AKH3CcM6mADywFIZM7dfGL05vLs4sbFn3MZJL8G1SJ7siF3kMYv6QS3kC4RrNN3ofZSjeoeiMlAB2S3LqekdpveGMREJ_uN7TSGrG7WMDNDsfMmQ/s1793/Koobas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1764" data-original-width="1793" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfDXTYEbn596TVmpND9fy4fj4XPkAITDhKq1IcsssTKBQcDH8HmP2lJsLJ-s_TF3Wlhz_D1S_r35AKH3CcM6mADywFIZM7dfGL05vLs4sbFn3MZJL8G1SJ7siF3kMYv6QS3kC4RrNN3ofZSjeoeiMlAB2S3LqekdpveGMREJ_uN7TSGrG7WMDNDsfMmQ/s320/Koobas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #292b2c; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></p>The cleaning jobs were often in respectable middle class London suburbs such as Mill Hill, Hendon and Golders Green out on the far reaches of </span><span>the Northern Line, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">and involved plenty of tedious silver polishing, dusting and vacuuming for bored Jewish housewives (not a euphemism) who were endlessly fussy and seldom happy with my standard of work. </span><span>During that period, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I must have taken the Brasso (or was it Dura-glit?) to dozens of menorahs (that's seven-branched Hebrew candelabrum to you) the sacred religious symbol found in so many homes in that part of North West London. I was new to all this, and it was a window into a strange and unfamiliar world. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But now and then something more interesting would crop up. One day I was sent to an upmarket penthouse on the top floor of a tall apartment block near Victoria Station. It transpired that the beautifully furnished luxury flat belonged to the American record producer and songwriter Kenny Young (1941-2020). He’d co-composed several famous songs including “Under the Boardwalk” a huge 1964 hit for the Drifters (also recorded the same year by the Rolling Stones on their second LP).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNFh_bEBPspmpO7zSnWO_GQ_eokhI9zfqmE9G1X4IrLYVa0rfiQ0d0Ij9NTVXdV6akv_EOB6ebkxdjnr5Q5_YH9rzj0-boMWdmwqf4e6xMndvuUUxV5qa9qn6of-37OGJnjYSClYyS4pCVjjOV0uiYOEQ4mROG5mljCPhRYRoPoMmaALlkGGUCmRFPQ/s600/Kenny.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="592" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNFh_bEBPspmpO7zSnWO_GQ_eokhI9zfqmE9G1X4IrLYVa0rfiQ0d0Ij9NTVXdV6akv_EOB6ebkxdjnr5Q5_YH9rzj0-boMWdmwqf4e6xMndvuUUxV5qa9qn6of-37OGJnjYSClYyS4pCVjjOV0uiYOEQ4mROG5mljCPhRYRoPoMmaALlkGGUCmRFPQ/s320/Kenny.jpg" width="316" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Born Shalom Giskam in Jerusalem, he moved to New York as a child and, after changing his name to Kenny Young, took a job as a songwriter at the famous Brill Building in 1963. Although not successful in the US, a recording of his 1968 song </span><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Captain of Your Ship" by</span><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Reparata & the Delrons became a UK hit so Young came to Britain with the band to appear on <i>Top of the Pops</i>. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1969 he took up residency in London and began working with Irish singer Clodagh Rodgers for whom he wrote, arranged, and produced a string of UK pop hits, including "Come Back and Shake Me" probably her biggest seller, reaching #3 in the singles chart.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvSjgFAcsQuTmRBFFQFH0Tes1wsXJ-JzZvD6YbZBnBzn9NkyHrX9Y3FwhPLpQaPEuemniOAVG3hPnvNumcps3hamaQZsoUZJJT3IlMqgO3IbgS18lAvppYB3KMudGgMQngzlZTP0W7hOF4425XT9mTkri_wgN-711A-xihrGPElqVBbZt9lFH330sz7A/s600/Clodagh.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="593" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvSjgFAcsQuTmRBFFQFH0Tes1wsXJ-JzZvD6YbZBnBzn9NkyHrX9Y3FwhPLpQaPEuemniOAVG3hPnvNumcps3hamaQZsoUZJJT3IlMqgO3IbgS18lAvppYB3KMudGgMQngzlZTP0W7hOF4425XT9mTkri_wgN-711A-xihrGPElqVBbZt9lFH330sz7A/s320/Clodagh.jpg" width="316" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although not conventionally handsome pop star material himself - he was a tall, ungainly man with oversized, owlish glasses - Young released a couple of early 70s solo albums on Warner Brothers: <i>Clever Dogs Chase the </i></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Sun </i>(1971) and <i>Last Stage for </i></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Silver World </i>(1973) before forming</span><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the band Fox with Australian singer Noosha Fox in 1974. They scored a trio of mid-70s hit singles including "S-S-S-Single Bed" which reached #4 in the UK and topped the Australian charts. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kenny was not at home when I arrived, but a stunningly attractive lady who I presumed was his wife buzzed me in via the intercom. She was laid up in bed with a box of tissues and a streaming cold but directed me to the kitchen where, to my surprise, I found a large and quite magnificent Afghan Hound. You rarely see them today, but during the 60s and 70s Afghans were the default fashion accessory dog of choice for rock stars, media celebrities and King's Road poseurs alike.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The scene which greeted me in the kitchen was a sight to behold. It seemed the dog had been confined to the apartment for some considerable time because it had relieved itself on almost every square inch of the kitchen floor and the smell was overpowering. I was told where the disinfectant, sponges, mops and buckets were kept and instructed to clean up after the animal, a task which seemed, at the time, no less unpleasant and insurmountable than the fifth labour of Hercules (those lacking a classical education may care to look this up). Next, I was expected to wash what appeared to be a week's worth of dirty pans and dishes. All of this was done without the aid of a single pair of Marigolds, I should add. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I'd completed these soul-destroying tasks, Kenny’s wife asked if I wouldn't mind feeding the Afghan (fresh meat only, of course, not tinned) before taking it down to street level and walking it around the block for a while, in the hope of forestalling a repeat performance of the kitchen soiling incident. Luckily, I love dogs, so it was a welcome break from the tedium of cleaning and, after the gag-inducing smell in the kitchen, I really needed a breath of fresh air at that point. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But Victoria is a very busy place at the best of times, and this was rush hour. The huge dog, though docile with a lovely temperament, was highly strung and nervous in traffic. It proved a real handful, straining on the leash every time the whoosh of air brakes from a passing bus or truck was heard, and I was worried it might dash into the road, possibly taking me with it. So I made absolutely sure to keep a tight hold of the valuable animal. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the Afghan had done the business on a quiet side street, we took the lift back to the penthouse to find that Kenny had arrived home in the meantime. He was shocked and embarrassed to find I’d had to clean up after his dog and couldn't apologise enough. He even slipped me an extra ten-pound note as I left. That was more than I’d earned for the entire week. What a gentleman! </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjizU5aQAqA2n6qKU3qR_W68G3KmcWzYJI7pOrDPXXPIyG-h2o5K40L1y7AwJI1Ec3msce-pTrWVtma7DQIiBwvMM4iWr7jzSfMm0xvlhdLtvyKJEoMpzEyF13LZKW47KpOnYwSem2b9xBUJBvkgpLtaoK4sek1PQ97qyKi2sKoKYnrDT4e_FAfSYOJmQ/s800/Fox2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjizU5aQAqA2n6qKU3qR_W68G3KmcWzYJI7pOrDPXXPIyG-h2o5K40L1y7AwJI1Ec3msce-pTrWVtma7DQIiBwvMM4iWr7jzSfMm0xvlhdLtvyKJEoMpzEyF13LZKW47KpOnYwSem2b9xBUJBvkgpLtaoK4sek1PQ97qyKi2sKoKYnrDT4e_FAfSYOJmQ/s320/Fox2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I didn’t last much longer at the cleaning agency after that. It was menial and unrewarding work and, as a guitarist, I had to take care of my hands, after all. But to this day, whenever one of those poptastic hits by Clodagh Rodgers or Fox comes on the radio, I still associate it with Kenny Young, a certain skittish Afghan Hound and, with due acknowledgment to Derek and Clive, the absolute worst job I ever had. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for Michael X, in the mid-70s he went on trial for a double murder in his native Trinidad. </span><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yet again the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lennons stepped up and paid for his defence lawyer, the controversial civil rights activist William Kunstler. But it was to no avail. Michael was found guilty and hanged </span><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">in Port of Spain jail </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">on May 16, 1975, aged 41. Not for the first time had John & Yoko’s patronage proved somewhat ill-advised.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSnMzj4wiPUL2_RdrTbLZGTjJqXYHCAptKwYNkA4mlXgn8n7hB-htv2bpz50GNoypi-RH7UgD7noc1nz-dfM08Et4ZncjDsvOIkIFmkpvfEYyI0T-Ku9eUZMDUKrY4Ro4T7oybsTMlGHwExS5TAu7v51wKJQNTlkj_liKrygHECe_YQU1-ry-U40MzQ/s620/Michael%20X%20with%20John%20&%20Yoko.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="463" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSnMzj4wiPUL2_RdrTbLZGTjJqXYHCAptKwYNkA4mlXgn8n7hB-htv2bpz50GNoypi-RH7UgD7noc1nz-dfM08Et4ZncjDsvOIkIFmkpvfEYyI0T-Ku9eUZMDUKrY4Ro4T7oybsTMlGHwExS5TAu7v51wKJQNTlkj_liKrygHECe_YQU1-ry-U40MzQ/s320/Michael%20X%20with%20John%20&%20Yoko.jpg" width="239" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Trivia Footnote:</b> As mentioned above, during several brief periods of unemployment I had to report to the Labour Exchange, as they were then called (they were renamed Job Centres in 1973) once a week to confirm I had been actively looking for work. Like most things I believe it's all done online today, but back then "signing on" as it was known, involved a face-to-face grilling from a soulless civil servant in an equally grim and soulless government building. It wasn't always a bad experience, though. At my local dole office in North West London I sometimes found myself queuing behind the actor Frank Richards (1931-2022) who played effete vicar the Reverend Timothy Farthing in the much-loved BBC TV series <i>Dad's Army</i>. This was always a minor thrill which cheered up an otherwise depressing experience no end. Like myself, Frank was presumably also "resting" between engagements in 1971.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPnFbNHdQUwMoSCxd1qidM2iRaAZ4rhouR3vYbMYM3tC2QG8ec_18A8OPquDnjqUE7bBmPCtA7F4T5ek5fA-8ZQFzKsrzQ9kZ6-6xE64_lxeo0TTti47JOIL8x2kqYXHQM0vx88ePmxXSTxDJMrQDkFLsfKATKNXqw60syFjZLEKkXBViHaRb5SuszHw/s810/2_Dads-Army.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="810" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPnFbNHdQUwMoSCxd1qidM2iRaAZ4rhouR3vYbMYM3tC2QG8ec_18A8OPquDnjqUE7bBmPCtA7F4T5ek5fA-8ZQFzKsrzQ9kZ6-6xE64_lxeo0TTti47JOIL8x2kqYXHQM0vx88ePmxXSTxDJMrQDkFLsfKATKNXqw60syFjZLEKkXBViHaRb5SuszHw/w400-h266/2_Dads-Army.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-36690565842948138242022-11-06T00:34:00.013-07:002023-09-01T17:14:38.755-07:00Bob Dylan – The Australian Connection - Part 1: The EPs<p> </p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5c290815-7fff-d28c-61f9-332ef26a20cc"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dylan Down Under - </span><span style="font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Part 1 - The EPs</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmIgIbvHWUP4CUF-xlXgjiny3Zmjc56Rct2iFlCK6PiKWfg68p-3jzEO1qssmocsxRtYVdexdMuS6N9YeLTpOwKm9GdqcjsBb8hq5BDTOb_b0wl-wZMzZ0BEHI4DEyPG3xzZfMy6lpl4HGJ8vJHSi_fdRwJfUxypnm2HTmVq9GpcTthqCN62trKJCSNA/s912/Possible%20header.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmIgIbvHWUP4CUF-xlXgjiny3Zmjc56Rct2iFlCK6PiKWfg68p-3jzEO1qssmocsxRtYVdexdMuS6N9YeLTpOwKm9GdqcjsBb8hq5BDTOb_b0wl-wZMzZ0BEHI4DEyPG3xzZfMy6lpl4HGJ8vJHSi_fdRwJfUxypnm2HTmVq9GpcTthqCN62trKJCSNA/w395-h400/Possible%20header.jpg" width="395" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Stuart Penney</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a heavily revised and expanded version of a feature which first appeared in “It - The Australian Record Collectors Magazine” issue #28, dated October 1998. At that point Bob Dylan’s current album was Time Out Of Mind.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqEYblXw9M_LDYOUFOerGeaRMF0-dIgBV_ZdhRXs33u4V6E3EMfDnUshVC2IHsr4k8SKEYmbacjJ8tdW8UQVrp4OhUOvdoP5S6qIsDKpZgcOl1aVkJiGmmq8FdtHmaylLHUBAf0-LoSx1SrIrwwoVNOkG2MZ3b0JQOLlTViRkBSJhhtZM7zv-0LMz-w/s3344/It%20Magazine.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3344" data-original-width="2508" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqEYblXw9M_LDYOUFOerGeaRMF0-dIgBV_ZdhRXs33u4V6E3EMfDnUshVC2IHsr4k8SKEYmbacjJ8tdW8UQVrp4OhUOvdoP5S6qIsDKpZgcOl1aVkJiGmmq8FdtHmaylLHUBAf0-LoSx1SrIrwwoVNOkG2MZ3b0JQOLlTViRkBSJhhtZM7zv-0LMz-w/w300-h400/It%20Magazine.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Due to its geographical isolation Australia was for the second half of the last century a law unto itself regarding matters of a cultural nature. This was especially true in the world of popular music where thanks to the tyranny of distance combined with a healthy dose of cultural cringe record releases were routinely delayed, sometimes edited (ie censored), and generally chopped and changed about to suit the mores of the local market. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s not the case so much today, of course. The advent of the internet has made the world a much smaller place, enabling instant communication between individuals and companies at opposite ends of the planet. But, back in the 50s, 60s and 70s when it regularly took days or weeks for a directive to arrive from head office in London or New York, the record company outposts in far-flung Sydney, Melbourne and Wellington pretty much had free rein over the product they issued. This independence produced some truly weird and wonderful releases, many of which are unique to Australia and New Zealand. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Kh8Cht0hyfeSM5d3KfYAOu37SdYCLq-byPoUfUpInfmNLr687wu7OcdJzEIHJGE6kShA_usWsR06J9jn2TYQWjZzzZdTktxPhsx1ieC2WTW6vkXL0P_-eb44JbIxdkqM8zBjpiY4zf6MtaJeVrbP6s1gr_MXP5rg35qoecwT4HCralRhVru0wEnZRA/s750/australia66_back_edit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="588" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Kh8Cht0hyfeSM5d3KfYAOu37SdYCLq-byPoUfUpInfmNLr687wu7OcdJzEIHJGE6kShA_usWsR06J9jn2TYQWjZzzZdTktxPhsx1ieC2WTW6vkXL0P_-eb44JbIxdkqM8zBjpiY4zf6MtaJeVrbP6s1gr_MXP5rg35qoecwT4HCralRhVru0wEnZRA/w502-h640/australia66_back_edit.jpg" width="502" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CBS Australia’s Dylan catalogue got off to a shaky start. Following a lengthy delay, the first four or five albums were eventually released during 1964/65, apparently in random order. If the catalogue numbers are any guide, the first Aussie LP to appear was Bob’s third LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Times They Are A-Changin’</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, closely followed by</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Freewheelin’</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. His self-titled debut LP seems to have been slotted in between </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bringing It All Back Home</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Highway 61 Revisited</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Meanwhile, the early singles were seemingly overlooked altogether, and “Subterranean Homesick Blues” became the debut 7” down under. The situation improved greatly in 1966 as the catalogue finally began to match the US and UK releases.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOelhZFvLOkqIRHKYWvbf8jkZ0wsZHrUzjPXh2c6BhNbV2xuqg-jDnMPAFSFmZWBoRFbsCYRrPLDjUaztmx4OD81YsOCcVs2gFnoUNKkx-dQn5NEB2mFj4ZTfANshlXmCFwmZZUWMXPdlHfzs9-1ZOKjRNNHlAJsrSDJrmWb_MjT9FYmXPL8u2rcQK5A/s1278/australia66_1-double.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="1002" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOelhZFvLOkqIRHKYWvbf8jkZ0wsZHrUzjPXh2c6BhNbV2xuqg-jDnMPAFSFmZWBoRFbsCYRrPLDjUaztmx4OD81YsOCcVs2gFnoUNKkx-dQn5NEB2mFj4ZTfANshlXmCFwmZZUWMXPdlHfzs9-1ZOKjRNNHlAJsrSDJrmWb_MjT9FYmXPL8u2rcQK5A/w502-h640/australia66_1-double.jpg" width="502" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Since the early 1970s Dylan’s Australian records have, for the most part, mirrored their US counterparts, with the odd European or British-sourced release thrown in to keep things interesting. The 1978 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">triple LP set <i>Masterpieces</i> (arguably the world's finest Dylan compilation album, released only in Australasia and Japan) and a string of nine unique and highly desirable 7" EPs more than made up for the early chaos and confusion.</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Picture sleeve singles, while somewhat thin on the ground, have also appeared from time to time, with local pressings of “Hurricane,” “Heart Of Mine”</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and the Australian-only 1986 tour release “Emotionally Yours”</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">attracting interest from collectors around the world. Mono copies of the LPs from 1966-68 are now highly prized and 70s / 80s promo items are fast becoming hard to find. But we begin by looking at those legendary EPs. These are the jewels in Dylan’s Aussie discography and represent some of the rarest and most desirable Australian releases of all - by any artist.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kn09L_z5-l5yFQZxWdoxYWFZqhItwWgJlyeEWtjy_3_u0GW4MWGULLQBysxgVEiIGGQz7xldNS9sDvjalXdv4CceL-xAgkcceBqQb7iC5rvbosCL0aOPHtvDjjzBeQsn1JEnNtLsJQiNqBJVsCUlOla_9WpUgLnwBuNrl8jtDYZ5QfsMjjXDxICF8Q/s700/1%20font.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kn09L_z5-l5yFQZxWdoxYWFZqhItwWgJlyeEWtjy_3_u0GW4MWGULLQBysxgVEiIGGQz7xldNS9sDvjalXdv4CceL-xAgkcceBqQb7iC5rvbosCL0aOPHtvDjjzBeQsn1JEnNtLsJQiNqBJVsCUlOla_9WpUgLnwBuNrl8jtDYZ5QfsMjjXDxICF8Q/w400-h400/1%20font.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ALL-STAR HOOTENANNY (CBS BG 225035) 1965</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where Have All The Flowers Gone </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Pete Seeger) / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This Land Is Your Land </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(The New Christy Minstrels / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blowin' In The Wind</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Bob Dylan) / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This Train</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (The Brothers Four)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With only one Dylan track, this is not especially sought-after compared to the other nine EPs, but this release is significant in that it marked Bob's first appearance on a 7" record in Australia. Released in 1965, it features four tracks from the CBS LP of the same name. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbjV9UPoZjfxAQnwK3iU0-pIwgm7-r0CHOgjLkY06C_Xx2hfR-6T5qGKq38CToJfhNgaKcFrRaTs2gpdJH1NuG9Ui0boKWfte2s8yWG1hzLMX2Rf8zik-mxxvOQZP650XVZ3q_xnhovnC0q_ZtOO9cMmvJvDA3IA4teCL8BGxmd4gm3CCGv2IaoqTOA/s700/1%20back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbjV9UPoZjfxAQnwK3iU0-pIwgm7-r0CHOgjLkY06C_Xx2hfR-6T5qGKq38CToJfhNgaKcFrRaTs2gpdJH1NuG9Ui0boKWfte2s8yWG1hzLMX2Rf8zik-mxxvOQZP650XVZ3q_xnhovnC0q_ZtOO9cMmvJvDA3IA4teCL8BGxmd4gm3CCGv2IaoqTOA/w400-h400/1%20back.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">US Columbia issued several of these Hootenanny compilation albums during the mid-60s (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hootenanny '64, Folk Jamboree </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">etc) each containing a solitary Dylan track. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All-Star Hootenanny</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, however, appears to be the only one to gain an Australian release.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the full 1964 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All-Star Hootenanny </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LP</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, as released in Australia, UK and the US, Dylan also appears on the Carolyn Hester track “Swing and Turn Jubilee” where he plays harmonica.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzoQrCOr-lPsWAoYMXyAqcxoKDnVZqSCv5_mPFYskg2Esml8dmbcA2C2k0E37bsjDV8YtlVexca-iLVbOngA-CxLZfPBVFEFw1MSS0zLek-_tMMDRBenv8tLUOlWJaV8x1ZvlmWdcJ7fbZ3CbiLxKsMgnbwqPGZOH7Gr1luGvsw0XY-rzcDsb1hQAGQ/s945/2front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzoQrCOr-lPsWAoYMXyAqcxoKDnVZqSCv5_mPFYskg2Esml8dmbcA2C2k0E37bsjDV8YtlVexca-iLVbOngA-CxLZfPBVFEFw1MSS0zLek-_tMMDRBenv8tLUOlWJaV8x1ZvlmWdcJ7fbZ3CbiLxKsMgnbwqPGZOH7Gr1luGvsw0XY-rzcDsb1hQAGQ/w400-h396/2front.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN' (CBS BG 225062) 1965</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Times They Are A-Changin' </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the Ship Comes In </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only A Pawn In Their Game </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One Too Many Mornings </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Released in early 1965, this EP began a run of nine unique Australia / New Zealand releases, all with attractive picture covers and each featuring one or more tracks seldom seen on a 7" release (in this case “When The Ship Comes In”</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and “Only A Pawn In Their Game”).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSxRCoFHlEq3mdVdOcDH_nJKhMrZOCR3FualMn0V1GsdX3NkQFMfRdsMzx2Aj7Y7oySiSQA2PUiRsYzLZYjgnwdQ1V8yKBrWYXIQbM_YCZmFDUVUlbuL0PwHAKUns0AIROO5b111DqKZvYEzhF14PkARPd7PvYDaEU1tbNQx7Vls1d42rJyhdnYS-kQ/s945/2back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSxRCoFHlEq3mdVdOcDH_nJKhMrZOCR3FualMn0V1GsdX3NkQFMfRdsMzx2Aj7Y7oySiSQA2PUiRsYzLZYjgnwdQ1V8yKBrWYXIQbM_YCZmFDUVUlbuL0PwHAKUns0AIROO5b111DqKZvYEzhF14PkARPd7PvYDaEU1tbNQx7Vls1d42rJyhdnYS-kQ/w400-h396/2back.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sleeve essay, with its cliche-ridden references to Charlie Chaplin, Woody Guthrie, beatniks and hobos, is lifted directly from Robert Shelton's (writing as Stacey Williams) liner notes for the 1962 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bob Dylan </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">album.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was also issued in New Zealand (CBS BG 465005) with a subtly different cover design (ie all of Dylan's left ear is visible on the Kiwi sleeve!)</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUQjxJ1Eo5e2L3ieaRC6ZvJ88S1wA3l_XvDV8MCIo7e_duwSKkqkO1xkB80xCX4clGXXxeHe8BIPylnWxpQyzJVRDWIheFDz41nFYa6dxx7avfVL8VnXSeXVNblovILubhmftNe5jftrVJ8yrrl2_vaxl5LHvKrRlpvSKgmVwc29vXqoHwy6BritqcbQ/s945/3front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUQjxJ1Eo5e2L3ieaRC6ZvJ88S1wA3l_XvDV8MCIo7e_duwSKkqkO1xkB80xCX4clGXXxeHe8BIPylnWxpQyzJVRDWIheFDz41nFYa6dxx7avfVL8VnXSeXVNblovILubhmftNe5jftrVJ8yrrl2_vaxl5LHvKrRlpvSKgmVwc29vXqoHwy6BritqcbQ/w400-h396/3front.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN (CBS BG 225068) 1965</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blowin' In The Wind </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don't Think Twice, It's Alright </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Corrina, Corrina </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Down The Highway </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two years after the release of the (US) </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Freewheelin'</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LP, came this attractively packaged EP. Bob and his then girlfriend Suze Rotolo are seen walking arm-in-arm, as per the album sleeve, except the snowy New York street scene and parked cars have now vanished, leaving the pair looking curiously detached.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3VbHi4LnGFqmU7z7OOlAp5cyZU7c3bjQ_Ctkss_R7TWzlaL-Nuo5FZ2sieM1BssQyekoia1ByLH5-IxBE_J4V9FO1t0XfWrp_pQdyXKzFMDVg8ZV4yYaMyV4M1d0QzfdKFeL9fmiv619_mffCFMDgyhFXV8rmtsY_-n51SqR0Ilmgwh3bCPXfY4Ej-A/s945/3back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3VbHi4LnGFqmU7z7OOlAp5cyZU7c3bjQ_Ctkss_R7TWzlaL-Nuo5FZ2sieM1BssQyekoia1ByLH5-IxBE_J4V9FO1t0XfWrp_pQdyXKzFMDVg8ZV4yYaMyV4M1d0QzfdKFeL9fmiv619_mffCFMDgyhFXV8rmtsY_-n51SqR0Ilmgwh3bCPXfY4Ej-A/w400-h396/3back.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> Rear sleeve notes continue the "Chaplinesque" theme and directly quote Dylan confidante and biographer Robert Shelton. “Down The Highway” is the unusual track here.</span></span><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizUxF5eMsaCJi1L6v3P-m1k8uYZ86LfHpX4Fof5ExHySbIzm8l40VATiiE6S2REtGcixbNl7iRxE-H3JknRqqJ8ekjldbAq765sta0hv8UlyfcwgpTmjdzawFwQS_blj5Px3J7o-MDU3IvFTfKTwIbVfNau0rUJJVkVscvfVUqZzQXfGJjnKacE_eJsQ/s945/4front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizUxF5eMsaCJi1L6v3P-m1k8uYZ86LfHpX4Fof5ExHySbIzm8l40VATiiE6S2REtGcixbNl7iRxE-H3JknRqqJ8ekjldbAq765sta0hv8UlyfcwgpTmjdzawFwQS_blj5Px3J7o-MDU3IvFTfKTwIbVfNau0rUJJVkVscvfVUqZzQXfGJjnKacE_eJsQ/w400-h396/4front.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BOB DYLAN (CBS BG 225083) 1965</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pretty Peggy-O</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Song To Woody</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Freight Train Blues</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Talkin' New York </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of Dylan's Australian albums up to </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Highway 61 Revisited </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">were released either out of order or delayed, so by the time his self-titled debut album appeared down under in mid-1965 (compared to March 1962 in the US and June 1962 UK), Bob's music had changed out of all recognition. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the face of his new, electric direction, the acoustic blues and hillbilly music on his first LP (from where the tracks on this EP are taken) seemed primitive and outdated. As a result, both sold poorly, but while the album was, by necessity, kept on catalogue, the EP was quickly deleted.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE9spJ-mQIi4ub3JNNgkpdq39gpiOvCP9end9WkqprLQHc7ZnH0sDaxpdRNZVF6zP5KhRri_iehVV1VtDFvPmL17_AQyADcOOlmo78OlvNrSAl0ZbErjaD9r4Qky3690et_JOOsmAHBzYWG5bV_FhO8iQrruAKGj3DZESNx2ssa4mDumXRoBJ2afLbwg/s945/4back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE9spJ-mQIi4ub3JNNgkpdq39gpiOvCP9end9WkqprLQHc7ZnH0sDaxpdRNZVF6zP5KhRri_iehVV1VtDFvPmL17_AQyADcOOlmo78OlvNrSAl0ZbErjaD9r4Qky3690et_JOOsmAHBzYWG5bV_FhO8iQrruAKGj3DZESNx2ssa4mDumXRoBJ2afLbwg/w400-h396/4back.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Long rumoured not to exist by Dylan historians and discographers alike this is, without doubt, one of the rarest and most desirable Australian EPs of all - by any artist. A clean copy is now next to impossible to find. Along with the identical - and possibly even scarcer - New Zealand version released in 1966 (CBS BG 465017) this is thought to be the only EP in the world to feature “Pretty Peggy-O.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Featuring a cropped version of the 1962 LP cover photo, it appears as if Bob is holding a guitar strung for a left-handed player. In fact, the original LP sleeve designer had simply flipped the image in the interests of symmetry and to align the track titles to the right. Sleeve notes are, once again, lifted from the debut </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bob Dylan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQoz51fnwyZu_D7lTTyzsfpQzW-frvkX-u9vlYEW7bFXu75cM0n1m2PzaZMTvfdT8ksXvb06F3PI6fx7D7jZTq568DfyFIKYU4h8FQZxMBD0n01IVqEy-3xvI2pEEfJlXBdicfZMlhCrdwc5LdbMf15g-aUEYAZPXo04NocO-n2wguDE18RsCgr8zQg/s945/5front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQoz51fnwyZu_D7lTTyzsfpQzW-frvkX-u9vlYEW7bFXu75cM0n1m2PzaZMTvfdT8ksXvb06F3PI6fx7D7jZTq568DfyFIKYU4h8FQZxMBD0n01IVqEy-3xvI2pEEfJlXBdicfZMlhCrdwc5LdbMf15g-aUEYAZPXo04NocO-n2wguDE18RsCgr8zQg/w400-h396/5front.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BOB DYLAN’S MR. TAMBOURINE MAN (CBS BG 225099) 1966</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Tambourine Man</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Subterranean Homesick Blues</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On The Road Again</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bob Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (presumably to make clear who wrote the Byrds’ hit single) and utilising a trimmed, black and white adaptation of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bringing It All Back Home </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">album sleeve photo, this EP looks almost as good as it sounds. In an ornate drawing room, we see the affluent-looking Dylan sitting on a couch beside an elegant woman (played by Sally Grossman, wife of Bob's then-manager Albert). The the pair are surrounded by an array of books, records and magazines which, we assume, were meant to reflect Bob's influences and reading / listening habits in 1965. As well as a copy of Dylan's own </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another Side</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LP, records by Lord Buckley, the Impressions, Lotte Lenya, Robert Johnson, Ravi Shankar and Eric Von Schmidt are also clearly visible (on the LP sleeve, if not the EP).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtOyIsfNMXAxfp_JYu_LJHF0sfBqhNpBbAS73m7FwE3NXZwUQoS3Z79PDfQ3mX96ZwijF--MvWBTIjnrHU2heIT-eI-BDHer1OouXWULBukB05cG0fTzKoJkfw6Qdv5qch1QuTTCgjAuZXBa_XT-7Wp0ZOwrOlmOTq5FZqFXYniovkXERXTQjnZsExQ/s945/5back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtOyIsfNMXAxfp_JYu_LJHF0sfBqhNpBbAS73m7FwE3NXZwUQoS3Z79PDfQ3mX96ZwijF--MvWBTIjnrHU2heIT-eI-BDHer1OouXWULBukB05cG0fTzKoJkfw6Qdv5qch1QuTTCgjAuZXBa_XT-7Wp0ZOwrOlmOTq5FZqFXYniovkXERXTQjnZsExQ/w400-h396/5back.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The liner notes (borrowed from the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Bob Dylan </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">LP, yet again) incorrectly speak of "the four tracks from this EP", but with the length title track occupying the whole of side one, there is definitely only room for three. “On The Road Again” is the surprise track here. Also issued in New Zealand (CBS BG 465021).</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Variations of this EP exist with at least three different spellings of “Subterannean” on the labels.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrzwCEVK1Ke3rn2KVgETwxpOv765K-CP_LJAq_2TgJoA06YCGg3wzOMmgVy5oLnqvY3lFCc-efksT4Q_0jn6VOqZKeKSigQKvKrQzDFBDAmJ6e7yF9X8GAycHNsdXPuCdTI77av5MFqKs6ax85lqTUktKQVt2kKbV1zXupiWWnEWY5xGI5nKxK5hyXhA/s1195/Bringing%20It%20All%20Back%20Home%20LPs%20on%20sleeve.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1195" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrzwCEVK1Ke3rn2KVgETwxpOv765K-CP_LJAq_2TgJoA06YCGg3wzOMmgVy5oLnqvY3lFCc-efksT4Q_0jn6VOqZKeKSigQKvKrQzDFBDAmJ6e7yF9X8GAycHNsdXPuCdTI77av5MFqKs6ax85lqTUktKQVt2kKbV1zXupiWWnEWY5xGI5nKxK5hyXhA/w428-h640/Bringing%20It%20All%20Back%20Home%20LPs%20on%20sleeve.jpg" width="428" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Six LPs seen on the Bringing It All Back Home sleeve</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<br /></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv3iydIueUMSjRMt1dPDSDlNhKU3hpaD6cE549oS7R7TOFSqwonm912hBs_sVtpRf1AC6EQOPGB0CWCgzgWLfh9wW-rINNo-Wkr43uT3x-jTLfxhPXOd17a1gYwhhJQS0lsFsaceHSoTt890ZVlov8ww_XFJSqLmrDrhuKz_KGyY6xXiQwRQnxbqe68w/s945/6Front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv3iydIueUMSjRMt1dPDSDlNhKU3hpaD6cE549oS7R7TOFSqwonm912hBs_sVtpRf1AC6EQOPGB0CWCgzgWLfh9wW-rINNo-Wkr43uT3x-jTLfxhPXOd17a1gYwhhJQS0lsFsaceHSoTt890ZVlov8ww_XFJSqLmrDrhuKz_KGyY6xXiQwRQnxbqe68w/w400-h396/6Front.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LIKE A ROLLING STONE (CBS BG 225111) 1966</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like A Rolling Stone </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Highway 61 Revisited </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From A Buick 6</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The scholarly sleeve notes quote from Robert Shelton's 1962 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dylan live</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">review. They recall the sessions for Bob's debut album and yet again name-drop Blind Lemon Jefferson and Woody Guthrie. All well and good, but in all probability none of this meant very much to the average 60s teenage record buyer picking up this EP simply to hear the big hit single “Like A Rolling Stone.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lest we forget, by 1965 Dylan was no longer the rustic folkie described in the liner notes. He had reinvented himself as a bona fide rock star and “Like A Rolling Stone”</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was already a massive hit single all around the world (reaching top 5 in Australia, US and UK).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRuRAcz9lwtkKC226CAiS7Or9RHcOVf4N3DZoj7XILcj-Tq2OA_XLgoSdA41GS-vAdDET1ZOfHHqfnvhLD1xsj4GXe0_tacXHziKGhK8Ge4uWe5KWPBd2S__DjgQPVDFh7y3BZQXXCsRXTaWtnzmHjgq20XQt2BTnyDKv5G39rmFNV_x7goouiSkAP4w/s945/6back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRuRAcz9lwtkKC226CAiS7Or9RHcOVf4N3DZoj7XILcj-Tq2OA_XLgoSdA41GS-vAdDET1ZOfHHqfnvhLD1xsj4GXe0_tacXHziKGhK8Ge4uWe5KWPBd2S__DjgQPVDFh7y3BZQXXCsRXTaWtnzmHjgq20XQt2BTnyDKv5G39rmFNV_x7goouiSkAP4w/w400-h396/6back.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once again, the marathon title track occupies all of side one, with “From A Buick 6” and “Highway 61 Revisited” (coincidentally, the b-sides of the next two Dylan singles) completing the hard-rocking trio. The front cover, showing a black and white photo of Dylan in satin shirt and Triumph motorbike t-shirt against a yellow background, was lifted from the sleeve of Bob's then-current </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Highway 61 Revisited</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LP. Also issued in New Zealand (CBS BG 465023).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LQjmZYqBpqiePVmSmWN5nCcjFTMrjeGzmQWquKnwzB7LKBPX8_fpRZMe7Ea0-ESXimXfMKmGlLxZqq5bMuEWz0z_2VtHo9brEE2XKjMYjR2f9a0SduhMRkwrmxxvixVyhKpNgqU2V5pxszfeJLsgw2HaQ8mqhE3sLooTLAnx8nfOqc1mLeuhj5Fl5g/s945/7front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LQjmZYqBpqiePVmSmWN5nCcjFTMrjeGzmQWquKnwzB7LKBPX8_fpRZMe7Ea0-ESXimXfMKmGlLxZqq5bMuEWz0z_2VtHo9brEE2XKjMYjR2f9a0SduhMRkwrmxxvixVyhKpNgqU2V5pxszfeJLsgw2HaQ8mqhE3sLooTLAnx8nfOqc1mLeuhj5Fl5g/w400-h396/7front.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">JOHN WESLEY HARDING (CBS BG 225193) 1968</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John Wesley Harding</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Wicked Messenger</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'll Be Your Baby Tonight</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All Along the Watchtower</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Helped no doubt by the inclusion of “All Along the Watchtower”, Bob's first EP for over two years appears to have sold in respectable numbers and while not exactly common these days, it turns up more often than might be expected. The front cover is a faithful reproduction of the LP sleeve (albeit with added lettering) and, for the first time on an Australian Dylan EP, the musicians, producer and engineer were credited on the cover. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The inevitable size reduction of the front cover photo makes it impossible to spot the Beatles' faces allegedly hidden upside down in the tree trunk - although given the poor-quality reproduction of Australian </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">JWH</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LP sleeves, that was never an easy task even with the larger album artwork. An original US or UK pressing of the LP is required in order to see the Fab Four clearly (if, indeed, they really are there).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp54_ANewNUTz5OV9hmhvGZ_vQxLk2g3XuB0Y2_P5U2El3b2et7qBBYWJsB7318YyDGfYIgOnRXhIB5kaIlDVIfeTmNftk3GBm-P63YbHqH_ZNs6jKPKGfrMTS4I7MRWo3dD3bFJ_YcZo_JEE03xPtVNOyGNikwInfOFQHSLIfikUc9BcY4EbUnMBk1g/s945/7back%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp54_ANewNUTz5OV9hmhvGZ_vQxLk2g3XuB0Y2_P5U2El3b2et7qBBYWJsB7318YyDGfYIgOnRXhIB5kaIlDVIfeTmNftk3GBm-P63YbHqH_ZNs6jKPKGfrMTS4I7MRWo3dD3bFJ_YcZo_JEE03xPtVNOyGNikwInfOFQHSLIfikUc9BcY4EbUnMBk1g/w400-h396/7back%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Photographer John Berg who took the Polaroid photo used on the cover of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">JWH</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> said during an interview with John Baudie for the Dylan fanzine </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Telegraph</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: "I got a call from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rolling Stone</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> magazine in San Francisco. Someone had discovered little pictures of The Beatles and the hand of Jesus in the tree trunk. Well, I had a proof of the cover on my wall, so I went and turned it upside down and sure enough. Ha ha ha! I mean, if you wanted to see it, you could see it. I was as amazed as anybody."</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgLjyqgLAAU1zbIN8chPH-YMDaftthhuZUv8jGafErUgavERFSmxl1UdRGbgoFBzOt0WONtxzzx0AOZ1fJ2Ba11N53RqQnOj04zCaOSTxxqBppOhmNxUA7vttSg_kw6xIoBCTUfp6LQ-bTAeFisljU26H9stcRISTbF2W7QqYy1AU057p79lDe0p2odA/s4547/JWH-LP%20Beatles%20faces.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2724" data-original-width="4547" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgLjyqgLAAU1zbIN8chPH-YMDaftthhuZUv8jGafErUgavERFSmxl1UdRGbgoFBzOt0WONtxzzx0AOZ1fJ2Ba11N53RqQnOj04zCaOSTxxqBppOhmNxUA7vttSg_kw6xIoBCTUfp6LQ-bTAeFisljU26H9stcRISTbF2W7QqYy1AU057p79lDe0p2odA/w640-h384/JWH-LP%20Beatles%20faces.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: start;"><b><i>Spot them if you can. Accidental Beatles’ heads appeared on the John Wesley Harding LP sleeve</i></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Berg was asked if he still had the original Polaroid used for the cover photo, he replied "No. I used to have it in a frame, but I sold it at a benefit for NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences). It was auctioned off. It made about 50 bucks. I should never have done it."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Under the curious heading “Hear more of the Bob Dylan greatness on these CBS albums” </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blonde On Blonde</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Greatest Hits Vol.1</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John Wesley Harding</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> itself are advertised (in mono and stereo) on the back cover.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Yc6suXnjZkMiyTNESG3mMbuDNGI03BeizhKAHqEYnmr8uw_vQZ-c1iZEvqQ5nv7yK7Olm4kn7emLixt8VWGUSoo8QNPbLjHAkF3wv-wIMpa3Sg1IpD4iPAsRU2ECHtjcMh4GGStiXRUbyUC61dUzl-aUaPp3DS9n0H7kqh-iEm71xI589yQHih4X1Q/s945/8front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Yc6suXnjZkMiyTNESG3mMbuDNGI03BeizhKAHqEYnmr8uw_vQZ-c1iZEvqQ5nv7yK7Olm4kn7emLixt8VWGUSoo8QNPbLjHAkF3wv-wIMpa3Sg1IpD4iPAsRU2ECHtjcMh4GGStiXRUbyUC61dUzl-aUaPp3DS9n0H7kqh-iEm71xI589yQHih4X1Q/w400-h396/8front.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NASHVILLE SKYLINE (CBS SBG 225223) 1969</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lay Lady Lay</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I Threw It All Away</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nashville Skyline Rag</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Country Pie</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Signalling yet another major change in musical direction, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nashville Skyline</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> legitimised country music at a stroke for an entire generation of rock musicians who had, for the most part, previously ignored - or even reviled - it – and it probably opened the door to the country rock craze of the 70s. Such was the Dylan's influence at that time. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Set within a vivid blue border, the front sleeve features a black and white adaptation of the album cover photo showing a broadly smiling Dylan holding his Gibson J200 guitar (a gift from George Harrison) and genially doffing his hat at the camera.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8CcDW9RsmGkxqOhEdgifvv80zsT1jIKEB_pCV8oU9SAKDEQ6b8iVSzHfLQIWMqzxtmAqJRoOLH4CrFMD9IrZbzqx03VZvofeI0NFsRZiDwMIy4R8vx_IbF05AxzhgXIw1SmXbFoIbwpYthuJ9wabh5uhN6-Jc9TnMFLuG693gikLnvDvrQ68Ar3zRuQ/s945/8back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8CcDW9RsmGkxqOhEdgifvv80zsT1jIKEB_pCV8oU9SAKDEQ6b8iVSzHfLQIWMqzxtmAqJRoOLH4CrFMD9IrZbzqx03VZvofeI0NFsRZiDwMIy4R8vx_IbF05AxzhgXIw1SmXbFoIbwpYthuJ9wabh5uhN6-Jc9TnMFLuG693gikLnvDvrQ68Ar3zRuQ/w400-h396/8back.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While it was obviously the big hit “Lay Lady Lay” which attracted buyers to Bob's first stereo Aussie EP, the inclusion of his debut instrumental “Nashville Skyline Rag” must have surprised more than a few of his casual followers. The musicians were credited on the back cover once more, while the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blonde On Blonde</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Greatest Hits Vol.1</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John Wesley Harding</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LPs are again advertised on the reverse, although significantly they were now offered only in stereo.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3H1xen-kQp8JHy0lLsLXClkrJQ8B0GQQRXRKLWBv9_2VLTU5zFQiyFuqIXiOch5-IPi60eJajYYROW5dQaYiK81DYa2sRjuElSl6aFjDGdQD5skcGoWWHtXyCBeDeITN-3H9Yju5zN6KJwTK829Bar4LXNDo3CO9VzwB3FZ-D95tYYb905rL269eXA/s945/9front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3H1xen-kQp8JHy0lLsLXClkrJQ8B0GQQRXRKLWBv9_2VLTU5zFQiyFuqIXiOch5-IPi60eJajYYROW5dQaYiK81DYa2sRjuElSl6aFjDGdQD5skcGoWWHtXyCBeDeITN-3H9Yju5zN6KJwTK829Bar4LXNDo3CO9VzwB3FZ-D95tYYb905rL269eXA/w400-h396/9front.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NEW MORNING (CBS SBG 225243) 1971</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Morning</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Three Angels </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Man In Me </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wigwam </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although it didn't come within a sniff of the charts in the US or Britain, “Wigwam” was a surprise top ten Australian single for Dylan. So, no matter that this curious instrumental originated not from the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Morning</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album, but the earlier </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Self Portrait</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> double set, it was tacked on here as a matter of expediency.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eN7i45cIUOF3R_DIXFI7G68s0UFumx4uUYdQIHcP5F-AFdLDc5PxIQKqOaBMQdipm9A5UC4XoFKlJNm9Oq_HJb5G7X-CFI1Pfm7FiCZbfJv9YZ3r8CpJh4jReGv2FcXEJy2TLk7T_6ejysO_GGYD3qC3gI2jSKSXbZsicoir5j9I35SR8lmrGg2AMA/s945/9back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eN7i45cIUOF3R_DIXFI7G68s0UFumx4uUYdQIHcP5F-AFdLDc5PxIQKqOaBMQdipm9A5UC4XoFKlJNm9Oq_HJb5G7X-CFI1Pfm7FiCZbfJv9YZ3r8CpJh4jReGv2FcXEJy2TLk7T_6ejysO_GGYD3qC3gI2jSKSXbZsicoir5j9I35SR8lmrGg2AMA/w400-h396/9back.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite the presence of “Wigwam” though, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Morning </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">appears to have found few takers and is now one of the hardest Dylan Aussie EPs to find. With its sepia photo and cream border, the wordless front cover is an almost exact reproduction the LP sleeve. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nashville Skyline</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Greatest Hits Vol.1 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">are pictured on the reverse.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipglzMrQVhXkmpCGcmewhZMte5P-rghuxGaJUMLSUgoCPUsY7HLvEQn6hpVPFMS9B5KotX-lOsr_tfD6pTh6BOz0JGkQ7wt9TLPmpeCn-kKAFPnmL3Tpa5nhETdOJCc2QJIK9nRAFp6N3GWfKwK6nIWmYTsqUsT9LN2LAPUddb7vScWQLxpuO1pZ8OLw/s945/10front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipglzMrQVhXkmpCGcmewhZMte5P-rghuxGaJUMLSUgoCPUsY7HLvEQn6hpVPFMS9B5KotX-lOsr_tfD6pTh6BOz0JGkQ7wt9TLPmpeCn-kKAFPnmL3Tpa5nhETdOJCc2QJIK9nRAFp6N3GWfKwK6nIWmYTsqUsT9LN2LAPUddb7vScWQLxpuO1pZ8OLw/w400-h396/10front.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A HARD RAIN'S A-GONNA FALL (CBS SBG 225258) 1972</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If Not For You </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mighty Quinn (Quinn, The Eskimo) </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">/ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Watching The River Flow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the exception of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bob Dylan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, this is the rarest Australian Dylan EP by a country mile. Issued in late 1972 at a time when most other countries had well and truly pensioned off the 7” EP format, this ill-matched assortment of songs was drawn from the double LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Greatest Hits Vol. 2 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(or </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as it was titled in the UK).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXxBa9_DeVfwUFa6dRUVEFO9Xhe-FTPwYFyQG6g5ocprqaeynqs4amj_8Su3aJGAkTnWTrDVLvM2GbIQhbjBjqAoRcpgjhv0tnp7btVfDsrP38j6eB8SvWLWIJWZOszutujMEuXBy0gGgqaVr4UzfAXlhXDDtZNcFrB7IS5ld1OS1rd80UXM215xkWtA/s945/10back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="945" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXxBa9_DeVfwUFa6dRUVEFO9Xhe-FTPwYFyQG6g5ocprqaeynqs4amj_8Su3aJGAkTnWTrDVLvM2GbIQhbjBjqAoRcpgjhv0tnp7btVfDsrP38j6eB8SvWLWIJWZOszutujMEuXBy0gGgqaVr4UzfAXlhXDDtZNcFrB7IS5ld1OS1rd80UXM215xkWtA/w400-h396/10back.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All three sleeve photos used on the double LP hits compilation were taken by Barry Feinstein during Bob's appearance at the Concert for Bangla Desh in August 1971. The monochrome EP sleeve, however, uses yet a different Feinstein picture from the same concert. The original can be seen in full colour on page 44 of the booklet which accompanies the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Concert For</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bangla Desh</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> triple LP box set.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Yqo2abnpKJIX5CJMz9rPnbyI5KAM0VYaJp0X4HfMrzWcqZRAyWr6DosvdJbqbx3goXUFnyJdYrAjASq6fqP0sY9yk30NE3Kd_QqIRcagSWIAgWMMR59Umvzr69uCW_eI2IFmoODa4Nz2i3KyMyzSgUnCLV6Oh61yvAc54-K0l8FZpGAxBKMdzPkJ-A/s2745/Hard%20Rain%20original%20photo%20in%20Bangla%20Desh%20booklet%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2152" data-original-width="2745" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Yqo2abnpKJIX5CJMz9rPnbyI5KAM0VYaJp0X4HfMrzWcqZRAyWr6DosvdJbqbx3goXUFnyJdYrAjASq6fqP0sY9yk30NE3Kd_QqIRcagSWIAgWMMR59Umvzr69uCW_eI2IFmoODa4Nz2i3KyMyzSgUnCLV6Oh61yvAc54-K0l8FZpGAxBKMdzPkJ-A/w400-h314/Hard%20Rain%20original%20photo%20in%20Bangla%20Desh%20booklet%20copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall” and “If Not For You”</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">are the well-known album versions (lifted from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Freewheelin'</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Morning</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, respectively), “Watching The River Flow” was, prior to its appearance on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Greatest Hits Vol.2</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, only available as a 1971 single. “The Mighty Quinn (Quinn, The Eskimo)” is the seldom heard 1969 live at the Isle Of Wight version from </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Self Portrait</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Thanks to Robert Penney at penneydesign.com for his photo editing skills</i></span></div></span></div>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-30045114299191183812022-09-12T22:59:00.074-07:002024-01-09T19:44:39.657-08:00You Say You Want A Revolution? A Brief History Of Protest Music<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31sO9OW5CmUTiBQpB80HSs1IlSx-n9AROeuVjV6RIl6QgEDmGT9BikCMVR1lQavVUa1OszNj7ZI6RMsb7-dSwSoisyskVlskjH466dWX66wQzajhLFGXbYCvPkBEFrCmmiJG2OTMOKyCHGrqK86LKREzCQRvNzM3djZvCyAaCEqxPRqf6R1g0CCIm-Q/s814/CND%20symbol.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="814" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31sO9OW5CmUTiBQpB80HSs1IlSx-n9AROeuVjV6RIl6QgEDmGT9BikCMVR1lQavVUa1OszNj7ZI6RMsb7-dSwSoisyskVlskjH466dWX66wQzajhLFGXbYCvPkBEFrCmmiJG2OTMOKyCHGrqK86LKREzCQRvNzM3djZvCyAaCEqxPRqf6R1g0CCIm-Q/s320/CND%20symbol.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFCqJUErk3TZ3cNtSxEYHfnkW7NT14vTWrLKcj0qCEZPoDBYCOdszAf7griPd2AH2Vlh6V25eMJilp3y01MO8n3rVP_u_YZumQCGWWhdd9t79jAQ2mCH15xeubD9It0CaqVws60mFDdykylfpfen9XaXrIbcsbntlOMTiAequwHZGIORfdvWj2DPf5Q/s1321/Group%20possible%20header.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1321" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFCqJUErk3TZ3cNtSxEYHfnkW7NT14vTWrLKcj0qCEZPoDBYCOdszAf7griPd2AH2Vlh6V25eMJilp3y01MO8n3rVP_u_YZumQCGWWhdd9t79jAQ2mCH15xeubD9It0CaqVws60mFDdykylfpfen9XaXrIbcsbntlOMTiAequwHZGIORfdvWj2DPf5Q/w640-h406/Group%20possible%20header.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-11334216-7fff-b902-2ce5-38a566429ac3"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: x-large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You Say You Want A Revolution?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1965 Marc Bolan, Donovan and Joan Baez Marched To Trafalgar Square</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Stuart Penney</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Global warming and climate change are a major concern for the kids of today, and rightly so. But in the 1960s we had a very different kind of apocalypse on our minds. Back then we were convinced the world might end at any moment in a Russian nuclear attack (following the requisite four-minute government warning, naturally). Whether by missile, bomber plane, submarine or ship, the twin superpowers had devised the perfect way to deliver mutually assured destruction to each other’s doorstep. It was a genuinely scary time and for more than a decade we really did live under the shadow of a full-scale nuclear war.</b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZX1SFtm15bUOVi_U_O9Ca-BXLsFFJs7XUgRPqQMN6G5lkDPb5d4pLFXoLMEBzQE2mS6U0X4Um9FhPCusgrMiLgFlFhyI0PknOTZkAiDu0G3VkXFZjHvnw5BCEg4vFWJy3mfyCzUIxyQ8ztTFztiQMrH4Yl4z4XeEpCWEOpUqda8jCDibog51kHlfIw/s650/PA-10985350.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="650" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZX1SFtm15bUOVi_U_O9Ca-BXLsFFJs7XUgRPqQMN6G5lkDPb5d4pLFXoLMEBzQE2mS6U0X4Um9FhPCusgrMiLgFlFhyI0PknOTZkAiDu0G3VkXFZjHvnw5BCEg4vFWJy3mfyCzUIxyQ8ztTFztiQMrH4Yl4z4XeEpCWEOpUqda8jCDibog51kHlfIw/w400-h283/PA-10985350.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, how did we respond in the face of this impending doomsday scenario? Did we invade the nearest art gallery and superglue ourselves to a Picasso or a Rubens? Did we nail our hands to the fast lane of the newly built M1 motorway at Watford Gap during rush hour? Not a bit of it. We did what anti-nuclear protesters have always done. We marched. And we waved banners. Together with politicians (Tony Benn and Michael Foot were early supporters of the cause), pop stars, members of the clergy and assorted learned scholars from Oxbridge, we pulled on our duffle coats and backpacks and trudged along the A40 from Aldermaston to Trafalgar Square carrying signs and singing songs. That’ll show ‘em, we thought. It’ll all be over by Christmas at this rate.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2gW9wH0TByvDfYlN1fEvaJC1PmNuKZbbuF3J-XFL3JT6bDjmwyS8YdWfhCEY1wmR0msakGYZa51drC4le7d-UjK4OQ2UYB67-jkt_lrELFNH-mQu2uLjUEHqBVGnpAVXzegTs1-EWq-O9kuOYb6HDSgpBSeSJj1xMbE-PUSFrSXbxNXbZ_lnIQzH7A/s825/Rod%20with%20CND%20sticker%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2gW9wH0TByvDfYlN1fEvaJC1PmNuKZbbuF3J-XFL3JT6bDjmwyS8YdWfhCEY1wmR0msakGYZa51drC4le7d-UjK4OQ2UYB67-jkt_lrELFNH-mQu2uLjUEHqBVGnpAVXzegTs1-EWq-O9kuOYb6HDSgpBSeSJj1xMbE-PUSFrSXbxNXbZ_lnIQzH7A/s320/Rod%20with%20CND%20sticker%20copy.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Rod, Complete With CND Stickers</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I say “we” but, as a schoolkid marooned in grimy Sheffield, I was a few years too young to take part in the earliest of the CND protest marches and, in any case, I had little interest in the political side of things at that time. At this point I’m reminded of an interview Rod Stewart gave to BBC2 TV's </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Reel Stories </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">in 2019. Asked by Dermot O’Leary about his time as a ban the bomb protester in the early 60s, Rod recalled with barely concealed glee, “</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">We used to go on the CND marches, but I did it just to get shagged. I didn’t care about the bomb, actually. It was just rebellion, that’s all it was.” </span></span></span><div><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcCdSg_3KcXOam9bEfaLz0pub-Sc9wBou05nbIB1hR5qNbztzeOm4kjkVNQvqzkf_xAobe_H0NSXPh13yfowXPog30i5YEa3bwvMxh6qyAb5JGcOgkAu0_Nc03PduvwAWMaJ0wKyXbMVDmhC9xtBxhZeh9pbiDkOmnYiGvc_YHbNiWANrxQZUjpWs1Q/s1024/March%201958.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcCdSg_3KcXOam9bEfaLz0pub-Sc9wBou05nbIB1hR5qNbztzeOm4kjkVNQvqzkf_xAobe_H0NSXPh13yfowXPog30i5YEa3bwvMxh6qyAb5JGcOgkAu0_Nc03PduvwAWMaJ0wKyXbMVDmhC9xtBxhZeh9pbiDkOmnYiGvc_YHbNiWANrxQZUjpWs1Q/w400-h225/March%201958.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the kind of stuff the hubristic Stewart frequently blurts out in interviews. To him, most things in life are (or once were) seen as an opportunity for “picking up the birds” as he likes to term it. While not fully endorsing Rod’s carefully honed Jack the Lad arrogance or, indeed, his outrageous braggadocio, I can kind of see what he was getting at because as a college student in the mid-60s I did take part in a few ban the bomb protests for reasons that were not entirely altruistic.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGB58bEHFCAQT-ZrhhoBLU3xWxzzHbvfRaJbjU7JHZDiDCvUP9Q9VrpZCasytCGVgVeZBmQsAqU_dgrZiR26KTURTkOSeQZ8aN70ImbaqNo8_2VpIOavy2_onU557_QB7l8LeAIOJHjZrTLkq8p2kfJW0o9MXmGgW01Ao5ZN3hWsnkvOioBi7zbNmipw/s895/CND%201962.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="895" data-original-width="709" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGB58bEHFCAQT-ZrhhoBLU3xWxzzHbvfRaJbjU7JHZDiDCvUP9Q9VrpZCasytCGVgVeZBmQsAqU_dgrZiR26KTURTkOSeQZ8aN70ImbaqNo8_2VpIOavy2_onU557_QB7l8LeAIOJHjZrTLkq8p2kfJW0o9MXmGgW01Ao5ZN3hWsnkvOioBi7zbNmipw/s320/CND%201962.jpg" width="253" /></a></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There I was, in regulation corduroy jeans and desert boots, a selection of CND badges proudly displayed along the collar of my army surplus combat jacket. Sometimes I even bought a copy of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Daily Worker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> newspaper (rebranded as </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Morning Star</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 1966) and stuffed it in the pocket of said jacket, making sure the masthead was clearly visible to all who passed by. This ridiculous affectation was purely to enhance my left-wing street cred, you understand. I seldom, if ever, read the dreary communist rag.* Truth be told, my heart wasn’t really in it. Despite coming from a staunchly Labour voting working-class family, I had little interest in the gloomy leftist politics of the CND. For me and my school pals the marches were purely social events. For us it was all about the music, the camaraderie and, like Rod, the girls. These days you’d probably say we were there just for the craic. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Editor’s Note: In July 1977 I did buy (and read) an issue of the Morning Star purely because it contained a lengthy interview with John Peel. On his radio show in 1987 Peel revealed he was a Morning Star subscriber and had been for some years.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YXrA3e2qFLVwWI8pvIXXw6h-SnaOtSnPmENI3TY3NDhsRRutcTNZXAgXkc-njN27rksKvDmKTMbiqyficiZGOlJGpwGJHM26bB5NVCDWCqCaYsjFrWHarlcVfQg9_qXFA94D9FXoHN56dtO8RlEFgupl8ERSUEsPYtjFMhYhOW8kNvRTxPsKLeEEzQ/s815/Morning%20Star.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="815" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YXrA3e2qFLVwWI8pvIXXw6h-SnaOtSnPmENI3TY3NDhsRRutcTNZXAgXkc-njN27rksKvDmKTMbiqyficiZGOlJGpwGJHM26bB5NVCDWCqCaYsjFrWHarlcVfQg9_qXFA94D9FXoHN56dtO8RlEFgupl8ERSUEsPYtjFMhYhOW8kNvRTxPsKLeEEzQ/w400-h155/Morning%20Star.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPi-R2mitVEwa1cJG-aplJxzm2_v-SkjxpSF0BO7Y47a84Inb12aq0bfcwYeXYTG2KcEuUZA6_YAD13ueAKNgoJ49ZPmiEpEI3r4QgKH891ah8zZmKJ21K20VIX75sttlmHJE_YtzS5Eey7Fsm-K0jR3DyabejSLxd_P8tQkvk4tAe-u7fqh_rAouUQ/s650/PA-10991790.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="650" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPi-R2mitVEwa1cJG-aplJxzm2_v-SkjxpSF0BO7Y47a84Inb12aq0bfcwYeXYTG2KcEuUZA6_YAD13ueAKNgoJ49ZPmiEpEI3r4QgKH891ah8zZmKJ21K20VIX75sttlmHJE_YtzS5Eey7Fsm-K0jR3DyabejSLxd_P8tQkvk4tAe-u7fqh_rAouUQ/w400-h326/PA-10991790.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But it wasn’t all beer and skittles. On one occasion I tramped 13 miserable, footsore miles (21 km) in entirely unsuitable shoes on a drizzly CND march from Chesterfield to Sheffield </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">simply to win the approval of a particularly attractive girl in my year at college. We’d arranged to meet up somewhere along the route where I hoped to impress her with my knowledge of Dylan and the Beat Poets, but I arrived late to find she’d already left with some of my friends. The mansplaining would have to wait another day.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyEkfeEE0MPzs4sCpNqDfKw-v4gUaWJCLG1OdolOA_51imatEMCrSaLEoK3pumc83-vKyJW1FM0ATMzdYORuGLHtjiwLM486Yyb0hsAWQFV18KA0FlYHEJBCgtLS4YW9Ige9qskmUAvVWO5L1QBjWv_Cc9p7WzfT2dNcBiHsQjP3M5zlQuzJwQJLvHw/s650/PA-1754783.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="650" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyEkfeEE0MPzs4sCpNqDfKw-v4gUaWJCLG1OdolOA_51imatEMCrSaLEoK3pumc83-vKyJW1FM0ATMzdYORuGLHtjiwLM486Yyb0hsAWQFV18KA0FlYHEJBCgtLS4YW9Ige9qskmUAvVWO5L1QBjWv_Cc9p7WzfT2dNcBiHsQjP3M5zlQuzJwQJLvHw/w400-h294/PA-1754783.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The March</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of which brings us to the photographs below. They have been popping up on the internet for years, usually on Facebook groups and the like and I’ve always found them fascinating. So, I decided to dig a little deeper. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8dkRpHawxkmFsw0Nutl-Lg-ucucXkMj9WY6ArR_8sJ_gjxWkRU-dIYPqHIr7rb5XU1gdI8gMl289X-NQRB598WGSWQaH7XwpZ1yR9_YpZ7oXPoKiizGuc2FQI0pcHFSo0t2GeGPkPjoATxiMXn6rKQ4qbxfDUTkcVDAYQAjF_WSY1Wg-EskfoBnKFFQ/s1104/Group%201%20good.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1104" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8dkRpHawxkmFsw0Nutl-Lg-ucucXkMj9WY6ArR_8sJ_gjxWkRU-dIYPqHIr7rb5XU1gdI8gMl289X-NQRB598WGSWQaH7XwpZ1yR9_YpZ7oXPoKiizGuc2FQI0pcHFSo0t2GeGPkPjoATxiMXn6rKQ4qbxfDUTkcVDAYQAjF_WSY1Wg-EskfoBnKFFQ/w640-h450/Group%201%20good.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They were taken by Graham Keen on May 29, 1965, during a march through central London. This was not one of the big Easter CND marches, but a short one-day protest called the “Peace in Vietnam Meeting” which travelled from Marble Arch to Trafalgar Square. In the late 60s Keen was art director of the underground newspaper </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">International Times </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and his photographs captured some of the biggest names of the 60s counterculture.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcde-q7yq3FGQLWOIPBQYj2x5BPIZf6LrWEzLMOwtApDnNv4s7Zsz5iSnc257vh97mQOGIcZCYp3eG1OsiiD2Hp6n0OuN-aMbS-GrDlOtwKsQLBY2DmhS-p5FHTYcVHSKi5dw0IPVgum9b0Nct3fGZlAWtVbISMCtkz-8Lg3fNpuXgE8Y31eG4_6fJ9w/s769/Don%20and%20Joan%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="769" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcde-q7yq3FGQLWOIPBQYj2x5BPIZf6LrWEzLMOwtApDnNv4s7Zsz5iSnc257vh97mQOGIcZCYp3eG1OsiiD2Hp6n0OuN-aMbS-GrDlOtwKsQLBY2DmhS-p5FHTYcVHSKi5dw0IPVgum9b0Nct3fGZlAWtVbISMCtkz-8Lg3fNpuXgE8Y31eG4_6fJ9w/w400-h340/Don%20and%20Joan%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A couple of photos show the group heading along Oxford Street. In the background we see the Marshall and Snelgrove department store at the junction of Vere Street, indicating the march is, at that point, roughly midway between Bond Street and Oxford Circus (the store was demolished in the 70s and redeveloped as Debenhams). Leading the protest are an array of famous (and one soon to be </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">extremely</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> famous) faces. Left to right there’s Mark Feld, Olive Gibbs, Susan Robinson, Joan Baez, Donovan, Tom Paxton and Vanessa Redgrave</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Let’s meet them one by one and discover what these celebrity activists were up to in 1965. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghzfKsSN9eYCRP7i1wkxe_gj6BjvJEJrZScJ5Dl21gx8AWQgot6kxQ2xiA-aGK-paoIcChU1oBIBOsvAP-Puqvx7unM1XwA6WHK1dzdhVIWKCMtaJtXap_POiyCkFE8I8EVJmVlohFKKuOEIBJZz0nDxHouK3S9n47PviqO9eHlYgkmMuWBSvTPOQqig/s1110/Don%20and%20Joan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="1104" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghzfKsSN9eYCRP7i1wkxe_gj6BjvJEJrZScJ5Dl21gx8AWQgot6kxQ2xiA-aGK-paoIcChU1oBIBOsvAP-Puqvx7unM1XwA6WHK1dzdhVIWKCMtaJtXap_POiyCkFE8I8EVJmVlohFKKuOEIBJZz0nDxHouK3S9n47PviqO9eHlYgkmMuWBSvTPOQqig/s320/Don%20and%20Joan.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over on the left is 17-year-old </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mark Feld</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, busily networking and putting his face out there. He may have been a virtual unknown in May 1965 but here he is, already rubbing shoulders with famous pop stars and folk music aristocracy. He’s wearing a polo neck sweater as favoured by the folkies and has a cheap nylon string acoustic guitar strapped across his back, Woody Guthrie style. I may be wrong but it looks to me like he’s also carrying a Collets record bag. Collets was a famous folk, blues and jazz shop, then located at 70 New Oxford Street, only a couple of minutes from where the photos were taken. It’s tantalising to speculate what LPs young Mark might have had in his bag.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrS5-3T2TJZz_Q8mvDgGIkgkju43hcaadsuOqlGC7G3HfEwLwvIVuaqSdq-zVCQEaF3xys_KN80Bxho0m6OxaFK2JwxElYRZ0mLiTxHvWeZJy9380MudbGPXipj3hCw6-4Z4xdh-QmSaFCZ9emYJ-qdkuP8u0NdhJaOFqaU0JrHMqtm-wE4lV0P5HbkA/s700/marc-bolan-the-wizard-decca.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="700" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrS5-3T2TJZz_Q8mvDgGIkgkju43hcaadsuOqlGC7G3HfEwLwvIVuaqSdq-zVCQEaF3xys_KN80Bxho0m6OxaFK2JwxElYRZ0mLiTxHvWeZJy9380MudbGPXipj3hCw6-4Z4xdh-QmSaFCZ9emYJ-qdkuP8u0NdhJaOFqaU0JrHMqtm-wE4lV0P5HbkA/s320/marc-bolan-the-wizard-decca.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Feld briefly called himself <b>Toby Tyler </b>around this time and in early 1965 had made some demo recordings under that name, including a version of Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind." Three months after the march he signed to Decca records and changed his name to </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marc Bolan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. His debut solo single “The Wizard” (allegedly featuring Jimmy Page on guitar) was released on November 19, 1965.* Following a couple more unsuccessful solo singles and a four-month stint with the band </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John’s Children</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Bolan formed the acoustic duo </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tyrannosaurus Rex</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve Peregrin Took </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in 1967. After a few moderately successful years on the John Peel endorsed hippie underground circuit (towards the end of which Took was replaced by </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mickey Finn</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), the band name was truncated to </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">T. Rex</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Bolan plugged in his electric guitar and rapidly became the UK’s biggest pop star of the Glam era until his untimely death in a car crash on Barnes Common in September 1977. But you don’t need me to tell you any of that.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Ed. Note: “The Wizard” was re-recorded in 1970 for the self-titled first T. Rex album. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidDh7CXNTTCGfCKktjUjHWzYBRB0FN6nefbjEiko_2siasP9QANkjRY_9i6MIuI7h8estSnnStWvlqQ5TgjsKMSLl1_LpTLj8nue3YP0WzZjvL4ZNRX_lbVEAsBcacHEsiVc9elROteTbRcnWfuAvRlm-6C9JHusomHtD0_toGEq2AwgzW5_tP33xJDA/s800/marc-bolan-the-wizard-1965-5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidDh7CXNTTCGfCKktjUjHWzYBRB0FN6nefbjEiko_2siasP9QANkjRY_9i6MIuI7h8estSnnStWvlqQ5TgjsKMSLl1_LpTLj8nue3YP0WzZjvL4ZNRX_lbVEAsBcacHEsiVc9elROteTbRcnWfuAvRlm-6C9JHusomHtD0_toGEq2AwgzW5_tP33xJDA/w250-h400/marc-bolan-the-wizard-1965-5.jpg" width="250" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next to Mark is </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Olive Gibbs</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1918-1995). Olive was London Area Chairperson of CND between 1964-67. She was also twice Lord Mayor of Oxford and the first Labour Chair of Oxfordshire County Council. Often described as a “Labour firebrand,” in 2015 she was awarded a blue plaque at Christ Church Old Buildings in Oxford. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2ihHTMVNKODVJIZiwJjRwixW3lvdU4mBwZMAjeq0AiDyyJq4TFP7NX-sszOrmVZhaLtKmK-F8-FH5ETPYSAjR9dlCJwaMbHR8sBFMdfMZtBqSc4qdaMJbIdoHvvfoxUmlvhAr7TBbKtC-KC4g_ZJyAhplj4RTnUE46wfWzdPrO5Z9d94cQcV009mIQ/s1166/plaque_Olive%20gibbs.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="1166" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2ihHTMVNKODVJIZiwJjRwixW3lvdU4mBwZMAjeq0AiDyyJq4TFP7NX-sszOrmVZhaLtKmK-F8-FH5ETPYSAjR9dlCJwaMbHR8sBFMdfMZtBqSc4qdaMJbIdoHvvfoxUmlvhAr7TBbKtC-KC4g_ZJyAhplj4RTnUE46wfWzdPrO5Z9d94cQcV009mIQ/s320/plaque_Olive%20gibbs.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A street in Oxford, Gibbs Crescent, was named after her, as was the Humanities building at Oxford Brookes (then Oxford Polytechnic). In February 2017 Gibbs Crescent was in the news after an explosion destroyed a block of flats, killing one resident.</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alongside Olive is Joan Baez’s assistant and personal secretary </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Susan Robinson</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. She was married to the famous anti-war activist </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ira Sandperl</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1923-2013) who was a major figure in the civil rights and peace movement. His work influenced Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Martin Luther King, Allen Ginsberg and, of course, Joan herself.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGxa0jkcweCEhy_QLKJPbeHolh9-siJP7kNF8MdVpCXNKrxBhgbtKJKefopHJIIgZtKo-ogTTLzmq4M7b5ExMhzJ89SrR0dFmnOWQKkCToUTkXSwZ_yNYqHh4j4C3ZEaapeJAGOGnU_E__i2iI93QnQ-HjJGNeNpRUXdNel5psQl10t9s5BreF6tr4A/s1017/Joan%20Trafalgar%20Sq.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="1017" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGxa0jkcweCEhy_QLKJPbeHolh9-siJP7kNF8MdVpCXNKrxBhgbtKJKefopHJIIgZtKo-ogTTLzmq4M7b5ExMhzJ89SrR0dFmnOWQKkCToUTkXSwZ_yNYqHh4j4C3ZEaapeJAGOGnU_E__i2iI93QnQ-HjJGNeNpRUXdNel5psQl10t9s5BreF6tr4A/w400-h295/Joan%20Trafalgar%20Sq.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was a particularly busy time for the queen of folk music </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joan Baez</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. A seasoned activist, she took part in many famous events, notably the August 1963 March on Washington with Bob Dylan (where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his immortal "I have a dream” speech). </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are just a few entries from Joan’s hectic 1965 diary:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 5 & 6:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Two concerts with Bob Dylan in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New Haven, Connecticut.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 24:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Joan sang at a “Stars for Freedom” rally during the five-day </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama. The march was led by Martin Luther King.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 17:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The March Against the Vietnam War in Washington DC. Joan appeared with Judy Collins and Phil Ochs. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Late April / early May:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> She was part of Bob Dylan’s entourage during his 1965 English tour and was pictured in a series of famous photos with Dylan in the Victoria Embankment Gardens behind the Savoy Hotel in London. Bob didn’t invite Joan onstage to perform as she had hoped / expected, and she left the tour in disappointment. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 29:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The Peace in Vietnam March through London with Donovan, Tom Paxton, Vanessa Redgrave etc. Bob Dylan was back in the UK for a BBC TV concert to be filmed on June 1 (it was broadcast in two parts on June 19 and 26), but he reportedly turned down Joan's invitation to join the march. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 5:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> A week after the London march, Joan played her own concert for BBC TV. Recorded at the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd’s Bush (now the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire), she performed 18 songs. The concert was originally broadcast in 1965 as two separate half-hour specials, both ending with the classic French love song “Plaisir d’amour.” The show was re-broadcast on BBC Four in January 2009</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 22-25</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: Joan appeared at the Newport Folk Festival, duetting with Donovan on “Colours.” On the final day of the festival Bob Dylan went electric for the first time, stunning the Newport crowd</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv7hmGGj9Kwl9P2bdxU2_a8ldITxlWGGS8KD7eoSPvvxa3GkCIzanDA2OvYY3pxbPnEz4743z9NNCI0Ys-hNJlUwfVjUHuJflI4uQVaAQscde7I5RypgqwZ1UgtdnyMEQjPTUcZUkd2yyZTP4NUB3obSinJUk48fJmYD5CFUe4NhD0m9AUSfK3dhOtlQ/s800/joan-baez-farewell-angelina-9-ab.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="794" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv7hmGGj9Kwl9P2bdxU2_a8ldITxlWGGS8KD7eoSPvvxa3GkCIzanDA2OvYY3pxbPnEz4743z9NNCI0Ys-hNJlUwfVjUHuJflI4uQVaAQscde7I5RypgqwZ1UgtdnyMEQjPTUcZUkd2yyZTP4NUB3obSinJUk48fJmYD5CFUe4NhD0m9AUSfK3dhOtlQ/s320/joan-baez-farewell-angelina-9-ab.jpg" width="318" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">October:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Released in October 1964, Joan’s current album at the time of the London march was </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joan Baez/5.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Her sixth album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Farewell Angelina </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Fontana TFL 6058) was released almost exactly a year later and was her only LP issued during 1965. The PVC coat she is pictured with on the cover of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Farewell Angelina </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is the same one she wore during the London march. The LP cover photo by Richard Avedon was taken on June 18 in New York. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also in October 1965 several photos from the May 29 march were used in a feature about Joan in the British teen magazine </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rave</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Titled “When Joannie Goes Marching Home,” the piece carried a quite bizarre sub-heading </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“A Girl In A Girl’s World becomes A Girl In A Man’s World as this month it takes a look at Joan Baez, folk star beautiful, protest marcher extraordinary”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28SnIQO6bX9AIg1ysUYotm2BoIqx-05zWKzwKK0LQP11rkJI_A39oIu_-Sjo_p4KnleidaC6GoQzdMC_K8RtN9PFVdm_l4qPVmybk-UlNk5MxXcZxM3bLkCpfs_Q9dTp94XyzHXm58P_6850E6uKX3YsCmaoplBDlDT0e8fFWgfYv31CcdBnkpW_qgg/s1210/Rave%20Oct%201965.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="1210" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28SnIQO6bX9AIg1ysUYotm2BoIqx-05zWKzwKK0LQP11rkJI_A39oIu_-Sjo_p4KnleidaC6GoQzdMC_K8RtN9PFVdm_l4qPVmybk-UlNk5MxXcZxM3bLkCpfs_Q9dTp94XyzHXm58P_6850E6uKX3YsCmaoplBDlDT0e8fFWgfYv31CcdBnkpW_qgg/w640-h414/Rave%20Oct%201965.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">October 12-21:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Seven date tour of UK & Ireland: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 - Sheffield (City Hall)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14 - Bristol (Colston Hall)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 - Birmingham (Town Hall)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16/18 - London (Royal Festival Hall)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 - Belfast (King’s Hall)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 - Dublin (National Stadium)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although aged just 24 in May 1965, Baez was already an established star with five LPs to her name, including two live albums. By contrast</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, then a mere stripling of 19, stood at the threshold of an unimaginably successful recording career. Let’s find out what he was up to in 1965:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">January/February/March:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Donovan burst on the UK pop scene via an estimated five TV appearances on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ready Steady Go!</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">February 8:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> He signed a recording contract with Pye records</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 12:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> His first single “Catch the Wind” was released, reaching #4 in the UK charts </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 11:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Donovan’s first big live show of 1965 was the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NME Poll Winners Concert</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at the Empire Pool, Wembley (now the Wembley Arena) where he received the quaintly named “New Disc or TV Singer” award. He performed a short two song set on the same bill as some of the biggest names in UK pop, including the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Kinks </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 14: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His debut album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s Bin Did and What’s Bin Hid</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Pye NPL 18117) was released in the UK, reaching #3 in the LP charts </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 14-23:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> He took part in a seven date UK package tour with the Pretty Things, Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders, Unit 4 + 2 and others </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 28:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Donovan’s second single “Colours” hit the shops just one day before the march. Like “Catch the Wind” it also peaked at #4 in the UK singles chart </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 29</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The Peace in Vietnam March through London. In Donovan's wonderfully hubristic 2005 autobiography <i>The Hurdy Gurdy Man</i> he wrote: <i>"That June </i>[sic] <i>I marched with Joaney </i>[sic]<i> to the Protest Rally in Trafalgar Square, linking arms with Vanessa Redgrave (British actress), Tom Paxton (US folksinger), Olive Gibbs (chairperson of the CND) and a very young, very small Marc Bolan. I gave my support that day and yet I felt that protest in the streets would not be as successful in spreading the message as would the singing of songs." </i> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Later the same day, Donovan attended a </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Variety Club Star Gala at Battersea Park Festival Gardens, a charity event where he signed autographs, together with other pop stars and TV celebrities </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 2pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s Bin Did and What’s Bin Hid</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LP was released in the US, retitled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Catch the Wind</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Hickory LPM 123)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August/September:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> A summer season at the Britannia Pier Theatre, Great Yarmouth playing four Sunday shows with, variously, the Who, the Fourmost and the In Crowd (featuring Keith West, who hit the charts in 1967 with “Excerpt from A Teenage Opera”). Don also played a similar show at the North Pier, Blackpool with the Walker Brothers and the Merseybeats. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 5-17:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> After a few US dates (during which he bought his famous Gibson J45 cherry sunburst acoustic guitar in Hollywood), Donovan embarked on another UK package tour, this time co-headlining with the Byrds. Also on the bill were Them (with Van Morrison), Elkie Brooks, Kenny Lynch and others. The Four Pennies and Unit 4+2 alternated on some dates. The final date in Portsmouth was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. The compère on the tour was Ray Cameron, who was the father of UK comedian Michael McIntyre</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqmEUxLwtsJqm-rpMKY6E209h2mU_qa2uO-jjIbHxSSAjlJB1tXIaoHbKVMzjVdYDzrNnR37HnTvFRAgjgatL71WncICm3SsxyGMDSKASG08m_SoqNnx38_vzRjPcCX4wLCdXaoA9yM_vDz7yYUIC3PqVvNq7BsELHHCvceXhPR0KenRDrCyYtMOiZ6g/s600/Donovan%20Universal%20Soldier.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqmEUxLwtsJqm-rpMKY6E209h2mU_qa2uO-jjIbHxSSAjlJB1tXIaoHbKVMzjVdYDzrNnR37HnTvFRAgjgatL71WncICm3SsxyGMDSKASG08m_SoqNnx38_vzRjPcCX4wLCdXaoA9yM_vDz7yYUIC3PqVvNq7BsELHHCvceXhPR0KenRDrCyYtMOiZ6g/s320/Donovan%20Universal%20Soldier.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 13:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The politically charged </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Universal Soldier</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> EP was released in the UK. It sold well, reaching the singles charts in some of the music papers (if not the national charts), no mean feat for an expensive 7” EP retailing at almost twice the price of a single </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">October 15: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Donovan played two shows at “Folk ‘65,” a CND benefit concert at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon. Also on the bill were Julie Felix, Bob Davenport and the Ian Campbell Folk Group </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">October 22: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His second album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fairy Tale</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Pye NPL 18128) was released in the UK, reaching #20 in the albums chart</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">October 29:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Donovan’s third single “Turquoise” was released, reaching #30 in the UK. The song was apparently written for / about Joan Baez who later recorded it for her 1967 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joan </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Fontana TFL 6082) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">November:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> His second album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fairy Tale</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Hickory LPM 127) was released in the US, reaching #85 in the Billboard charts</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By 1966 he would leave folk music (and those insidious Dylan comparisons) behind to become a major force in the pop / psych field with million-selling US hits like “Sunshine Superman” and “Mellow Yellow.” </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihIJ-iLjSRtsD6uGuyaX0gTkq6cDZ1dLSD6WP_q1cWC-HQW7PDS9UTmTRhTo7tsfewHqUG3QkkLFXz5je_G3n5lpGVYt0xWtWWXfz6_ZyVNW_evyEAxVP13G4jj00WA32cTrZ_7sW3rZyghDqRd9v-yqmdizCrKJyrvUyHsqzZ96AJ_9J9tcHjgFNEsQ/s800/tom-paxton-rambling-boy-3-ab.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="776" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihIJ-iLjSRtsD6uGuyaX0gTkq6cDZ1dLSD6WP_q1cWC-HQW7PDS9UTmTRhTo7tsfewHqUG3QkkLFXz5je_G3n5lpGVYt0xWtWWXfz6_ZyVNW_evyEAxVP13G4jj00WA32cTrZ_7sW3rZyghDqRd9v-yqmdizCrKJyrvUyHsqzZ96AJ_9J9tcHjgFNEsQ/s320/tom-paxton-rambling-boy-3-ab.jpg" width="310" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next up is US folk singer-songwriter <b>Tom Paxton</b>. Like Donovan he</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was also at the start of a long and distinguished career in 1965. His 1964 acclaimed debut LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ramblin’ Boy</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Elektra EKL 277) contained possibly his biggest song, the much covered “The Last Thing On My Mind.” “Goin’ To The Zoo” and the title track also became enduring concert favourites. His second album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ain’t That News</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Elektra EKL 298) was released in October 1965. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tom played his first UK live dates during early 1965 and just weeks earlier on May 4 he had performed at the famous Troubadour folk club in Earls Court. By 1966 Paxton would be headlining the Royal Albert Hall and appearing on British TV. He was aged only 28 when these photos were taken, yet he was already fast losing his hair. Before too long Tom would seldom be seen without his trademark peaked fisherman’s cap. Tom Paxton is still releasing music in 2022, with 50 studio albums and a dozen live LPs in his back catalogue. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the far right of the line we see actress</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Vanessa Redgrave.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> She was no stranger to political activism, having joined the Committee of 100 (a CND affiliated anti-war group) in 1961. Along with her brother Corin she </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">joined the Workers Revolutionary Party in the 1970s and unsuccessfully ran for parliament several times under the WRP banner. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYI5l6wVBcWx-Bk6nzuVERDTSDk0uiBGsY7a3JAtTu5bjkUOtQXKTu5jAO_hVKLoNrtoxMz_cEaiFEu-n-B2U_6i-kTrXixB-P8mqGSZy57wYjZChs4dF-bb0br3uUuYBiCNgHncccGY0Nq6zZQKJ3rK-Rp_MFu-FgdH-QBXCHPNDk_gwkYYHu-ABAHg/s823/Vanessa.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="823" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYI5l6wVBcWx-Bk6nzuVERDTSDk0uiBGsY7a3JAtTu5bjkUOtQXKTu5jAO_hVKLoNrtoxMz_cEaiFEu-n-B2U_6i-kTrXixB-P8mqGSZy57wYjZChs4dF-bb0br3uUuYBiCNgHncccGY0Nq6zZQKJ3rK-Rp_MFu-FgdH-QBXCHPNDk_gwkYYHu-ABAHg/w400-h291/Vanessa.jpg" width="400" /></a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part of a famous British showbiz dynasty, Vanessa is the daughter of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. Her siblings Lynn and Corin were also successful thespians. Aged 28 at the time of the march, Redgrave was better known as a Shakespearean stage actress in 1965, having made only one film up to that point, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Behind the Mask</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 1958. That would soon change, however, with </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Morgan - A Suitable Case For Treatment</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Man For All Seasons</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blowup </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gaining cinema release in 1966 and 1967, with </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Camelot, Isadora Duncan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh! What A Lovely War</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (also featuring her father and brother) following soon after. As of 2022 Vanessa has appeared in over 100 films, plus an equally impressive number of stage plays and TV productions. She has collected numerous accolades including an Academy Award and two Golden Globes. Her political activism continues unabated.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwgVt_FR1FkL6TRtAmJcEcsXzicF5x9YGFeiGtJpAX4dGmjHmbpCKbqOtlxbaXUY1mi_TQgBUJAD6HuqpOOWRBfWEhv04BdC-ypqfL1GOAf6D-8XRA0IGV6Uynh82JINW4SbOaG8MrsojXetHodtbqiV3TBKVDzKXg9OmezVsOVeedSJH-p328v_dEEQ/s1225/Must%20use.%20Trafagar%20sq%20Bert%20Jansch%20Joan%20Baez.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1217" data-original-width="1225" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwgVt_FR1FkL6TRtAmJcEcsXzicF5x9YGFeiGtJpAX4dGmjHmbpCKbqOtlxbaXUY1mi_TQgBUJAD6HuqpOOWRBfWEhv04BdC-ypqfL1GOAf6D-8XRA0IGV6Uynh82JINW4SbOaG8MrsojXetHodtbqiV3TBKVDzKXg9OmezVsOVeedSJH-p328v_dEEQ/w400-h398/Must%20use.%20Trafagar%20sq%20Bert%20Jansch%20Joan%20Baez.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scottish folk singer <b>Alex Campbell</b> was pictured in some photos (without his trademark beard at this point) as the procession moved along Oxford Street. As usual the march terminated at Trafalgar Square where Joan Baez performed a few songs up on the plinth alongside Landseer’s lions. Although he wasn’t spotted marching, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bert Jansch</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was pictured on the stage at the foot of Nelson’s Column (an unfortunately positioned banner reading “West Ham Anarchists” sits right behind him). Bert’s self-titled debut album (Transatlantic TRA 125) was released just six weeks earlier on April 16, 1965, and at age 21 he was fast becoming the hottest name on the London folk club scene. I initially thought it was <b>Ralph McTell</b> seated next to Bert at the very edge of the photo, but Ralph was still three years away from releasing his first album in 1965. Others say it's more likely to be guitarist <b>Mac MacLeod</b>, an early influence on Donovan who backed him on some 1965 dates.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The jury is still out on this one.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2spNzKsLZKBU2ZtRc7PveWAF_UD0Raa5hVMbL5X6uS8PwZXDPlCXxw9EgaalxITwMZ8hHPvuD_wzC3mefyuvOxG-AWaV5ft-4unr1dg5vNaKiYz4QkAVW580tMSHQzdPHIwUT8EnzezMOyVFUOHShdWdFjiAPKXmrewYQUE48kk5SW8aIkbch8el8xg/s758/Trafalgar%20Sq%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="758" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2spNzKsLZKBU2ZtRc7PveWAF_UD0Raa5hVMbL5X6uS8PwZXDPlCXxw9EgaalxITwMZ8hHPvuD_wzC3mefyuvOxG-AWaV5ft-4unr1dg5vNaKiYz4QkAVW580tMSHQzdPHIwUT8EnzezMOyVFUOHShdWdFjiAPKXmrewYQUE48kk5SW8aIkbch8el8xg/w400-h375/Trafalgar%20Sq%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The figure in front turning to speak to the woman in the leather cap behind Vanessa Redgrave could well be </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eric Winter</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a left-wing journalist from Manchester who sometimes wrote for </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Winter </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">founded </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sing,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Britain's first folk music magazine in the style of the American </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sing Out </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and it was he who wrote the poem “The H-Bomb’s Thunder” which, when put to the tune of “The Miner's Lifeguard,” became the Aldermaston marchers’ anthem. A recording by The London Youth Choir with Leon Rosselson appeared on the 1959 Topic LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Songs Against The Bomb </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(see below). Another esteemed </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> folk writer and musician </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Karl Dallas</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was also heavily involved with the early marches, providing music to welcome the marchers as they entered the towns along the route. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Music – A Brief Overview</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As early as 1949 the bomb and its political and social implications had found its way into popular music. Four years after two nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan, ending World War II, Gospel group the Charming Bells recorded Lee McCullom’s “Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb.” The song was covered multiple times within the first year and is still a popular gospel / doo wop song today with notable versions by Ry Cooder (1987) and the Blind Boys of Alabama (2005). In 1998 the third album by Dallas, Texas band Tripping Daisy was titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">but, other than the title, this seems to have no connection with McCullom’s song. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1950 came the talking blues “Old Man Atom” by country & western vocal group Sons of the Pioneers. Other versions by Ozie Waters, Sam Hinton and Bob Hill appeared the same year, while Pete Seeger recorded it as “Talking Atom Blues” in 1958. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7U1V2hJQ49baCWdh3Jm0GnCxBtLgb5JBTE8zQSPb8YzJWx-wQy55bzjahVEErmDk1bjjqgkTDhCI4vD8k4HSZWQ2rzxMcuEZAC8sks5cLpgKnHp6q7RlhsnnlRMybprO0IpF695Z_BxUt5C6ZCue4J70QSfu9PK5Jlegid40HBz0j2Cj_EtnhyM1zg/s599/Songs%20Against%20The%20Bomb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="596" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7U1V2hJQ49baCWdh3Jm0GnCxBtLgb5JBTE8zQSPb8YzJWx-wQy55bzjahVEErmDk1bjjqgkTDhCI4vD8k4HSZWQ2rzxMcuEZAC8sks5cLpgKnHp6q7RlhsnnlRMybprO0IpF695Z_BxUt5C6ZCue4J70QSfu9PK5Jlegid40HBz0j2Cj_EtnhyM1zg/s320/Songs%20Against%20The%20Bomb.jpg" width="318" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The early CND protesters in Britain had marched to the accompaniment of trad jazz and skiffle provided by the likes of Ken Colyer’s band and journalist / musician Karl Dallas. But folk music would soon make its presence felt. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ewan MacColl</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was a key figure in the political protest movement and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as early as the 1950s he was writing songs such as “The Ballad of Ho Chi Minh,” “Against the Atom Bomb” and “The Ballad of Stalin” (“Joe Stalin was a mighty man, and a mighty man was he / He led the Soviet people on the road to victory”). Speaking to </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Daily Worker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 1958, MacColl said “There are now more new songs being written than at any other time in the past 80 years - young people are finding out for themselves that folk songs are tailor-made for expressing their thoughts and comments on contemporary topics, dreams and worries.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Songs Against The Bomb</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Topic 12001) a 13 track album containing cuts by MacColl, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Peggy Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and others was issued in 1959 and Ewan would hand out lyric sheets for his song </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“That Bomb Has Got to Go” along the route of the marches. Among those who sang it was his future wife (and co-writer), Peggy Seeger, who went on to fight many campaigns with MacColl as well as writing numerous crusading songs of her own.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqfZJFF6EoanqwRpAnHlu0d4rCiQtuEoMCW7JWKF6GasLOCY17N_YxMrA9g9E3vO9zrf4fs1jtBKbfuouEdg8sD9c9Z9YBkIgL9gTBNM7hMC5Q8Vb9lqvn3xu-cPsqkw1kwB2BoThxVzKzmlXomwJTxgqzdSr23uB7DfpbGcoDpNCi4UOxNTxmmt4HQ/s500/Putting%20Out%20The%20Dustbin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqfZJFF6EoanqwRpAnHlu0d4rCiQtuEoMCW7JWKF6GasLOCY17N_YxMrA9g9E3vO9zrf4fs1jtBKbfuouEdg8sD9c9Z9YBkIgL9gTBNM7hMC5Q8Vb9lqvn3xu-cPsqkw1kwB2BoThxVzKzmlXomwJTxgqzdSr23uB7DfpbGcoDpNCi4UOxNTxmmt4HQ/s320/Putting%20Out%20The%20Dustbin.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Transatlantic label, soon to become home to Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Pentangle and a host of other famous folkies, released a 1962 album by </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sheila Hancock</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sydney Carter</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> titled</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Putting Out The Dustbin </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Transatlantic TRA 106). Carter wrote all 15 tracks and the vocals were shared, with Sheila singing 10. The opening track, an up-tempo ditty titled “Coming Down from Aldermaston,” told the story of a famous protest march. It </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sounds a little dated now, but it was the first time I recall the CND movement namechecked on a record. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1963 Carter would pen the much-loved folk song “Lord of the Dance” (sung in schools across the land and later covered by Donovan on his 1970 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HMS Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), while Hancock was a busy comedienne and actress who was then starring in the famous BBC sitcom </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Rag Trade</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which ran from 1961-63.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 2pt 0pt 14pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1963 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ian Campbell</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, leader of the eponymous folk group (and father of UB40’s Ali and Robin Campbell), wrote about the Cuban Missile Crisis in “The Sun is Burning”, which became a powerful Aldermaston anthem. This song was covered by </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Simon & Garfunkel</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on their 1964 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wednesday Morning, 3am</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and was later recorded by The Dubliners (1972), Christy Moore (1978) and others. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 14pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bob Dylan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> brought the anti-war protest song into the 60s mainstream with a string of timeless classics including “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” “Masters of War” and “With God On Our Side.” Meanwhile Donovan (him again) released the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Universal Soldier</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> EP in August 1965. Three of the four tracks were covers of protest songs with a strong anti-war theme - </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Universal Soldier" (Buffy Sainte-Marie), "Do You Hear Me Now?" (Bert Jansch) and "The War Drags On" (Mick Softley). The fourth track was an edit of Donovan’s own “Ballad of a Crystal Man.” References to “Vietnam,” “murdered negroes” and, inevitably, “the bomb” are shoehorned into almost every track on the EP. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5juMnx7GvTDj9zpRbZ9JW4ACq5ILyhLAmHIebOr3xcAM3hnRYz0v1HMLlwezAQYEwexnWcl5DQAfP-Uq_8IWKl3-gem2YhFzBmkb4ga_eOlnnWFb1WMZhEz4zBe6hq9Z94R8P81XxenVM796gNWkbLZiQL0b25p7j_ipy-I-D0GA_IQZyKiauLgUuA/s800/barry-mcguire-eve-of-destruction-1965-29.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="619" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5juMnx7GvTDj9zpRbZ9JW4ACq5ILyhLAmHIebOr3xcAM3hnRYz0v1HMLlwezAQYEwexnWcl5DQAfP-Uq_8IWKl3-gem2YhFzBmkb4ga_eOlnnWFb1WMZhEz4zBe6hq9Z94R8P81XxenVM796gNWkbLZiQL0b25p7j_ipy-I-D0GA_IQZyKiauLgUuA/s320/barry-mcguire-eve-of-destruction-1965-29.jpg" width="248" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 14pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">US singer / songwriter </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P. F. Sloan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1945-2015) saw which way the wind was blowing and conjured up “Eve Of Destruction,” an unashamedly commercial protest song, very much in the style of Bob Dylan. After the Byrds turned it down, the Turtles included the song on their debut LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It Ain’t Me Babe</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It was then released as a single by gravel-voiced </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Barry McGuire</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (late of the New Christy Minstrels folk group) who turned it into a worldwide hit in August of 1965</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMhOyjakeLKxPYuAqlfvaLhma9Gp5XyP_aysIjOUtoZ6yfA3cN_ON7yh7ij6G-6xysI8b4HFbdkLPGl0wNbwZ5QFJIwJw8RotecgP36G5xOLCxdpOSk_3N7y7GlLU5BJWQHANZqVuxhFgLSMTEeB7zH46IIOYbL9dDmENKaSp2fEjCA6jJ0cle6YXKw/s700/Barry%20McGuire%20LP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMhOyjakeLKxPYuAqlfvaLhma9Gp5XyP_aysIjOUtoZ6yfA3cN_ON7yh7ij6G-6xysI8b4HFbdkLPGl0wNbwZ5QFJIwJw8RotecgP36G5xOLCxdpOSk_3N7y7GlLU5BJWQHANZqVuxhFgLSMTEeB7zH46IIOYbL9dDmENKaSp2fEjCA6jJ0cle6YXKw/s320/Barry%20McGuire%20LP.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 14pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An infuriatingly catchy record, complete with random harmonica stabs à la Dylan, “Eve of Destruction” covered all the protest bases and ticked every conceivable social issue box (Cold War, Red China, middle east, Vietnam, civil rights, the draft, nuclear weapons, the space programme etc) along the way to the top of the US pop charts (#3 in the UK). The threat of Armageddon had now become part of the teenage entertainment industry and was therefore big business. There was even an early film clip of “Eve of Destruction” which was shown on US teen pop shows like </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hullabaloo</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Set in what was presumably meant to be a dystopian post-apocalyptic world (but it actually more closely resembled a car scrap yard), this extraordinary film featured McGuire clad in what looked like a pair of jodhpurs frowning and wandering disconsolately between piles of gloomily lit wreckage while a bunch of teenagers performed a carefully choreographed go-go dance of despair atop the cars. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 14pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Watch that video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdARD9Qi8w0" target="_blank">HERE</a> :</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 14pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Below are just a sample of the lyrics. The glut of apostrophes in place of the dropped letter “G” was plainly an attempt to ape Dylan’s freewheelin’ style (which Bob had, in turn, lifted wholesale from Woody Guthrie):</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The eastern world, it is explodin',</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Violence flarin', bullets loadin',</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You're old enough to kill but not for votin',</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin'.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the other end of the pop spectrum were </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Fugs</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a loose collection of underground poets and self-styled noise terrorists led by Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg. On their 1966 self-titled second album the Fugs recorded “Kill For Peace” an anarchic track - think early Mothers of Invention minus Zappa’s musicality – which satirised the Vietnam war. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Gimme an F! Gimme a U! Gimme a C! Gimme a K! What’s that spell?” inquired </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Country Joe McDonald </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">from the stage at Woodstock 1969. It was one of the finest examples of audience participation the anti-war movement had seen up to that point. He was performing an updated solo version of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Country Joe & the Fish</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> medley “The Fish Cheer / I-Feel-Like-I’m Fixin’-To Die Rag” which opened the band’s second album released in November 1967. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joe’s Vietnam war spoof dated back to a 1965 EP but it would soon find a much wider audience, first on the 1967 Fish album and then even more so at Woodstock two years later. With hard hitting satirical lyrics like this, it perfectly captured the American protest mood at that time: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, next stop is Vietnam</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And it's five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well there ain't no time to wonder why</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whoopee! we're all gonna die</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpEKFFu_YUWpymmalbh5P2C_7iSXJreuAdKcQwolbutnklpzaeddJ8PLOesxbSAV9lFoGEFQDW8aTM6XK4kYlqJJgXv6Lew_VbZlh4XNMvFWw72ZqNryQJiBhuoRRcqJ8M8ECpB2kSz6BCFQ3djFWgcl7i0YbUrbA3DO9d0J2062TtQrhjGD7IU52uig/s700/Beggars%20Banquet.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpEKFFu_YUWpymmalbh5P2C_7iSXJreuAdKcQwolbutnklpzaeddJ8PLOesxbSAV9lFoGEFQDW8aTM6XK4kYlqJJgXv6Lew_VbZlh4XNMvFWw72ZqNryQJiBhuoRRcqJ8M8ECpB2kSz6BCFQ3djFWgcl7i0YbUrbA3DO9d0J2062TtQrhjGD7IU52uig/s320/Beggars%20Banquet.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recorded mid-1968 for the album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beggars Banquet </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Decca LK4955), “Street Fighting Man” is possibly the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rolling Stones</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’ most politically charged song. The band already had the tune, but </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mick Jagger</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> supposedly wrote the lyrics after attending an anti-Vietnam war rally in March 1968 at the US embassy in London’s Grosvenor Square together with political activist Tariq Ali. There he witnessed mounted police charging the crowd, a rare event in Britain in 1968. Similar instances of civil unrest were also happening in Paris around the same time.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqh1w_M3HXsfU9PsBNyBpJLN7Dn9fm_mT8Lu-eNBzSde6Ti6suKdnMj8ZjfwhAwVskd-W_W0iMRLnTZBwQ7KqTeYq4YZjLRaSX0gtCcDCBBtUSdeSpvR0KkCzcBQDzCXbepSYsGrsyP3MI4Z8BDU9kyxmU4XJuh31wzHQXLbNgkIl3XP3TLm86DVObcw/s500/Revolution.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqh1w_M3HXsfU9PsBNyBpJLN7Dn9fm_mT8Lu-eNBzSde6Ti6suKdnMj8ZjfwhAwVskd-W_W0iMRLnTZBwQ7KqTeYq4YZjLRaSX0gtCcDCBBtUSdeSpvR0KkCzcBQDzCXbepSYsGrsyP3MI4Z8BDU9kyxmU4XJuh31wzHQXLbNgkIl3XP3TLm86DVObcw/s320/Revolution.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Inspired by the 1968 protest marches </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John Lennon </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">recorded two distinctly different versions of the song “Revolution” with the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beatles</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. An up-tempo version of the song ended up on the B-Side of the “Hey Jude” single, while a slower, bluesy take (titled “Revolution 1”) was included on their self-titled double album, aka “the White Album.”</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGmnpmLjVc2irGJKA8JsUAHuiy9FFGvm-ZrlcqOwBEAWiMPpwjRrCtg5Y_Rgq5QrLYufubE6Nd4MH84TPpM-YeG73pf7IO-7RkhF6e5a0OGxr9ddbKannea5zShKnn3HU8r_-WOfQ4KqnUWB-iOT5k9NzZ__C8bW6_m0HtkREinWNHrQUXo2tYy7YQWQ/s2880/Grosvenor%20Square%201968.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="2880" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGmnpmLjVc2irGJKA8JsUAHuiy9FFGvm-ZrlcqOwBEAWiMPpwjRrCtg5Y_Rgq5QrLYufubE6Nd4MH84TPpM-YeG73pf7IO-7RkhF6e5a0OGxr9ddbKannea5zShKnn3HU8r_-WOfQ4KqnUWB-iOT5k9NzZ__C8bW6_m0HtkREinWNHrQUXo2tYy7YQWQ/w400-h266/Grosvenor%20Square%201968.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point Lennon was still unsure whether it was wise to fully align himself with the violent tactics of the left-wing protesters and hedged his bets with the ambiguous lyrics “But when you talk about destruction / Don’t you know that you can count me out (in).” But, with “Give Peace A Chance” he took things to another level entirely. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZUb3AO_9ZV1QIqCR0YbH14aNK2Z_qIaWkpLR5Ldbelp0YMvXtJgrjc11vf-krZTaC4BgKK1eXF56tE8s0TxRSwj2HOEk4lMYC4kIFuIjsdvAzYInjxS8RuPiPjFw_jk-mjl7R7pHRcn2WkZTmFyCe2EQ_O4Srd24e58WB4zHkBOpHXQV8HDkqHc_Fg/s600/Give%20Peace%20A%20Chance.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="591" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZUb3AO_9ZV1QIqCR0YbH14aNK2Z_qIaWkpLR5Ldbelp0YMvXtJgrjc11vf-krZTaC4BgKK1eXF56tE8s0TxRSwj2HOEk4lMYC4kIFuIjsdvAzYInjxS8RuPiPjFw_jk-mjl7R7pHRcn2WkZTmFyCe2EQ_O4Srd24e58WB4zHkBOpHXQV8HDkqHc_Fg/s320/Give%20Peace%20A%20Chance.jpg" width="315" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John and Yoko</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> hit the headlines in 1969 with their extended peace campaign which started with the single “Give Peace A Chance.” Credited to the Plastic Ono Band and recorded while Lennon was still a member of the Beatles, it reached #2 in the UK singles chart (#14 in the US). The song instantly became an anthem of the American anti-Vietnam war movement in the 70s, where it was adopted by veterans such as Pete Seeger at peace rallies. “Give Peace A Chance” may have been a simplistic message, but it proved to be a powerful and enduring one, still cropping up across Europe in 2022 following the attempted Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is ongoing at the time of writing. This was followed in 1970 by another politically charged single "Power To The People" which reached #6 in the UK.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also in 1970 Tony McPhee’s blues rock outfit <b>The Groundhogs</b> released their third album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank Christ For the Bomb</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The title track took what would probably be seen as a simplistic and controversial stance today – ie that the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were ultimately a positive thing and probably ensured that such weapons would never be used again. The lyrics went, in part:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, in the final year of that war, two big bangs settled the score,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Against Japan, who'd joined the fight, the rising sun didn't look so bright.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since that day it's been stalemate, everyone's scared to obliterate,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So it seems for peace we can thank the bomb, so I say thank Christ for the bomb</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But times change and causes come and go. Eventually the once-terrifying threat of nuclear war receded, to be replaced in the 70s and 80s by new musical crusades such as Rock Against Racism, Nelson Mandela, South Africa, Live Aid, Farm Aid and a host of other worthy causes.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRmrmaSkX-AO5hQ7YWeF0f_P61GYA-NZLtOm6JYpnsIvoh4qirU_S36L4NdTLuzYKtxWXX-B0mfFbRPAQVRllGutYGLgKQHyBcaKFbpWV1OiFWVIsbODwaeJpxJ2pKIoYsOdgvH3-nZ199Jib9PD2ruLAqo0TY-IYq-aarpq8dddJXBjX6U4_-WUAReg/s600/Basie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="600" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRmrmaSkX-AO5hQ7YWeF0f_P61GYA-NZLtOm6JYpnsIvoh4qirU_S36L4NdTLuzYKtxWXX-B0mfFbRPAQVRllGutYGLgKQHyBcaKFbpWV1OiFWVIsbODwaeJpxJ2pKIoYsOdgvH3-nZ199Jib9PD2ruLAqo0TY-IYq-aarpq8dddJXBjX6U4_-WUAReg/s320/Basie.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The mushroom cloud itself had already been reduced to an artistic cliche years earlier and the image was often used in an ironic (if not exactly light-hearted) way on album covers by everyone from Count Basie (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Atomic Mr. Basie</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1958) and Tom Jones (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A-tom-ic Jones</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1966), to Jefferson Airplane (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Crown of Creation</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1968) and Iron Maiden (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Minutes To Midnight</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1984).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5LqiaDiAjDF4AxRo81GLrlj8Grtxqh5IOsWWlu4uCRZYx0txVnjDQQmFbptpnMjvGMUTsDtX9U5iwGq7QqO7XPlVUQOTI3sElfiIBznV6Ih6HzUQgx5bYZ54QjD33VqaFpWoJkkB3xyIZPek0Um4_cs-NsQKjdE0tvgdCrB1F5RwrUp5X5hT5VkX-g/s599/Jefferson%20Airplane.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="599" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5LqiaDiAjDF4AxRo81GLrlj8Grtxqh5IOsWWlu4uCRZYx0txVnjDQQmFbptpnMjvGMUTsDtX9U5iwGq7QqO7XPlVUQOTI3sElfiIBznV6Ih6HzUQgx5bYZ54QjD33VqaFpWoJkkB3xyIZPek0Um4_cs-NsQKjdE0tvgdCrB1F5RwrUp5X5hT5VkX-g/s320/Jefferson%20Airplane.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Inevitably, the world of heavy rock had embraced the stark imagery of Armageddon and in 1981 Gary Moore and Greg Lake recorded separate versions of the song “Nuclear Attack.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2004 it’s likely few of those who bought the U2 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> gave its title* a second thought, or even knew what a mushroom cloud was. The album went on to sell 10 million copies. OK Boomer, indeed.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCr5HfjKLuyq79V_ZtZwGEaJWPEzbtfMWBh36XHoTmPhxBeG9K6rrWRXW5wVB6Yi1yK3LKLnWj8LLy9ZDdWV1xnUlwyF9FRoafP8F_o33PZdmptSefMXeLK5i1w6hWFHorDNrCNaEdr_OaabSQF5vwXx0WcSHLe2NKp7qHzCzDKa0mLuGpFLsjDVjkow/s600/Tom%20Jones.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="600" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCr5HfjKLuyq79V_ZtZwGEaJWPEzbtfMWBh36XHoTmPhxBeG9K6rrWRXW5wVB6Yi1yK3LKLnWj8LLy9ZDdWV1xnUlwyF9FRoafP8F_o33PZdmptSefMXeLK5i1w6hWFHorDNrCNaEdr_OaabSQF5vwXx0WcSHLe2NKp7qHzCzDKa0mLuGpFLsjDVjkow/s320/Tom%20Jones.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 2pt 0pt 14pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #121212; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The CND / Vietnam peace marches of 60 years ago may be a distant fading memory, but they left an abiding legacy, certainly in the world of folk music. The causes may be different today but the strength of feeling about the horrors of nuclear war lingers on. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: -2pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Editor’s Note: The U2 title came from a line in the song “Fast Cars” which was a bonus track on the album in most territories.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: -2pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRKBWw4Lg54L3cD-mtGkr-_FMc5s5eIlArCTpQ3O_mxtKugke8uqAbGn7u4A21nqqfvwAgB7QdCalGRzMAv53jRLdyOWd3heLsMftP4hhIngfcmkB6l7AJRdRga5iwGjQoqMJNBt1ZUMKiDkHlZHbRZDYBYLV2qM1yDGCgcn2lI2GQ1_d9w7fTX3QDQ/s2409/March%20new%20pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="2409" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRKBWw4Lg54L3cD-mtGkr-_FMc5s5eIlArCTpQ3O_mxtKugke8uqAbGn7u4A21nqqfvwAgB7QdCalGRzMAv53jRLdyOWd3heLsMftP4hhIngfcmkB6l7AJRdRga5iwGjQoqMJNBt1ZUMKiDkHlZHbRZDYBYLV2qM1yDGCgcn2lI2GQ1_d9w7fTX3QDQ/w640-h246/March%20new%20pic.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuJRrIyd2h9TQ6F2WX-L9cR1zSg8WsmFG_wt5UDG59a7xOMFdWLUCsucwREBvu9O0deugZce5IKIAYDRdatEiATMIzYv4P7LWLFh2zFJtwdnnYIMV2GMD1diaJmjz5gXD5wvxgHAiWchaTd9MsQW4CGcVcUCpMy1GKMcTYkKbQP-rQuyKSpHqwwzxXw/s1256/Ban%20The%20Bomb%20CD-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1256" data-original-width="1256" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuJRrIyd2h9TQ6F2WX-L9cR1zSg8WsmFG_wt5UDG59a7xOMFdWLUCsucwREBvu9O0deugZce5IKIAYDRdatEiATMIzYv4P7LWLFh2zFJtwdnnYIMV2GMD1diaJmjz5gXD5wvxgHAiWchaTd9MsQW4CGcVcUCpMy1GKMcTYkKbQP-rQuyKSpHqwwzxXw/w640-h640/Ban%20The%20Bomb%20CD-COLLAGE.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-75481685090026630132022-08-27T00:55:00.026-07:002022-08-30T04:50:16.983-07:00Fairport Convention - Now Be Thankful!<p> </p><span id="docs-internal-guid-06c57139-7fff-3168-aa73-a1f19aa4f1c9"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdU0U7ElMDpd_TwknM7_dpFUIbZOUO11GyjyyvJZJ1gbTDOLq5uypp_h4PZ1nB-C6KEfFBRrwwfRMMtYId7f-iuAitOE1P1UMtqgxmxTLkH8AfNTp5F4WscoWfhTDT4UE-Nnv9EeS-pHPrc-2DffY9SlGVynUp8jclVffKTxXRTR8leA-AmINGrKGaQQ/s2338/Fairport%201999%20tour%20programme.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1607" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdU0U7ElMDpd_TwknM7_dpFUIbZOUO11GyjyyvJZJ1gbTDOLq5uypp_h4PZ1nB-C6KEfFBRrwwfRMMtYId7f-iuAitOE1P1UMtqgxmxTLkH8AfNTp5F4WscoWfhTDT4UE-Nnv9EeS-pHPrc-2DffY9SlGVynUp8jclVffKTxXRTR8leA-AmINGrKGaQQ/w440-h640/Fairport%201999%20tour%20programme.jpg" width="440" /></a></div><br />by Stuart Penney</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who knows where the time goes? 23 years ago I received a fax (yes, a fax. We had no email at that time) from Dave Pegg asking If I would write a short piece for Fairport Convention’s upcoming 1999 UK winter tour programme. Dave had read a live review I’d written for a 1996 Fairport show at the Fly by Night Club in Fremantle during their </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Old New Borrowed Blue </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aussie tour and presumably liked what he’d seen. I duly faxed the completed piece to Peggy and shortly thereafter a bulky package of CDs landed on my doorstep. It contained not only assorted Fairport titles, but solo albums by Simon Nicol and other Fairport alumni. I was more than happy to accept payment in kind on this occasion. Below is that essay as it appeared in the 1999 Fairport tour programme. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It would probably not be too much of an overstatement to say that virtually everyone who prefers their folk music vigorous, danceable and served up with a generous side-order of rollicking fun also likes Fairport Convention too. After all, as a great philosophiser once said, what's not to like? During the late 60s Fairport altered the face of folk music, forever. Most of all, they made it accessible to just about everyone. Before Fairport, folk was often a dour, self-conscious affair, the domain of serious, scholarly types with chunky sweaters intoning interminable sea shanties and the like. But virtually overnight Fairport changed all that. They cranked up the volume, got the audience on its feet and generally injected the entire folk scene with a much-needed dose of spontaneity. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Musically speaking, of course, Fairport has few, if any, peers. Even if the only record they'd ever given us was </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Liege & Lief</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, that veritable </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sgt. Pepper </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of the folk-rock world, we'd be forever in their debt. But of course </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L&L</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> isn't the only great Fairport album by a long way. What about </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unhalfbricking, Full House, Angel Delight </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Babbacombe Lee</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to name just a few other life-affirming FC classics? And yet, because their early music has scarcely dated, Fairport's appeal seems perpetually self-replenishing. Recent albums such as </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jewel In The Crown,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Old New Borrowed Blue</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who Knows Where The Time Goes </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">have introduced a generation of younger fans to the delights their vast back catalogue has to offer. Consequently, neglected gems such as </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fairport Nine</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What We Did On Our Holidays</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rosie</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> are constantly being rediscovered by an audience of new converts, eager to hear more of the music they encountered for the first time at last year's Cropredy Festival. And so, to coin a phrase, it all comes round again.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But what of those illustrious band members, past and present? You'd think that any band which had given us the combined genius of Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick would have every reason to sit back on its laurels, put its feet up and feel reasonably pleased with itself. Not a bit of it. Fairport didn't stop there. What about Dave Pegg, bassist extraordinaire and organisational wizard? How about Dave Mattacks, bespoke tub-thumper to the rock aristocracy? Let us not forget Simon Nicol, consummate frontman/vocalist/guitarist and Fairport founder member. Then there's the indefatigable Ashley Hutchings, the man whose perspicacity started the entire Fairport ball rolling back in 1967. He seemed to enjoy forming legendary folk-rock bands so much that he went off and created Steeleye Span in 1970 - and then a couple of years later he did exactly the same with the Albion Band and all its many and varied offshoots.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In recent times Fairport has continued to nurture new talent. Maartin Allcock, a skilled guitarist and master of just about any instrument you care to name, departed the band only recently after a fruitful ten-year stint. His replacement was fiddle player Chris Leslie, a man who honed his craft at the feet of the great Dave Swarbrick. Aside from his vocal prowess, Chris has proved a perfect foil for the manic maestro Ric Sanders and his arrival has given Fairport's music a new direction based on the duo's unique twin fiddle sound. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It hardly seems appropriate to call veteran skinsman Gerry Conway the new boy, but since he slipped quietly onto the departing Dave Mattacks' drum stool in 1998, that's exactly what he is. Gerry is well-known in Fairport circles, of course. Quite apart from his time spent with the legendary Fotheringay alongside Sandy and Trevor Lucas, he is also an in-demand session drummer, appearing on countless albums over the years, including many Fairport solo projects.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, Fairport have given us much to be thankful for. Without his FC grounding all those brilliant Richard Thompson albums would probably sound very different - if, indeed, they existed at all. Without Fairport who knows what diverse career paths Swarb and Sandy might have chosen? Were it not for Fairport we might never have heard the wonderful voice of a certain lanky Australian named Trevor Lucas. Without FC to lead the way, there would almost certainly have been no Steeleye Span or Albion Band, at least not as we know them today. And the highways and byways of rural Oxfordshire would be very quiet indeed for one weekend every August were it not for Fairport's Cropredy Festival, now recognised as one of the largest and, let's not be coy about this, finest folk gatherings in Europe. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so good gentlefolk, after thirty years and god knows how many albums, tours and line-up changes down the track since it all started, please be upstanding, charge your glasses and let's drink a toast to Fairport Convention: quite simply The Greatest Folk Rock Band Of All Time.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>*Many thanks to John Barlass for supplying photos of the 1999 programme after my own copy went AWOL.</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: -7.1pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UkydPUYUYeQ1In219sG2vVd4l3URbuhLSFCcsDjDTeRCvplMNUJD8gPQdKHWYIeR0if--IEFXt8Rfhz2mX3b5TronkODyTzNfFqLle2AQVZ0MNIWJqbL5K6Lia96VZWMdMLFIw4GlbKyo8XdFjN0S_zF7t03jvEbNMmQp_o9Q3nTVLLez6oA_DeRUw/s2282/Fairport%201999%20Stuart%20Penney.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2282" data-original-width="1556" height="709" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UkydPUYUYeQ1In219sG2vVd4l3URbuhLSFCcsDjDTeRCvplMNUJD8gPQdKHWYIeR0if--IEFXt8Rfhz2mX3b5TronkODyTzNfFqLle2AQVZ0MNIWJqbL5K6Lia96VZWMdMLFIw4GlbKyo8XdFjN0S_zF7t03jvEbNMmQp_o9Q3nTVLLez6oA_DeRUw/w507-h709/Fairport%201999%20Stuart%20Penney.jpg" width="507" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><br />Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-43233679485458407222022-07-28T23:01:00.052-07:002023-12-29T16:39:11.192-08:00How Sweet the Sound! - The Story Of Amazing Grace<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZRWvefPL3z39qEmxeaFFpHsWQjz5JbuH64YFiY0spp5VkWcLDDdwbqdOW25w0Bz2Gqe5MKULCfDDcYxoEiJLFlVAJPMeaRtNlFdOp7MESf3ILBzqfolZSObDqd2IahsVKNllb4YjS0IXafZxSGJLAMzYB0A6LyIX7e-rDmF4Ag15g7-0jKHAQ-AiBdY/s1485/Scotland%20Forever%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="929" data-original-width="1485" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZRWvefPL3z39qEmxeaFFpHsWQjz5JbuH64YFiY0spp5VkWcLDDdwbqdOW25w0Bz2Gqe5MKULCfDDcYxoEiJLFlVAJPMeaRtNlFdOp7MESf3ILBzqfolZSObDqd2IahsVKNllb4YjS0IXafZxSGJLAMzYB0A6LyIX7e-rDmF4Ag15g7-0jKHAQ-AiBdY/w640-h400/Scotland%20Forever%20copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-76e176c3-7fff-ce87-d135-76b4fc4290d4"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 26.6667px; text-align: center;">From Milton Keynes to Manhattan - How a 250-Year-Old Hymn Became the Biggest Hit of 1972</span><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Stuart Penney</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For a couple of years in the early 70s it seemed like you could hardly move without hearing “Amazing Grace.” From Judy Collins to Aretha Franklin; Rod Stewart to Andy Williams; Elvis Presley to the Pipes and Drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, artists of all stripes tackled the venerable tune, leading to dozens of wildly different recordings. So popular did it become that, between 1970 and 1972, two versions of the song spent a total of 94 weeks in the UK singles charts between them.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMCSOpikmfzn6ulsSNySCpY-NYt3xU26cP60fHXfw12Vxouy3xvgAMcAsuTw2b8ZAzS_Op6OhfjCUuGSPV21M9Kp8F0lceWfAXx6_6hajsQXMNZ9SEMp_y0OkeRqWlye0fgZSZhraLhznyRzgVQdpZzeVjKgfZs5Z4-XYkE1Demc2lsbX8kjTFYym1w/s791/amazing-grace%20sheet%20music-1970-7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="791" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMCSOpikmfzn6ulsSNySCpY-NYt3xU26cP60fHXfw12Vxouy3xvgAMcAsuTw2b8ZAzS_Op6OhfjCUuGSPV21M9Kp8F0lceWfAXx6_6hajsQXMNZ9SEMp_y0OkeRqWlye0fgZSZhraLhznyRzgVQdpZzeVjKgfZs5Z4-XYkE1Demc2lsbX8kjTFYym1w/s320/amazing-grace%20sheet%20music-1970-7.jpg" width="243" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">But why did a 250-year-old hymn suddenly become ubiquitous? It’s a timeless, almost perfect melody, of course, and in America the song had long been linked with the Vietnam anti-war movement and civil rights in general. But one of the key reasons we saw so many versions around the world in such a short period of time was a little less romantic. It was because “Amazing Grace” was not protected by copyright. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any piece of music published before 1925 is now in the public domain and exclusive intellectual property rights (usually) do not apply. That meant anyone could record “Amazing Grace” in any style they saw fit without paying composer or publishing royalties. In addition, at a time when people still bought physical sheet music in great numbers, any publisher was free to print and sell their own arrangement of the words and music, and very many did.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A similar thing happened in 1973 when <i>The Sting </i>movie,<i> </i>set in 1936, revived interest in ragtime piano in general and the music of Scott Joplin in particular. Although Joplin's 44 ragtime works didn't enter the public domain until years later, the rush to cover his music began here. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Best of all, the arranger of a traditional piece (usually the performer) could then be credited and receive mechanical and performance royalties. This neat fiscal loophole occasionally proved contentious, however. One notable example occurred in 1964 when the Animals recorded the traditional song “House of the Rising Sun,” turning it into the first worldwide folk-rock hit. When the single was released the band were nonplussed to see the song credited “Trad. Arr. A. Price” on the label. Without their knowledge keyboardist Alan Price had named himself as the arranger, thus receiving a higher royalty rate than the other members. This caused huge resentment and within a year Price left the Animals to pursue a solo career. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the modern era (if we can refer to the 1970s as such), it was probably Judy Collins who prompted the scramble to record “Amazing Grace” with her ethereal 1971 hit single. But before we examine just a few of the many and varied versions which followed Judy’s recording, we must travel back 250 years to the small English town of Olney in Buckinghamshire.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Tunmb8eoXNpZsKeaXksoopgqGJR4hKBfXXzWBBxRV8zIVIaudUXiUw-EX-N_-1jaw4DfaT5P8JlDfOqgqCJH_15O0ctyqBAlw9HznUtp4ziIU4ox2kt861Zx369qhQTF4ji7CFz8dln98E-eNj0itdcWDLimquEfqkOC9EKN51pP6UdwlQ7jQVBwAw/s500/john%20Newton%20engraqving%20by%20%20Joseph%20Collyer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="390" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Tunmb8eoXNpZsKeaXksoopgqGJR4hKBfXXzWBBxRV8zIVIaudUXiUw-EX-N_-1jaw4DfaT5P8JlDfOqgqCJH_15O0ctyqBAlw9HznUtp4ziIU4ox2kt861Zx369qhQTF4ji7CFz8dln98E-eNj0itdcWDLimquEfqkOC9EKN51pP6UdwlQ7jQVBwAw/s320/john%20Newton%20engraqving%20by%20%20Joseph%20Collyer.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>John Newton - engraving by Joseph Collyer</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Located just a few miles from today’s modern city* of Milton Keynes, Olney was home to John Newton (1725-1807) a retired sea captain and, for much of his life, an active participant in the transatlantic slave trade.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Editor's Note: the much-maligned Milton Keynes was finally awarded city status in 2022 as part of the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In later years Newton turned to Christianity and was ordained as an Anglican cleric. Seeing the error of his ways and wracked with guilt over the unspeakable human suffering he had profited from, he became a passionate campaigner for abolition, publishing the pamphlet </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thoughts Upon the Slave Trade</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, copies of which were sent to every British member of parliament. Newton also became a powerful ally of key abolitionist William Wilberforce and lived just long enough to see the passing of the Slave Trade Abolition Act of March 1807, the year of his death. </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3S2hxpORVDsGudw3qiTJyAD8YNa4Bex1EaPWC7mHIJiFrybx-vWjBYWcNeInLIWoT_ghSJxcSJvewD7eoLmJoLSZw06jT-cMzU65s528KyIxjktN3eZ1fQUJ2fEtyYfIr8Y_JX45PkBYoT9xn43hrCAiKBjC8D4ZNSFxBWgmxvBWOEgz448baeYxQAA/s814/John%20Newton's%20tomb%20in%20Olney.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="814" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3S2hxpORVDsGudw3qiTJyAD8YNa4Bex1EaPWC7mHIJiFrybx-vWjBYWcNeInLIWoT_ghSJxcSJvewD7eoLmJoLSZw06jT-cMzU65s528KyIxjktN3eZ1fQUJ2fEtyYfIr8Y_JX45PkBYoT9xn43hrCAiKBjC8D4ZNSFxBWgmxvBWOEgz448baeYxQAA/s320/John%20Newton's%20tomb%20in%20Olney.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>John Newton's tomb in Olney</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On New Year’s Day 1773 John Newton gave a sermon which ended with a hymn he had written titled “Faith’s Review and Expectation.” The opening verse of the hymn read:</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amazing Grace how sweet the sound</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That saved a wretch like me</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I once was lost, but now am found</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was blind, but now I see</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At that point the hymn most likely existed in text form only and was probably simply chanted by the congregation, or possibly even sung to the melody of another popular religious song. It first appeared in print in 1779 in the collection </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Olney Hymns in Three Books,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> together with contributions from Newton’s friend and fellow Olney resident, poet and hymnwriter William Cowper (1731-1800). The collection contained 67 hymns by Cowper, and 281 by Newton, including “Glorious Things Of Thee Are Spoken” and “How Sweet The Name Of Jesus Sounds.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The well-known line “God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform” first appeared in Cowper’s poem “Light Shining Out of Darkness.” He also coined other phrases which are still part of the language today such as “I am monarch of all I survey” and “Variety’s the very spice of life,” to name just a few.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFwfNuOgrvW-2nkB6XA9ypMjgHjAArcbOdSeKtrUbMDuAltlptll66b1Rke4E-dapahDusJZeHmH_I7I_WetuA-jXxR39OQReF6q_E8SGWnOC0UHMfPETRtq6g3C9gEmB4kAZBBKj0LZrOxXbqQNh5TU_B6Z0SeCm9QssQsEjtrz7DyC0KwU-ToAbZA/s881/Olney_Hymns_page_53_Amazing_Grace.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="881" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFwfNuOgrvW-2nkB6XA9ypMjgHjAArcbOdSeKtrUbMDuAltlptll66b1Rke4E-dapahDusJZeHmH_I7I_WetuA-jXxR39OQReF6q_E8SGWnOC0UHMfPETRtq6g3C9gEmB4kAZBBKj0LZrOxXbqQNh5TU_B6Z0SeCm9QssQsEjtrz7DyC0KwU-ToAbZA/w290-h400/Olney_Hymns_page_53_Amazing_Grace.jpg" width="290" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Olney Hymns Page 53 - Amazing Grace</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And there it might have ended, with Newton’s hymn seemingly destined for noble obscurity in Britain. But over in America it was a very different story and there the hymn took on a life of its own. In 1789, just ten years after publication, the words appeared in a Reformed Dutch Church hymnal in New York. Before the end of the 18th century </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Olney Hymns in Three Books</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> had appeared in print in New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Virginia. By now using the revised title “Amazing Grace” taken from the opening line, it became a hugely popular evangelical song in the Reform, Baptist, and Congregationalist churches where, over the following 20 years, it was published with added verses and a variety of melodies, including “Hephzibah” by John Jenkins Husband, which was used in 1808. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John Newton wrote a total of six verses but only four are usually sung. John P. Rees (1828-1900) is sometimes credited as the author of a seventh verse which begins “When we’ve been there ten thousand years,” but there is some debate as to whether Rees was the true author. The verse became associated with “Amazing Grace” after Harriett Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) included two of Newton’s verses followed by the “When we’ve been there” verse in her 1852 novel </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Uncle Tom’s Cabin</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. See below for the full lyrics.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By 1835 the words had been matched with an existing tune “New Britain” by composer William Walker (1809-1875), which is the melody we know and love today. Walker published the words and music in a famous book of hymns entitled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Southern Harmony*</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This collection was reprinted four times during his lifetime, selling an estimated 600,000 copies.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQop5StGC1Kdv2h2-Hnb28bVzyoJxIyxBR39TYa5ooTmmgtkKcJo-9mO7zc-H7W3ZmOHVB_gUVy21RG04Ts4MFcvn9xkFgsaRaQXKqqWfdO-J5qS18QCjswfj7TyAXkMsvwP0xXyfSgpt8hwr3WkECxk4FuomZ2NXJBjvxxp3nKlMFELscAsf1KWGX5A/s845/Olney%20Museum.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="781" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQop5StGC1Kdv2h2-Hnb28bVzyoJxIyxBR39TYa5ooTmmgtkKcJo-9mO7zc-H7W3ZmOHVB_gUVy21RG04Ts4MFcvn9xkFgsaRaQXKqqWfdO-J5qS18QCjswfj7TyAXkMsvwP0xXyfSgpt8hwr3WkECxk4FuomZ2NXJBjvxxp3nKlMFELscAsf1KWGX5A/s320/Olney%20Museum.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Cowper & Newton Museum in Olney</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ed. Note: The Black Crowes named their second album The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion after this song anthology.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some claim that “New Britain,” based on the pentatonic scale and originally using only the five notes found on the black keys of the piano is, itself, a variation of a traditional Scottish folk melody which arrived in America during European settlement. Other famous songs including “Danny Boy” have evolved in a similar way with the lyrics developing independently from the tune and the two coming together later. By the time of the Civil War (1861-1885) “Amazing Grace” had become arguably the best-known Christian hymn in America. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first commercial recording is thought to be by the Original Sacred Harp Choir which appeared in 1922 as part of a series of recordings on the Brunswick label. Hear it on YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdaRj46NYjE" target="_blank">here</a> .</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other early recordings featured African American “singing preachers” as they were known, who often prefaced it with a short statement on the religious significance of the song. Today, the US Library of Congress in Washington DC has an estimated 3,000 published performances of “Amazing Grace” in its collection, including literally dozens of field recordings captured in the 1930s and 40s, many of them unreleased until much later. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the 50s the song moved into black gospel music and became associated with funeral and memorial services. Gospel queen Mahalia Jackson recorded a 1947 version which she performed in concert and on civil rights marches in the early 60s. Her recording proved so popular it’s often credited with moving the song out of the churches and into popular consciousness. “Amazing Grace” is often referred to as “America’s spiritual national anthem,” an unofficial title which probably began with Mahalia’s powerful performances. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sam Cooke’s erstwhile group the Soul Stirrers recorded a jaunty, up-tempo shuffle version on their 1962 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Encore with The Soul Stirrers</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (SAR LPM 504), although Sam was long gone from the group by the time this was released. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the 60s “Amazing Grace” became a staple of the folk and blues revival. In 1964 Pete Seeger recorded a live singalong version with 5 string banjo accompaniment and two years later Fred McDowell cut a wonderfully rustic gospel blues interpretation with the Hunter's Chapel Singers of Como, Mississippi. This recording was released in 1969 on an LP titled, appropriately, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amazing Grace</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Testament T2219). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, as the 1960s ended, the song began to drift into the pop mainstream. It captured the public consciousness like few devotional tunes before it and for much of the 70s “Amazing Grace” was permanently on the radio and in the record stores, or so it seemed. From long-haired hippies to grandparents who seldom bought records and everyone in between, there was seemingly a version to suit all tastes and every demographic. Many major artists felt the need to record the song, or at least perform it in concert. There have been literally hundreds of versions of “Amazing Grace” over the decades, here are just a few of the landmark recordings we heard in the 1970s. </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVbpVvdARohEbPDuMAIgTcGoNo60TEI0KBsvW8FksuxvBE8n40cYdBJW6yAewJdWiec94CUJ-cSrBDosY4QNr6QJtzLdDfmAXBfWbIacFy0hgOZs9IVHdbdk7-ClPbUBkCBpNKrFo95DTJWXASoNxKRxDcNP4iQeS0rOJ1sVPzgV6kl0UugSeOV9MyQ/s600/great-awakening-amazing-grace-london%20UK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="599" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVbpVvdARohEbPDuMAIgTcGoNo60TEI0KBsvW8FksuxvBE8n40cYdBJW6yAewJdWiec94CUJ-cSrBDosY4QNr6QJtzLdDfmAXBfWbIacFy0hgOZs9IVHdbdk7-ClPbUBkCBpNKrFo95DTJWXASoNxKRxDcNP4iQeS0rOJ1sVPzgV6kl0UugSeOV9MyQ/s320/great-awakening-amazing-grace-london%20UK.jpg" width="319" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>UK Release</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Great Awakening (1969)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those who attended the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival will possibly remember being roused from their tents in the early mornings by a mantra-like fuzz guitar version of “Amazing Grace.” Blasted over the festival PA at regular intervals by DJ Jeff Dexter, this obscure instrumental 45 was the solitary release by a hitherto unknown outfit called The Great Awakening. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It transpired they were a trio of LA session players led by guitarist David Cohen, who played on records by Nilsson, Joe Cocker, Bobby Darin, Tim Hardin and Frank Sinatra. At the time Cohen was often confused with the Country Joe & the Fish guitarist/keyboard player of the same name, but the two are seemingly unconnected. The other musicians on the record were Joe Osborn (bass) and Jimmy Gordon* (drums). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Ed. Note: Jimmy Gordon may or may not be the drummer Jim Gordon who later worked with Derek & the Dominos</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps because 150,000 festival goers were exposed to it several times a day for almost a week, The Great Awakening single reached #43 in the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Top 50, despite failing to make a dent in the national charts. </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRq1jjRG0MhWaBNQU0OXhP2ZDJWTayAOzvbXfTN7eGEdEtl55Ok6GUeyAqLnqMN7YBs8mZ5glh91_1znD3-0t2vrU8Nt4rfaaJ0G3H3YedAw7EEodR19wYBGhlq0gWTaouAsyxxiYoT5Vm4GzHth0cwZnZFchOgXodRV7rmBgUWSXyY8fMPfuGactjcA/s613/great-awakening-amazing-grace-amos%20US.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRq1jjRG0MhWaBNQU0OXhP2ZDJWTayAOzvbXfTN7eGEdEtl55Ok6GUeyAqLnqMN7YBs8mZ5glh91_1znD3-0t2vrU8Nt4rfaaJ0G3H3YedAw7EEodR19wYBGhlq0gWTaouAsyxxiYoT5Vm4GzHth0cwZnZFchOgXodRV7rmBgUWSXyY8fMPfuGactjcA/s320/great-awakening-amazing-grace-amos%20US.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>US Release</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While the musicians may have been anonymous, the term “Great Awakening” was well known in devout circles. It refers to several periods of religious revival in American Christian history. The idea of an "awakening" implies a slumber or passivity during secular or less religious times. More recently, the idea of "awakenings" in US history has become associated with conservative American evangelicals.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This track is not on Spotify, so check it out on YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvPbKbju8Hc&t=3" target="_blank">here</a> .</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjjbnWBf09X1z5QW0thKloA9R9nORklpn4hlATXVTqC02kAKGNybwM4A9kDskyNw2x9Y2ZBTzo-P9YwM08G6XVzQv5CuRLXM3jc1aUbmzBIi9Dhg6vi-XInTOgUsBWQRDkPTA_NBL2ipNP0uhhfGcPD-Tbenp3rqQEPXrhTdaZZZEIY3j7pALv38Msw/s800/Arlo%20Guthrie%20Alices%20Restaurant%20UK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="800" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjjbnWBf09X1z5QW0thKloA9R9nORklpn4hlATXVTqC02kAKGNybwM4A9kDskyNw2x9Y2ZBTzo-P9YwM08G6XVzQv5CuRLXM3jc1aUbmzBIi9Dhg6vi-XInTOgUsBWQRDkPTA_NBL2ipNP0uhhfGcPD-Tbenp3rqQEPXrhTdaZZZEIY3j7pALv38Msw/s320/Arlo%20Guthrie%20Alices%20Restaurant%20UK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>UK Release</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arlo Guthrie (1969)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just after midnight on August 16, 1969, at the tail end of Day One of the Woodstock Festival, a clearly well-refreshed Arlo Guthrie closed his seven-song set with “Amazing Grace.” Following his now famous blissed-out monologue - “Like, I was rappin’ to the Fuzz, can you dig it? New York State Thruway is closed, man! Can you dig it?” etc - the performance was a little ragged and he struggled to hit the high notes. But, as happened with several other artists, Woodstock massively boosted Guthrie’s profile and his popularity peaked over the next couple of years. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A month after Woodstock, “Amazing Grace” reappeared in loose a cappella form on the soundtrack of Guthrie’s September 1969 movie </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alice’s Restaurant</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The film was based around the 18-minute title track of his October 1967 Reprise debut album of the same name, which took up the whole of side one of the record. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was the time of the Vietnam War, and - spoiler alert - the movie depicts how, thanks to a minor littering offence, Arlo’s character avoids the military draft. The film grossed US$6,300,000 in the US, making it the 23rd highest-grossing film of 1969.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJT-m4ykqxaaEtkGce6Cf-_tsszeUGUrKGQ1csonWAKr74WhOzNhEZwJHgT9a06hpaB4w_uG3CBkXIMzB1EUYkLwwIG5JZvwGLKFpSzzmWgc5kqN73vKbW4_cRA-U-Mz24TfXLHxj5ZFPwmBsxdh9oZpSpj_7W0I74LOe-oh2JvW_SjSCRbVJCliroA/s600/Arlo%20Guthrie%20Alices%20Restaurant%20US.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="593" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJT-m4ykqxaaEtkGce6Cf-_tsszeUGUrKGQ1csonWAKr74WhOzNhEZwJHgT9a06hpaB4w_uG3CBkXIMzB1EUYkLwwIG5JZvwGLKFpSzzmWgc5kqN73vKbW4_cRA-U-Mz24TfXLHxj5ZFPwmBsxdh9oZpSpj_7W0I74LOe-oh2JvW_SjSCRbVJCliroA/s320/Arlo%20Guthrie%20Alices%20Restaurant%20US.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>US Release</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_m8AryEAL8P8hjDEJSMwXaRaKmEnCUUdIARoL_YVXgSktkhsp9xSLqjN0JQKJcYEIaHCUG6CaXOWozMmlfyUzxqKn-EIXC8fDnaiLRBJ9hdOQA68vP9CDRtezlwu2r674BmtrQkTDBMM5wkRuCek2o3jGI1D7b2l4JjxC4U0JkTbnf988ev5JcoPmg/s800/Arlo%20Guthrie%20alices-restaurant-version%202%20US.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_m8AryEAL8P8hjDEJSMwXaRaKmEnCUUdIARoL_YVXgSktkhsp9xSLqjN0JQKJcYEIaHCUG6CaXOWozMmlfyUzxqKn-EIXC8fDnaiLRBJ9hdOQA68vP9CDRtezlwu2r674BmtrQkTDBMM5wkRuCek2o3jGI1D7b2l4JjxC4U0JkTbnf988ev5JcoPmg/s320/Arlo%20Guthrie%20alices-restaurant-version%202%20US.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>US Release - Version 2</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />The soundtrack album, released on United Artists, was available with three different sleeve designs, two for N. America and a different one again for the UK. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguefgCGBwOUejQ7HbkySs28EgEI9UwZHLT1GMMaDYWJqymTtOlcv8IrLvemxPyWKr5sBWmfYS0ZHt2AmfUAOl4Wgrg3ZzXPYnmFt-o-neU9DLiOdm2wV_B9BAWGMa2sJhndw4d6Rvgn0FYRX_JwFjxCSoliiEqNisD2idceu5D9qTRFoaUB8IRoYEjFQ/s599/Judy%20Collins%20Whales%20LP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="599" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguefgCGBwOUejQ7HbkySs28EgEI9UwZHLT1GMMaDYWJqymTtOlcv8IrLvemxPyWKr5sBWmfYS0ZHt2AmfUAOl4Wgrg3ZzXPYnmFt-o-neU9DLiOdm2wV_B9BAWGMa2sJhndw4d6Rvgn0FYRX_JwFjxCSoliiEqNisD2idceu5D9qTRFoaUB8IRoYEjFQ/s320/Judy%20Collins%20Whales%20LP.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />Judy Collins (1970)</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The modern renaissance of “Amazing Grace” really began with Judy Collins and her eighth studio album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whales and Nightingales </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Elektra EKS 75010).</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Released in the US on November 15, 1970, the record was a mixture of traditional, self-penned and contemporary material by Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Jacques Brel and others. It made the top 20 album chart in both the US and UK, becoming Judy’s biggest seller after 1967’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wildflowers</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. One of the newest songs on the LP was Bob Dylan’s “Time Passes Slowly.” So new, in fact, it had been released only weeks earlier on Bob’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Morning</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album, suggesting Judy had early access to the song. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLy20Ys9Jv6bq6XrLrfHs9rzW1KMoEe0OO55C341lyhOyd0CqUjx9OWWP6TIE9aR4c89ufbJE_997FZDf4btGfP5BnmL6ZCTCjj3s65k-5QO7rs2Iw4rIwXUghwwKjasAzsHha7FRmWeieByYvFh58E80MsStPc1_8azl9K30EUjs7trGFk9nd16tT2w/s867/Judy%20Collins%20Whales%20advert%20December%201970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLy20Ys9Jv6bq6XrLrfHs9rzW1KMoEe0OO55C341lyhOyd0CqUjx9OWWP6TIE9aR4c89ufbJE_997FZDf4btGfP5BnmL6ZCTCjj3s65k-5QO7rs2Iw4rIwXUghwwKjasAzsHha7FRmWeieByYvFh58E80MsStPc1_8azl9K30EUjs7trGFk9nd16tT2w/w295-h400/Judy%20Collins%20Whales%20advert%20December%201970.jpg" width="295" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Mark Abramson, who had produced all Judy’s records since her 1963 third LP also supervised </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Whales and Nightingales</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">. Joining Elektra in 1958, he produced albums by the Butterfield Blues Band and Love and also directed early promotional films for The Doors, including “The Unknown Soldier” and “Break on Through”. Scott Joplin aficionado Joshua Rifkin received arranger and conductor credits on three tracks, while John Nagy arranged strings on the Dylan song. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The album title sprang jointly from the tracks “Farewell to Tarwathie” (a traditional song on which Judy sang to the accompaniment of humpback whales) and “Nightingale I & II”. The use of whale song on “Farewell to Tarwathie” came hot on the heels of the 1970 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Songs of The Humpback Whale</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Capitol ST 620) by Dr. Roger Payne, a bio-acoustician and member of the New York Zoological Society. Payne’s field recording went on to sell 100,000 copies and is credited with kick-starting the “Save The Whale” awareness movement of the 70s. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9K7mO-cdN6WVMnvKKcdJp9BD126ZUjjWA_Rd-CoF_Zku7hv0pPGhK_6ra5Dg28LL9UPmHM6tF-HIyku1Q99KrYEKtcs4JQ2fi8kEoV8O7hHwS_cVY9rdGQtDnFAFief7Kn1Qd4HWETC4obrhJ9LjGMbLe5OzKNtnsoGvDjv3i0-DqJR-bmmVTYZRqvA/s983/Judy%20Collins%20SHeet%20Music.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="983" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9K7mO-cdN6WVMnvKKcdJp9BD126ZUjjWA_Rd-CoF_Zku7hv0pPGhK_6ra5Dg28LL9UPmHM6tF-HIyku1Q99KrYEKtcs4JQ2fi8kEoV8O7hHwS_cVY9rdGQtDnFAFief7Kn1Qd4HWETC4obrhJ9LjGMbLe5OzKNtnsoGvDjv3i0-DqJR-bmmVTYZRqvA/s320/Judy%20Collins%20SHeet%20Music.jpg" width="244" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But it’s the closing track on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whales and Nightingales </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">which concerns us here. It was on a 1964 civil rights march in Mississippi that Collins became reacquainted with “Amazing Grace,” and she re-visited the song in 1970 during a time of personal struggle (Judy finally won her decades long battle with alcohol in 1988). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recorded at St. Paul's Chapel, Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City, Judy’s otherworldly recording was performed a capella, accompanied by a choir comprising a group of friends and family. Among them were her brother Denver and the actor Stacy Keach, whom she was dating at the time.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFo8gjkZ8yiUdmxLITU2mlDbza1vblDHMXUeQlAQkyFpH3zcOsxVfYqPmo30zWIjZtSYDFNzSZQ7jnUv3c8l-chJ2_gaH3HQjYHzltX-DKuyoFsceJeENC-FojZyA-3tebW4rFMazxOYrnslkMCB_jP4MGOGRzAU-x1o_Ye5hJJESllsjapqcHPWCtg/s800/judy-collins-amazing-grace-US.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="799" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFo8gjkZ8yiUdmxLITU2mlDbza1vblDHMXUeQlAQkyFpH3zcOsxVfYqPmo30zWIjZtSYDFNzSZQ7jnUv3c8l-chJ2_gaH3HQjYHzltX-DKuyoFsceJeENC-FojZyA-3tebW4rFMazxOYrnslkMCB_jP4MGOGRzAU-x1o_Ye5hJJESllsjapqcHPWCtg/s320/judy-collins-amazing-grace-US.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>US Promo Release</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clearly the song remains close to Judy’s heart. Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 programme </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Soul Music</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 2001, she said this about “Amazing Grace.” “You can carry the song with you like a worry bead or a stone, or something precious that you like to hold with you. It’s like a piece of magic, really. I’ve heard a number of people lately talk about taking the air and making something out of it. That’s what’s happening when we all sing “Amazing Grace.” Out of thin air comes this almost magical, almost fabric, that connects us all.”</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNfxoNO9xkPeDHAiGSH6n3N12ismD2OcDcwlXZyCumJeH1hPb2Fl6XxG-kX0cajE3aiHtdl7p0Rf4aqHdLyfySKXOSuQXdwJwTKwP36hRnRVjaulFCv3li-lk-YVoqGcjaKXI6JYWsaq44TSsrOhopY8FWXg0qfoMtw4m6uhNKgi1l19y1n151qn344g/s600/Judy%20Collins%20Amazing%20Grace%20UK%20single.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNfxoNO9xkPeDHAiGSH6n3N12ismD2OcDcwlXZyCumJeH1hPb2Fl6XxG-kX0cajE3aiHtdl7p0Rf4aqHdLyfySKXOSuQXdwJwTKwP36hRnRVjaulFCv3li-lk-YVoqGcjaKXI6JYWsaq44TSsrOhopY8FWXg0qfoMtw4m6uhNKgi1l19y1n151qn344g/s320/Judy%20Collins%20Amazing%20Grace%20UK%20single.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>UK Release</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Collins released “Amazing Grace” as a US single b/w “Nightingale I” in December 1970, reaching the US top 20 in January 1971 and peaking at #15. Issued in the UK on November 20, 1970, backed with Dylan’s “I Pity the Poor Immigrant” the single did a little better, reaching #5. It re-entered the UK singles charts no fewer than seven times over the next two years spending 67 weeks there, which is longer than any other single by a female artist.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGV5F_ZUiJfEBwR8Z1xK4q0UOcRFoBypfTmYCakTtsq1R7Es-1DbrtldWKYCwkcwaA7TzlGSD4H3rXEjMMidGJMWz1QaNHZLIceMufnOMvNgXBr6rRl5xHr5X0-GbYoC1OcIB_P-WOWAHMWEKL-BmDJzzN1KAQTn-uEmIZxR936HS4bV7Ic8k8Ezsx0w/s2687/Rod%20Every%20Picture.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2629" data-original-width="2687" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGV5F_ZUiJfEBwR8Z1xK4q0UOcRFoBypfTmYCakTtsq1R7Es-1DbrtldWKYCwkcwaA7TzlGSD4H3rXEjMMidGJMWz1QaNHZLIceMufnOMvNgXBr6rRl5xHr5X0-GbYoC1OcIB_P-WOWAHMWEKL-BmDJzzN1KAQTn-uEmIZxR936HS4bV7Ic8k8Ezsx0w/s320/Rod%20Every%20Picture.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rod Stewart (1971)</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You had to search to find it, but this version of “Amazing Grace” appeared in May 1971 on Rod Stewart’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every Picture Tells a Story</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album. Hidden away, uncredited, on the end of Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s “That’s All Right” it was what we would later call a “secret track.” Featuring some tasteful bottleneck guitar from Sam Mitchell, Rod’s version was charmingly simple, if a little perfunctory. Mitchell (1950 - 2006) was a respected, if underrated, blues bottleneck guitarist from Liverpool who had also played with Long John Baldry and is said to have taught Mark Knopfler to play slide. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ironically, considering it was not even listed on the sleeve or label of most pressings of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every Picture Tells a Story </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(nor is it searchable today on Spotify)</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this version of “Amazing Grace” probably sold more copies than almost any other, including the Judy Collins hit recording. On release, Rod’s LP topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, going on to sell close to two million copies worldwide. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tip: if you want to hear Rod’s version of “Amazing Grace” on Spotify, first search for “That’s All Right” and scroll through to 3:59. Or listen to the whole thing, if you prefer.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtioRqxebrPzdroDk9tkxqNJ5JvvsJ3j6gHoLhBrkQ-8LkJPygiBQ3MleNqygXFC1D7pTKbGlovjs78Jvw3LkvhHgfJxu24rec2_WU36yAGEM7f1uHKNoBWPJZqAWhFuCOzah35d1ysCzNE2hflzGxItKnIgQQPKcl9JbI9p2zYS41ogQW6YVSQZ1Rw/s2739/Rod%20Faces%20Coast%20To%20Coast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2739" data-original-width="2726" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtioRqxebrPzdroDk9tkxqNJ5JvvsJ3j6gHoLhBrkQ-8LkJPygiBQ3MleNqygXFC1D7pTKbGlovjs78Jvw3LkvhHgfJxu24rec2_WU36yAGEM7f1uHKNoBWPJZqAWhFuCOzah35d1ysCzNE2hflzGxItKnIgQQPKcl9JbI9p2zYS41ogQW6YVSQZ1Rw/s320/Rod%20Faces%20Coast%20To%20Coast.jpg" width="318" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">“Amazing Grace” reappeared in Rod’s discography in late 1973 on the Faces album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Live / Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">. Recorded at the Anaheim Convention Center in October 1973, it was tacked on the end of a marathon version of “Borstal Boy” featuring Ron Wood on slide. The sleeve notes humorously credited the song to “Traditional-Arr. D.Throat,” which was presumably a cheeky Faces-style reference to the Linda Lovelace pornographic film </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Deep Throat</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> released in mid-1972. Rod had previously done something similar on the sleeve notes for </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Every Picture Tells a Story</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> where Ray Jackson, who played an absolute blinder on “Maggie May,” was casually dismissed with a tongue-in-cheek credit reading “the mandolin was played by the mandolin player in Lindisfarne. The name slips my mind.”</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Live / Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was the last Faces album to be released while the band were still together and the only one to feature bassist Tetsu Yamauchi who replaced Ronnie Lane in 1973.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEfIBT3UNMGN5vvEU2qb8TZKcOATAsluWjhCmcieSi-383fevKYJ2Wo89CKrdtr4Knnum10a5LDeuhdoQTu73nLJvXZJNUObIJE9QeYSDxDwoy6eoRqv78BF2masrQy2VHk2CUqZ8TGlOAN0_f6ljndCz3-XK5g_cgw_IC7gO87htIqeqFJNLrt9Ka6Q/s599/Royal%20Scots%20LP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="599" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEfIBT3UNMGN5vvEU2qb8TZKcOATAsluWjhCmcieSi-383fevKYJ2Wo89CKrdtr4Knnum10a5LDeuhdoQTu73nLJvXZJNUObIJE9QeYSDxDwoy6eoRqv78BF2masrQy2VHk2CUqZ8TGlOAN0_f6ljndCz3-XK5g_cgw_IC7gO87htIqeqFJNLrt9Ka6Q/s320/Royal%20Scots%20LP.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Pipes and Drums and Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (1972)</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My dad was born in April 1926 (within just a few days of The Queen, as he never tired of reminding us) and while he grudgingly tolerated my obsession with records and all things pop music related, he had little time for what he liked to call “the long-haired layabouts” he saw pictured on my LP sleeves or sometimes glimpsed on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Top of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pops. It was a world he just didn’t understand. His own record collection, such as it was, amounted to a few albums by Jim Reeves and Nat King Cole, plus a marching band 10” LP on Woolworth’s budget Embassy label. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But one day in 1972, much to everyone’s surprise, he took me aside and quietly asked if I would buy “that bagpipes record they’re always playing on the radio” for him next time I went to the record store. He was talking about “Amazing Grace” by The Pipes and Drums and Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If the Judy Collins record had seamlessly crossed the dividing line from folk to pop, attracting an entirely new audience in the process, then the Pipes and Drums (to use their preferred title abbreviation) took it a stage further, resulting in a buying frenzy by mums and dads who found the sound of bagpipes irresistible, especially when performing such a hummable tune. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was reflected in the sales figures. Along with the Judy Collins single, this was the only other charting version of “Amazing Grace,” reaching #11 in America and topping the charts in seven other countries, including Canada, Australia and the UK, where it became the biggest-selling single of 1972,* earning the Pipes and Drums a platinum disc (along with eight gold ones) for worldwide sales in excess of seven million. It also featured in a key scene in the 1978 remake of the film </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Invasion of the Body Snatchers</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just to give an idea how wonderfully eclectic the British charts were in 1972: on April 15 “Amazing Grace” replaced Harry Nilsson’s “Without You” at #1 and it was not dislodged from the top slot until “Metal Guru” by T. Rex took over five weeks later, on May 20.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqXRQtd-2yrgD2zPGEaXjja0rR6QlhYOToeQY5DLli_3_6T1WrZ6xr1oUGHMAS12evMPbTRTijoXub2bycdV0RmM_JwPYQE1djfOh3qNxWfeC9UGdKP2Kl6FeArkpOloXFhBvVY6Zw2riV9dLr2Et490Jwe4Zn4ETGWTJ2STl8LxU_NXdlcBJbYV0j5A/s800/the-pipes-and-drums-and-the-military-band-of-the-royal-scots-dragoon-guards-carabiniers-and-greys-bandmaster-woi-ci-herbert-pipe-major-woii--amazing-grace-1972.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="799" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqXRQtd-2yrgD2zPGEaXjja0rR6QlhYOToeQY5DLli_3_6T1WrZ6xr1oUGHMAS12evMPbTRTijoXub2bycdV0RmM_JwPYQE1djfOh3qNxWfeC9UGdKP2Kl6FeArkpOloXFhBvVY6Zw2riV9dLr2Et490Jwe4Zn4ETGWTJ2STl8LxU_NXdlcBJbYV0j5A/s320/the-pipes-and-drums-and-the-military-band-of-the-royal-scots-dragoon-guards-carabiniers-and-greys-bandmaster-woi-ci-herbert-pipe-major-woii--amazing-grace-1972.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small; text-align: start;"><b>The biggest selling UK single of 1972</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In what was surely the longest artist credit ever seen on a 7” hit single, the label read:</span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The Pipes and Drums and Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers & Greys) Bandmaster W.O.I.C.I. Herbert, Pipe Major W.O.II. J. Pryde</b>.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unfortunately, due to some sloppy research, the composer credit on the label was incorrectly shown as, simply, “Collins.” I’m sure Judy would have been more than pleased to receive this honour (not to mention the royalties), but presumably the mistake was rectified before too long.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It all started a year earlier with the LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Farewell to the Greys</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The title commemorates the July 1971 amalgamation of the Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons) and the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales’s Dragoon Guards) to form the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Formed in 1946 through the demobilisation of the Lothians & Border Yeomanry, the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Pipes & Drums became one of the most famous pipe bands in the world.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The album cover shows the magnificent 1881 painting “Charge of the Royal Scots Greys at Waterloo in 1815,” known as “Scotland Forever,” by Elizabeth Southerden Thompson (later known as Lady Butler) (1846-1933). This painting is regularly mistaken for an image of the Charge of the Light Brigade, but Waterloo took place nearly four decades before the catastrophic Light Brigade charge at Balaclava (25th October 1854) and had a very different outcome! Today Lady Butler’s original painting hangs in Leeds Art Gallery in West Yorkshire.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Listed as a “Slow Air,” “Amazing Grace” is the last cut on Side One of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Farewell to the Greys</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The track begins with the sound of an eerie, lone piper, just as the Judy Collins recording had started with her unaccompanied solo voice. It is then joined by the massed band of bagpipes, horns and drums, whereas Judy was backed by an a cappella chorus of voices.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the single became a hit, the album was repackaged several times, usually retitled, simply, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amazing Grace,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with a range of sleeve designs. This, in turn, opened the floodgates for the bagpipe craze of the 70s and we saw a veritable tsunami of Scottish military band cash-in releases, most of which probably ended up languishing in charity shops before the decade was over. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Following the success of “Amazing Grace”, the Pipes and Drums recorded further albums including </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Highland Cathedral</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1998) and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Parallel Tracks</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (2002), the latter featuring Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler. Both albums contained new recordings of “Amazing Grace.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Their records may have appealed to a mainly older demographic but, it must be said, the pipe bands themselves made an undeniably glorious noise which resonated across all generations. This was taken to new heights in Michael Apted’s 2006 film </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amazing Grace,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> where the Irish Guards Pipe Band and the Balmoral Pipes and Drums led by Pipe Major William Cochrane are seen performing the title tune over the closing credits. Filmed from an overhead camera and featuring 100 or more musicians, this is an awe-inspiring spectacle and the perfect way to end a powerful movie. Watch that scene <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwNkyT0ynaQ" target="_blank">here</a> .</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Ed. Note: In fact, the other big UK hit of 1972 “I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing” by the New Seekers sold more copies overall (990,000 in total), but the sales of that record were spread across December 1971 and into 1972. “Amazing Grace” shifted 962,000 copies, all of them in 1972, making it the biggest UK seller of that year.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwgman0f14c87bKwJEVdAGjT2WVg8i_hio7dsloPAJhZZv40f24c7Dr5Nst6NJGFKuxhwDi2l6AlkD_JtkvpFGP-2tkO4ZMb4Zr4fCLHIC7GyrZ5A1nivegL_aa7481sJQOSO6GBg6uEw0G_YTi00U4VlVuU0vAxwH7dgAf9Dwc9J2qFtWPG0jtuHevA/s600/Elvis%20He%20Touched%20Me.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="600" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwgman0f14c87bKwJEVdAGjT2WVg8i_hio7dsloPAJhZZv40f24c7Dr5Nst6NJGFKuxhwDi2l6AlkD_JtkvpFGP-2tkO4ZMb4Zr4fCLHIC7GyrZ5A1nivegL_aa7481sJQOSO6GBg6uEw0G_YTi00U4VlVuU0vAxwH7dgAf9Dwc9J2qFtWPG0jtuHevA/s320/Elvis%20He%20Touched%20Me.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elvis Presley (1972)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If anyone was likely to cover “Amazing Grace” it was Elvis. Gospel music had always played a huge part in his life, and he recorded the song several times, starting with a version on the April 1972 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He Touched Me</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It was Presley’s 18th studio LP and his third collection of religious songs, the others being </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His Hand in Mine</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1960) and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How Great Thou Art</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1967). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recorded in March 1971, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He Touched Me</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> came during Elvis’s early Las Vegas period and featured many of the crack musicians who backed him there over the years. “Amazing Grace,” however, used a much simpler arrangement with just piano (played by either Charlie McCoy or David Briggs) and vocal backing by the country/gospel quartet the Nashville Edition. Consisting of Hurshel Wiginton, Joe Babcock, Dolores Edgin and Ricki Page, the Nashville Edition were a fixture on the US TV show </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hee Haw</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for years and it’s estimated they appeared on over 12,000 country records over three decades. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Presley’s standards </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He Touched Me</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was not a huge seller at the time, peaking at #79 in the US Billboard pop album charts and barely scraping into the UK top 40 at #38. It did eventually go on to achieve platinum status in America, however. With over eight million plays currently on Spotify, “Amazing Grace” is, by some margin, the most popular track on the album. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2016 this version of “Amazing Grace” together with 16 other vintage Elvis recordings was overdubbed with strings by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and released as the album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Wonder of You</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fun Fact: A decade earlier vocal group the Jordanaires, who backed Elvis on many of his early records, recorded “Amazing Grace” on a 1961 US album titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To God Be the Glory</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Capitol S/T15559).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZqK99Rh8kBibmGne3qQmrTVM2jfqUTUK4XVsgW-vWKrxzJFvTOTUnxiT6U_RWw1qV_oOSOEdp3aa8y9RacteEj03yp0OWyRaCehSu_pjHCYhStKtvxIipm8Ou9t8hHCAJtrAnGttNZNhpXbx1mBqsUlIAtB-n60gPAk2DgcCyoq6drB4K8QU6via6g/s600/Aretha.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZqK99Rh8kBibmGne3qQmrTVM2jfqUTUK4XVsgW-vWKrxzJFvTOTUnxiT6U_RWw1qV_oOSOEdp3aa8y9RacteEj03yp0OWyRaCehSu_pjHCYhStKtvxIipm8Ou9t8hHCAJtrAnGttNZNhpXbx1mBqsUlIAtB-n60gPAk2DgcCyoq6drB4K8QU6via6g/s320/Aretha.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aretha Franklin (1972)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In January 1972 Aretha Franklin recorded a quite astonishing version of “Amazing Grace” on her double live gospel album of the same name. Backed by the Southern California Community Choir and the Rev. James Cleveland on piano, it was the best-selling record of her career, selling over two million copies and winning Aretha a Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance in 1973. It is also claimed to be the highest-selling live gospel music album of all time.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But while Aretha’s epic 11-minute version of “Amazing Grace” is beyond reproach, the documentary film shot during the recording sessions was dogged with lawsuits, delays and technical problems for decades. Initially scheduled for release in 1972 it was held back due to difficulty in synchronising the audio with the visual print and ended up in a Warner Brothers vault until 2007, when producer Alan Elliott purchased the raw footage and attempted to correct it. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The edited footage, 87 minutes in length, was then scheduled for a 2011 release. At this point Aretha sued Elliott for appropriating her likeness without permission, and the film was shelved yet again. In 2015 it was attempted to premiere the movie at film festivals in Toronto and Chicago, but again Franklin sued, this time for unspecified reasons. After Aretha's death in 2018, her family agreed to release the film, also titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amazing Grace</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, in April 2019 to widespread critical acclaim.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2020 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rolling Stone</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> magazine ranked Aretha’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amazing Grace</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album number 154 in their “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXzvS_6Nu5hMl5bUVMazFWgl0YXFFTLXhCQlHKJKHkRy8TOuqalJCXVi_CMiCfbE1a42eD1R1U5UX5RL8oILjdS0FbuVyWT8XYZTIR_ndJIhHKIPY6jFzcFzJjkLgOdt4QBbYetJKoDQvWrkb7czXZF7Tt0eaevdupOECym1n-nwH2DLHu-Dj8v7zmw/s600/Goundhogs.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXzvS_6Nu5hMl5bUVMazFWgl0YXFFTLXhCQlHKJKHkRy8TOuqalJCXVi_CMiCfbE1a42eD1R1U5UX5RL8oILjdS0FbuVyWT8XYZTIR_ndJIhHKIPY6jFzcFzJjkLgOdt4QBbYetJKoDQvWrkb7czXZF7Tt0eaevdupOECym1n-nwH2DLHu-Dj8v7zmw/s320/Goundhogs.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Groundhogs (1972)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To give some idea how ubiquitous “Amazing Grace” was in the early 70s, even Tony (T.S.) McPhee’s blues rock/prog outfit took a stab at it on their fifth album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Released in March 1972, their heavily distorted guitar instrumental version with droning keyboard backing was presumably intended to be an approximation of Hendrix’s “Star Spangled Banner” Woodstock performance. It was a brave attempt but didn’t quite have the same impact as Jimi and the Groundhogs’ studio recording needed a little more “oomph” to really carry it off.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjboWCVZ39lCBRouS-TOLFB5NbTSSy9kVfhIwfVy_64d3vsGZWkvGDyfVY12kTRJg5851pGR085KNNntlE9UdYrtvVY7JGZ9jhoa0bwFITl3vv_hTk-JMsj4_tNT-ozDq1gULUP7FLKOqgbL5u0cM8WeJXO-a14yNTKQRcNt8_4rKeIgNcNTjYDudJmtQ/s600/Andy%20Williams.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjboWCVZ39lCBRouS-TOLFB5NbTSSy9kVfhIwfVy_64d3vsGZWkvGDyfVY12kTRJg5851pGR085KNNntlE9UdYrtvVY7JGZ9jhoa0bwFITl3vv_hTk-JMsj4_tNT-ozDq1gULUP7FLKOqgbL5u0cM8WeJXO-a14yNTKQRcNt8_4rKeIgNcNTjYDudJmtQ/s320/Andy%20Williams.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700;">Andy Williams (1972)</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another one for the mums and dads, Andy Williams’ syrupy easy listening version was the closing track of his 1972 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alone Again (Naturally)</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Recorded partly in London the record featured several recent pop hits including “The Long and Winding Road,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Song Sung Blue” together with the Gilbert O’Sullivan-penned title track. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1972 was O’Sullivan’s peak chart year and Andy Williams also performed his song “We Will” on his weekly TV show. Some of the decidedly British lyrics didn’t translate too well across the Atlantic, however, and so Williams phoned Gilbert, asking if he could change the line “I bagsy being in goal” which made no sense at all in America. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNLghanZUAJiBm7Ac38ashd7eMcyHfwujOI4ymilLIn8eKrVYZX4oo3xWnqp224gV4gKsHxAp9VK5li6y5d7zSfCrjNIE1rVh_0NC1m5IxsUEiDbbn3t7nxexPu0_F3YYuGoA5HZIid4S8VL-Jl0_EaUJG4Vne6Sou0gINVGPKAmq5r4MvhVWgrpniA/s600/Glen%20Campbell.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="600" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNLghanZUAJiBm7Ac38ashd7eMcyHfwujOI4ymilLIn8eKrVYZX4oo3xWnqp224gV4gKsHxAp9VK5li6y5d7zSfCrjNIE1rVh_0NC1m5IxsUEiDbbn3t7nxexPu0_F3YYuGoA5HZIid4S8VL-Jl0_EaUJG4Vne6Sou0gINVGPKAmq5r4MvhVWgrpniA/s320/Glen%20Campbell.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700;">Glen Campbell (1973)</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Campbell’s vocal delivery is a little overwrought here, but it does feature bagpipes which helps save this recording of “Amazing Grace” from country/gospel mawkishness. From the album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I Knew Jesus (Before He Was A Star).</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1976 the song appeared as the last track on the UK compilation LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Glen Campbell’s Twenty Golden Greats</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This proved to be Campbell’s biggest selling British album, reaching number one and staying in the charts for 17 weeks.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFqWYxKMtmgiLmR6PtcGAFywCzzyGYScDZ2lJba-7htfowMI9yU7EG-cLXgxtgGCW9XtxJZ0KR12DixdG0FeBpiLWjy9ulUb4gwEkaUcoSjXgXWrgqFvL-8DfXknL8PWtQpC8wVI2WGMwPjrizY7Vj9zqC-A5YCQAA1Nwp6cxl50KH2b3rdCEtJ695g/s600/Glen%20Campbell%2020%20Golden%20Greats.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="600" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFqWYxKMtmgiLmR6PtcGAFywCzzyGYScDZ2lJba-7htfowMI9yU7EG-cLXgxtgGCW9XtxJZ0KR12DixdG0FeBpiLWjy9ulUb4gwEkaUcoSjXgXWrgqFvL-8DfXknL8PWtQpC8wVI2WGMwPjrizY7Vj9zqC-A5YCQAA1Nwp6cxl50KH2b3rdCEtJ695g/s320/Glen%20Campbell%2020%20Golden%20Greats.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This release formed part of EMI’s newly created UK TV advertising division which proved enormously successful, with similar </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twenty Golden Greats</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> releases by the Beach Boys, the Shadows, Buddy Holly, Diana Ross & the Supremes, the Hollies and others all selling well. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Glen Campbell later recorded several more versions of “Amazing Grace” most of them in concert backed with only with a piano.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4NCRFSFCHsRi540OjQwi6Lirkk4p7tIdzBuTCdLRBXP3U10yIorqT0rdUNXUNDt1Uxl9E8lkzMoY6VBwdngs5y4S6DUGG4FNY1KbuxG99Mk74D_LWEEcCMLXav3P7hfDlipHqkMSH5PIKTXuK8DLNs7DnGYUMadbnjpbp9Th5KzxVzIUVoKIyA273A/s599/Johnny%20Cash.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="599" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4NCRFSFCHsRi540OjQwi6Lirkk4p7tIdzBuTCdLRBXP3U10yIorqT0rdUNXUNDt1Uxl9E8lkzMoY6VBwdngs5y4S6DUGG4FNY1KbuxG99Mk74D_LWEEcCMLXav3P7hfDlipHqkMSH5PIKTXuK8DLNs7DnGYUMadbnjpbp9Th5KzxVzIUVoKIyA273A/s320/Johnny%20Cash.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Johnny Cash (1975) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Johnny Cash Sings Precious Memories</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was Johnny’s fifth collection of gospel songs and his 50th album overall. Containing material such as “The Old Rugged Cross” and “Rock of Ages,” however, it was perhaps a little too religious for most tastes and it failed to chart in any of the major world markets. In fact, it may not have been given a UK release, with US copies shipped in to satisfy the meagre local demand. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On “Amazing Grace” Cash is backed by the Carter Family on vocals and what sounds like a mournful church harmonium. Johnny does his best against the odds (and some unusual chord changes), but it’s really just a dirge.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBx2m-_49DjIW_OrSBSxmSiEABxG7rVG2Ro4OCnfD6gPapPa2uOSCtJBIdLrJD-fpKXrliS_g3y5d6mlsyp-lZ0LVXsQgelAv58SjmHrEvzBe2wsojHwBhLW7cdWcQEo2D-EDmeuC_n3p1eia4QyYY6xkwRLxjRS-hZldnDxvQhlJVvFRzODI8qmGcvA/s600/Johnny%20Cash%20the-evangel-temple-choir-.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="596" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBx2m-_49DjIW_OrSBSxmSiEABxG7rVG2Ro4OCnfD6gPapPa2uOSCtJBIdLrJD-fpKXrliS_g3y5d6mlsyp-lZ0LVXsQgelAv58SjmHrEvzBe2wsojHwBhLW7cdWcQEo2D-EDmeuC_n3p1eia4QyYY6xkwRLxjRS-hZldnDxvQhlJVvFRzODI8qmGcvA/s320/Johnny%20Cash%20the-evangel-temple-choir-.jpg" width="318" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Much better was the limited-edition US single Cash recorded in July 1972 on the Ezra label. “Amazing Grace” / “Praise the Lord” was credited to Johnny Cash and the Evangel Temple Choir (side A) and the Rev J. Snow and the Evangel Temple Choir (side B). Ezra was Johnny’s own label, named after his father-in-law (June’s dad) </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ezra J. “Pop” Carter</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Evangel Temple was known as "The Church of the Country Music Stars". Members included Larry Gatlin, Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, Kris Kristofferson, plus Johnny and June Carter Cash, their children and grandchildren.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A 2007 one-hour radio special titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amazing Grace</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> hosted by Rodney Crowell covered Johnny's love of gospel music, his roots in the church, and the stories behind his great gospel recordings and performances.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRbg4DuKW3bR0BGI-WAhIYjcKZh63yg5wAVjBheSmw5KmUfHOYILQBi2PZoso8HIlgdWO4gFJVi0hv2HHk2Gnf0FwOaY57ptjN83d2Yzn4fthvzgjKS6OuZLcge6s_PFBssKVOdRqM-YT-Ch4kSQyvJpUX6bta-hGHS78xgk1ELzMCGHkzLUHh6BJ5UQ/s600/Charlie%20Rich.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRbg4DuKW3bR0BGI-WAhIYjcKZh63yg5wAVjBheSmw5KmUfHOYILQBi2PZoso8HIlgdWO4gFJVi0hv2HHk2Gnf0FwOaY57ptjN83d2Yzn4fthvzgjKS6OuZLcge6s_PFBssKVOdRqM-YT-Ch4kSQyvJpUX6bta-hGHS78xgk1ELzMCGHkzLUHh6BJ5UQ/s320/Charlie%20Rich.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Charlie Rich (1976)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Traditionally, the old school country artists tended to record gospel albums as a kind of penitence after they had flirted with the evils of rock and roll (among other things), and the deeply religious Charlie Rich was no exception. Recorded in 1975 during his run of country pop hit singles, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Silver Linings</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is one of the best gospel collections of its kind. “Amazing Grace” is presented as a powerful, mid-tempo shuffle with Charlie’s pumping piano out front and spirited backing from vocal groups the Jordanaires and the Holladays. You can’t help feeling Elvis should have recorded it exactly this way. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fun fact: Of his many albums, Charlie’s mother declared </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Silver Linings</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> her absolute favourite. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0sydUV8zXYbKAfDlRqEej9YOIF3T6Z3ND3F6_PG0-ZpupcGhRHSDNnejnZUhIInMDCYflZ0PPyLiNzeQLpR38Hal9gOCfXpbo7sdW0AFOmXKY5KMDYXERYPY0B9mCIDWymHkq8aKk6VuasCW3EkNQJQKQzWeY8NcJQxrdAJRT0r26G3Fi6JffZG2iZw/s600/Joan%20Baez%20From%20Every%20Stage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="600" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0sydUV8zXYbKAfDlRqEej9YOIF3T6Z3ND3F6_PG0-ZpupcGhRHSDNnejnZUhIInMDCYflZ0PPyLiNzeQLpR38Hal9gOCfXpbo7sdW0AFOmXKY5KMDYXERYPY0B9mCIDWymHkq8aKk6VuasCW3EkNQJQKQzWeY8NcJQxrdAJRT0r26G3Fi6JffZG2iZw/s320/Joan%20Baez%20From%20Every%20Stage.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joan Baez (1976)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Good morning, children of the eighties. This is your Woodstock, and it’s long overdue” enthused (some would say “gushed”) Joan Baez as she opened the US leg of Live Aid* in July 1985. She then sang two unaccompanied verses of “Amazing Grace” before segueing into a solo version of the Live Aid hit single “We Are the World.” Joan was no stranger to “Amazing Grace,” of course, having performed it many times on the civil rights marches of the 60s. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She first committed the song to vinyl a decade earlier on her 1976 double live album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From Every Stage</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Recorded in the summer of 1975, the album was divided equally into solo acoustic and electric material, the latter featuring an impressive line-up of musicians, including Larry Carlton (guitar), James Jamerson (bass) and Jim Gordon (drums). Despite coming at the very end of the electric LP, “Amazing Grace” was a solo performance with Joan singing with the audience. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The audience singalong was moving despite Joan’s distracting habit of prompting them with a garbled preview of the lyrics at the start of each line, much in the way Pete Seeger used to do when encouraging crowd participation. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">On November 3, 1991, a memorial concert for legendary rock promoter Bill Graham was held at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. To close the event Joan led an a cappella rendition of "Amazing Grace," again calling out the words for the vast crowd (estimated at 300,000) to sing along with.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The song became a regular part of Baez’s live set and in 1993 a previously unreleased version turned up on her four CD box set </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rare, Live & Classic</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Recorded solo in 1982 for the King Biscuit Hour, it again featured a lyric preview before every line. But while the audience sang the top line of the melody Joan weaved a beautiful descant harmony around them to great effect. As the song ended she signed off with “Jerry Falwell eat your heart out,” a reference to the conservative Christian and founder of the right-wing Moral Majority.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Ed. Note: US Live Aid was actually opened by an enthusiastic amateur named Bernard Watson, who was allowed a 10-minute spot by promoter Bill Graham. In his book “My Life Inside Rock and Out” Graham writes “The first person I put on that morning was a kid who had been living in the parking lot for ten days. I said to the audience, “Someday, this might happen to you. You know, we all have dreams." He sang one song and he's been writing me ever since."</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMW0STtQeJcWRU0G9mTq-iazXtDx7lNfu3q13Ts7Oehi3gLPoeQpvFON3-0wsgsOdBed4mMKQjWjz-UmF6M3T_IGrsssHlxeopyr_zvNVdF71SAsFecxCOqAjzoGzpje9zQsgeWP50_8KIeHLqessTb6iyoVoVcAKWwkO30rgtUu_FUW_UgoBf1FvUwA/s600/Willie%20Nelson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMW0STtQeJcWRU0G9mTq-iazXtDx7lNfu3q13Ts7Oehi3gLPoeQpvFON3-0wsgsOdBed4mMKQjWjz-UmF6M3T_IGrsssHlxeopyr_zvNVdF71SAsFecxCOqAjzoGzpje9zQsgeWP50_8KIeHLqessTb6iyoVoVcAKWwkO30rgtUu_FUW_UgoBf1FvUwA/s320/Willie%20Nelson.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Willie Nelson (1976)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the 1976 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Sound in Your Mind</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Willie’s studio version is a delight, topped off with a stunning piano solo from his sister Bobbie. Nelson performed the song regularly in concert (including at the ill-fated Woodstock 99 festival) and it appears on several of his live albums. In October 1995 he opened his set at Farm Aid with “Amazing Grace”. </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh29pnDtFCdPy738q4F5Pxuh16qqDwz6x2fZI4rN9vHxoiO5RUfRr3g-7sJ3UFHpSHEmhE_MHliZwj7GgZsGmfqlFp4bCJiBmlhpMeUxgUZptlRnBDhDKmc-HOYpkTRVAdCAK9KqophSippEhxmkksSdjSZjRTbTwOPMSKprFxHV3AihAHkNRwqqnysEA/s500/Yes%20YesYears.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh29pnDtFCdPy738q4F5Pxuh16qqDwz6x2fZI4rN9vHxoiO5RUfRr3g-7sJ3UFHpSHEmhE_MHliZwj7GgZsGmfqlFp4bCJiBmlhpMeUxgUZptlRnBDhDKmc-HOYpkTRVAdCAK9KqophSippEhxmkksSdjSZjRTbTwOPMSKprFxHV3AihAHkNRwqqnysEA/s320/Yes%20YesYears.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Yes - YesYears Box Set</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes (1976) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recorded in November 1976 during the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Going For The One</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album sessions, this instrumental bass solo by the late, great Chris Squire remained unreleased until 1991 when it appeared on the four CD box set </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">YesYears</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It was later added to the 2003 reissue of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Going For The One</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> CD as a bonus track.</span></p><div><span face="Noto Sans Symbols, sans-serif"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span id="docs-internal-guid-abf00a96-7fff-d1b2-fd1c-78d2b8b29f88"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Epilogue: The President Sang Amazing Grace</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On June 17, 2015, nine African Americans were killed in a mass shooting during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1817 Mother Emanuel, as it is known, is one of the oldest black churches in the USA and has long been a centre for civil rights events.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Among the victims was the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, a South Carolina State Senator and a powerful civil rights advocate. On June 26, nine days after the killings, President Barack Obama spoke at Rev. Pinckney’s funeral. During the eulogy he paused and, seemingly unrehearsed, began to sing the opening lines of “Amazing Grace.” Obama’s untrained voice was shaky and scarcely up to the task, but the choir and congregation quickly joined in and together they sang the famous hymn. It was an incredibly emotional moment. Watch it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVWquIFJQKY" target="_blank">here</a>: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The event prompted US (now resident in the UK) singer songwriter Zoe Mulford to write “The President Sang Amazing Grace.” The song appeared on her 2017 independently released album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Small Brown Birds </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and was widely played on independent folk radio shows across the US. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joan Baez heard it on her car radio and later said “It's an amazing little tune. When I first heard it, I had to pull the car over, because I started crying. And then for the first two weeks of trying to figure it out on the guitar, I kept crying. I was afraid that when I got in the studio, it wouldn't be over. But I went into the studio, and then I just looked at the musicians and I said, "Let's go to church.”” Baez covered the song to great effect on her 2018 Grammy-nominated album, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whistle Down the Wind</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2018 “The President Sang Amazing Grace” was voted "Song of the Year" by Folk Alliance International (the world's largest gathering of the folk music industry and community), finding its way to new audiences with cover versions by artists such as the Kronos Quartet. </span></p><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**********</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amazing grace (how sweet the sound)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That saved a wretch like me!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I once was lost, but now am found,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was blind, but now I see.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And grace my fears relieved;</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How precious did that grace appear</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The hour I first believed!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thro’ many dangers, toils, and snares,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have already come;</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And grace will lead me home.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lord has promised good to me,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His word my hope secures;</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He will my shield and portion be</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As long as life endures.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And mortal life shall cease;</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I shall possess, within the veil,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A life of joy and peace.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sun forbear to shine;</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But God, who called me here below,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will be forever mine.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we’ve been there ten thousand years,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bright shining as the sun,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Than when we’d first begun.</span></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKG3Z1BeYDxGafTL1FKmStLRAW5ze6pc_tHiTrALs6LdA8GhjNK4iMK6GN9IAIIk0jh-jH5daa7m0ryJDf_k3mo_BvO7wUTxj0iAfa0LBWWmHGJ30RmB-fWKPJQ8oZNVLHxVl_MnnL3BPeOpxXS10Bu1JAQD2HxxmJO7zg-Og5BpK-jYJu5zxOtlaxA/s2473/IMG_4397.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2204" data-original-width="2473" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKG3Z1BeYDxGafTL1FKmStLRAW5ze6pc_tHiTrALs6LdA8GhjNK4iMK6GN9IAIIk0jh-jH5daa7m0ryJDf_k3mo_BvO7wUTxj0iAfa0LBWWmHGJ30RmB-fWKPJQ8oZNVLHxVl_MnnL3BPeOpxXS10Bu1JAQD2HxxmJO7zg-Og5BpK-jYJu5zxOtlaxA/w400-h356/IMG_4397.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-34610785164981487462022-06-14T22:04:00.080-07:002024-03-20T19:32:33.448-07:00No Stairway!! Tales Of A Denmark Street Guitar Salesman<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrMmSdGMSX4HvWgCHPwRVD8g9O-0PAyl0AdR3WNWC1sNnlwnGq1V0mAnh0lp7ZeIDP6tM7ZCab1_rixoiuaUvqo6isMx_rqFfeH6EWG6s5IuqSkRCf4QoYkce7eqHZlg7RqBNCMjZGMDZLxvWCXWtGWCymNXiCiKBoRUJjIo8fN2Eu9bwM40rTitcLpQ/s552/Denmark%20Street%20sign%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="552" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrMmSdGMSX4HvWgCHPwRVD8g9O-0PAyl0AdR3WNWC1sNnlwnGq1V0mAnh0lp7ZeIDP6tM7ZCab1_rixoiuaUvqo6isMx_rqFfeH6EWG6s5IuqSkRCf4QoYkce7eqHZlg7RqBNCMjZGMDZLxvWCXWtGWCymNXiCiKBoRUJjIo8fN2Eu9bwM40rTitcLpQ/w640-h370/Denmark%20Street%20sign%20(1).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f2995b69-7fff-816e-9b4e-88e84ed05cec"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>No Stairway!! </b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Tales Of A Denmark Street Guitar Salesman</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Stuart Penney</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Down the way from the Tottenham Court Road</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just round the corner from old Soho</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There's a place where the publishers go</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you don't know which way to go</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just open your ears and follow your nose</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Kinks – Denmark Street (1970)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s probably true to say there are more guitar shops per square yard in Denmark Street than almost anywhere else in the world. Running for only 60 yards (54 metres) between Charing Cross Road and St. Giles High Street, this short thoroughfare on the eastern fringe of Soho in central London has been the epicentre of the capital’s musical instrument retail sector for decades, with almost every building in the street operating as a guitar store or related business. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite massive disruption in recent years caused by the below ground construction of the Crossrail project (finally opened in May 2022 as London Underground’s Elizabeth Line) which wiped out parts of neighbouring Charing Cross Road and Dean Street and at one point looked like taking Denmark Street with it, the street has survived against the odds. Since many buildings are Grade II heritage listed, the future of the famous thoroughfare now looks somewhat more secure than it did just a few years ago.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Denmark Street was established in the late 17th century and named after Prince George of Denmark (1653 - 1708), the husband of Queen Anne who reigned over Scotland, England and Ireland from 1702 to 1714. As West End streets go it had a fairly unremarkable history until 1911 when the music publisher and composer Lawrence Wright opened premises in the basement of number 8. Then, in 1926 he founded </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Melody Maker</b>,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> one of the world’s earliest music weekly publications, specifically to cover dance band music. In 1952 the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>New Musical Express</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> started life in Denmark Street, joining songwriters, pluggers, recording studios and long-established music publishers, such as Campbell Connelly, Francis, Day & Hunter, Keith Prowse and Southern Music, earning the street the nickname Britain’s Tin Pan Alley. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The list of famous names connected with the street is virtually endless, but to name just a few: in 1964 the first <b>Rolling Stones</b>’ album (and most of their second) was recorded at Regent Sound, a small demo studio at 4 Denmark Street. A year later <b>Elton John</b> (then plain Reginald Dwight) worked as a humble post boy at publisher Mills Music, located across the road at number 20. <b>Donovan</b>’s earliest recordings (including his first hit single “Catch the Wind”) were made in the basement of Southern Music publishers at number 8 and a decade later the <b>Sex Pistols</b> lived and recorded at numbers 6-7 Denmark Street. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nLPjwZXVr7Y-RScXNPdUkitaZ-GwXDhjhEnzPf5jV1jY0cUZmDSjdqXgx7bTuyvcz0UekF24bYBgHI_Sh25U3SbKMQF_s3g81bF4NLRYLBR9YNhg5W2N7ZU9XI_CuWWEzRZAf_2H5p81LB8SQBtdtZel4nCZIk2v8CJnWuoBYVD42cE0rJQ2xn4ldQ/s2362/Denmark%20St%20plaque%20photo%20by%20Robert%20Penney.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1736" data-original-width="2362" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nLPjwZXVr7Y-RScXNPdUkitaZ-GwXDhjhEnzPf5jV1jY0cUZmDSjdqXgx7bTuyvcz0UekF24bYBgHI_Sh25U3SbKMQF_s3g81bF4NLRYLBR9YNhg5W2N7ZU9XI_CuWWEzRZAf_2H5p81LB8SQBtdtZel4nCZIk2v8CJnWuoBYVD42cE0rJQ2xn4ldQ/w400-h294/Denmark%20St%20plaque%20photo%20by%20Robert%20Penney.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I began working in Soho in 1967 almost all the premises along Denmark Street were occupied by music publishers and related businesses such as demo studios, agents, song pluggers and the like. Sheet music was still big business and musicians, bandleaders and arrangers would come in search of the next hit song.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnYvFf9dKmN5w2V69ePLqtCa2Wn5vn8-Lv72pV-dEDBINbUcGZ7I_zAvDDJiergcE0LJbAa2Ik3vJfInJnzBu_-myh55QSjJE_L0cZYOtl1H0ZpHRArWAMARIha94ZdADo9_T_OXatI6SELUNeEI0eohiWfx4nRkHaCWB2TgT5NMXIqjok80bqt0l7Vg/s687/la-gioconda%20cafe%20Denmark%20Street.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="687" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnYvFf9dKmN5w2V69ePLqtCa2Wn5vn8-Lv72pV-dEDBINbUcGZ7I_zAvDDJiergcE0LJbAa2Ik3vJfInJnzBu_-myh55QSjJE_L0cZYOtl1H0ZpHRArWAMARIha94ZdADo9_T_OXatI6SELUNeEI0eohiWfx4nRkHaCWB2TgT5NMXIqjok80bqt0l7Vg/s320/la-gioconda%20cafe%20Denmark%20Street.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> </span></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was also the famous <b>La Gioconda</b> cafe which, until 2014, operated at number 9. On any given weekday in the late 60s you might see Elton John, David Bowie and other up-and-coming musicians drinking coffee in the Gioconda while waiting for their big break to come along. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVA138ivL8VvlCvzcmfOjnapti9roZqGU5Q-Y9b0muK7HxVUShr8DvweGnsh5cKNdpwRNQ8cFIFwkyM6e-Q8ZHbmr8tu0lstwke_MdNEULc5KCkc2ALCcrpjdMTxDbyBu-GtWt9XXvTZ4lcu__fclIwLwHTDVaKVP6YJEdZRmXUm-zjTL1GqZ9D9_PbA/s820/Denmark-Street.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="820" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVA138ivL8VvlCvzcmfOjnapti9roZqGU5Q-Y9b0muK7HxVUShr8DvweGnsh5cKNdpwRNQ8cFIFwkyM6e-Q8ZHbmr8tu0lstwke_MdNEULc5KCkc2ALCcrpjdMTxDbyBu-GtWt9XXvTZ4lcu__fclIwLwHTDVaKVP6YJEdZRmXUm-zjTL1GqZ9D9_PbA/w640-h390/Denmark-Street.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>Denmark Street circa 1964</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Music publishers were the lifeblood of Denmark Street for more than half a century but in the early 70s they began to disappear. The 1971 arrival in London of giant American publishing conglomerates such as Music Sales Ltd caused a major shake-up of the industry and many long-established UK publishing houses were swallowed up or merged, leaving their Denmark Street premises to an entirely different kind of business - the musical instrument retail stores. The point of this brief history lesson is to emphasise that until the late 60s there were absolutely no guitar shops in Denmark Street, at least not as we know them today.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_qxoH665P2F-PdBucGYZhaa63wBqN_mh_4JaTeroFD-Bl6-Bt59at4VqLlk_0fLE56n9PXmkQlaeGrEKYuaiwaB0t3vzM2oDNisrfOjfVXecF_kcaAWH1b1DhnTMARXDW7aXLl_FD77BSkI7D-SulDfjnmpCVDJamERDBaoI1OtqNUg9vdHY_jYN4zg/s1200/Selmer%20Shop%20in%2060s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_qxoH665P2F-PdBucGYZhaa63wBqN_mh_4JaTeroFD-Bl6-Bt59at4VqLlk_0fLE56n9PXmkQlaeGrEKYuaiwaB0t3vzM2oDNisrfOjfVXecF_kcaAWH1b1DhnTMARXDW7aXLl_FD77BSkI7D-SulDfjnmpCVDJamERDBaoI1OtqNUg9vdHY_jYN4zg/w400-h210/Selmer%20Shop%20in%2060s.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Selmer store in the 60s</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were plenty of guitar stores nearby, of course. Just around the corner at 114-116 Charing Cross Road was <b>Selmer</b>, possibly the biggest store of its kind in the West End at that time and a Gibson main agent. Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, the Beatles and countless other famous faces shopped there and the guitars they bought were responsible for some of the greatest rock music of the 60s and 70s. Selmer also owned the smaller <b>Lew Davis</b> store located at 134 Charing Cross Road and it’s thought that it was here Clapton purchased the now almost mythical 1960 Gibson Les Paul he played on the famous “Beano Album” in 1965. The Lew Davis store was renamed “Selmer: The Little Shop” in 1966. Like most of the West End music stores of the 60s and 70s, Selmer’s is long gone and today a Mexican restaurant occupies the iconic building with its twin pillars still dominating the entrance.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSgCLBMnqRxIIBe6sOzQvjcR0pigOMU1d64EzWPc1PrZCsaC8n8byXJZK7zhVx2I2xyXAQoR6gfHhDSH5yW7bmDG7RIgvC6hWdYO9iZDyNXFRLa-lSy6R-lCSU4OmEQQ52HmqtlMurHjVRpZllsAWV_OWyeNKghDXKj4glKZ7iTOpv0ga2aY7ESZqlJQ/s4032/Selmer%20store%20today.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSgCLBMnqRxIIBe6sOzQvjcR0pigOMU1d64EzWPc1PrZCsaC8n8byXJZK7zhVx2I2xyXAQoR6gfHhDSH5yW7bmDG7RIgvC6hWdYO9iZDyNXFRLa-lSy6R-lCSU4OmEQQ52HmqtlMurHjVRpZllsAWV_OWyeNKghDXKj4glKZ7iTOpv0ga2aY7ESZqlJQ/s320/Selmer%20store%20today.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Selmer building today</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Also in Charing Cross Road was</span><b style="font-size: 12pt;"> Macari’s</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. Established in 1958 in north London as "the Musical Exchange", this family-run store has occupied several locations in and around the West End over the years, including a brief stay at 22 Denmark Street in 1966-67. They finally closed their Charing Cross Road store in 2022 and moved out to leafy Haywards Heath in Sussex. </span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvy9CjUTTOU5EmtpTamfvCXfGoh9Cu8kVI6DFd1e0Nh747B7V6QNEM3BamGw9BK1wyOVv-ZT3_u7JQBo9kyZxAsjk_ilRhWm1MqahvYE1UgVmbZva7VdTgEvW20X_4SVEFkmpzdv4yyiPQ0VRRT05eo6U25LVAG1xC2QZgDKPDJByiyRF5SDtbDYhUA/s1772/Orange%20in%20New%20Compton%20Street%20(2).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="1772" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvy9CjUTTOU5EmtpTamfvCXfGoh9Cu8kVI6DFd1e0Nh747B7V6QNEM3BamGw9BK1wyOVv-ZT3_u7JQBo9kyZxAsjk_ilRhWm1MqahvYE1UgVmbZva7VdTgEvW20X_4SVEFkmpzdv4yyiPQ0VRRT05eo6U25LVAG1xC2QZgDKPDJByiyRF5SDtbDYhUA/w400-h313/Orange%20in%20New%20Compton%20Street%20(2).JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Orange Music</b>, who would soon become world famous for their amplifiers, opened a retail shop in nearby New Compton Street as early as September 1968, while <b>Pan Music</b>, makers of Impact amps, were located above the Flamingo Club in Wardour Street. Today, no trace of the Orange Music building at 3-4 New Compton Street remains, and in fact the street no longer exists at the Charing Cross Road end.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpaMpLnUp3IWbkRQmOca_7KlOhWbpoqN8OKPy2oPcDOSxc7gsrebvMFizl7QFUH0vQjbx1c3hV3QCPJZVzmVcyVX4-3gnq5CsRWTcitBSi7MKmvhfltYFUYLtCuSNuU8R6eMsGVUK18p550oWoCT1cfnLuEiOqRaOh4PcnJLeYqhmcJVQKnOY-rBOvXA/s750/rose-morris-store-1969.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="750" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpaMpLnUp3IWbkRQmOca_7KlOhWbpoqN8OKPy2oPcDOSxc7gsrebvMFizl7QFUH0vQjbx1c3hV3QCPJZVzmVcyVX4-3gnq5CsRWTcitBSi7MKmvhfltYFUYLtCuSNuU8R6eMsGVUK18p550oWoCT1cfnLuEiOqRaOh4PcnJLeYqhmcJVQKnOY-rBOvXA/w400-h253/rose-morris-store-1969.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The UK Rickenbacker agents <b>Rose-Morris</b> opened their store at 81-83 Shaftesbury Avenue in 1967. The location gave its name to the Japanese made mid-price Shaftesbury guitar brand and Rose-Morris sold decent Rickenbacker, Fender and Gibson copies under that appellation for a decade or more.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ColcbJthAh5rtgTqq_EuPV09aoOk76IhEp8Oc8AeqmBHzfHrLUsPrlUGrTeGXf-FPISTKsPJCIDF9qfVDjUNrgJte1sKn1XkpTWYpzWWp03ZihWiVVEQ9hgiy2oZZgEwmP185JPtdP_EiZ8ug7UZ25IZQXpk_8CMc8BILI5p5PRsnacn5zzMj0gDtQ/s650/Sound%20City.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="650" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ColcbJthAh5rtgTqq_EuPV09aoOk76IhEp8Oc8AeqmBHzfHrLUsPrlUGrTeGXf-FPISTKsPJCIDF9qfVDjUNrgJte1sKn1XkpTWYpzWWp03ZihWiVVEQ9hgiy2oZZgEwmP185JPtdP_EiZ8ug7UZ25IZQXpk_8CMc8BILI5p5PRsnacn5zzMj0gDtQ/w400-h260/Sound%20City.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also located in Shaftesbury Avenue were <b>Sound City</b> and its sister store <b>Drum City</b>. The Beatles' famous dropped "T" logo was conceived at Drum City by owner Ivor Arbiter and first applied to Ringo Starr's bass drum head in May 1963. Ringo continued to buy his drums here throughout the 60s, Sound City was almost as legendary as Selmer and Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles and the Stones all shopped there. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But possibly the most famous West End guitar store of all and probably the first to operate out of Denmark Street was <b>Top Gear</b>. Smaller than Selmer’s and Sound City, Top Gear nevertheless always seemed to have the best stock of rare and vintage instruments and it was routine to see famous faces from the rock and pop world buying, selling, or trading guitars in there.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrzJKObxkuJLNk8jq1lSFAkNVzO8qL3zI8fNtkCABGd3gGOH4SVoFJ1NdxIi-8y0BQ24fxePwn88MZFmKlYitppPFn17nTRMs_Ta02l_jiqNp5aSk4APDHuCRGk-73wQWcdt4CNiqrpUpzjiEvPO1Q7rO9J4nh9zdX3e0-nnvJS6eWHO71jGSuSdNh1w/s462/5%20Denmark%20Street%20in%20the%2070s.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="462" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrzJKObxkuJLNk8jq1lSFAkNVzO8qL3zI8fNtkCABGd3gGOH4SVoFJ1NdxIi-8y0BQ24fxePwn88MZFmKlYitppPFn17nTRMs_Ta02l_jiqNp5aSk4APDHuCRGk-73wQWcdt4CNiqrpUpzjiEvPO1Q7rO9J4nh9zdX3e0-nnvJS6eWHO71jGSuSdNh1w/w400-h290/5%20Denmark%20Street%20in%20the%2070s.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />T</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">op Gear opened at number 5 Denmark Street on Saturday, March 8, 1969, and they took their first </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> advertisement the same week. Among the mouth-watering items on offer in that ad were 60s Fender Stratocasters for £75, plus Gibson ES335s and Rickenbacker 12-strings for £150 apiece. Even allowing for inflation that’s a fraction of what those guitars would sell for today.</span></span><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwk7ZMhFeBgA9MLYe2NSdxXGZTwZm1ghCb-6FoxEHdwla8AwXaF7UMdfI6J8LzB7MHawRw3PieYsLUWeA7N9sT56tkhJN-07f65noyn8ObzRLKMSfvLGufS15DjC80OLfsgZq90gz0HJUuj1k2S7ebZHpsJepiWk5jLWOEiREawMqJ4C3RY16Xd804Fw/s1350/Top%20Gear%20early%2070s.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="1350" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwk7ZMhFeBgA9MLYe2NSdxXGZTwZm1ghCb-6FoxEHdwla8AwXaF7UMdfI6J8LzB7MHawRw3PieYsLUWeA7N9sT56tkhJN-07f65noyn8ObzRLKMSfvLGufS15DjC80OLfsgZq90gz0HJUuj1k2S7ebZHpsJepiWk5jLWOEiREawMqJ4C3RY16Xd804Fw/w400-h271/Top%20Gear%20early%2070s.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I w<span style="font-size: 12pt;">as a regular visitor to Top Gear during the 70s, for the most part idly browsing and daydreaming of expensive American guitars I could never afford. But I did eventually buy and sell a few items there, including a Gibson SG Special and a Fender Telecaster. But the most memorable (not to say regrettable) sale of all was the beautiful 1963 Gibson J200 acoustic (the Elvis model) I traded in September 1976. Together with a Shaftesbury bass (a cheapish Rickenbacker copy) they gave me £250 for the pair. One of only 96 examples shipped in 1963, that Gibson J200 alone would be worth around £10,000 today but, hey, that was all the money in the world to me back then and, when all’s said and done, a guy has to pay the rent.<br /></span></div></span></span></span><div><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXmOH4bTqW6WILwjeH71qoBchazKWmYbkIQyUO-G6yGkCQBPtHo-A_CeoBQZqEuVQ92fshsj_4oWXB0Kt01It0zGYx8UnASyAyu_tV94S0Zhd8wPkwsjwKJHx61KiTJe4KtV6W0uBBlD3yVkBsyrdtC33WXiChlbo_C_3lWYeP7xcr2rSgep7x3_yug/s1227/Untitled-5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1227" height="522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXmOH4bTqW6WILwjeH71qoBchazKWmYbkIQyUO-G6yGkCQBPtHo-A_CeoBQZqEuVQ92fshsj_4oWXB0Kt01It0zGYx8UnASyAyu_tV94S0Zhd8wPkwsjwKJHx61KiTJe4KtV6W0uBBlD3yVkBsyrdtC33WXiChlbo_C_3lWYeP7xcr2rSgep7x3_yug/w640-h522/Untitled-5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Sadly missed. My 1963 Gibson J200 and the Top Gear receipt</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Despite the impressive array of high quality rare and desirable guitars covering the walls, Top Gear (and its sister store Guitar Village located at 80 Shaftesbury Avenue) always seemed a little down at heel with threadbare carpets and little or no thought for the décor. This was all part of its ramshackle charm. </span></div><div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ9KHgRYUYcqedrGIdVxyviStR9tqIIPjEYbxe-ef2S5bm4CrHOHc8huUcvOhDIFgp0lXQ5CB4JSK29Jq5cZyUHPGWdf5jksAd-Rp8x6-qpCTXK_Vg6mZwlMdy7TbUiiW9PFgMVuc8-erkZN2cEYwDKBYqNioWlt6GgIn3G9WxbqeOlEFxqEACML5ERg/s1009/Rob%20Marsh%20behind%20the%20counter%20at%20Top%20Gear.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1009" data-original-width="975" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ9KHgRYUYcqedrGIdVxyviStR9tqIIPjEYbxe-ef2S5bm4CrHOHc8huUcvOhDIFgp0lXQ5CB4JSK29Jq5cZyUHPGWdf5jksAd-Rp8x6-qpCTXK_Vg6mZwlMdy7TbUiiW9PFgMVuc8-erkZN2cEYwDKBYqNioWlt6GgIn3G9WxbqeOlEFxqEACML5ERg/s320/Rob%20Marsh%20behind%20the%20counter%20at%20Top%20Gear.jpg" width="309" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Rob Marsh behind the counter at Top Gear</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div></span></span></div><div><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This blog recently caught up with <b>Rob Marsh</b>, who worked as a salesman for Top Gear (and occasionally Guitar Village) during 1974. We spent a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon talking guitars and recounting stories of the many rock celebrities he encountered at the store. He told us what life was like at the sharp end of the guitar retail world at a time when the vintage market was still in its infancy, when 50s Stratocasters sold for £100, and a 1959 sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard could still be yours for around £400. </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWo8fToI7sReIcYXNpKO4DZzgoxZDGA1TsO7Zy0-9qxZhML8pmsU0Bp3Ju8cpInroaPO8JztSBPYKOXrcz8PaMZjk7Yz992pKuO3Yp5XUX0e1uC9y5VxhlApFp_MVGx_BQ0L8GkoG25IxJiscH9VCFeqkn8HBT1ediBABy0lqdPgNEFe-PZVSDb2J3iQ/s990/Rob%20Marsh%20at%20Top%20Gear%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="972" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWo8fToI7sReIcYXNpKO4DZzgoxZDGA1TsO7Zy0-9qxZhML8pmsU0Bp3Ju8cpInroaPO8JztSBPYKOXrcz8PaMZjk7Yz992pKuO3Yp5XUX0e1uC9y5VxhlApFp_MVGx_BQ0L8GkoG25IxJiscH9VCFeqkn8HBT1ediBABy0lqdPgNEFe-PZVSDb2J3iQ/s320/Rob%20Marsh%20at%20Top%20Gear%20(2).jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Rob with some of the impressive Top Gear stock</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: How did you land the job at Top Gear?</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I saw an ad in </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I’d actually been offered a job at Ivor Mairants and just before I was due to start there, I got a phone call from Top Gear offering me the job, which I was happy to take. The woman who interviewed me (at Ivor Mairants) was Mrs Mairants, Ivor’s wife, and she came across as a bit of a dragon. When I went for the interview, I was told sternly “we dress smart casual here, not like some of the other shops where the rock & roll layabouts go”. She introduced me to Ivor himself, but he seemed totally disinterested. She said, “I’ll offer you the job, but I don’t want you ringing me up saying you don’t want it later”. I said, “Oh, no. I won’t do that”. But a few days later I was offered the job at Top Gear, so of course I had to ring Ivor’s wife and tell her. She wasn’t pleased. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Editor’s note: Ivor Mairants Musicentre was a high-end specialist guitar store which opened 1958 in Rathbone Place, on the north side of Oxford Street. Ivor himself was a famous dance band jazz guitarist, making hit records, appearing on radio and TV and compiling many tutorial books. After 61 years on Rathbone Place, the Ivor Mairants store closed its doors for good in December 2019.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDaHUlz2VhHbMSjgBp9Gr_y3pEbDYwiGt_DXST4k4es47y6OW_Y50O26Jia_mtRTi4TYyy5k3uEJDficyYRnIuRtijmz7U8Sf1IyEColL35COTF2WKOGuvoFk1T-mA3GTBEe4ada9yF5AV7XThLUilt_N6wJsGgbU1TRv17ey-l5lFaoIJRL5pABUfw/s1012/Rob%20Marsh%20at%20Top%20Gear.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1012" data-original-width="975" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDaHUlz2VhHbMSjgBp9Gr_y3pEbDYwiGt_DXST4k4es47y6OW_Y50O26Jia_mtRTi4TYyy5k3uEJDficyYRnIuRtijmz7U8Sf1IyEColL35COTF2WKOGuvoFk1T-mA3GTBEe4ada9yF5AV7XThLUilt_N6wJsGgbU1TRv17ey-l5lFaoIJRL5pABUfw/s320/Rob%20Marsh%20at%20Top%20Gear.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>If Walls Could Talk. Len Morphew and Rob Marsh at Guitar Village</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: People tend to think that Denmark Street has always been full of guitar shops, but I believe Top Gear was virtually the only one until well into the 70s</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, that’s right. There were plenty of guitar shops in the West End, but at that point (1974) there were only two shops in Denmark Street. There was Top Gear on one side and a shop called Rhodes over the other side, who sold more than guitars. I believe they were owned by Orange Music who were a few streets away in New Compton Street.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxHWDIR6x29gBYc43xx5fOZHwmPTuhA5z3TVrt4kTC8FqATCqsDcTfZCitmHxK12xtiVXnBVybUbpkiakKlK79ZrHII5ZHUd5LgWUbIzAMSDFLnhtHVi5hLZ8PC9nPmUNcEwYOab0DhGQ9YhJp7wf-lZ6hJUNFrDN_iD2QmcLYeN0r5n-4Z1I5TkJ5nQ/s864/Orange%20in%20New%20Compton%20Street.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="864" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxHWDIR6x29gBYc43xx5fOZHwmPTuhA5z3TVrt4kTC8FqATCqsDcTfZCitmHxK12xtiVXnBVybUbpkiakKlK79ZrHII5ZHUd5LgWUbIzAMSDFLnhtHVi5hLZ8PC9nPmUNcEwYOab0DhGQ9YhJp7wf-lZ6hJUNFrDN_iD2QmcLYeN0r5n-4Z1I5TkJ5nQ/w400-h263/Orange%20in%20New%20Compton%20Street.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Orange Music in New Compton Street</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Around the corner in Charing Cross Road, you had Selmer’s and a few doors away there was Macari’s. At that time though, Denmark Street did have all the music publishers, little recording studios and talent agencies. And the famous La Gioconda Café, of course.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT_OctsH6cj5F3AksriCLUWgCh6U74BI4HMhk5qRd9RRxzWhDpvRkbH1VN0z0hRGu0pDXvVVG9Z_aQ33EYoGbSbZhramdxVAZOPDL5uOrOpBTBu_4LxH0fsj8hJ1dEI0K9J0C7IjMrKLopi2sqZaa_hl26K3-i2_LyepAcu-IKsvlBNin9qIss0IKWfg/s2444/First%20Top%20Gear%20Melody%20Make%20ad%208-3-69.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2444" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT_OctsH6cj5F3AksriCLUWgCh6U74BI4HMhk5qRd9RRxzWhDpvRkbH1VN0z0hRGu0pDXvVVG9Z_aQ33EYoGbSbZhramdxVAZOPDL5uOrOpBTBu_4LxH0fsj8hJ1dEI0K9J0C7IjMrKLopi2sqZaa_hl26K3-i2_LyepAcu-IKsvlBNin9qIss0IKWfg/w335-h400/First%20Top%20Gear%20Melody%20Make%20ad%208-3-69.jpg" width="335" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The First Top Gear <i>Melody Maker</i> ad March 1969</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: Looking at the early Top Gear </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ads they were advertising “original sunburst Les Paul Standards” for around </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">£400. Did you get many of those through?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, not while I was there. They were all pretty-much pre-sold. We did buy in a couple of three pick-up Les Paul Customs. One was ex-<b>Steve Marriott</b>, and the other was from a guy called Dave Ball who I believe had a Procol Harum connection. The Steve Marriott guitar was black with white pick-up surrounds and the other one was kind of a cherry red, which I hadn’t seen before. They were priced around £325 + VAT but they didn’t sell very well. There didn’t seem to be a lot of interest in them, but as for (Les Paul) Standards, we didn’t have any on the wall while I was there. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ed. Note: Dave Ball joined Procol Harum in 1971, replacing Robin Trower </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: I seem to remember that 1958-60 three pick-up Les Paul Customs were considered more desirable than Standards back then</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No. The buzz at the time in the shop was for the Sunbursts and some did come in, but they were customers’ guitars. For example, <b>Bernie Marsden</b> came in to show us his '59 Les Paul “The Beast” and obviously there was a lot of excitement about that. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the subject of those ads. The </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> would come out on Thursday and occasionally on the Friday morning there would be someone on the doorstep waiting for us to open at 10.30. A couple of times it would be a Japanese fellow who had flown over to London especially. He’d point to the ad, and it would be something like a Les Paul Junior, the Leslie West guitar. He’d pay the money and he’d be gone, purely on the strength of the ad. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: In the very early Top Gear ads the Gibson Flying Vs were listed, curiously, as “Flying Arrows”. Any idea why that was?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I do remember that, but I don’t remember us referring to them that way. We had an original Flying V, one of the ‘58 or ‘59 Korina ones and I think it may have still been there when I left. I think we referred to the Vs as “futurists” for some reason. The famous American guitar collector <b>Robert Johnson</b> used to come in. He was a real southern boy and he’d tell us firmly (adopts exaggerated Texan accent) “They were never called futurists!”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: Robert Johnson had an original Gibson Explorer too, I believe?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes. He’d show us pictures of his guitar collection, which was very impressive. Don’t quote me on this, but I believe he also had a 1968 prototype Epiphone Les Paul, double cutaway made in Kalamazoo. I think his dad worked at the Gibson factory. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: I’ve seen a picture of that. He’s standing with it next to Billy Gibbons who is holding a '56 Les Paul Junior</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s right. One day Robert came in carrying two guitar cases. He had a 1950 Fender Broadcaster in one and a 1960 Les Paul Standard in the other and he left them with us while he went shopping in the West End.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeTFLcXkYZXXr6VgIXQfJ2YrktzQDcGtdO_UvIJKRolNnmSoWwIX31lnfwttbFTlE_DaPkepBJitOykZiZkP5971lH7bJfcgOggWC05ms2Q9JP7iUvlAK3wqq4pnKSpVRfPsBDgTHOgyDfWtWuRKi0tpNsZ4bUtzdNSP3PPvtlWGzrIb1CEwhhoICarw/s720/Robert%20Johnson%20Billiy%20Gibbons%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="478" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeTFLcXkYZXXr6VgIXQfJ2YrktzQDcGtdO_UvIJKRolNnmSoWwIX31lnfwttbFTlE_DaPkepBJitOykZiZkP5971lH7bJfcgOggWC05ms2Q9JP7iUvlAK3wqq4pnKSpVRfPsBDgTHOgyDfWtWuRKi0tpNsZ4bUtzdNSP3PPvtlWGzrIb1CEwhhoICarw/w424-h640/Robert%20Johnson%20Billiy%20Gibbons%20copy.jpg" width="424" /></a></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ed. Note: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Robert A. Johnson is an American guitarist and collector. At the age of 23 he was auditioned by the Rolling Stones as a possible replacement for Mick Taylor. Between 1974 and 1977 he toured as lead guitarist for John Entwistle's Ox.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: I suppose £400 for a guitar back then would be the equivalent of close to £6,000 today?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was still a lot of money, yeah. I was earning around £35 a week then, and I had no money left over. We didn’t exactly live hand to mouth, but it was pretty tight. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: Tell us about other interesting guitars you encountered</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, there was the Flying V I mentioned earlier. That ended up with <b>Mick Ralphs</b> of Bad Company. We also had the occasional Gibson Firebird come in. Vintage Fenders weren’t that popular at the time. We had a 50s Telecaster that was going nowhere. There was very little interest in it. But the real top-quality guitars were usually sold before they went on display, so a lot of stuff that went on the wall, I suppose you could call it second division. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: You also met Badfinger while at Top Gear?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a room down in the basement where <b>Badfinger</b> rehearsed. They virtually lived there, but it must have been very well soundproofed because we never heard a sound. They were all very quiet, well-behaved lads, but their road manager was a little more garrulous. He’d come up for a cup of tea and I’d ask what was happening and he’d say something like “Oh, we’ve got a gig at the Greenwich Town Hall tonight”. I found that amazing because I had this vision of them being one of the biggest bands in the world at the time.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I told him I was a fan of the band, particularly their big hits, “Day After Day”, “No Matter What” and “Baby Blue” but he said they had moved on and were now a rock & roll band. He told me <b>Pete Ham</b> had left the band and they were on the lookout for a keyboard player. I mentioned I played a bit of keyboard and he said I was welcome to audition. I politely declined knowing I was nowhere near proficient enough. It would have been a good story to tell though, wouldn't it?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ed. Note: After completing the album Wish You Were Here in mid-1974, Pete Ham left Badfinger and was replaced by keyboardist / guitarist Bob Jackson. However, Warner Brothers said they would drop the band if Ham quit, so he agreed to return, and Badfinger completed a tour as a five-piece. Pete Ham sadly killed himself a year later in April 1975.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxkxAHoVKz--fEnaIvmx9M8IbGr6skyb4kXjfssfjI-29mA3zZXAWrf1GoiBgJTNxVlKwRm-tJ49kMtbXVGDEyOZQqNxUJJvEVNq4rjaFJSkX6fmS7yFH4B_r23ZlBg0OPj2blDhfq0EJpVcznQ3ym2PG-H0us1cM7NjxVc2d4ZtyjtLR_f_BERCpeg/s712/Steve_Marriott_in_1972%20with%20Epiphone%20Dwight%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="493" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxkxAHoVKz--fEnaIvmx9M8IbGr6skyb4kXjfssfjI-29mA3zZXAWrf1GoiBgJTNxVlKwRm-tJ49kMtbXVGDEyOZQqNxUJJvEVNq4rjaFJSkX6fmS7yFH4B_r23ZlBg0OPj2blDhfq0EJpVcznQ3ym2PG-H0us1cM7NjxVc2d4ZtyjtLR_f_BERCpeg/w445-h640/Steve_Marriott_in_1972%20with%20Epiphone%20Dwight%20copy.jpg" width="445" /></a></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: Tell us more about Steve Marriott</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I once called in the shop on my day off and saw all these guitars leaning against the showroom wall and among them was a Les Paul Standard. “Wow! I wouldn’t mind that” I said. Then a voice behind me said “Oh, I’d never sell that!”. I turned around and there was Steve Marriott. He’d brought a bunch of guitars in, and we did buy several from him. One was a very early model Gibson 330 in rare natural finish with dot neck markers. It was a lovely guitar, and the staff couldn’t put it down. It played so nice acoustically without even being plugged in. It was only a matter of time before one of the Top Gear staff said, “I’ll have that!”, but then Marriott’s roadie came in later and said, “Steve always said if he ever sold that guitar, I could have it”. So that was the end of that.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbWtaOJEusHjvbw93CCi1EHa9dNLztoPEclmPVLr5A6Kltn6FyQa8pElPWmc1ZN2lvHqXcOYWakP-LPOEazaikMg-t3j9dwjU0jJI28Q_usRN7WnEc-Y1uzgskBaiw9KJsD4eKctc3GhHqLj595HZZ8UXaOPTIeGq5g_BB8kKAHH1csK0zW8VFdcD3KA/s1191/176476302_1091529751338696_7126363026626874609_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="1191" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbWtaOJEusHjvbw93CCi1EHa9dNLztoPEclmPVLr5A6Kltn6FyQa8pElPWmc1ZN2lvHqXcOYWakP-LPOEazaikMg-t3j9dwjU0jJI28Q_usRN7WnEc-Y1uzgskBaiw9KJsD4eKctc3GhHqLj595HZZ8UXaOPTIeGq5g_BB8kKAHH1csK0zW8VFdcD3KA/w400-h239/176476302_1091529751338696_7126363026626874609_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve had an unfortunate habit of swapping parts on his guitars. For example, the three pick-up Les Paul Custom he sold to Top Gear only had one original PAF (“Patent Applied For”) pick-up. He had removed and replaced the other two PAFs with later humbuckers. He also put incorrect cream pick-up surrounds on it. We only found out about the pick-up swap later, much to my embarrassment. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another interesting guitar Marriott traded in was an Epiphone Dwight. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Dwight was a subject of interest on the Top Gear Facebook page (see link below). I was able to confirm that Steve Marriott sold it to us, and Top Gear staffer Guy Mason swapped his Strat for it. Sadly, Guy died in 2014 and we heard his widow sold the Dwight. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ed. note: The Epiphone Dwight is a very rare solid guitar based on a re-badged Epiphone Coronet. It’s said that only two batches of Dwight guitars totaling 111 instruments were made in 1963 and 1967 for the students of the Sunny Shields Music Studio of East St. Louis, Illinois. Joe Bonamassa now owns one of these, naturally. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: Did Steve ever trade in stuff he shouldn’t have sold?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, but <b>Gary Moore</b> did. One day he came in to sell an Echoplex (echo unit) and other bits of equipment, but no guitars. And the next day he came back - or rather he was brought back by the management - looking rather sheepish and he bought it all back, because apparently it wasn’t his to sell. You see all these big names and think they are making huge amounts of money but it’s often not the case.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*********************************************************</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAmwH--pgh-C_-4DgKpx0xeT016FIOYkZ7Hld8r39kjRIxanj9t_57gHzA8yKJkoHRiC6bgB_UcsGa2XRiX8qC3BX7cTUUfVsxKxh_GNiwYuaSYvSgUlNhMi_jKvy4Ave5PCuHgaYjchWhk2recZAQz5P_WN7AtrDdvTgsdolM4N_V9El9nnN0K6dPOA/s960/Gibson%20Everly%20Brothers%20Paul%20McCartney.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="892" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAmwH--pgh-C_-4DgKpx0xeT016FIOYkZ7Hld8r39kjRIxanj9t_57gHzA8yKJkoHRiC6bgB_UcsGa2XRiX8qC3BX7cTUUfVsxKxh_GNiwYuaSYvSgUlNhMi_jKvy4Ave5PCuHgaYjchWhk2recZAQz5P_WN7AtrDdvTgsdolM4N_V9El9nnN0K6dPOA/s320/Gibson%20Everly%20Brothers%20Paul%20McCartney.jpg" width="297" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />Top Gear Guitar Tales:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> One day in late 1972 <b>Paul McCartney</b> bought a rare Gibson Everly Brothers acoustic, a Dobro and a few other items from Top Gear, paying with a Rothschild bank cheque. The staff helped him load the purchases into his Lamborghini Espada parked half up on the pavement outside the store. It was just another day for the boys at Top Gear. The Gibson Everly Brothers guitar was later seen on the 1973 TV special </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">James Paul McCartney</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and was also used during the Wings’ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Red Rose Speedway </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">album sessions. (Information from the Top Gear Facebook page – link below).</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*********************************************************</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0s5TL4epR-9H-02p5pDZ3CDresXgwyj0W7ESmW-HqryybZBpfZC7oxjk1eMlnS_G77G2UMPOedwyhzBYKvB8pdwcANha5z4-zQN6liQz-Mmw3Nkq4s43lwPYKdqlS1WNy4R5iXYbZQGllU2zCpwg_aIjlt8ytEG5OmeZI7PKyVIP5cfwQCoSsDwXWLg/s3361/Fender%20book%20by%20Ken%20Achard.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3361" data-original-width="2434" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0s5TL4epR-9H-02p5pDZ3CDresXgwyj0W7ESmW-HqryybZBpfZC7oxjk1eMlnS_G77G2UMPOedwyhzBYKvB8pdwcANha5z4-zQN6liQz-Mmw3Nkq4s43lwPYKdqlS1WNy4R5iXYbZQGllU2zCpwg_aIjlt8ytEG5OmeZI7PKyVIP5cfwQCoSsDwXWLg/s320/Fender%20book%20by%20Ken%20Achard.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fender book by Ken Achard</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />Q: What do you remember about the staff members?</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two brothers, Craig and Rod Bradley, ran the place. Rod worked in the office with the other staff, including Ken Achard, who wrote the Fender book, and Craig managed the shop. The brothers lived in Brighton and Craig later went to work in their warehouse there and Ken became the manager of Top Gear.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvKW_d7gylRsI5QAKtc4jyVX1cYI04bFtDEf01ECPwBPow7ioCK6evF0KbFcejU72p66772B9QN3OFxXtqLfWtE_6_2TF2Zx6mPnEIeapjLJLU5f8YWXMr2u0tWPDvW-sP610fjwNM1SncHA1vlUZOY4ACjbCV9REEHKzaFt_vp2fnGZPKuZ72-Xp7DA/s3695/Book%20by%20Top%20Gear%20staffer%20Ken%20Achard.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3695" data-original-width="2613" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvKW_d7gylRsI5QAKtc4jyVX1cYI04bFtDEf01ECPwBPow7ioCK6evF0KbFcejU72p66772B9QN3OFxXtqLfWtE_6_2TF2Zx6mPnEIeapjLJLU5f8YWXMr2u0tWPDvW-sP610fjwNM1SncHA1vlUZOY4ACjbCV9REEHKzaFt_vp2fnGZPKuZ72-Xp7DA/s320/Book%20by%20Top%20Gear%20staffer%20Ken%20Achard.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Book by Top Gear manager Ken Achard</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Ed. note: Top Gear staffers Ken Achard and Sid Bishop (writing under his given name Ian C. Bishop) published several acclaimed Fender and Gibson reference books in the 70s. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGmu4_V5XrSNGt-K9nVG9fjtDizybTysqQuai2Hp048cDHCsB6Guy-hjKGHhiXG4gnJW4YiN3y_9Vabiu7KQQ2nDeXjNdvXEKPCtiEWrK4FjJUGSPDIlDUIToYxb-IO3nerTiW6WdD97VnXc1HXYftSPPRxB0J1nxcyVcLUuSRZmhTpYpN07R_pe78w/s3552/Gibson%20books%20by%20Sid%20Bishop.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2710" data-original-width="3552" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGmu4_V5XrSNGt-K9nVG9fjtDizybTysqQuai2Hp048cDHCsB6Guy-hjKGHhiXG4gnJW4YiN3y_9Vabiu7KQQ2nDeXjNdvXEKPCtiEWrK4FjJUGSPDIlDUIToYxb-IO3nerTiW6WdD97VnXc1HXYftSPPRxB0J1nxcyVcLUuSRZmhTpYpN07R_pe78w/s320/Gibson%20books%20by%20Sid%20Bishop.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Gibson books by Sid Bishop</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />Q: The same people also owned another store, Guitar Village on Shaftesbury Avenue, I believe?</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s right. I also worked there occasionally. Guitar Village had only two staff members, a permanent one and we’d take it in turns for someone from Top Gear to go and work there for the day. I preferred working at the Denmark Street store because there was more going on. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I started in early 1974 the manager of Top Gear was <b>Sid Bishop</b>. I replaced a fellow called Mark Moffatt, a well-known Australian musician and producer who I’m still in touch with. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Working in the back room at Top Gear was Roger Giffen, who went on to work for Gibson in America. He has made guitars for people like Roy Wood, and he runs his own company now making boutique guitars. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ed. Note: Sid Bishop played guitar and sitar with the Deviants, appearing on their 1968 album Ptooff!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: Do you remember when the Ernie Ball custom gauge strings came out? Guitar stores would have a huge box of strings on the counter and customers could make up their own custom gauge sets.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I do remember that. Ernie Ball finally got it right. Before that, some of the gauges were ridiculous. Fender would have sets with 10s on the top to about </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">38s on the bottom</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. And Gibson had their Sonomatic strings with a wound third. But Ernie Ball standardised things with their Slinky sets and those gauges are still with us today.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ed. note: in the early 70s Ernie Ball was the first company to offer mix-and-match light gauge guitar strings suitable for blues and rock</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHvx0Rl79vqqE-x5MF9TMYdOyHXJuQ-2bVmSCqAwVQHrdwWzAyNEubPDqgq_Yjh_Kwmy3y7V40ydL1EiZG52aML2CquR84JWsKr5vss7WnG3Dnprrp2cDK5ZRHjYmtOBG3KQ21eeE8GLqYCNYT1lLdTTbksoP9WizoCJqKH6-nUvmiaqBsTyyW6p_gQ/s865/Beat%20Instrumental%20June%201969.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="693" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHvx0Rl79vqqE-x5MF9TMYdOyHXJuQ-2bVmSCqAwVQHrdwWzAyNEubPDqgq_Yjh_Kwmy3y7V40ydL1EiZG52aML2CquR84JWsKr5vss7WnG3Dnprrp2cDK5ZRHjYmtOBG3KQ21eeE8GLqYCNYT1lLdTTbksoP9WizoCJqKH6-nUvmiaqBsTyyW6p_gQ/s320/Beat%20Instrumental%20June%201969.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Beat Instrumental magazine ad June 1969</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />Q: When we were just starting out in the early to mid-60s, £1 for a set of strings was a huge investment. Often, if the top E string broke, you’d try and join the broken ends together</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tell me about it! We had those awful cheap brands like Kay, Cathedral and Black Diamond. It makes you wonder; we talk about the beauty of some of the vintage 50s and 60s instruments but imagine them with those (heavy) strings on, played through the amplification of the day. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: And flatwound strings were still popular back then</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, Rickenbackers left the factory with high tension flatwounds back then. As well as being a retail shop, Top Gear were also national distributors for Peavy (amplifiers), Barcus Berry (pickups), Guild and Rickenbacker. And before the Rickenbackers could go on display they’d have to be re-strung, because they came with flatwounds. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: How did you come to own your 1962 cherry red Gibson ES335? </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the late 60s there was a big shop in Watford called Hammonds and they sold sheet music, pianos, organs and guitars. My friends and I used to hang around there all the time. When we got a little older and a bit more game, of course, we’d go up the West End. But</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">just down the road from Hammonds was this little music shop where they sold second-hand stuff. That’s where I saw the 335 hanging on the wall. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t exactly what I was chasing, but I went back there with my dad to check it out and it was gone. The shop owner said it belonged to a mate of his who lived nearby. So we went around to his house and the bloke brought it out in this battered old case and said I could have the guitar and a little Linear amp for 55 quid! And I promptly sold the amp a few days later for 5 or 10 quid. The guitar was a ’62, so it just missed being a dot neck. It had one PAF and one patent number pick-up and at one stage it had had a Bigsby tremolo, but it was gone by the time I got it. The pick-up covers had been removed, as was the fashion in the late 60s.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: Did you bring the guitar to Australia with you?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, I did, and it’s still here. It’s now owned by a guy who runs a guitar school in Perth. I never really wanted a 335 at the time. Like everybody else back then I wanted a Les Paul, which was completely out of the question. And I would have even preferred an SG, but I don’t like them at all now.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtk_aGhMu53bFhCbppD4LlOwJ9-RYJ0SljRSzLtILNycN0jiYBJI6oHarC4uIGDHMxPyfMmLD9m8p-peQa8Q5fOFT89CK-cTWo-8HRd6hWFcvu1ek4MJqpHPBF-IBjP8ZyMAi5n6fyhrRKs4cU_kS9f_eLDfWUV2Pk7VitQtGrf10isNf3I5_2Hrs5Q/s2048/Denmark%20Steet%20in%20the%2070s%20Top%20Gear%20on%20the%20left.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1351" data-original-width="2048" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtk_aGhMu53bFhCbppD4LlOwJ9-RYJ0SljRSzLtILNycN0jiYBJI6oHarC4uIGDHMxPyfMmLD9m8p-peQa8Q5fOFT89CK-cTWo-8HRd6hWFcvu1ek4MJqpHPBF-IBjP8ZyMAi5n6fyhrRKs4cU_kS9f_eLDfWUV2Pk7VitQtGrf10isNf3I5_2Hrs5Q/w640-h422/Denmark%20Steet%20in%20the%2070s%20Top%20Gear%20on%20the%20left.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Denmark Steet in the 70s - Top Gear on the left</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Q: What do you remember about the Les Paul Special Bob Marley bought from Top Gear?</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mark Moffatt says he sold it to him in 1973, I think. Mark left early 1974 and I replaced him. <b>Marc Bolan </b>bought that Les Paul first but didn’t like it, so he brought it back and <b>Bob Marley</b> came in and bought it a few days later. Then the guitar was damaged. It fell over and the toggle switch punched through the top of the body, so the guys at Top Gear fixed it a number of times with different oversized switch plates. At one point they wrote "Riddum" and "Trebill" on the temporary switch plate which apparently Bob thought was highly amusing. But I suppose that wouldn’t be considered PC today.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sJl-IRLohIJTGpm433VNhNlDODI5AD5A2tyJch5MHoaSCfCVqwHF7HJLlbq5Cbxok2pWLXscmVapOTodhvv1MK6yOJPcXKCydYdkoVJlSq260L5rkU0o0v0LfnFXyx7AsEJsco7xPgjCVKA53ceLE-u9_W8aMtxs4ZZB8klt8_1w7Op53NL1Jv_7kw/s2778/Bob%20Marley%20with%20Les%20Paul%20Special%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2778" data-original-width="2778" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sJl-IRLohIJTGpm433VNhNlDODI5AD5A2tyJch5MHoaSCfCVqwHF7HJLlbq5Cbxok2pWLXscmVapOTodhvv1MK6yOJPcXKCydYdkoVJlSq260L5rkU0o0v0LfnFXyx7AsEJsco7xPgjCVKA53ceLE-u9_W8aMtxs4ZZB8klt8_1w7Op53NL1Jv_7kw/s320/Bob%20Marley%20with%20Les%20Paul%20Special%20copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We had a few instances like that. </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;">Tony Hicks</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> from the </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;">Hollies</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> came in and bought a single pick-up Les Paul Junior. He brought it back because he couldn’t keep it in tune and one of the Top Gear staff guys bought it. There was a banjo downstairs in the shop that used to belong to Tony Hicks. I often wondered if it was the one he used on the Hollies 1966 single “Stop, Stop, Stop”. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ed. Note: "Riddum" and "Trebill" relates to the two pickup settings "Rhythm" and "Treble". See below for a link to the full story of the Gibson Les Paul Special Bob Marley bought from Top Gear.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NgZmbe5qNJM9bDEBsIXuG9yNyp7xXCyIsHK5msdZYTq4dtt8eCV6Thy8Uv_63Zgx9uPBHVbvXqbWTMzbx7hLKiS57vmjbGGSVfmHqyRMADk7RN1PyJUuij64zDn-lud58S0_we7GruGlF58Uv4IZfw9toKGtl_o_453uYssmuXM-T72bSIhnHbJdRw/s4032/Denmark%20Street%20today%20photo%20by%20Robert%20Penney.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NgZmbe5qNJM9bDEBsIXuG9yNyp7xXCyIsHK5msdZYTq4dtt8eCV6Thy8Uv_63Zgx9uPBHVbvXqbWTMzbx7hLKiS57vmjbGGSVfmHqyRMADk7RN1PyJUuij64zDn-lud58S0_we7GruGlF58Uv4IZfw9toKGtl_o_453uYssmuXM-T72bSIhnHbJdRw/w640-h480/Denmark%20Street%20today%20photo%20by%20Robert%20Penney.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Denmark Street in 2022. The disruption continues - photo by Robert Penney</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />Q: Did you get a lot of celebs trading gear in?</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, we did. I remember <b>Ian Hunter</b> (Mott the Hoople) came in once, complete with his trademark sunglasses, and sold us two Les Paul Standards - obviously reissues - and we couldn’t believe it, on the fretboard where the mother of pearl fret markers were, he had put lines right across using liquid paper. I think he possibly used it for open tunings.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>John Entwistle</b> came in a couple of times. I remember making him a cup of instant coffee. I sold<b> Tony McPhee</b> (Groundhogs) a cheap acoustic for one of his students. The <b>Bay City Rollers</b> came in one day. They traded in two (second-hand) guitars on two new guitars and didn’t even try the new ones out. They just said “We’ll have that one and that one” and took them without playing them. They seemed like nice enough lads, though. <b>Mike Oldfield</b> often used to come in and so did <b>Hank Marvin</b>. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: What did Hank buy?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hank never bought a bloody thing! He used to come in and just hang out. He’d park his battered old station wagon half up on the pavement outside and come in and hang out. He was always very welcome, but I don’t think he ever bought anything. <b>Allan Holdsworth</b> came in all the time as well. Lovely guy.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: Meeting the great Allan Holdsworth must have been a thrill?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Allan came in the shop a lot and he was always very quiet and unassuming. We showed him many different guitars and he always dazzled us with his playing. One time he sold us a Gibson 335, but he had cut a hole in the top below the neck pickup in an effort to reposition it. Sadly, he had made a pigs ear of it and hadn’t finished the job properly. (TG luthier) Roger Giffen had to fix a repair plate over the hole.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4tVRYxHyYq7zRupQMjjf0TFR8S4-Nr1Y_28ARZPdmEbuYaZAlBSptx4zUS__QkfAoCEUwd5nvlomSYDQXczfTtUrVfHaswX5mAomGtLY_gKd2qwmuduRSVhTNyqvWKT8R2MEMt7K1KkcszGCl3z1XRR_iwMaSQnRJ5R70leinm4q2cpCyod-MygCiw/s1311/Rob%20Marsh%20with%20Gibson%20335.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1311" data-original-width="882" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4tVRYxHyYq7zRupQMjjf0TFR8S4-Nr1Y_28ARZPdmEbuYaZAlBSptx4zUS__QkfAoCEUwd5nvlomSYDQXczfTtUrVfHaswX5mAomGtLY_gKd2qwmuduRSVhTNyqvWKT8R2MEMt7K1KkcszGCl3z1XRR_iwMaSQnRJ5R70leinm4q2cpCyod-MygCiw/s320/Rob%20Marsh%20with%20Gibson%20335.jpeg" width="215" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Rob Marsh with his Gibson ES335</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I had my own 335 at the time and the case was shot so Craig (Bradley) let me swap mine with the case Allan’s guitar came in. It was a genuine Gibson heavy duty case and had "Marshall Tucker Band" stenciled on it. I sold my Gibson 335 together with Allan’s old case years later in Australia, much to my regret.</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I once loaned Allan my 335 for a week, apparently for some sessions in Switzerland with <b>Jack Bruce</b>. He returned it personally to my flat in Queensway, stayed for a coffee and we had a good chat, but he never mentioned the sessions. He wouldn't have admitted it, but he was struggling at the time. The UK was all about the Bay City Rollers and glam in 1974. He was such a nice fellow. I was glad when he found deserved success and felt really sad on hearing the news of his passing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: What about Mike Oldfield?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One day when we were quite busy this little fellow came up to the counter and said “I bought a (Fender) Twin Reverb (amplifier) yesterday and I’d like to return it and get a Guild 12-string”. I asked one of the other staff guys “Do you know anything about someone buying a Twin Reverb yesterday?” and he said “Yeah, that was Mike Oldfield”. But he just wandered in. He was so unassuming.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We sold him a Gibson SG Junior at Guitar Village around 1973. He played it a lot back then, including on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tubular Bells</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LP. Mike was a great player, the guitar solos on stuff like “Moonlight Shadow”, “Portsmouth” and “Blue Peter Theme” are bloody good! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnDYInvOBgekedwNBxzTQu2adX5Hw6a6GymuRBac77WUYmVK0ugsNrIOboLVavZqZL1lNCPRTJh73n06aH3hHwyYybuxeO4oO7nJHRqiIaA5H4FrdKl_th37Yyzw13sdANcFTiabX5nrKRNdYj7RbE0D9A2mizRFq_hlLqYUP2Fm5Ynk0mBXCclye2Eg/s1000/Hofner%20Colorama%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="662" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnDYInvOBgekedwNBxzTQu2adX5Hw6a6GymuRBac77WUYmVK0ugsNrIOboLVavZqZL1lNCPRTJh73n06aH3hHwyYybuxeO4oO7nJHRqiIaA5H4FrdKl_th37Yyzw13sdANcFTiabX5nrKRNdYj7RbE0D9A2mizRFq_hlLqYUP2Fm5Ynk0mBXCclye2Eg/w265-h400/Hofner%20Colorama%201.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Hofner Colorama</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Q: Finally, tell us about the time Mike Rutherford from Genesis came in to buy a Hofner</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I said earlier (before we began recording the interview), Rutherford and his pal came into Top Gear one day. They were scouring the West End looking for a Hofner Colorama, of all things! I told him I used to have one when I was learning to play and he replied "</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everyone</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> used to have one!” I said I thought they weren’t bad guitars and while the pickups were not nearly powerful enough for lead, they were good enough for rhythm. He said that was exactly why they were seeking one for their current recording.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ed. Note: The Hofner Colorama was a cheap solid electric guitar made for the UK market between 1958-65. It appeared with several different body styles during a seven-year production run, but the two versions made between 1962-65 during the Beat Boom were the most popular. The 1964 Selmer catalogue lists the guitar at around </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">£</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30. These 60s budget guitars have since acquired an ironic, kitsch value and today the Reverb website shows original 60s examples priced at US$1,500, or more.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhukV7tQcgVIhvVrjohGKGswkrzGrGSEeZOBbzJtsFdrsRBraZfBAmaB243ueGnKoBNmsI29VHd8btcP15w4YbzMzvfQhbeXApf50sqNC0SzRJ8-BUkxAo7_-_zH7-oRsCdXlHNRjc58gFT75gRx9gRpshsmcl0H6_yPjFI3RZoPu7yOEKbKjGk3eepQw/s929/Rokas%20shop%20at%205%20Denmark%20Street.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="929" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhukV7tQcgVIhvVrjohGKGswkrzGrGSEeZOBbzJtsFdrsRBraZfBAmaB243ueGnKoBNmsI29VHd8btcP15w4YbzMzvfQhbeXApf50sqNC0SzRJ8-BUkxAo7_-_zH7-oRsCdXlHNRjc58gFT75gRx9gRpshsmcl0H6_yPjFI3RZoPu7yOEKbKjGk3eepQw/w400-h339/Rokas%20shop%20at%205%20Denmark%20Street.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>After Top Gear Rokas shop took over at 5 Denmark Street</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Footnote: </b>After Top Gear moved out in the late 70s, the store was taken over by Ron Roka who had previously worked as a guitar builder / repairer in the back area of the shop. Today, the store is occupied by <b>Wunjo Guitars</b>, the latest in a line of high-profile guitar retailers to occupy the famous premises at 5 Denmark Street.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxfgnN4Gb71Uzkvc_J7M0x4_Jk70G8EoRgTg0qX6Q7fKk2ow4ClIIEJaMdVzM01guzlVo3un-dRYuyhF-jsQxyhLLWB7ukcRxTD5z7r3oc2qbQ8uZlcHspoLoehk2dtBq-6dKFMEo4jWaDUBUGAvB3tmz1mCOWv0M9nsI1eByXGcLTjDFqgOBderJcw/s3510/5%20Denmark%20Street%20today%20photo%20by%20Robert%20Penney.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2288" data-original-width="3510" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxfgnN4Gb71Uzkvc_J7M0x4_Jk70G8EoRgTg0qX6Q7fKk2ow4ClIIEJaMdVzM01guzlVo3un-dRYuyhF-jsQxyhLLWB7ukcRxTD5z7r3oc2qbQ8uZlcHspoLoehk2dtBq-6dKFMEo4jWaDUBUGAvB3tmz1mCOWv0M9nsI1eByXGcLTjDFqgOBderJcw/w400-h261/5%20Denmark%20Street%20today%20photo%20by%20Robert%20Penney.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>5 Denmark Street today - photo by Robert Penney</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Rob Marsh now lives in Perth, Western Australia and is the WA agent for Melbourne-based </span><b style="font-size: 12pt;">Maton</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Guitars, possibly the pre-eminent Australian acoustic guitar maker.</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read the definitive story of the Gibson Les Paul Special Bob Marley bought from Top Gear </span><a href="https://reverb.com/uk/news/the-definitive-story-of-bob-marleys-les-paul-special?fbclid=IwAR2LVixUWElwmxmqu3aVuG8sAtuN7R_aSHaFg1KrUXLg2dT-DFz4a12Y0Rg" target="_blank">HERE</a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks to the excellent Top Gear Facebook page for some of the information. Visit </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Top-Gear-Music-London-289183784906634" target="_blank">HERE</a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #5f6368; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Check out this 1951 Pathé </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">News item on Denmark Street <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQkIBMIt-Pg" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvsiGqoeF9O56_lh7XvDS7ryivG4g_IQUBXxLZvdOjDPizQL2M0pZ5EPN-h9EBNcRsBwyZ5WW-MCQoBjvfmTbDP5DCs3Ofdtj8RWttc_MrpsM2qNN9FUdqg4jF_ade7AeECo5XmWvYaN_Ak3ILoijWIz_WLJT6wUChTfxMRyQCgNm5O1b-pPD_5e_bQ/s1558/Top%20Gear%20(2).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="443" data-original-width="1558" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvsiGqoeF9O56_lh7XvDS7ryivG4g_IQUBXxLZvdOjDPizQL2M0pZ5EPN-h9EBNcRsBwyZ5WW-MCQoBjvfmTbDP5DCs3Ofdtj8RWttc_MrpsM2qNN9FUdqg4jF_ade7AeECo5XmWvYaN_Ak3ILoijWIz_WLJT6wUChTfxMRyQCgNm5O1b-pPD_5e_bQ/w640-h182/Top%20Gear%20(2).JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLckUnrT57WwiNTc6K9i6bGJT1IOZepijL6oHkc6UcPWUwC0o4en98CI0POuFAFhlPzDI1ie2a4xQzxzQ5bfR0ZdPxhuzgg6rFx1iAzI4xuJcD7M5bucRtQ3rvAPdpfJDTt3fv5lOr78gcrAzWOkKqDshr3nIxjLFJbCpmLXf4ianXTzAwQOxR85rN_kg/s4032/IMG_7947.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLckUnrT57WwiNTc6K9i6bGJT1IOZepijL6oHkc6UcPWUwC0o4en98CI0POuFAFhlPzDI1ie2a4xQzxzQ5bfR0ZdPxhuzgg6rFx1iAzI4xuJcD7M5bucRtQ3rvAPdpfJDTt3fv5lOr78gcrAzWOkKqDshr3nIxjLFJbCpmLXf4ianXTzAwQOxR85rN_kg/w640-h480/IMG_7947.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div></div>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-5161098534494389712022-05-25T22:50:00.357-07:002024-01-03T15:58:12.700-08:00 Great Concerts Revisited: Blind Faith in Hyde Park 1969<span id="docs-internal-guid-6eccc6ec-7fff-5cce-a6cd-d9be84b91704"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: x-large; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGpFu-5Z7UhrZSY8x3vf0l20Gharf8VAFVBKsh-YG__As0vyDDSl2d0pYBbyLXXOY4jdkadGQthM2GMxb_P3jVEhey8fVJfyfZYXKTIQkMxCiVF5ERTtOOX88zxjXYOdM6BtRyq3IYIUZG5hGSfOcYdwniSufXcidAMENI8tMshHE8UpgJWUDLC0aQvE0/s1125/BlindFaithHeader%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="831" data-original-width="1125" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGpFu-5Z7UhrZSY8x3vf0l20Gharf8VAFVBKsh-YG__As0vyDDSl2d0pYBbyLXXOY4jdkadGQthM2GMxb_P3jVEhey8fVJfyfZYXKTIQkMxCiVF5ERTtOOX88zxjXYOdM6BtRyq3IYIUZG5hGSfOcYdwniSufXcidAMENI8tMshHE8UpgJWUDLC0aQvE0/w640-h472/BlindFaithHeader%20copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></b></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">by Stuart Penney</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On June 7, 1969, Blind Faith played their one and only British concert before an audience of 120,000 in London’s Hyde Park. Our man in the tie-dye t-shirt, paisley bandana and velvet dungarees was on the spot to witness it all. As the 53</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">rd</span></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> anniversary of that show approaches <i>Stuart Penney</i> tells the fact-packed tale of the concert, the band, the music, and the extraordinary brouhaha surrounding their controversial album cover, plus a whole lot more. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Supergroup: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">noun: a rock group made up of prominent former members of other already successful rock groups.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Announced with unprecedented fanfare Blind Faith was one of the most eagerly anticipated supergroups of the 60s. But, against all expectations the band fell apart within months, playing only 28 concerts over 78 days - including a solitary show in their UK homeland - and recording just one album. More than half a century later few remember those live shows, several of which were marred by crowd violence and riots. Yet, despite being dogged by controversy (some of which continues to this day) their only LP is now acclaimed as one of the greatest rock albums of the decade. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaN2tDN3u5YS9T0w4y_sdgTHliSByBPOt-7cOIBcU7zONUvLeYbaqoZKQLXsdLPsIKVmxS3AgfODr6ZAbmEsROyuBEu6Y2Aw1h9yNSPmtrCeNgov1XAp9q3pstxXdFG9xBsmTmT1eGiMY1dwv4P1zeYg90rhif12qfMl_ivwzYeH3gTBpe79ZIBTFQiA/s1000/Blind_Faith_(1969).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="1000" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaN2tDN3u5YS9T0w4y_sdgTHliSByBPOt-7cOIBcU7zONUvLeYbaqoZKQLXsdLPsIKVmxS3AgfODr6ZAbmEsROyuBEu6Y2Aw1h9yNSPmtrCeNgov1XAp9q3pstxXdFG9xBsmTmT1eGiMY1dwv4P1zeYg90rhif12qfMl_ivwzYeH3gTBpe79ZIBTFQiA/w400-h265/Blind_Faith_(1969).jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In recent years the term “supergroup” has been hijacked (notably by </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">American Idol</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> style talent shows) and devalued to the point where it’s now used to describe virtually any popular, big-selling band, regardless of pedigree, musical style or, indeed, technical ability. But it wasn’t always thus. Way back in the 1960s, if I may employ an Incredible String Band song title, “supergroup” had a very different and quite specific meaning. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As established in the dictionary definition above, the key to this are the words “already successful.” So, by that token we’re talking about revered groups such as Cream; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; the Mahavishnu Orchestra; Emerson, Lake & Palmer; Humble Pie and, more recently, the Traveling Wilburys. The individual members of these ensembles generally came together from established bands to form arguably bigger and better groups (although with George Harrison’s membership of the Wilburys we can probably make an honorable exception). These are undoubtedly the true supergroups. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All-star collaborations were nothing new in the jazz world, of course, where they had been happening for decades. But in rock circles the trend probably began with the album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Super Session</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> featuring </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stephen Stills</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This is the record which opened the floodgates for the entire “supergroup” concept of the 60s and 70s. At the time of recording in May 1968 Kooper had recently departed Blood Sweat & Tears while Bloomfield, previously with the Butterfield Blues Band, was about to quit his current band the Electric Flag. Stills, meanwhile, would shortly leave Buffalo Springfield to form Crosby, Stills & Nash. Kooper and Bloomfield had also both featured heavily on Bob Dylan’s landmark 1965 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Highway 61 Revisited</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qSTSFpRzkulQTbjwQ1Fsqx5uG2U7fjBCpp_x-dmTpxJ8njynQwwQ4K755Mp4zOCm79XM2Kq6sTgA_8yUZYyHPZTUag99jOZ7vfHuQSpBUOS60h9XKKESsbbl-sUmujFRk6FBZvaal9yrZ7QaeSbMEPtvJNwCvZghRj0MGIKeQrJ_xjpmwJ-1buFnww/s1200/BlindFaith.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qSTSFpRzkulQTbjwQ1Fsqx5uG2U7fjBCpp_x-dmTpxJ8njynQwwQ4K755Mp4zOCm79XM2Kq6sTgA_8yUZYyHPZTUag99jOZ7vfHuQSpBUOS60h9XKKESsbbl-sUmujFRk6FBZvaal9yrZ7QaeSbMEPtvJNwCvZghRj0MGIKeQrJ_xjpmwJ-1buFnww/w320-h400/BlindFaith.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">In December 1968 came the Rolling Stones’ </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Rock and Roll Circus</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> which included a stellar jam session by The Dirty Mac, a one-off band comprising John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell. This was followed in March 1969 by the film </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Supershow</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">. Sub-titled “The Last Great Jam of the 60s” it starred a host of big names including Stephen Stills, Buddy Guy, Led Zeppelin, Colosseum and the Modern Jazz Quartet. One of the more memorable </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">all-star</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> jams in the film saw Eric Clapton, Roland Kirk, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Jack Bruce and Jon Hiseman together onstage.</span></span></span><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqU8BAb8F2R1812MKCM9_zDltcCWpluShZiTkcSsrH0ul32fH_4ugXpa7nFokGc8y4DQeB4V5Lemv8kvgdb9jT96Un-LccGH41MbUUID9kswpHGcIEEprn4OqraAUIx5XDOJTzBsLIrp3v_-M0muYIW-U6e3hC16jHCnF1bV7PpbIk6aYcCOHIHdwKw/s3052/IMG_3628.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2737" data-original-width="3052" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqU8BAb8F2R1812MKCM9_zDltcCWpluShZiTkcSsrH0ul32fH_4ugXpa7nFokGc8y4DQeB4V5Lemv8kvgdb9jT96Un-LccGH41MbUUID9kswpHGcIEEprn4OqraAUIx5XDOJTzBsLIrp3v_-M0muYIW-U6e3hC16jHCnF1bV7PpbIk6aYcCOHIHdwKw/s320/IMG_3628.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Powerhouse</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Way before any of this</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> however, there was the snappily named Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse. Clapton and Steve Winwood had been friends since their days in the Yardbirds and Spencer Davis Group respectively and in March 1966 they recorded with producer / A&R man </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joe Boyd</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in the short-lived band The Powerhouse. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joe Boyd had come to London in 1965 to set up a UK branch of Elektra Records and he was looking for an un-signed British blues band for the label. It was </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Paul Jones</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> who suggested the hastily assembled line-up of Clapton - guitar, Winwood - vocals (billed as “Steve Anglo”), Jones - harmonica (billed as “Jacob Matthews”), Jack Bruce - bass, Pete York - drums (billed as “Peter Howard”) and Ben Palmer - piano. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Winwood and York (Spencer Davis Group) and Jones (Manfred Mann) were still contracted to their respective groups at the time, hence the pseudonyms. Jack Bruce was also fleetingly a Manfred Mann member around that time. Ben Palmer was a close pal of Clapton’s from way back in their Kingston Art College days and in 1963 they played together in the Roosters. He later became Clapton's personal roadie for the Cream and Blind Faith tours and in 2017 Eric’s documentary film </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Life in 12 Bars</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was dedicated to him - "In memory of my dear friend and mentor ROBIN BENWELL PALMER 1937-2017". Significantly, Ginger Baker was initially invited to play drums with the Powerhouse but for reasons unknown he was unavailable. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Boyd recorded four tracks, three of which were issued on the 1966 US Elektra LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s Shakin’</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (issued in the UK under the title </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good Time Music</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). Credited to Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse the released tracks were “I Want To Know”, “Crossroads” and “Steppin’ Out.” These were later reissued on the 2008 Jack Bruce CD box set </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can You Follow? </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The unnamed fourth track remains unreleased.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyBnwwYg6pHC6v6_aIza0BUk6HEpHFcw2c5CPtJpJwxdXy6AFlvf7hOLQzioTKn_Tgaz6qrHzxUOkVQTOxfqjwj7CH_a4KKW561glGa8geAcCgi-T8uH4WD3mxE1a7qGeO83s5kslQPcRrD0_G_u6U1rY0sfjCGtK7PQ4uxT-rwc9DgQM_x1oLE4cMQ/s1470/Blind-Faith-Olympic-Studios.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="980" data-original-width="1470" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyBnwwYg6pHC6v6_aIza0BUk6HEpHFcw2c5CPtJpJwxdXy6AFlvf7hOLQzioTKn_Tgaz6qrHzxUOkVQTOxfqjwj7CH_a4KKW561glGa8geAcCgi-T8uH4WD3mxE1a7qGeO83s5kslQPcRrD0_G_u6U1rY0sfjCGtK7PQ4uxT-rwc9DgQM_x1oLE4cMQ/w400-h266/Blind-Faith-Olympic-Studios.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Paul Jones’s Powerhouse alias “Jacob Matthews” was taken from the names of his two sons, Jacob and Matthew. In 1966 Jones was married to Sheila MacLeod which also happens to be the writing credit on “I Want To Know.” In 1967 this song was covered by Ten Years After on their self-titled Deram debut album. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s thought the Powerhouse tracks were cut at the original Olympic Sound Studios in Carton Street near Baker Street in central London (before the studio moved to its more famous location south of the river in Barnes) but according to Pete York, interviewed in Dave Thompson’s book </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cream: How Eric Clapton Took The World By Storm</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Penguin 2012), the recordings took place on the other side of Regents Park at Cecil Sharp House, the home of English traditional folk music. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only weeks after the Powerhouse recordings were made Jack Bruce was visited by Ginger Baker with an invitation to join a new band. All of which brings us neatly to Cream.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOc0J1L7oEQtgnYFIrQxWxwcr_qxzeVMVa19tioHvRd12xwfnoVNHiGq9kEN9pWjT59GfZ9EYnaOpfcIytnnAvDhP7SN4SQSiAAGqQB7tw1zahmIfk2LG3GsgXmcWYX6eP4OZdYi7pHHD9qXn30XeWWdzaPWfztMIn26iYT_L_vFgGFXsW4Ywaj4nf_A/s3970/Powerhouse.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2721" data-original-width="3970" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOc0J1L7oEQtgnYFIrQxWxwcr_qxzeVMVa19tioHvRd12xwfnoVNHiGq9kEN9pWjT59GfZ9EYnaOpfcIytnnAvDhP7SN4SQSiAAGqQB7tw1zahmIfk2LG3GsgXmcWYX6eP4OZdYi7pHHD9qXn30XeWWdzaPWfztMIn26iYT_L_vFgGFXsW4Ywaj4nf_A/w400-h274/Powerhouse.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Boys In The Band</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They may not have been exactly household names prior to joining up in July 1966 but </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eric Clapton</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (ex-John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers), </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jack Bruce</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ginger Baker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (both ex-Graham Bond Organisation), were certainly recognised by their peers as the best UK instrumentalists in their field and Cream was surely a true supergroup, even if the term was not yet in common usage. Despite massive success in America the trio lasted barely two years and even before they played their two farewell concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall in November 1968 Eric Clapton was formulating plans to team up with </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve Winwood</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> once again. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although Clapton had harbored visions of bringing Winwood into Cream to act as a buffer between the incessantly warring Jack and Ginger, it was not to be. Instead, Steve remained with the Spencer Davis Group until April 1967 when he formed Traffic with fellow Midlanders Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason and Chris Wood. The band stayed together for three albums before breaking up (or, more accurately, it was put on hold) for the first time in early 1969.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWrFP2pJfVX3-I8p0_Ds4GSJYd0qbiXV4exifcZd3hEZ2aYj4mSTfVOh7A0WQaycACxWzoU82Xu5dMBfDDQLUh_9ndy4dZExioxZdyKDKacg3Qq-pwg71E5x2IxGvB87YCq6GctT0zdoJqpp8YcvjMmw8AdUZu0M3fE3oNNOXJ1DQCtsnPPvd5w3jUGw/s2962/IMG_3629.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2673" data-original-width="2962" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWrFP2pJfVX3-I8p0_Ds4GSJYd0qbiXV4exifcZd3hEZ2aYj4mSTfVOh7A0WQaycACxWzoU82Xu5dMBfDDQLUh_9ndy4dZExioxZdyKDKacg3Qq-pwg71E5x2IxGvB87YCq6GctT0zdoJqpp8YcvjMmw8AdUZu0M3fE3oNNOXJ1DQCtsnPPvd5w3jUGw/w400-h361/IMG_3629.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point the pair resolved to finally put their own band together. They adjourned to Winwood’s secluded rehearsal cottage in the remote village of Aston Tirrold, then in Berkshire, where a year or two earlier Traffic had been “getting it together in the country” (to coin a popular hip phrase of the time). But within days Ginger Baker had tracked them down. He turned up unannounced in his 7.2 litre Jensen FF sports car (pictured below), sat behind Jim Capaldi’s kit and declared himself to be the drummer of this new band. It was the last thing Clapton had in mind just weeks after Cream had split up but, as he later admitted, he simply wasn’t assertive enough to say “no” to Ginger and was eventually talked into letting Baker join them by an unsuspecting Winwood. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Footnote</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: the tiny village of Aston Tirrold (population: 373, according to the 2011 UK census) was in the county of Berkshire (pronounced: “Bark-shurr”) until the boundary changes of 1974 when it became part of Oxfordshire, where it remains today. The track “Berkshire Poppies” on the debut Traffic album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Fantasy</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was inspired by the flowers growing in the fields surrounding the band’s rehearsal cottage.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61bVMCwEgc1D7bQCKoqEGN_-Abi_48yU06o9Pu-Oi08W8qBNM3OeRZrnoQoNIT9Vx8fooH8MliPRD8RvU_gaaCYhAQbEINylucmJjUU5djVhahEc6R8PHs57a5Sn1NXxz7R1frxTNlNihwAVKoo_C9Ix_v-_5tjmTpwfpkfNDHBiPa74m2mDm83p_Wg/s3207/IMG_3632.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2263" data-original-width="3207" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61bVMCwEgc1D7bQCKoqEGN_-Abi_48yU06o9Pu-Oi08W8qBNM3OeRZrnoQoNIT9Vx8fooH8MliPRD8RvU_gaaCYhAQbEINylucmJjUU5djVhahEc6R8PHs57a5Sn1NXxz7R1frxTNlNihwAVKoo_C9Ix_v-_5tjmTpwfpkfNDHBiPa74m2mDm83p_Wg/w640-h452/IMG_3632.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I Heard The News Today</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">News of their plans soon began to leak out and on February 8, 1969, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maker </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ran a</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">story headed “Clapton Delay.” It read “Plans by Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood to record (exclusively predicted in </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on December 7) were delayed this week by lack of studio time. The ex-Cream and Traffic stars need to use an eight-track studio, and none were available in London this week. Ginger Baker may join the group when a date has been set, but no other musicians have been chosen.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In March <i>Melody Maker</i> warmed to its theme with the headline “Clapton, Baker, Winwood Plans.” The story continued “The supergroup will probably make its British debut at a free open-air concert in London’s Hyde Park on June 7 and there may also be other British appearances.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The free concert rumours gained momentum when </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ran a short news item in the March 22 issue. Under the headline “Free Clapton Concert?” it read “Eric Clapton, Stevie Winwood and Ginger Baker are recording their album in strict secrecy, but news leaked in London of their doing a possible free concert in Hyde Park on June 7 afternoon. This would inaugurate another in the series of concerts successfully launched by Blackhill Enterprises as a kind of ‘Service to hippies, by hippies’ last year when top groups performed without fees, on the first Saturday of each month.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On April 19 the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> front page headline screamed “Clapton And Co Set For Newport.” This was the news that the Clapton, Winwood, Baker trio had been invited to perform on the last night of the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival on August 10. Referring to their upcoming US tour, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MM</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’s American correspondent Ren Grevatt reported from New York “The asking price per concert for their tour is reported to be twenty thousand dollars against percentages of each gate. This could be a multi-million dollar tour and the first to feature a true supergroup.” All this and they were still without a bassist or a band name. Spoiler alert: the Newport appearance was cancelled. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On May 3 the bass player was confirmed by </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New Musical Express</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to be </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ric Grech</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (often spelled Rick) from Leicester art-rock band Family. Although a virtual unknown compared to the other three, Family were rising stars on the underground rock circuit and Grech was well regarded as a bassist. He also played decent electric violin and could sing. He’d appeared on the classic early Family albums </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Music In A Doll’s House</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Family Entertainment</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> before breaking the news that he was quitting during their first American tour in April 1969. This didn’t go down too well with his bandmates and with emotions running high, those early US Family shows were, by all accounts, drink-fueled disasters, receiving terrible live reviews.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Q69T6Ix_WS5TL79MEglSqB_cAEZ1ydwX-uNAfV_voKA7iP1nnCn7xMyRE7Z2ajZqt_B1FVDd5Fc5pU4KPstBgbGn1r9L8ARXF67ww8mELLW62D6YuF9Pb5YkHoL2jI-rzYcZhkBrBq3AFKr1YJNXbR9r9KLWu98dFpZbJq3458SJpNhrZ8akIqWkQQ/s1023/Possible%20Header%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="1023" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Q69T6Ix_WS5TL79MEglSqB_cAEZ1ydwX-uNAfV_voKA7iP1nnCn7xMyRE7Z2ajZqt_B1FVDd5Fc5pU4KPstBgbGn1r9L8ARXF67ww8mELLW62D6YuF9Pb5YkHoL2jI-rzYcZhkBrBq3AFKr1YJNXbR9r9KLWu98dFpZbJq3458SJpNhrZ8akIqWkQQ/w640-h442/Possible%20Header%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On May 10 the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> front page revealed the band’s name in dramatic fashion. In giant typeface the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MM</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> trumpeted “Blind Faith - The New Supergroup,” The story (penned by trusted Cream insider Chris Welch) continued, “Blind Faith has been chosen as the name for the Clapton, Baker, Winwood Supergroup. The title was given exclusively to </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by the Robert Stigwood Organisation in New York at the weekend. It was chosen by the group at Winwood’s Berkshire cottage last week and telephoned to managers Chris Blackwell and Robert Stigwood who are in America finalising details of their tour.” </span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the issue dated June 7, the day of the concert (but on sale two days earlier) </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> splashed a photo of the band on their front page above the headline “Together at last - Blind Faith.” The story went on “Here they are, Blind Faith, the new supergroup fans all over the world have been waiting to hear. Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Ric Grech are shown together for the first time in an exclusive </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> picture. An estimated 50,000 fans will be able to see and hear them at their debut appearance at their free concert in London’s Hyde Park on Saturday afternoon.” There was more in similar vein with </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MM</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> expressing surprise that “fans will be coming from all over Britain” and that (gasp) some were even expected “from France and Poland!” The front-page photograph showed the band in their rehearsal room at Clapton’s house, Hurtwood Edge in Ewhurst, Surrey, one of several similar shots which appeared at the time, variations of which made the inside gatefold of the UK </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LP and the front cover of the US version. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Footnote:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Two days after the Blind Faith concert the (now defunct) London </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Evening News</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> made an almighty gaffe by describing the event as “Cream’s Farewell Concert.” </span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Parklife</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the time of writing, tickets for the Rolling Stones’ Hyde Park concert due to take place in June 2022 are selling for upwards of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">£200 each for regular economy class seats. But for those who want the full VIP treatment with everything that entails be prepared to shell out £1,000 or more.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Absurd</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as it sounds that’s the kind of money you’ll pay to attend a full-scale rock concert by a major band today. But it wasn’t always the case. Back when musicians made their living from physical record sales live shows were simply another way of promoting their latest release and concerts were inexpensive or sometimes, even, free. From San Francisco to Stonehenge free concerts flourished in the late 60s / early 70s and London’s Hyde Park saw some of the greatest of them all. Oh, did I mention that the bands also played for free at these events?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blackhill Enterprises, the rock management company founded by Peter Jenner, Andrew King and members of Pink Floyd, staged around a dozen free concerts in Hyde Park between 1968-1971, averaging three a year. All but a few took place on the banks of the Serpentine Lake in a natural amphitheatre known as The Cockpit (actually a disused gravel pit dating back to the 17th century) and because the shows were free to all they required no fences and presented few problems with security. Later concerts were moved to a location close to Park Lane on the eastern edge of the park.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The early shows were comparatively small with crowds not much exceeding 15,000. All this changed in 1969 as the concerts dramatically increased in scale and notoriety and on June 7 an estimated 120,000 turned up to see Blind Faith. The stage was relatively basic without any kind of backdrop. This afforded fans a clear (if somewhat distracting) view past the musicians and the Marshall stacks, out across the Serpentine crowded with rowing boats, to the distant 33-storey Hyde Park Barracks tower, then still under construction. Compared to the much larger and more elaborate stage used by the Rolling Stones a few weeks later, the Blind Faith presentation seemed a little low budget for such a major group. All the Hyde Park concerts and other large events of the era, including the Isle of Wight festivals, used WEM (Watkins Electric Music) PA systems with their familiar black columns and distinctive red logos.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite being totally at odds with the utopian peace and love vibe of the late 60s it had become briefly - not to say bizarrely - fashionable in the US to hire Hells Angels’ members to act as security at large outdoor rock shows, ostensibly to protect the stage and equipment. And where America went the UK inevitably followed, especially back then. Being Britain though, our version of the Hells Angels was more </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dad’s Army</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> than </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Easy Rider</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and, with scarcely a chopper between them, the Hyde Park chapter of the London bikers appeared to have little idea why they were there, other than to drink beer and glower menacingly at anyone who passed by. They were not nearly as numerous or as visible as the swastika-bedecked goons we saw at the Stones’ concert a few weeks later, but it was still unsettling to see them swaggering around the park with an air of thuggish entitlement. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In his book <i>My Life In Rock and Out</i> promoter Bill Graham says this about the UK bikers: "There was a chapter of real Hell's Angels in London. But there were also these other ones who had just written "Hell's Angels" in chalk and whitewash on the back of their leather jacket or done it in studs. It was just a style. They were riding around on mopeds."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Support Bands</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By the time my girlfriend and I arrived in the early afternoon Hyde Park was getting mighty crowded. Thousands had camped out overnight to secure a decent vantage spot and the Cockpit and surrounding area was already full to overflowing. We eventually found a suitable patch of grass on high ground some distance from the action just as the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Third Ear Band</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> took the stage at 2:30.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vW-jaMm35FrgaawXEK80lnyMxtAbLE6I6cp2L2WCu470CSwZQB103rYD9S4ntl8aRiu7GL3kk05Pywxe-_ieLOWPOx5yKqqwJkz5QTn0jqscW0GyTRZvylg2_iJEKlORG4FTi1Fnju-HbRDE6DbhTLLGchAkM1rLFKDO4EtJcExxRNKO80G_CHaKtA/s597/hyde-park-third-ear-band.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="597" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vW-jaMm35FrgaawXEK80lnyMxtAbLE6I6cp2L2WCu470CSwZQB103rYD9S4ntl8aRiu7GL3kk05Pywxe-_ieLOWPOx5yKqqwJkz5QTn0jqscW0GyTRZvylg2_iJEKlORG4FTi1Fnju-HbRDE6DbhTLLGchAkM1rLFKDO4EtJcExxRNKO80G_CHaKtA/s320/hyde-park-third-ear-band.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Third Ear Band</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although their debut album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alchemy</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Harvest SHVL 756) was still a month or so from release the Third Ear Band were old hands at events of this kind. They also played at the Rolling Stones’ free concert a month later and were billed to support Pink Floyd at Hyde Park in July 1970, but for reasons unknown they pulled out of that one. Their soothing raga style instrumental music utilising violin, cello, oboe and percussion was never likely to get the crowd up and dancing (much less idiot dancing) but it was perfectly suited to a balmy afternoon in the open air and it was always good to hear their hypnotic, trance-like improvisations. As a matter of fact, it still is.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9oqWwG_ypbRS-_tJDokqH2b-MoEu2MfvnXYuPH5FkbXYJJLtrtO_4R3_DLnxvyzaiYoXh67XgdahK1x5RmdFvx-engPAzTgwabzVqKro4xpHyC_nRdgL_-aVsugPDZsiCAKWaq0ZmHFjPwTgNquU6ymLZCeDXJdiHfUk4uI9K2qx-7ZnwCXttYuT3-w/s484/edgar-broughton-band.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="380" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9oqWwG_ypbRS-_tJDokqH2b-MoEu2MfvnXYuPH5FkbXYJJLtrtO_4R3_DLnxvyzaiYoXh67XgdahK1x5RmdFvx-engPAzTgwabzVqKro4xpHyC_nRdgL_-aVsugPDZsiCAKWaq0ZmHFjPwTgNquU6ymLZCeDXJdiHfUk4uI9K2qx-7ZnwCXttYuT3-w/s320/edgar-broughton-band.jpg" width="251" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next up were the Third Ear Band’s Harvest label stablemates the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edgar Broughton Band</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Both acts were signed to Blackhill Enterprises where they were managed and produced by Peter Jenner. Their first LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wasa Wasa</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Harvest SHVL 757) was still unreleased at the time but a debut single “Evil” / “Death of an Electric Citizen” (Harvest HAR 5001) had gone on sale the day before the Hyde Park concert. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With Edgar on guitar / vocals, brother Steve on drums and Arthur Grant bass / vocals, the magnificently hirsute trio made a fearsome - if somewhat chaotic - sound and their performance brought the first sprinkling of idiot dancers to their feet. Never a pretty sight even back in the day, the antics of those wildly gyrating fools now appears ever more unedifying with each passing year. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Broughton's set included “Apache Drop Out” a bizarre mash-up of the 1960 Shadows’ hit and Captain Beefheart’s “Drop Out Boogie” which would later be released as their fourth Harvest single in 1970. Edgar’s semi operatic vocal technique (incorporating more than a hint of Beefheart), as employed by the likes of Arthur Brown and others, was definitely an acquired taste. But, like it or not, he was in full voice at Hyde Park. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The highlight of their short set was undoubtedly the anthemic “Out Demons Out” during which Edgar attempted to whip up the crowd with some half-hearted revolutionary sloganeering along the lines of “You’ve got the power, what are you going to do with it?” Although unreleased on record until the following year “Out Demons Out” became arguably the EBB’s biggest song and the one by which they are most fondly remembered.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Footnote:</b> Just as this piece was published we learned of the sad death of Steve Broughton (below right), on May 30, 2022, aged 72</span>. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0bv6Zlt5e8U6Ce4peJzxaZp1xzM8UfdHJXsOejxFe-vRX9SafyLg_cfEIxeYXYI2Qd1YKMa9Mt-U6ONuoKzsqpcYyt8QazbPe1X3JNruHFDAOKP4OLStDQ2K3HpTpYVZeDbVGE0uAnpyqP85dz5Ca7ZiiGqBM_ZFTBVC9yG8p6LJg_VJyJ9YxNfN5Iw/s604/EBB.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="604" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0bv6Zlt5e8U6Ce4peJzxaZp1xzM8UfdHJXsOejxFe-vRX9SafyLg_cfEIxeYXYI2Qd1YKMa9Mt-U6ONuoKzsqpcYyt8QazbPe1X3JNruHFDAOKP4OLStDQ2K3HpTpYVZeDbVGE0uAnpyqP85dz5Ca7ZiiGqBM_ZFTBVC9yG8p6LJg_VJyJ9YxNfN5Iw/w400-h258/EBB.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Record Collector Note:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Evil” was the very first single on the Harvest label and the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alchemy</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wasa Wasa</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> albums were released together on the same day with consecutive catalogue numbers.</span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Second top of the bill was </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Richie Havens</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> appearing just two months before his triumphant opening performance at the Woodstock festival. Backed by guitarist Paul “Deano” Williams and a conga player (probably Daniel “Natoga” Ben Zebulon), Richie was in great form, thrashing the daylights out of his open-tuned Guild acoustic which he fretted with his thumb over the top of the guitar's neck. Opening with Judy Henske’s “High Flying Bird” he played Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” and others, before closing with his Woodstock showstopper “Freedom.” Other songs possibly came from what was then his latest album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Richard P. Havens 1983</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Verve Forecast SVLP 6014). Guitarist “Deano” apparently lost his trademark beret during the set and impassioned pleas were made from the stage for its return.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht12RWcrZ3JTQDM-bNIbEV16oTRoaz86gp7o-zkbCxIy2WkFuYdWeRnHr-eKAUWuTQytjElBQlfeXgkVvP4mU21GcGFgHAV5HbpR3L3m-OIZVtoWNRCVenwX6HsHqZASY23DQdKheWBNCggW0ynEqTTUqMhr9Hfk52AUKL51C4GKdkL40WY0YW3ci8VQ/s422/richie%20havens-450-filter%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="422" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht12RWcrZ3JTQDM-bNIbEV16oTRoaz86gp7o-zkbCxIy2WkFuYdWeRnHr-eKAUWuTQytjElBQlfeXgkVvP4mU21GcGFgHAV5HbpR3L3m-OIZVtoWNRCVenwX6HsHqZASY23DQdKheWBNCggW0ynEqTTUqMhr9Hfk52AUKL51C4GKdkL40WY0YW3ci8VQ/w400-h379/richie%20havens-450-filter%20(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Richie Havens</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During “Maggie’s Farm” who else but Donovan was spotted in the VIP enclosure dancing somewhat enthusiastically in the freeform style of the period. At one point Don was seen deep in conversation with MC (and future Stones’ tour manager) </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sam Cutler</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, possibly confirming his upcoming impromptu performance (this footage is widely available on YouTube).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_p0qNOv9_2Wq67-mjBawNwpZ3uxVaHdwOdV0y3j39t7ALTs1Zo7OABauAXXl4Uqm-tmr97hUGS2hcMZSleEhn2I0mmV9Ow2WJoKF_yc5c_12F9eVE5QIVShqkz7Uo8q4Z0xrKlghnDNE-LctnegBKG34vmAO82wOpN5sjZz3SCjmiNwMy7vDGlhWOQ/s509/hyde69-Donovan%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="286" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_p0qNOv9_2Wq67-mjBawNwpZ3uxVaHdwOdV0y3j39t7ALTs1Zo7OABauAXXl4Uqm-tmr97hUGS2hcMZSleEhn2I0mmV9Ow2WJoKF_yc5c_12F9eVE5QIVShqkz7Uo8q4Z0xrKlghnDNE-LctnegBKG34vmAO82wOpN5sjZz3SCjmiNwMy7vDGlhWOQ/s320/hyde69-Donovan%20(1).jpg" width="180" /></a></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speaking of which, the man himself was next up on stage. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Donovan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> played a short, unrehearsed set with a Guild guitar borrowed from Richie Havens’ sideman “Deano” Williams (I wrote about that very guitar</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <a href="https://andnowitsallthis.blogspot.com/2021/01/old-new-borrowed-and-blue-history-of.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>). He performed only four songs: “Willy O’Winsbury”, “Dancing With The Brown Skin Girl”, “There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly” and his big hit “Colours.” In an uncharacteristic burst of self-deprecation he changed the opening line of the final number to “Yellow is the colour of my true love’s teeth.” There were complaints that he couldn’t be heard too well much beyond the first few rows, possibly due to problems with the PA system. Considering he was a last-minute addition to the bill and played only briefly, photos of Donovan onstage with his white double-breasted jacket and borrowed guitar dominated the music papers over the following weeks, almost upstaging the headliners. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQeSFw6wGyIVqJaVbKQu8bptx5Oh_E03-GXGPrs6__bikxY5VuxvHP4mSZ2-aBpvUMdfCj14-nMtuUXBG5RMLqvZH54z79FShfvyYVuZsInCxCxfQgmlawb_r8hCl2YZW4Y3fFdHRfMsHXejwFHFXw3YRf9EoE_18cy79j7qe9dIlB8Yy7Vc3NsL-fKA/s600/hyde-Blind-Faith.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQeSFw6wGyIVqJaVbKQu8bptx5Oh_E03-GXGPrs6__bikxY5VuxvHP4mSZ2-aBpvUMdfCj14-nMtuUXBG5RMLqvZH54z79FShfvyYVuZsInCxCxfQgmlawb_r8hCl2YZW4Y3fFdHRfMsHXejwFHFXw3YRf9EoE_18cy79j7qe9dIlB8Yy7Vc3NsL-fKA/w640-h301/hyde-Blind-Faith.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 18pt; font-weight: 700;">Blind Faith</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so, to the main event. Around 4:30 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> drifted casually onto the stage with very little fanfare, as was the late 60s fashion. It simply wasn’t done to show too much showbiz enthusiasm back then. Although we didn’t realise it at the time their set would include every track from their upcoming LP plus a couple of extras. This is the first time I can recall a band performing an entire album live (even though it was unreleased at the time). Today, no one would dream of playing their first concert in front of more than 120,000 people without a record or product of some kind on sale. But that’s exactly what Blind Faith did in June 1969. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It may not have been a Cream concert, as the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Evening News</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> would foolishly claim, but the four double Marshall stacks looming ominously over the rudimentary stage suggested things might be about to get very loud. Marshall stacks were a trademark of quality and professionalism in the 60s and early 70s, and groups such as Cream and Hendrix used five or more of them onstage, with up to ten 4x12 speaker cabinets forming a wall behind them. They were a sure sign the band meant business and, let’s face it, they also looked mightily impressive. Ginger’s huge kit with its psychedelically painted double bass drum skins (a hangover from the latter days of Cream) only added to the air of anticipation.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To everyone's surprise they opened with a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Well Alright.” This song had originally appeared as the B-side of Buddy’s 1958 single “Heartbeat” so it was just obscure enough to be an interesting inclusion. It was probably Clapton’s idea to perform this song. In late January he'd given an interview to Nick Logan at </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NME</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> saying he’d recently been listening to rock & roll records again “Including a </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Buddy Holly’s Greatest Hits</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LP I have just bought.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rock and roll covers were standard fare back then and even the biggest 60s bands would defer to their 50s teenage heroes. It’s sobering to think this song was barely a decade old in 1969. </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumxRmvZUx_7a0UjzL87ckEe-UfvckRJgrK2u4OAMVsit5taMteYaOXSUOX-g4To2efUvFl4yKp3CfGPpnyS4RbnWvY1HC_agT4mcD6giNFUsAJFkcRMW7x5XMScd1mH6FTOVTFjKNlWp53Pu3FOqWf8RLGyD1Rnz2iznIpEMFu4sysFOH1QHn0slAjQ/s1371/blind-faith-well-all-right-1969%20Holland-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1371" data-original-width="1371" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumxRmvZUx_7a0UjzL87ckEe-UfvckRJgrK2u4OAMVsit5taMteYaOXSUOX-g4To2efUvFl4yKp3CfGPpnyS4RbnWvY1HC_agT4mcD6giNFUsAJFkcRMW7x5XMScd1mH6FTOVTFjKNlWp53Pu3FOqWf8RLGyD1Rnz2iznIpEMFu4sysFOH1QHn0slAjQ/w400-h400/blind-faith-well-all-right-1969%20Holland-COLLAGE.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Well All Right 7" Sleeves from Holland, Spain, France & Norway</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Record Collector Note:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> “Well Alright” / “Can’t Find My Way Home” was released as a single by Blind Faith in Japan, Australia, and several mainland European countries, including Holland, Germany, Spain and France.</span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWH_Eyp8Pe9OA-PLA20YclH8Es5PTuRIelnihuJ-MlbyjDJLGGX4bJ1rFDT9O_PB_nSpGSIOZClS_34J0fDlVJ0zcmOYn_AA1jp_FDf_gttJBtsC1aGaD7znSyyHICM6htOcdHbxbuzUeG3tvRIDaHsZatd9KEpfA5EFkvR4jtlfmo2FiNY2ZV6iYsWw/s500/blind2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWH_Eyp8Pe9OA-PLA20YclH8Es5PTuRIelnihuJ-MlbyjDJLGGX4bJ1rFDT9O_PB_nSpGSIOZClS_34J0fDlVJ0zcmOYn_AA1jp_FDf_gttJBtsC1aGaD7znSyyHICM6htOcdHbxbuzUeG3tvRIDaHsZatd9KEpfA5EFkvR4jtlfmo2FiNY2ZV6iYsWw/w400-h300/blind2.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Following Winwood’s “Sea Of Joy” came the only slow blues of the afternoon, a cover of Sam Myers’ “Sleeping In The Ground” (introduced as "I'd Rather See You Sleeping In The Ground" by Steve). Although recorded during the main album sessions it didn’t appear on the original </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LP and remained unreleased until Clapton’s 1988 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Crossroads</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> box set. It was later added to the 2001 Deluxe Edition of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> CD as a bonus track. Dating from 1956, this song has been covered many times and in 2008 it formed part of Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood’s live set during their Madison Square Garden concerts together.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Probably on a reconnaissance mission for the Stones’ free concert due to take place a few weeks hence, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mick Jagger</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marianne Faithful</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> were also spotted in the VIP enclosure. As Blind Faith launched into a surprise cover of “Under My Thumb” the couple acknowledged the cheers with a wave to the crowd. This 1965 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aftermath</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> number has been a victim of cancel culture in recent years due to its somewhat, ahem, “problematic” lyrics, but its place in rock history is secure, not least because it was the song the Stones were playing at the Altamont Free Concert in California when audience member Meredith Hunter was brutally killed by Hells Angels in December 1969.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Winwood’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” was given the full rock band treatment with organ and electric guitar at Hyde Park. It was initially recorded this way for the album before being replaced by the softer acoustic version we know today. It's been said that Ginger Baker’s “Do What You Like” got its title after audience members continually called out for his Cream signature drum solo “Toad.” This was met with cries of “No, just do what you like” by others in the crowd. Steve Winwood picked up on this and announced "This next number is called Do What You Like.” It wasn’t just drums, however. On record at least, if not in Hyde Park, Ginger’s marathon workout in complex 5/4 time (natch) gave everyone in the band a chance to stretch out, including Ric Grech who played an impressive bass solo. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eric’s beautiful, hymnlike “Presence of the Lord” was followed by “Means To An End” a Traffic song from their 1968 self-titled second album, before Winwood’s lengthy, riff based “Had To Cry Today” brought the show to a close. Still a brand-new song at this point (it was reportedly finished only two days earlier) it lacked the dueling twin lead guitars we later heard on the album version and Steve remained behind the keyboard, as he had throughout the afternoon, leaving Eric to handle the fretboard duties alone. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFa8SNTAgSwDzMlNgwHi4Ud35VaGAaKT_ZNr5jweuTxGWMb9vF_-lPAKcsEgJG1MY4Zsof_J31KnkP0zhu3P2g-cEhhXvCOOPLdBiZDi89Imap-8HQdKPSSsjZGzXR1wDaFtTy4DaL0V9K5RVs2q5QPfQLR5g1f8PMoCiemQ9qeHvvfGVytMXH6pS2DQ/s1777/Spaceship.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1777" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFa8SNTAgSwDzMlNgwHi4Ud35VaGAaKT_ZNr5jweuTxGWMb9vF_-lPAKcsEgJG1MY4Zsof_J31KnkP0zhu3P2g-cEhhXvCOOPLdBiZDi89Imap-8HQdKPSSsjZGzXR1wDaFtTy4DaL0V9K5RVs2q5QPfQLR5g1f8PMoCiemQ9qeHvvfGVytMXH6pS2DQ/w400-h243/Spaceship.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt;">We couldn’t see it from where we were sitting way back under the trees but when the concert DVD finally appeared it was revealed that the phallic chrome spaceship held by the girl on the LP sleeve was right there onstage throughout the entire show, sitting in pride of place atop Steve Winwood’s keyboard. It was not remarked upon during the performance, and with the album still unreleased at the time, it would have made no sense to do so, but it now seems like a wonderfully enigmatic gesture which went entirely unnoticed at the time. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As unceremoniously as they’d arrived the band then left the stage just as a bored-sounding announcement came over the PA, requesting the parents of a lost child to collect the infant “from the Robert Stigwood caravan.” This rather broke the spell and brought us firmly back down to earth. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCa3ol-r3xokahFUEEkD7CzRv9eKM2ExS5DootaMISorev-TKSYKJC9ufe4t5cF55bE92FBpnri171xOOHZ58MQeKcih45Y5K2upLN4g6emgDU8JJBkcWGyC-uAZabCYnTzYaPSFd4aFBV6smFOtlG2NQJ7KoeUVfvQBzLnUXXyXTH1XE3s3DuKReUdQ/s3161/Blind-Faith-stage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2038" data-original-width="3161" height="413" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCa3ol-r3xokahFUEEkD7CzRv9eKM2ExS5DootaMISorev-TKSYKJC9ufe4t5cF55bE92FBpnri171xOOHZ58MQeKcih45Y5K2upLN4g6emgDU8JJBkcWGyC-uAZabCYnTzYaPSFd4aFBV6smFOtlG2NQJ7KoeUVfvQBzLnUXXyXTH1XE3s3DuKReUdQ/w640-h413/Blind-Faith-stage.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the crowd thinned out I took the opportunity to venture down to the very front of the stage to take a couple of decidedly low-res photographs of the band’s equipment with my cheap Instamatic camera. There, just a few feet away, discarded only moments earlier and probably still warm to the touch, were the precious instruments. Centre stage was Ginger’s huge Ludwig kit with its painted double bass drum skins. Steve’s RMI Rock-Si-Chord keyboard and Hammond organ sat over to the right and at the back, leaning precariously up against the Marshall stacks, were Ric’s Fender Jazz bass and Eric’s hybrid Telecaster (even the biggest bands eschewed onstage guitar stands in those days, strangely). For those of us passionate about the tools of the rock & roll trade, viewing these artifacts close-up was a moment to treasure. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But despite the build-up in the music press, the hype, the excitement and the amount of world beating talent on display, the Hyde Park concert is now remembered as something of an anticlimax, musically at least. The song intros were desultory and the set generally seemed to lack energy, something the concert DVD, belatedly released in 2005, confirmed to be the case. Without doubt Steve Winwood stole the show with Ginger a close second. Winwood sang every song (he wrote most of them, too) and his keyboards dominated throughout. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clapton looked somewhat detached and bored by it all. He was apparently mad at Baker who showed up at Hyde Park high on heroin, setting an uneasy precedent for the upcoming tour and sowing the seeds of the group’s rapid demise. Eric’s guitar playing was tasteful enough but comparatively subdued by his standards, with none of the fireworks Cream fans were hoping for. But as Ginger had said at the start of the show “this is just our first rehearsal.” He was probably only semi-joking but bootlegs from dates in Scandinavia and the US leg of the tour confirm Blind Faith played and sounded much better as they hit their stride just a few weeks later. Hindsight is 20/20, of course, and we really didn’t know (or care) too much about any of this at the time. We were thrilled just to be present at such an important and historic event. Lest we forget, it was the only show Blind Faith ever played in Britain and it was a free concert too. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite the oppressive crowds, the stifling heat, the almost total lack of facilities (including toilets and water), the general discomfort and the poor visibility, my girlfriend and I returned to Hyde Park to do it all over again a month later when the Rolling Stones played their own high profile free concert. As my old mum used to say, we were gluttons for punishment. But as music crazy 18-year-olds who lived for this stuff, it was the kind of punishment we were happy to endure. I wrote about that Stones show <a href="https://andnowitsallthis.blogspot.com/2021/07/high-times-and-green-grass-stones-in.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith Set List at Hyde Park</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, All Right</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sea Of Joy </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sleeping In the Ground, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Under My Thumb </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can't Find My Way Home</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do What You Like</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Presence Of the Lord</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Means To an End</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Had To Cry Today</span></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFTffUuDoflP-_SsrOa18ErPi76psdJkiYWM43bYWmdsV_A_jmuKRbvil0Q-qNZQpUo-SwUGe-4fHwj3UzpDKqat_MTEn9zDzThP4IDEDV-2TQhZAMgIlZ5ckFDz9yWjFIPYSqIR-QYsBmhFSRBxQolPQMKwNqbEEFGifX6gJkkoXJqFevv791OB8UnA/s1403/BlindFaith01%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="1403" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFTffUuDoflP-_SsrOa18ErPi76psdJkiYWM43bYWmdsV_A_jmuKRbvil0Q-qNZQpUo-SwUGe-4fHwj3UzpDKqat_MTEn9zDzThP4IDEDV-2TQhZAMgIlZ5ckFDz9yWjFIPYSqIR-QYsBmhFSRBxQolPQMKwNqbEEFGifX6gJkkoXJqFevv791OB8UnA/w640-h322/BlindFaith01%20copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Guitars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Almost the first thing I noticed as Blind Faith took the stage was Eric Clapton’s guitar. It was an early 60s sunburst Fender Telecaster Custom (as denoted by the white edge binding) but - and here’s the important part - it had the heavily worn maple neck from a 1956 Fender Stratocaster, clearly recognisable by its larger headstock. The bolt-on necks and modular construction employed by Fender have always made swapping parts between guitars easy enough but, even so, it was a highly unusual thing to witness, especially for Clapton, a longtime Gibson user who hadn’t been seen with any kind of Fender since his days in the Yardbirds, let alone a “Frankenstein” instrument such as this.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6pPrK0Lm1Zr1aG8Od7KhCvukfpSPcGfxaNa9CwfvLQV1bpSgXOZYH-YSzJtqZ1tooWqSUvMTx4N9OQUBcgySd9T0DqtiLkxMtkgUbdu-iPDDBkpmfRk2B7GRahWc_0U2pe0IUWVHck2erjcdoCtSMz0XpEqLOTEFLfVQT6R2Bs-I422Jbb6tKjXxgCg/s620/Blind-Faith-Telecaster-used-in-Cream.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6pPrK0Lm1Zr1aG8Od7KhCvukfpSPcGfxaNa9CwfvLQV1bpSgXOZYH-YSzJtqZ1tooWqSUvMTx4N9OQUBcgySd9T0DqtiLkxMtkgUbdu-iPDDBkpmfRk2B7GRahWc_0U2pe0IUWVHck2erjcdoCtSMz0XpEqLOTEFLfVQT6R2Bs-I422Jbb6tKjXxgCg/w323-h400/Blind-Faith-Telecaster-used-in-Cream.jpg" width="323" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">W</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">e later learned that Eric had used this Telecaster in the latter days of Cream and was photographed with it in February 1968 when the band played on the back of a flat-bed truck in Copenhagen, Denmark. At that point, however, the guitar was fitted with the neck from a different Stratocaster, this one a late 60s model with rosewood fingerboard and oversized headstock. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 1956 maple neck from the Hyde Park guitar probably came from “Brownie” the famous sunburst Stratocaster pictured on the front of his </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eric Clapton</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> debut solo LP and also on the back cover of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Layla</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> double album. “Brownie” was purchased at Sound City in London and used throughout the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Layla</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sessions and onstage with Derek and the Dominos (notably the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Johnny Cash Show</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> TV broadcast recorded in November 1970). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mick Ralphs of Bad Company apparently owns a Telecaster with a Stratocaster neck which once belonged to Clapton. Whether or not it's the original Blind Faith guitar is unclear. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQu9nqqeWEkPhycywuUfde62Z0zh4rOQd9pVR6_qF7UWeJ0T7q9tmEKRSldLPtefRQ9e80Hlfd6Zg4pSUl41jAhpkIin1juhZsN1jb1wqPF1_YNFPILORu72gQ-1P11HuT_nV3t_TywljRfLVTuXt-vPO_eeKdb5c5Qfc8C-u-gBABOrVEsWHvXjswQ/s1414/Fender%20Telecaster%20ad%202019.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="1414" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQu9nqqeWEkPhycywuUfde62Z0zh4rOQd9pVR6_qF7UWeJ0T7q9tmEKRSldLPtefRQ9e80Hlfd6Zg4pSUl41jAhpkIin1juhZsN1jb1wqPF1_YNFPILORu72gQ-1P11HuT_nV3t_TywljRfLVTuXt-vPO_eeKdb5c5Qfc8C-u-gBABOrVEsWHvXjswQ/w640-h328/Fender%20Telecaster%20ad%202019.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt;">In September 2019 the Fender Custom Shop produced a limited edition run of 50 replica Eric Clapton Blind Faith Telecasters. They retailed for a shade under US$12,000 when new but can sell for around double that price today.</span></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNGWP8yxTsBfB1rcEP6QrmT1jk-PnGOmlDX20AUreakpuBnuO5vXhQsF3hiG3OA3qFyvIIrcViDF5QhMxG6FL_ddRaCj44StaqjgF27pVFbDK6wk_RO43a8OBWVs45uc5ittHeg78O0lgjctKZdGXHBOxWYhnPG9ImfBVY3StiuaMSia1wAe0rhW6eQ/s1590/Firebird-new.jpg" style="font-size: 12pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="1590" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNGWP8yxTsBfB1rcEP6QrmT1jk-PnGOmlDX20AUreakpuBnuO5vXhQsF3hiG3OA3qFyvIIrcViDF5QhMxG6FL_ddRaCj44StaqjgF27pVFbDK6wk_RO43a8OBWVs45uc5ittHeg78O0lgjctKZdGXHBOxWYhnPG9ImfBVY3StiuaMSia1wAe0rhW6eQ/w640-h358/Firebird-new.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></span></span></div><div><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also present at Hyde Park was Steve Winwood’s Traffic-era 1966 non-reverse Gibson Firebird V finished in the rare custom colour Inverness Green. It was seen lying on top of the Leslie speaker cabinet but was not used during the London concert. Live shots confirm Winwood did play this guitar onstage later in the tour, mainly on "Had To Cry Today" and "Sea of Joy." The Firebird was stolen in 1971 or 72 and in 2008 Steve was presented with a replica by Gibson's then-CEO Henry Juszkiewicz. At later Blind Faith dates Winwood was also seen using Eric’s Telecaster hybrid, with Clapton back on his trusty Cream era 1964 Gibson ES335, a Les Paul or sometimes the reverse body Gibson Firebird I he'd used on the early 1969 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Supershow</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> film mentioned above.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2l-Bwyo9HO8yeJBgEfiKtdpEWvkBTVszkun3Zd1IlQtiNH6T5OXugF7Pwpw8V798-OPa1i2UEgwy7-z5S8fTi1eIsRVuPR0ujVcGt5gNxqn1sXYcpHSNXrx4NkITeEN1ri9hGzQvyAJ1Xax-AmHbSbduhWt0s3QMB7Z6dC9z-_qORadGb8WfHNzWLA/s800/WINWOOD-caption.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="800" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2l-Bwyo9HO8yeJBgEfiKtdpEWvkBTVszkun3Zd1IlQtiNH6T5OXugF7Pwpw8V798-OPa1i2UEgwy7-z5S8fTi1eIsRVuPR0ujVcGt5gNxqn1sXYcpHSNXrx4NkITeEN1ri9hGzQvyAJ1Xax-AmHbSbduhWt0s3QMB7Z6dC9z-_qORadGb8WfHNzWLA/w400-h385/WINWOOD-caption.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the tour Clapton traded a 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard so-called “Darkburst” guitar with Free’s <b>Paul Kossoff</b> in exchange for a 1958 black Gibson Les Paul Custom with three pick-ups. Eric later used this guitar onstage with the Plastic Ono Band, Delaney & Bonnie and Derek & the Dominos. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ric Grech used his Family-era late 60s Fender Jazz bass in three tone sunburst at Hyde Park and throughout the Blind Faith recordings and tour. It was pictured onstage with a strip of foam under the strings near the bridge to aid with muting. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other instruments seen in the Blind Faith rehearsal photos at Clapton’s house were a Danelectro 30/21 Shorthorn with psychedelic finish, a large 12-string acoustic of indeterminate brand (similar to a Zemaitis) and the Cream-era Gibson ES335. Ric’s Fender Jazz bass and his violin case also appear in some rehearsal photos.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKUtgEMmLz6cFP1-2sNNteWBeImqTZmtH7yYq_IbT5r8s2bdbnJjLzfC9xJbYS6WIx8vPG5JqDOmvtRXDMMjQo5iRP378YYsuIlTNfKJtKtT1sJccz8qGt4Flwl0vYVEr6oXUSBGTnDXenL6z1swhWoiQ8CURIvdayMbGMp5AKdDF1wHE7i4vGGSP1Q/s980/Blind-Faith-rehearsals.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="980" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKUtgEMmLz6cFP1-2sNNteWBeImqTZmtH7yYq_IbT5r8s2bdbnJjLzfC9xJbYS6WIx8vPG5JqDOmvtRXDMMjQo5iRP378YYsuIlTNfKJtKtT1sJccz8qGt4Flwl0vYVEr6oXUSBGTnDXenL6z1swhWoiQ8CURIvdayMbGMp5AKdDF1wHE7i4vGGSP1Q/w400-h266/Blind-Faith-rehearsals.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Tour</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8K_goslFal-kmeCIhWbDo6uJiCDFjNfnexPoxgWNlA_u68Tl4OUUByOKq68v4olwJoTBEO2bXgojtydk8Uh7atR_pdMv8Ji7LNMIxEixOjtjh3hyiX6h5oUa6WWVVi1Y9dx6z1Bmgnv8FlnMOTFxmMSDgbBoJPI16dRx7lhCMokdxzN8xuDElfwWmw/s603/blind-faith-2-ev.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8K_goslFal-kmeCIhWbDo6uJiCDFjNfnexPoxgWNlA_u68Tl4OUUByOKq68v4olwJoTBEO2bXgojtydk8Uh7atR_pdMv8Ji7LNMIxEixOjtjh3hyiX6h5oUa6WWVVi1Y9dx6z1Bmgnv8FlnMOTFxmMSDgbBoJPI16dRx7lhCMokdxzN8xuDElfwWmw/s320/blind-faith-2-ev.jpg" width="212" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />On June 12, 1969, the band embarked on a short tour of Scandinavia with five dates in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. They hit North America in July and August with 19 dates in the US and three in Canada. What would have been the group's debut American concert at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 11 was cancelled when local authorities revoked their permission to perform due to concerns over crowd trouble. Instead, the first US show was at New York's Madison Square Garden on July 12. At some concerts their meagre Hyde Park set list (largely unfamiliar to audiences) was padded out with re-vamped versions of well-known material such as Cream’s “Crossroads” and “Sunshine Of Your Love.”</span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi021ad0i5QOMvBwL4toMNhtSGQfBlDmab4PamzbfVXvLpQpJHMbUntMW2OCyJ_1UZMSJLUCfJCS0MR_TyH4DOKXBhjY3khsEkWzYcxzmjNWBMssTejwFpU2NOWBwHvAU1KG577uLJTqdzdRLPd---XquyeHBda72iciNw4bvho7JbO2Eq1Vq3YAQLn4A/s797/blind-faith-tour-programme-cover.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="562" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi021ad0i5QOMvBwL4toMNhtSGQfBlDmab4PamzbfVXvLpQpJHMbUntMW2OCyJ_1UZMSJLUCfJCS0MR_TyH4DOKXBhjY3khsEkWzYcxzmjNWBMssTejwFpU2NOWBwHvAU1KG577uLJTqdzdRLPd---XquyeHBda72iciNw4bvho7JbO2Eq1Vq3YAQLn4A/s320/blind-faith-tour-programme-cover.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">The Tour Programme Front Cover</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Woodstock Festival occurred towards the end of the tour and while Clapton was keen to take part he was overruled by the other band members (plus, they already had firm dates booked on the West Coast during the Woodstock weekend). </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Problems with Ginger intensified as the tour progressed and Clapton began spending more and more time with support band Delaney & Bonnie, occasionally even joining them onstage and basically handing over control of his own group to Winwood. Finally, on August 24, just 78 days after the Hyde Park concert, it all ended with a whimper at the Honolulu International Center Arena* in Hawaii. After only 28** live dates, Blind Faith was no more. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Along with <b>Delaney & Bonnie</b>, the support acts on the North American leg were <b>Free</b> and <b>Rory Gallagher</b>’s band <b>Taste</b>, both making their US debut. Free opened and closed the tour with Taste playing the bulk of dates in the middle.</span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kfzHsSex2ssz_SPJBswET_-R-lDu9RSwBivh8H00iBJX6AkV_q7cZbgy8N3MiSr1jPBavLmr-RhP6TSWb5w21lHiYh8QNwwOenR7_pFpugNNL-GweVCT_HCB9xNkIqWXkWWDNyqTJw_GixwnnF5sCjmGOY0g5_DZ2xS0ISono6hOMDCGV8uxSPCQ4Q/s589/blind-faith-tour-programme-back.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="589" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kfzHsSex2ssz_SPJBswET_-R-lDu9RSwBivh8H00iBJX6AkV_q7cZbgy8N3MiSr1jPBavLmr-RhP6TSWb5w21lHiYh8QNwwOenR7_pFpugNNL-GweVCT_HCB9xNkIqWXkWWDNyqTJw_GixwnnF5sCjmGOY0g5_DZ2xS0ISono6hOMDCGV8uxSPCQ4Q/s320/blind-faith-tour-programme-back.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">The Tour Programme Back Cover</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1Mvjf0EPR1sc30mt-XFzGB6RZKK2865tTVUBodyVdQJHiSPQ8gj_Z_TuO_jAPCsuziEwzR7gjMFAixVKcxx5Q3lmu5W0HJbBw8sOroedf7esRaEmRd_YloEJBO80D8lpFpoCzo0akQz6d1QOHjMYIfGiGcaFbZmpM2rP89eAQLXIOArM5JA9O-b1ug/s679/Blind%20Faith%20LP%20ad%20and%20tour%20dates%20July%2012%201969.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="423" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1Mvjf0EPR1sc30mt-XFzGB6RZKK2865tTVUBodyVdQJHiSPQ8gj_Z_TuO_jAPCsuziEwzR7gjMFAixVKcxx5Q3lmu5W0HJbBw8sOroedf7esRaEmRd_YloEJBO80D8lpFpoCzo0akQz6d1QOHjMYIfGiGcaFbZmpM2rP89eAQLXIOArM5JA9O-b1ug/w398-h640/Blind%20Faith%20LP%20ad%20and%20tour%20dates%20July%2012%201969.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Blind Faith played twice nightly at some of the early concerts in Scandinavia, so the true number of concerts they performed was probably closer to 30.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*The Honolulu International Center Arena was renamed in 1976 and today is known as the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Album Cover</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwVL8Fzxe0HKYLI4f7lIy6JLvaMyte6P_Y5aS-fYnuNsmSQRV2WCGCa0C86QLXDpjQFb7EmsVYayu6MFOMwPMf4uUU1U6wJDOaf__KHqBQoI1YqdsBOy-APr7yfvYhgfIiDOenO3hFdgtoh7crdKk6AFU3MdGObMCczL8A-jVbIlRFgF4f_tGrruXFQ/s2702/UK%20LP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2702" data-original-width="2693" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwVL8Fzxe0HKYLI4f7lIy6JLvaMyte6P_Y5aS-fYnuNsmSQRV2WCGCa0C86QLXDpjQFb7EmsVYayu6MFOMwPMf4uUU1U6wJDOaf__KHqBQoI1YqdsBOy-APr7yfvYhgfIiDOenO3hFdgtoh7crdKk6AFU3MdGObMCczL8A-jVbIlRFgF4f_tGrruXFQ/s320/UK%20LP.jpg" width="319" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rarely has there been so much fuss over a humble LP cover. During the last 53 years the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album sleeve has been the source of endless discussion and much fascination, often overshadowing the music within. On the other hand it’s probably fair to say that a record sleeve boldly displaying a garish close-up of a half-naked pre-pubescent girl holding a phallic chrome spaceship wouldn’t get beyond the discussion stage today, let alone through the doors of a major record company and then into every music retailer in the land. But that’s exactly what happened with </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in August 1969. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We need not go into the sensitive moral aspects of that album cover here. 1969 really was a different world and while nudity in all its myriad forms has long featured on record sleeves across many genres of music, a controversial image such as this one depicting a semi-naked child might well earn all concerned a visit from the rock & roll division of Operation Yewtree should it appear today. Even so, the story of the sleeve is a fascinating one and an essential part of the Blind Faith narrative. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cover design was credited to psychedelic poster artist Stanley “Mouse” Miller, while the infamous sleeve photograph was the work of <b>Bob Seidemann</b>, an American who resided at The Pheasantry in Kings Road, Chelsea. For decades this fabled Grade II listed complex of studios and apartments was home to musicians, photographers, writers and artists such as Eric Clapton, Germaine Greer, Robert Whittaker and Martin Sharp. Seidemann subsequently worked on sleeves for the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jackson Browne and many others. In a mid-90s advertising leaflet intended to help sell lithographic reprints of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> cover he explained, in somewhat florid language, his thinking behind the contentious photograph:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I could not get my hands on the image until out of the mist a concept began to emerge. To symbolize the achievement of human creativity and its expression through technology a spaceship was the material object. To carry this new spore into the universe, innocence would be the ideal bearer, a young girl, a girl as young as Shakespeare's Juliet. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The spaceship would be the fruit of the tree of knowledge and the girl, the fruit of the tree of life. The spaceship could be made by Mick Milligan, a jeweller at the Royal College of Art. The girl was another matter. If she were too old it would be cheesecake, too young and it would be nothing. The beginning of the transition from girl to woman, that is what I was after. That temporal point, that singular flare of radiant innocence. Where is that girl?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The story goes that Seidemann approached 12-year-old (some reports say she was 14) Sula Goschen on the London Underground and asked if she would model for the LP cover (like I said, 1969 was a very different world). After meeting with Sula’s parents David and Angela Goschen it was decided that her younger sister Mariora Goschen, who was reportedly 11 years-old at the time (some say 12), would make an even better model. Mariora initially requested a horse as a fee but was instead paid £40. When the photo session was completed Seidemann decided he would call the image “Blind Faith”, which of course was soon adopted as the name of the band. Although some cynics thought it might simply be a comment on the public's unquestioning acceptance and adoration of the new group. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Interviewed by the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Independent on Sunday</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 1994, Mariora said: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #5d5d5d; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The nudity didn’t bother me. I hardly noticed I had breasts. Life was far too hectic. I was mad about animals and much taken up with family and friends. But now, when people tell me they can remember what they were doing when they first saw the cover, and the effect it had on them, I’m thrilled to bits. By the way, I’m still waiting for Eric Clapton to ring me about the horse.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2014 Bob Seidemann’s flush-mounted and signed chromogenic photo print of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> cover, editioned (17/30), sold at Sotheby's New York for $17,500 (with buyer's premium).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Britain the album arrived almost exactly two months after the Hyde Park concert, and while it was an immediate hit, I don’t recall there being too much fuss or discussion about the cover at that point. Coming a year after John & Yoko’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two Virgins</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album I guess we assumed that record sleeves had now become an artistic free-for-all, unaffected by censorship and above the stuffy rules and regulations set for us by the squares and the straights. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But while it’s true the UK reaction was somewhat more muted than in America, even here some were a little squeamish when it came to actually showing the sleeve image itself. For example, Wesley Laine’s review in </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Record Mirror</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (August 20, 1969) began coyly enough yet quickly became salacious: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Censorship from somewhere here prevents us from reproducing the cover pic – a freckly red-headed pouting eleven-year-old with well-developed breasts holding a supposedly phallic model of a Comet jet plane.” “Wesley Laine”, of course, was the pseudonymous Norman Jopling, who went on to write for </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NME, Cream, Billboard, Record Retailer, Jazz Journal, Let It Rock, Music Now</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and many other publications. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Editor’s Note: Mick Milligan’s chrome “spaceship” was never identified as a De Havilland Comet and, if anything, more closely resembles an Avro Vulcan bomber</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">).</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7wroX2Wa6g7ciAE6d2S2jV9BlxSRhq1oAYiZIzVs5UbPqoFb_mkWQGTZbUDBTQjgZGTFJku608-gM3452gshiAGD_JpRAa_266PbF-Ku48fXxK18swpe7Icd2oKNBa7gGcfjVHyphyEVLEse4bbMIUx7xgwmj0HxCkilYgzmJTBmEh9_QAawrvoWvkg/s1658/Blind%20Faith%20LP%20Germany%20version%203-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1658" data-original-width="1658" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7wroX2Wa6g7ciAE6d2S2jV9BlxSRhq1oAYiZIzVs5UbPqoFb_mkWQGTZbUDBTQjgZGTFJku608-gM3452gshiAGD_JpRAa_266PbF-Ku48fXxK18swpe7Icd2oKNBa7gGcfjVHyphyEVLEse4bbMIUx7xgwmj0HxCkilYgzmJTBmEh9_QAawrvoWvkg/w400-h400/Blind%20Faith%20LP%20Germany%20version%203-COLLAGE.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Three album sleeve variants and the Well All Right 7" Sleeve - all from Germany</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a very different matter Stateside, however, where the sleeve caused all manner of ructions. At one stage Atlantic Records’ head honcho <b>Ahmet Ertegun</b> stepped in to try and smooth things over. “We do not agree that the original sleeve is offensive” he announced to the press. “But if any dealers do not want that cover, we will happily supply them with an alternative.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1_b-lzwCSOQPrmPXJ41anvxY92Au3toSFrT8Q6UXg-pBRcq0lzDNULdraRX7RH5oasfuOOYxKzICLD2dzR9i8ZKAOg318qIT-qnPu9K9WCKEhlTIIfiCJcQNAuCA5Cm0ZN3XzIpYMjp-5HcP716UmSwhWCLaiWcWSOSqTHfDupuZtGcormGIlPEceg/s737/Blind%20Faith%20LP%20US%20clean%20version.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="737" data-original-width="726" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1_b-lzwCSOQPrmPXJ41anvxY92Au3toSFrT8Q6UXg-pBRcq0lzDNULdraRX7RH5oasfuOOYxKzICLD2dzR9i8ZKAOg318qIT-qnPu9K9WCKEhlTIIfiCJcQNAuCA5Cm0ZN3XzIpYMjp-5HcP716UmSwhWCLaiWcWSOSqTHfDupuZtGcormGIlPEceg/s320/Blind%20Faith%20LP%20US%20clean%20version.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">US LP "Clean" Version</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />Distributors and large retailers such as Sears Roebuck, E.J. Korvette and Polk Brothers refused to handle the “nude” version at all (identified in the record retail trade as the “A” sleeve) and it was sold in a substitute sepia cover (known as the “B” sleeve) with a picture of the group on the front similar to (but different from) the two black and white photos on the inside gatefold of the UK version. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speaking to </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Billboard </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in 1969 a spokesman for the US distributor Royal Disc said “The larger department stores feel that they cater to a more ‘family’ type market and won’t have anything to do with the ‘nude’ cover.” But he added that he had not heard “any actual complaints” from retailers or customers about the “A” cover. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The distributor went on “Before the album was released, many distributors, including myself, warned the (record) company (Atco) that sales might be badly hurt if the album were distributed in this manner exclusively and persuaded them to put out the other cover. I’m glad they did. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is our best-selling album after </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (by Iron Butterfly), but the story might have been different if only the “A” </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sleeve had been distributed.” Warming to his theme he added, somewhat patronisingly, “The group and the company might have learned a lesson about record distribution then.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A spokesman for distributor Musical Isle, also speaking in </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Billboard,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> said “Albums with nude or suggestive covers create a real problem for us. I think the manufacturers should stay away from them.” He agreed the alternative sleeve was a good idea, adding “The John & Yoko album (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two Virgins</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) was a disaster, and this might have been too.” </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYcYLii6z-smf81M2J-LyE3a7onp-6QfbFaaEYcbvTE9C-EWGWsG0i7QOQmt2x5quwHoZRBG1c5YmDjv-Bw8kQGEMOZxp6aIRuixPoI2fVqSvJU_cZtMQF3PslrUuHj-cbvud1-9azrbtWkGIwU8bxTbHiS-vKIbDra2kCsDe8o0rVpvGT26Xj03D0Lw/s1105/Billboard%20ad%20showing%20A%20and%20B%20sleeve%20versions.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1105" data-original-width="856" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYcYLii6z-smf81M2J-LyE3a7onp-6QfbFaaEYcbvTE9C-EWGWsG0i7QOQmt2x5quwHoZRBG1c5YmDjv-Bw8kQGEMOZxp6aIRuixPoI2fVqSvJU_cZtMQF3PslrUuHj-cbvud1-9azrbtWkGIwU8bxTbHiS-vKIbDra2kCsDe8o0rVpvGT26Xj03D0Lw/s320/Billboard%20ad%20showing%20A%20and%20B%20sleeve%20versions.jpg" width="248" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a little more complicated than that, however. Not only was the “nude” (“A”) sleeve freely available in America if you knew where to look, but it was even nominated for a 1969 Grammy in the “Best Cover Award” category! Some of the hipper, underground stores stocked both versions, although sales of the “clean” (“B”) sleeve apparently outsold the “A” version by a ratio of 10 to 1. American buyers could, if they wished, place a special order for the “A” sleeve from their regular outlet. Unlike the UK version the US “nude” sleeve came in a non-gatefold sleeve with a lyric sheet insert.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TM4JlQeXNQS2VLlu6Sr-2y4wnEpUbjQbijCr8wkDl43TmhTJTjRJjnIqCZb6SWuG0rCzrBP1lknku0kgw73S7n6xUHIqU4JzL_7KkokVFUrWY09c4uGsgII33eqnOjsH-x3G1FTNUmTvhummRC5PrklKu_VqV2d7OdqFjnAXDRl1JF9mMYtmcxJiwg/s720/US%20Grammy%20Awards%20Best%20sleeve%20nominations.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="517" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TM4JlQeXNQS2VLlu6Sr-2y4wnEpUbjQbijCr8wkDl43TmhTJTjRJjnIqCZb6SWuG0rCzrBP1lknku0kgw73S7n6xUHIqU4JzL_7KkokVFUrWY09c4uGsgII33eqnOjsH-x3G1FTNUmTvhummRC5PrklKu_VqV2d7OdqFjnAXDRl1JF9mMYtmcxJiwg/w461-h640/US%20Grammy%20Awards%20Best%20sleeve%20nominations.jpg" width="461" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Some retailers disagreed with the distributors. “I think it’s ridiculous to have two album jackets” said the manager of Chicago independent record store Slypped Disc. “It confuses the customers - they think Blind Faith has two albums out instead of just one. I think (the “A” jacket) is more artistic and better done than the (“B” jacket). We’re ordering it by the box and selling 100-125 copies a week.”</span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A spokesman for Chicago retailer One Octave Lower said the album “with the chick on the cover” is outselling the “B” jacket by a 3-1 percentage. An employee at another Chicago store Wecord Woom which stocked both sleeves added “Some customers giggle when they pick up the “A” jacket, but I’ve never heard any complaints.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite being freely available and openly displayed in most record stores across the western world for half a century, attitudes have hardened in recent years and the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> cover is viewed somewhat differently today. For example, should anyone try and post an image of the LP sleeve on certain areas of social media today (Facebook, I’m looking at you) there’s a very good chance it will be tagged as "offensive". As a result the image could be removed altogether and the poster may be issued with a warning restricting future activity. At worst the offender may even be banished from the platform altogether. The algorithms which control what we can view online are incapable of distinguishing between art, popular culture and pornography, it seems. For better or worse, these are the times we are now living in.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s give the final word on the cover to Steve Winwood who, when interviewed years later said, pragmatically, “At the time I didn’t think anything of it at all. But now I can see how controversial it is because I have children of my own.”</span></p><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">The Album</span></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the weeks following the Hyde Park concert there was still work to be done on the album, which was already well overdue. Recording had begun on February 18 at the recently opened Morgan Studios, before moving to Olympic Sound on May 27 where it was finally completed in late June. Producer <b>Jimmy Miller</b> (concurrently working on the Stones' </span><i style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let It Bleed </i><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">album) was drafted in towards the end, but up until that point engineer<b> Andy Johns</b> had done much of the heavy lifting. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although the LP was ultimately released on the Polydor label in the UK (Atlantic/Atco in the US) Winwood was still contracted to <b>Chris Blackwell</b>’s Island records at the time, so the band was jointly managed by Blackwell and <b>Robert Stigwood</b>. The record finally went on sale in late July in the US and early August in Britain.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi94xKdYft1FZb_dKOO1QAhJo9c-BjGXRIM-alvsCOoRd8k-Kc2YAngkXK0MgFjdq6B2olegLUIqKV3sRfnAh6_g3nAjnIrSLO7-k2Dsn9mJ-MwSzezWtuQsQNA5AnPifC7JtqtLH85s1WOstsNjG5zVpcu9XBFL0CnN2Y8RrhvSd8t47Jw-GYCuJ30xQ/s600/blind-faith-untitled-instrumental-island.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="595" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi94xKdYft1FZb_dKOO1QAhJo9c-BjGXRIM-alvsCOoRd8k-Kc2YAngkXK0MgFjdq6B2olegLUIqKV3sRfnAh6_g3nAjnIrSLO7-k2Dsn9mJ-MwSzezWtuQsQNA5AnPifC7JtqtLH85s1WOstsNjG5zVpcu9XBFL0CnN2Y8RrhvSd8t47Jw-GYCuJ30xQ/s320/blind-faith-untitled-instrumental-island.jpg" width="317" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the album sessions Island moved offices and a promotional single containing instrumental music was sent out to the music trade notifying of the new address and telephone number. The pink Island labels read simply “Change Of Address From June 23rd</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1969” on one side and “Sales Office” on the other, together with the street address, telephone number and cable address*. Although no artist name or song title was credited anywhere, the music was later revealed to be the work of Blind Faith. With reportedly only 500 pressed, this record quickly became a rare artifact, and copies now change hands for considerable sums. An extended 12-minute edit of the music on the single was later included on the 2001 Deluxe Edition of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> CD under the title “Change Of Address Jam.” </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZY0LOLybW7Rc8u_ApFce63CsNGsudiGT43CaL8niALo3mKJTAt5VjszKywIJeBLgbJq-ueCLfcf-LbKV0CT55lApf-vA7Yv-OSE2lqGZfhSsCftkl9IUu0bX5nBv-ntQEnk1psaX2CopC1DObkN1QpVCus_zYlARXRw0nfre4ELzQ_oZvnL534oqwA/s600/blind-faith-untitled-instrumental-island-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="600" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZY0LOLybW7Rc8u_ApFce63CsNGsudiGT43CaL8niALo3mKJTAt5VjszKywIJeBLgbJq-ueCLfcf-LbKV0CT55lApf-vA7Yv-OSE2lqGZfhSsCftkl9IUu0bX5nBv-ntQEnk1psaX2CopC1DObkN1QpVCus_zYlARXRw0nfre4ELzQ_oZvnL534oqwA/s320/blind-faith-untitled-instrumental-island-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*A cable or telegraphic address was a pre-internet version of a URL, enabling recipients to receive telegrams directly. Telegraphic addresses were chosen either as versions of a company's name or as a memorable short word somehow associated with the recipient. As shown on the record label Island’s cable address was “Ackee W11.” The ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica and the main ingredient in the country’s national dish Ackee and Saltfish. "W11", meanwhile, is the postal district for the area of Notting Hill where Island's Basing Street studios were located. In 1972 Ackee Music Inc became the name of Island's music publisher in the US and Canada.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith – </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Polydor 583 059 (UK) / Atco SD-33 304A/B (US)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recorded: February - June 1969</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Released: August 9, 1969 (UK) / July 21, 1969 (US)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eric Clapton: Guitar, vocals</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve Winwood: Vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, autoharp</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ginger Baker: Drums, percussion, vocals</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ric Grech: Bass, electric violin, vocals </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Producer: Jimmy Miller</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sound engineers: George Chkiantz, Keith Harwood, Andy Johns, Alan O'Duffy</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cover designed and photographed: Bob Seideman</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cover Art: Stanley Miller</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spaceship built by Mick Milligan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recorded at: Morgan Studios, 168-171 High Road, Willesden, London NW10 and Olympic Sound Studios, 117 Church Road, Barnes, London SW13</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Track Listing (original LP):</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Side One:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Had To Cry Today</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Winwood) 8:48</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can’t Find My Way Home</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Winwood) 3:16</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well Alright</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Petty, Holly, Allison, Maudlin) 4:27</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Presence of the Lord</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Clapton) 4:50</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Side Two:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sea of Joy</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Winwood) 5:22</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do What You Like</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Baker) 15:18</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_spyTpGHII-ElSLsRrE8G6KhT-Gq6ilPa7toVZCTtc7X45GE28xO2OUfjPCo7RE6WKbt_cV1UnZZSYcBsN3OUH24OiA8imorQ_KsDpswDqE3u9Z-UD91-1D4_5HAGRiOaHNa8l_W19PHzhi6BeTxs0wrFs9xGnhoo29MyXO9S240Pw-Isxd1YjZJ2g/s2847/Deluxe%20Edition%20CD.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2550" data-original-width="2847" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_spyTpGHII-ElSLsRrE8G6KhT-Gq6ilPa7toVZCTtc7X45GE28xO2OUfjPCo7RE6WKbt_cV1UnZZSYcBsN3OUH24OiA8imorQ_KsDpswDqE3u9Z-UD91-1D4_5HAGRiOaHNa8l_W19PHzhi6BeTxs0wrFs9xGnhoo29MyXO9S240Pw-Isxd1YjZJ2g/s320/Deluxe%20Edition%20CD.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>The 2001 Deluxe Edition double CD included nine bonus tracks spread over two discs. The second disc of jams does not include Ric Grech who was yet to join the band when they were recorded. A guest percussionist is mistakenly credited in the CD sleeve notes as “Guy Warner.” This was probably esteemed Afro-jazz drummer Guy Warren, a pal of Ginger's, who joined the band for the March 2 sessions at Morgan studios. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Live versions of "Sleeping in the Ground" and "Under My Thumb" from the Hyde Park concert later appeared on Steve Winwood's 1995 four-CD retrospective box set </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Finer Things </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and the entire concert can now be found on Spotify.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bonus Tracks on the 2001 Deluxe Edition CD:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sleeping In the Ground</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (2:49)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can’t Find My Way Home</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Studio electric version) (5:40)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Acoustic Jam</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (15:50)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Time Winds</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (3:15)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sleeping In the Ground</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Slow blues version) (4:44)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jam No.1:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Very Long & Good Jam” (14:01)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jam No.2:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Slow Jam #1” (15:06)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jam No.3:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Change of Address Jam” (12:06)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jam No.4:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Slow Jam #2” (16:06)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seven Interesting Facts about the Blind Faith Album</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Around 8:10 into “Had To Cry Today” as the twin lead guitars begin to come out of the solo back into the main riff, one guitar (possibly Eric Clapton’s) fluffs the cue, bum notes abound and a train wreck is only narrowly averted. Today an obvious mistake such as this would almost certainly be fixed in post production or even re-recorded. But the rest of the track must have been so good they decided to leave it in. 53 years later we can listen to Clapton’s little slip-up and reflect that God really was human, after all. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. On Buddy Holly’s “Well Alright” Steve Winwood changed the opening line of verse two from Buddy's original “Well alright, so I’m going steady” to “Well alright, so I’m not working.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> reached number one in the US, UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark and was a Top Five hit in France, Germany and Australia. It’s estimated to have sold more than 8 million copies worldwide. It achieved Gold status within six months and in 1993 it was certified Platinum in the US.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. To reassure American buyers that the “nude” and “group” sleeve versions of the album were musically one and the same, a notice was printed on the cover of US pressings, reading: “Atco 33-304A Contains the Same Record As Atco 33-304B.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. The first CD version of the album released on Polydor in 1986 contained two bonus tracks "Exchange and Mart" and "Spending All My Days.” These were not, in fact, Blind Faith recordings, but tracks from an unreleased Ric Grech solo album with, allegedly, backing from George Harrison, Denny Laine, Trevor Burton and Alan White.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. As if to heighten the sense of theatre associated with the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sleeve there was no band name or album title printed anywhere on the “nude” LP cover other than on the spine. According to photographer Bob Seidemann “It was Eric who elected to not print the name of the band on the cover. The name was instead printed on the wrapper. When the wrapper came off, so did the type.” US pressings may have had a sticker on the shrinkwrap, but this was not an option in Britain and elsewhere, where shrink-wrapping was not yet a feature of new record sales. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. In 1977 the <i>Blind Faith</i> sleeve was reproduced, full-size, as the frontispiece to <i>The Album Cover Album </i>book, by Storm Thorgerson (Hipgnosis) and Roger Dean (pub, Paper Tiger).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the Ball</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1970 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Billboard</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> carried a story with the headline “Free Concerts In UK Set Again” which confirmed the events would continue into 1971 and beyond. “There will be a recurrence of free Hyde Park concert events next summer” it began. “At least two concerts, perhaps three, are being planned by Blackhill Enterprises.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A spokesman for the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works was quoted “We consider the free pop concerts to be a good thing in that we regard them as part of the programme of entertainment. The occasional pop concert shouldn’t cause too much disruption. But we don’t want this kind of thing snowballing, and if there did seem to be any danger of that we’d be reluctant to let them continue.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The story continued “At least two of the concerts will feature music very much different from last year (1969) when ‘the parks’ were seen by many as a promotional trip for the latest underground acts. Next summer (1971) Andrew King of Blackhill hopes to present a concert of Motown music, and while a deal is not yet completely negotiated, he hopes to have Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on the bill.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I see the Hyde Park concerts now as being one of the very important musical events,” said King. “I think they should just be accepted as part of the English musical calendar and not seen as a sociological phenomenon of a wild Hyde Park hype. Basically, I see them as very good, very big concerts. No more and no less. And no one should be able to use them for anything.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Last year the free concerts cost Blackhill between £600-£700. The Rolling Stones concert was financed by Granada TV, the Blind Faith concert was paid for by the Stigwood Organisation and Blackhill put up the money for the third concert (featuring Soft Machine). They also lost money trying to set up the Jefferson Airplane – Grateful Dead concert which never came off. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Financial support for next summer (1971) is unclear at the moment. There are no particular plans for filming the concerts at the moment, and King said “I think the market for pop films in the past year has not been nearly as big and profitable as many people thought. Granada hasn’t had many offers for their Rolling Stones film.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It is still too early to say who will be featured in the concerts: even Smokey Robinson is a tentative arrangement. But King promises there will be at least two major acts of international calibre.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Smokey Robinson and Motown concerts never eventuated and there was only one more Hyde Park concert in 1969. It took place on September 20 and featured Soft Machine, the Deviants, Eclection, Al Stewart, Quintessence and Edgar Broughton Band. MCs were Pete Drummond and Jeff Dexter. Roy Harper also made a stage announcement but did not play. It seems the concert was intended to be headlined by Jefferson Airplane and / or the Grateful Dead but clearly this didn’t happen.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In contrast to the earlier concerts the stage was moved from the Cockpit to a location backing onto Park Lane, close to Speaker’s Corner, and it drew a smaller crowd than the other two 1969 shows. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite the claims in </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Billboard</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the free concerts continued pretty much as before, presenting mostly underground acts before they finally ended in 1976 with a show headlined by Queen. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hyde Park Free Concerts 1968 - 1976</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 29, 1968:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Pink Floyd, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Roy Harper, Jethro Tull</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 27, 1968:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Traffic, the Nice, Pretty Things, the Action, Juniors Eyes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 24, 1968:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Family, Fleetwood Mac, Fairport Convention, Eclection, Ten Years After</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">September 28, 1968:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The Move, the Strawbs, Roy Harper, The Action, Clouds</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 7, 1969:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Blind Faith, Donovan, Edgar Broughton, Richie Havens, Third Ear Band</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 5, 1969</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: The Rolling Stones, Family, Battered Ornaments, King Crimson, Roy Harper, Third Ear Band, Alexis Korner's New Church, Screw</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">September 20, 1969</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: Soft Machine, the Deviants, Al Stewart , Quintessence, Edgar Broughton Band</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 18, 1970:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Pink Floyd, Kevin Ayers, Edgar Broughton, Formerly Fat Harry (Third Ear Band was scheduled to appear but were replaced by Roy Harper)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">September 12, 1970:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Canned Heat, Eric Burdon & War, John Sebastian</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 3, 1971:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Grand Funk Railroad, Humble Pie, Head Hands & Feet</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">September 4, 1971:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Jack Bruce & Friends, King Crimson, Roy Harper, Formerly Fat Harry</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 29, 1974:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Kevin Ayers, Nico, Chapman Whitney Streetwalkers, Kevin Coyne, Gong, GT Moore & the Massed Reggae guitars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 31, 1974:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Roger McGuinn, Roy Harper & Heavy Friends, Julie Felix, Chilli Willi & the Red Hot Peppers, Kokomo, Toots & the Maytals</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 31, 1975:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Don McLean, Caravan, Joan Armatrading, Shusha, David Lewis, Screemer</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 30, 1975:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Wigwam, Byzantium, Supercharge, Third World</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">September 18, 1976:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Queen, Kiki Dee ,Supercharge, Steve Hillage</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After Blind Faith </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood went on to enjoy the fruits of their respective solo careers with all the Ferraris, Armani suits, sprawling country estates and similar trappings that came with them, but what of Ric Grech? Immediately after Blind Faith he worked with Ginger and Steve in the short-lived big band <b>Ginger Baker’s Airforce</b> and later re-joined Winwood in Traffic for two albums, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and the live</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Welcome to the Canteen, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">both released in 1971.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Various projects followed, including session work and a solo compilation album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Last Five Years</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (RSO 2394 111). Grech retired from music in 1977 and moved back to his hometown of Leicester, where he reportedly became a carpet salesman (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">citation most definitely needed! Ed)</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. On March 17, 1990, he died at Leicester General Hospital at the tragically young age of 43. Liver and kidney failure were given as the cause of death.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ginger’s post-Blind Faith career was somewhat more checkered, involving numerous bands and assorted projects, some more successful than others. After Airforce he opened a recording studio in Lagos, Nigeria before touring and / or recording with the Baker Gurvitz Army, Hawkwind, Fela Kuti, BBM (Bruce, Baker, Moore), Public Image Ltd, Masters of Reality and many others. In 2005 he joined Clapton and Jack Bruce in a Cream reunion, playing a series of highly successful concerts in London and New York. After a hedonistic life lived to the full (he claimed to have given up heroin 29 times) the seemingly indestructible Ginger Baker finally checked out on October 6, 2019, at the grand age of 80. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But you simply can’t keep a good group down and in 2007 Clapton and Winwood teamed up yet again at the <b>Crossroads Guitar Festival</b> where they played “Presence Of The Lord”, “Can't Find My Way Home” and “Had To Cry Today.” Then, in 2008 we saw a Blind Faith reunion in all but name when the pair played a 15 date US tour together. They performed the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blind Faith</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album in its entirety (except for “Sea of Joy” and “Do What You Like”, but including “Sleeping In The Ground”), plus selections by Traffic, Derek & the Dominos and their own solo catalogues.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeH8GBJ8B8CeJb_X7_t-yBRDJmmOh84wSeXBbpMw4LtTuTWdzO4cCwN-B4ceDo6dmOY6ROfrLnnOw2etAI6nik4TMMRPzQP4UyFpZAoeobe_i6u0pUxqlL6pbManFhcMYCs1WTqAX1kPeoiL4Zglmhh8la0foP048NuQ5hFT6Y80dANpHPZ8ffnwq1Iw/s599/Clapton%20Winwood%20Tour%20CD%202009.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="599" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeH8GBJ8B8CeJb_X7_t-yBRDJmmOh84wSeXBbpMw4LtTuTWdzO4cCwN-B4ceDo6dmOY6ROfrLnnOw2etAI6nik4TMMRPzQP4UyFpZAoeobe_i6u0pUxqlL6pbManFhcMYCs1WTqAX1kPeoiL4Zglmhh8la0foP048NuQ5hFT6Y80dANpHPZ8ffnwq1Iw/s320/Clapton%20Winwood%20Tour%20CD%202009.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">A DVD and double CD titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Live from Madison Square Garden</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> was released in May 2009 and achieved healthy sales worldwide. It reached #1 in the Billboard DVD Music charts, selling over 200,000 copies. It also made the top 5 in several European countries including the UK. The CD did almost as well in most territories. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj964URs_0-euwfltioYbE1m2lcKOlfQ50KD3nvbIu9fbEITSO1CX04eTvG1WC3tmT4jeH7yfeqsahO5prpUzMwo2qBjd-YnIRpCxKvp-7HI8mywEkn-dK80ZFzH0NYH9xDlp625w_aNUEhtAwg_KpddYyydy4s-DAUrj3S0svbBIqD5boyNTK1SZnwUw/s592/DVD.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="408" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj964URs_0-euwfltioYbE1m2lcKOlfQ50KD3nvbIu9fbEITSO1CX04eTvG1WC3tmT4jeH7yfeqsahO5prpUzMwo2qBjd-YnIRpCxKvp-7HI8mywEkn-dK80ZFzH0NYH9xDlp625w_aNUEhtAwg_KpddYyydy4s-DAUrj3S0svbBIqD5boyNTK1SZnwUw/w276-h400/DVD.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><br /></span></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They were hailed as the supergroup of the decade, yet Blind Faith simply couldn’t live up to the hype and enormous expectation heaped upon them, especially with four enormous egos at work. They came and went with the brevity of a rock & roll mayfly, burning brightly for a short period, before fading just as fast. But the music they left behind sounds as vital and relevant now as it did the day it was recorded more than half a century ago. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYYfCq7oTAOhMhBbnnNZldWLyKxBPXBWSjKFKynum6i8hdQBg2RrvZTu1Y2fCWd4M6P304v636A1Jd118ybXWNLoJ_YvIx_x0ssc6HasLupojgrjTvwrnwgmFH_gvhqxDW3Ahruc-S0clXJtJ9MlRPED-X4QMkBwGeSjqOvcLlKkTeu_GMe0k_SbD5NQ/s928/Blind%20Faith%20Well%20Alright%20Japan-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="928" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYYfCq7oTAOhMhBbnnNZldWLyKxBPXBWSjKFKynum6i8hdQBg2RrvZTu1Y2fCWd4M6P304v636A1Jd118ybXWNLoJ_YvIx_x0ssc6HasLupojgrjTvwrnwgmFH_gvhqxDW3Ahruc-S0clXJtJ9MlRPED-X4QMkBwGeSjqOvcLlKkTeu_GMe0k_SbD5NQ/w640-h640/Blind%20Faith%20Well%20Alright%20Japan-COLLAGE.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjaJHyh6nmHjSTOmM0ZcbKqfgFFA94e00xsBVXjkowUlarExtxLAt00PhQPmX-XuOaCs-xNO189G7c5dl-hF-RKB0u3TnddmTvoaz028qOywD_uGts8aPcZO4IIsUzT2jL8FS4iChPZXx1cCLjc7D4LUGEbGn1DGwwfvGznL14xFfbiTxKAnGs6ZJfA/s1717/LP%20variants.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="1717" height="564" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjaJHyh6nmHjSTOmM0ZcbKqfgFFA94e00xsBVXjkowUlarExtxLAt00PhQPmX-XuOaCs-xNO189G7c5dl-hF-RKB0u3TnddmTvoaz028qOywD_uGts8aPcZO4IIsUzT2jL8FS4iChPZXx1cCLjc7D4LUGEbGn1DGwwfvGznL14xFfbiTxKAnGs6ZJfA/w640-h564/LP%20variants.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-82194302683664490082022-04-12T03:09:00.177-07:002024-01-02T19:46:13.685-08:00He Took It All Too Far, But Boy Could He Play Guitar - Peter Green: His 25 Top Tracks <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCdY52AWSXhWK2ZmRG4S3Kyv8EarKC2sns4mPJ9_Z_AXEDCSGm6lDfbnnlojjBrEAAQWaVE4UZYG3pWKtG4etRYjIm7eTaeVJLG5d9JIkBJttKDdYwcv8tfTGgdfBsarA888R_JcW4iBtlxPwD2CYroMV9pFoKlOw1MRMy5PQllLbOmDTddSOjQQeRII/s4032/PeterGreen%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3671" data-original-width="4032" height="582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCdY52AWSXhWK2ZmRG4S3Kyv8EarKC2sns4mPJ9_Z_AXEDCSGm6lDfbnnlojjBrEAAQWaVE4UZYG3pWKtG4etRYjIm7eTaeVJLG5d9JIkBJttKDdYwcv8tfTGgdfBsarA888R_JcW4iBtlxPwD2CYroMV9pFoKlOw1MRMy5PQllLbOmDTddSOjQQeRII/w640-h582/PeterGreen%20copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaa9k1ibwiFnxwGvm8Ln6iaY7QP3fKWNvad2xnyGfFkxdXnBo5qXikgDGGhiD3bFOIm4zss0-YGi0pSov2WRKMDNJXEZ2EIRRGNgBE8E1EcAHl95BMq7YSlq8uZwQn-uOvoQIrC-KetMHtohJxXexJbFfhxyfOlVEtV1fCL8H90IFYzgoJ7zK93BEiOQ/s2617/Peter%20Green.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2617" data-original-width="2616" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaa9k1ibwiFnxwGvm8Ln6iaY7QP3fKWNvad2xnyGfFkxdXnBo5qXikgDGGhiD3bFOIm4zss0-YGi0pSov2WRKMDNJXEZ2EIRRGNgBE8E1EcAHl95BMq7YSlq8uZwQn-uOvoQIrC-KetMHtohJxXexJbFfhxyfOlVEtV1fCL8H90IFYzgoJ7zK93BEiOQ/s320/Peter%20Green.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></span></span></span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-38398752-7fff-9b89-3435-182fc8d5a818"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>by Stuart Penney</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I met Peter Green only twice. The first time was at a May 1967 Bluesbreakers’ gig in the picturesque Derbyshire spa town of Matlock Bath. It was towards the end of his tenure with John Mayall and, with Fleetwood Mac only weeks away from formation, he had the world at his feet. In the regulation bluesman’s uniform of well-worn brown leather jacket, hooped rugby shirt and faded Levi’s, topped off with an impressive head of thick black curly hair, he looked sensational and carried himself with the swagger of a man secure in his position as one of the most revered guitar slingers in the land.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAy-8kBrQb7jvBjfoAbaFyoxnbDr9HjjGhOuHOKPvoJezcGvCK7gIhV9JiEeqE8fLeusqU8Oa8uy2fl3785fm0-LGhbd-ozw6L1sOSFzl37evgNDhvKuKfXIqfadssolimmFsTNUq4atlv6nybll4aKeuGHS_X_AvYDD-RR0RtOsYTG5Mq8U9Ll7y2MA/s2645/Bluesbreakers%201967.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2645" data-original-width="2483" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAy-8kBrQb7jvBjfoAbaFyoxnbDr9HjjGhOuHOKPvoJezcGvCK7gIhV9JiEeqE8fLeusqU8Oa8uy2fl3785fm0-LGhbd-ozw6L1sOSFzl37evgNDhvKuKfXIqfadssolimmFsTNUq4atlv6nybll4aKeuGHS_X_AvYDD-RR0RtOsYTG5Mq8U9Ll7y2MA/s320/Bluesbreakers%201967.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a much sadder story the last time I ran into Peter. It was a chance encounter in 1982 outside an Oxfam charity shop in Richmond, Surrey on the outskirts of London. To misquote William Cowper, fifteen years earlier Green had been the lord of all he surveyed, but now he was reduced to a shambling wreck. An overweight acid casualty at the lowest point of his mental health trauma, he looked unkempt and unwashed and could easily have been mistaken for a homeless drifter. It was beyond heartbreaking to see him in this state. Mercifully, he was later rehabilitated somewhat and while the Peter of old was gone forever, his life did return to some kind of normality, or as normal as it was possible to get. I wrote about those meetings <a href="https://andnowitsallthis.blogspot.com/2019/10/meeting-peter-green-before-and-after.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Peter burned brightly for just five years between 1966-1970, leaving behind a remarkable body of work. During that short period he produced music the equal of virtually anything his 60s contemporaries had to offer. He was not just an incredible guitarist, but he had a tremendous voice too. Unlike some, Peter never overplayed. He left just enough space between the notes so we could fully appreciate how tasteful and melodic his soloing was, a rare thing among guitar heroes then and especially now. His legacy may have been clouded a little by some of the substandard work he was cajoled into recording after his breakdown, but even that has not overshadowed the timeless music he gave us when he was fit and well.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are 25 of what I consider to be his greatest tracks, cherry-picked from his time with John Mayall and Fleetwood Mac during 1966-1970. These are my personal favourites, and I expect your list will almost certainly differ.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7zRqKsoNpbdjqkEEmx6Fan5HUTjUFS0Qo2eu_aRJQuacOPeadplytzsrKgwksjEAatJF71j0J14XyS5LbON0oeimWV7OHljDRnaHu3LWLAoDtVTeURglj9oiQPWKuUNGtaQ1pVO9kYws7A4E5ZmvxmpAFnD0frhrFrb4xzviy00Shv_TfEFA_XuSQg/s3836/Fleetwood%20Mac.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2926" data-original-width="3836" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7zRqKsoNpbdjqkEEmx6Fan5HUTjUFS0Qo2eu_aRJQuacOPeadplytzsrKgwksjEAatJF71j0J14XyS5LbON0oeimWV7OHljDRnaHu3LWLAoDtVTeURglj9oiQPWKuUNGtaQ1pVO9kYws7A4E5ZmvxmpAFnD0frhrFrb4xzviy00Shv_TfEFA_XuSQg/w400-h305/Fleetwood%20Mac.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">25: Rollin’ Man (1968) </span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recorded April 1968 at the CBS studios in New Bond Street, this powerful </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Wonderful</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> track is typical of Peter’s up-tempo contributions to the second Fleetwood Mac album. Opening with a call and response motif between the horn section and guitar, it continues in similar vein into a killer solo before shifting to an up-tempo shuffle at 2:08 which takes it to the fade. The horns are played by Steve Gregory and Johnny Almond, while Christine McVie provides the piano.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtPs0BmFixt27UklXa0k6K2C1M4xcNLkYp65ucC1se3YULCEafifl4lzhl6mFoycENLXJmdIl5xplHTOCK_5359RPzyAY37YCqLuccNPCgfwrVLlnpcoVTZFCBY585ioXZ8zGWpmpqIySl156EWSpdZyZNHhdeQFFoO1-Llpkx1Nw4d6eIG1PesS5Jw/s2712/%2323%20Raw%20Blues.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2712" data-original-width="2704" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtPs0BmFixt27UklXa0k6K2C1M4xcNLkYp65ucC1se3YULCEafifl4lzhl6mFoycENLXJmdIl5xplHTOCK_5359RPzyAY37YCqLuccNPCgfwrVLlnpcoVTZFCBY585ioXZ8zGWpmpqIySl156EWSpdZyZNHhdeQFFoO1-Llpkx1Nw4d6eIG1PesS5Jw/s320/%2323%20Raw%20Blues.jpg" width="319" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">24. Evil Woman Blues (1967)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An outtake from the October 1966 Bluesbreakers sessions, this slow blues first appeared on the various artists compilation </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Raw Blues</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in January 1967 and was unavailable elsewhere until the CD era. Peter sings his own composition backed only with plaintive, echo-drenched guitar and John Mayall’s piano. In 2003 the song was added to the extended CD version of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Hard Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Supposedly written about singer Beryl Marsden, who Green was romantically linked with in 1966 when they were both in Shotgun Express.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4IlVLKZ03f_WhyieH9L2q_CO5kpPicCZgZ2VD-HLeHG4x_rnnOK7ypRVityZU2Nu-UphVZDW-awVei5t5YZGAVvonpT55ADc8cjDgjL-oa4lbEEx9af3Qgk6vCL-pNWOpcCBEouFGQsakl-8_WA8B1F5HIE-LWa7dHe6vj6OeSKxKt2a3KW2xKxEaQ/s608/bb%20out%20of%20reach.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4IlVLKZ03f_WhyieH9L2q_CO5kpPicCZgZ2VD-HLeHG4x_rnnOK7ypRVityZU2Nu-UphVZDW-awVei5t5YZGAVvonpT55ADc8cjDgjL-oa4lbEEx9af3Qgk6vCL-pNWOpcCBEouFGQsakl-8_WA8B1F5HIE-LWa7dHe6vj6OeSKxKt2a3KW2xKxEaQ/s320/bb%20out%20of%20reach.jpg" width="316" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">23. Out Of Reach (1967)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recorded in October 1966, this minor key slow blues was left off </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Hard Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and ended up on the B-side of the January 1967 Bluesbreakers single “Sitting In The Rain”. Another darkly atmospheric Peter Green composition with powerful guitar and vocals by the man himself, it features Mayall on 5 string guitar, plus the usual backline of Aynsley Dunbar and John McVie. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> As with so many of Mayall’s non-album tracks, “Out Of Reach” found its way first onto the 1971 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thru The Years</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and was later included as a bonus track on the expanded editions of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Hard Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> CD.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8b2RshbxJjeGoFEmSYkq7-vtD4hpDwNNgKOZnrtTZaHywNxR5hq8zIz0RFfXlZMpc5Ttqpw2i4W1k2wbc18fWlmb9wso2sh9Sld8KSCnu4qK82Zzg-ryPxO9MMt-eFFPQUhbgCOftWqwF0ewCdnc3GUkb6Gwl0nvk55xAvNpcMmmr_-lXHyguq0yjkA/s1504/%2322%20Blues%20Jam%20At%20Chess.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1464" data-original-width="1504" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8b2RshbxJjeGoFEmSYkq7-vtD4hpDwNNgKOZnrtTZaHywNxR5hq8zIz0RFfXlZMpc5Ttqpw2i4W1k2wbc18fWlmb9wso2sh9Sld8KSCnu4qK82Zzg-ryPxO9MMt-eFFPQUhbgCOftWqwF0ewCdnc3GUkb6Gwl0nvk55xAvNpcMmmr_-lXHyguq0yjkA/s320/%2322%20Blues%20Jam%20At%20Chess.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22. Watch Out (1969)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This song was first recorded in November 1967 but sat unreleased until 1971 when it appeared on the album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Original Fleetwood Mac</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Two years later it was reworked in a much slower tempo for </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blues Jam At Chess</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (aka </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blues Jam In Chicago</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fleetwood Mac In Chicago</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) and that’s the version I’ve chosen here. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Peter excels on both, but the 1967 recording is taken rather too fast, while the Chicago version (featuring just the four-piece band, with no guests) has a nicer, laidback feel.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967–1969</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> box set features two early takes of “Watch Out”. Take 2 appears on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Original Fleetwood Mac </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">album, while the equally frantic Take 1 is previously unreleased.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCdJ_Jn3MZUjeGMREvMQaqJu9vwoj8Qv9Rz11WnzO0OZRO5VRB3LAR-ugfOeDi9TbBQrn5qiejdhW3Fscn3uHbAu79I2W1aMyrUa8SqQy4igpLzKL_I_ahaXCbV-WxVCtXRnpjGWWvR5T-xE8qrMe6Dl8Ip9GC32b3BGbjDodpIyS1mITTQjGrz2A-g/s2677/%2321%20Mr%20Wonderful.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2639" data-original-width="2677" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCdJ_Jn3MZUjeGMREvMQaqJu9vwoj8Qv9Rz11WnzO0OZRO5VRB3LAR-ugfOeDi9TbBQrn5qiejdhW3Fscn3uHbAu79I2W1aMyrUa8SqQy4igpLzKL_I_ahaXCbV-WxVCtXRnpjGWWvR5T-xE8qrMe6Dl8Ip9GC32b3BGbjDodpIyS1mITTQjGrz2A-g/s320/%2321%20Mr%20Wonderful.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21. If You Be My Baby (1968)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Peter’s legendary 1959 Gibson Les Paul “Greeny” never sounded better than on this </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Wonderful</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> mid-tempo shuffle. The guitar parts are economical but played with surgical precision and every note is in exactly the right place. Backed by the same piano and twin saxophone ensemble heard elsewhere on the album, this is a masterclass in electric blues.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This is one of five </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Wonderful</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> tracks co-credited to Peter Green and the mysterious “C.G. Adams”. Clifford George Adams is the real name of Clifford Davis, the man who acted as Fleetwood Mac’s manager from 1967-74. It seems he changed his name to avoid confusion with the leader of the schmaltzy easy listening vocal group the Cliff Adams Singers. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In late 1973 when the band was in disarray and temporarily off the road, Davis brazenly recruited a bunch of new musicians and assembled a bogus version of Fleetwood Mac to fulfill tour commitments in America. Naturally, legal proceedings soon followed and that was the end of Davis’s involvement with the band. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This song was covered by Gary Moore on his 1995 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blues For Greeny</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> using the same 1959 Gibson Les Paul Peter had played on the original track.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSjobhiy6ndQmxqmlw8N89C-LdwNsMf_36c4vH4P6ful7yA-etctISHXnA4hivbVd9a1xdGZ6Wgonv-Vy1u6q5nC1pGj80P6Vj9ClXfXeaWFnUWRXvuXF6TFK0nxPE0r2kkw9ra0rJHyFSqzeIhrXX6i89MGMGLOk7gx2CkWUb2VtzUyWHOY1h_llTlg/s700/%2320%20A%20Hard%20Road.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSjobhiy6ndQmxqmlw8N89C-LdwNsMf_36c4vH4P6ful7yA-etctISHXnA4hivbVd9a1xdGZ6Wgonv-Vy1u6q5nC1pGj80P6Vj9ClXfXeaWFnUWRXvuXF6TFK0nxPE0r2kkw9ra0rJHyFSqzeIhrXX6i89MGMGLOk7gx2CkWUb2VtzUyWHOY1h_llTlg/s320/%2320%20A%20Hard%20Road.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20. So Many Roads (1966)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If it seemed like a blatant attempt to outdo Clapton and his brace of epic slow blues on “The Beano Album”, it probably was. It might have worked too were it not for a somewhat fussy production. As usual, Mayall’s high-pitched vocals are an acquired taste and the horns are perhaps a little intrusive, but Peter is in absolutely blistering form here and his solo is a thing of wonder. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Released in October 1966 as the B-side of the single “Looking Back” this track didn’t appear on album until the 1969 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">compilation of that name. The classic Bluesbreakers line-up of Mayall, Green, John McVie and Aynsley Dunbar is augmented here by the horn section of Nick Newall (tenor), Johnny Almond (baritone) and Henry Lowther (trumpet).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0c6Z0IBKBVQ9d8FIq-GzVEif3o4TmqeS_y_Hw6RwlhnEB9t12MnYQ4806BQEErqiVwFhtYTsXONwehoLwqtwyKFlbK_R1pED90HSwblgkEX-dV8nOKxRsT57wBw6IERQahfi3rCjk_ihAMCs4E1JpxvfV4b_Vwutn4FvHy25Oou8aMMoKu0NQOy2tcg/s2774/Looking%20Back%20John%20Mayall.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2761" data-original-width="2774" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0c6Z0IBKBVQ9d8FIq-GzVEif3o4TmqeS_y_Hw6RwlhnEB9t12MnYQ4806BQEErqiVwFhtYTsXONwehoLwqtwyKFlbK_R1pED90HSwblgkEX-dV8nOKxRsT57wBw6IERQahfi3rCjk_ihAMCs4E1JpxvfV4b_Vwutn4FvHy25Oou8aMMoKu0NQOy2tcg/s320/Looking%20Back%20John%20Mayall.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> First recorded in 1960 by Otis Rush with the title “So Many Roads, So Many Trains”, this song is credited to “Paul Marshall” (sometimes shown as “Marshall Paul”), an alias for Marshall Chess, son of the famous blues label founder Leonard Chess. Marshall became president of Chess records in 1969. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For an even wilder version of “So Many Roads” check out the Bluesbreakers official bootleg album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Live In 1967</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Forty Below Records FBR 008). Showcasing the short-lived John Mayall, Peter Green, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood line-up, what this amateur recording lacks in sound quality is more than made up for in energy and the sheer power of Peter’s playing. Recorded on a domestic tape recorder in May 1967 by a Dutch fan at the Manor House in North London, it was unreleased until 2015.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joe Bonamassa covered “So Many Roads” in Mayall/Green style on his 2006 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You & Me</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and it’s long been a fixture of his live set.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLFCQdsqlX5hWCLMpAyYx455vzTX0T2If7a-hyPcbhhcE27Jdm5FjBEkhOo3SXIBQxvxpKwqeEdslDZqIrA-zzbhYrkdpGUlHZiAs5rSLSZdGrWJiK3eYCNp6107T9j8vCHyIINdtwdi2z19pvtryaHxhulrhldecZiL4gbrRssv5wU4p6p1F8u3yLA/s606/%2319%20Original%20F.Mac.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="599" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLFCQdsqlX5hWCLMpAyYx455vzTX0T2If7a-hyPcbhhcE27Jdm5FjBEkhOo3SXIBQxvxpKwqeEdslDZqIrA-zzbhYrkdpGUlHZiAs5rSLSZdGrWJiK3eYCNp6107T9j8vCHyIINdtwdi2z19pvtryaHxhulrhldecZiL4gbrRssv5wU4p6p1F8u3yLA/s320/%2319%20Original%20F.Mac.jpg" width="316" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">19. Drifting (1967)</span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Comprising mostly previously unissued Blue Horizon material deemed not worthy of release at the time, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Original Fleetwood Mac</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is now viewed as one of the best Fleetwood Mac albums of all (despite the unimaginative title). Recorded between August 1967 and October 1968 it didn’t see the light of day until May 1971, by which time Peter and Jeremy Spencer were gone and Mac was a very different band indeed. Green is on top form throughout and his fearsome guitar work on “Drifting” holds up against anything Mac recorded during their peak blues period. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRTBy168R7MRpcsXXWeSbGOV99xjtYRwGRbROR2jrV2FhLeQ5Q7o-PZFgY-SHFzAz3Ouoax3QnTtQlb0ieHovf3EFdDqDrFNutxO2fqA6eHLKE84eRyRV648KXu4leQV4MSzzUS-fQjWsplzCgwo63yy3K2kSszrGo3vGXaAkx6whIHCIIqvN9elm4eA/s2695/%2318%20Then%20Play%20On.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2657" data-original-width="2695" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRTBy168R7MRpcsXXWeSbGOV99xjtYRwGRbROR2jrV2FhLeQ5Q7o-PZFgY-SHFzAz3Ouoax3QnTtQlb0ieHovf3EFdDqDrFNutxO2fqA6eHLKE84eRyRV648KXu4leQV4MSzzUS-fQjWsplzCgwo63yy3K2kSszrGo3vGXaAkx6whIHCIIqvN9elm4eA/s320/%2318%20Then%20Play%20On.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18. Under Way (1969)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sounding not unlike like Wishbone Ash meets the Grateful Dead, this dreamlike </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then Play On</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> track was apparently one of Peter’s personal favourite Fleetwood Mac recordings. The album cut clocks in at around three minutes, but for the full-length 16-minute experience check out </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Vaudeville Years</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> retrospective collection released in 1998.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Trivia:</b> The painting used for the <i>Then Play On</i> LP sleeve is a mural by the English artist Maxwell Armfield (1888 - 1972). It was featured in the February 1917 edition of <i>The Countryside</i> magazine, which noted that the mural was originally designed for the dining room of a London mansion. Armfield lived to see his painting used for the Fleetwood Mac album sleeve, but his opinion of the music was not noted.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLPIeA7RU_cy7MAJn_yaBBlaYzkeO2gvE0pbihHHYd7h2LVAxwn1Ne4wGAWYXw-kPioHo0Uc-k-h9xlTcWCkOPf3lmXsI4NuGbY7JKfn63x641eEW0qVBlOyLJl9CNRZ4M2zZwpBkSidELoL83bRqNgMHpF2VtyVKGpUra7EFDlfJKDWs95U-rudwLhw/s2766/%2317%20Thru%20The%20Years.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2766" data-original-width="2753" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLPIeA7RU_cy7MAJn_yaBBlaYzkeO2gvE0pbihHHYd7h2LVAxwn1Ne4wGAWYXw-kPioHo0Uc-k-h9xlTcWCkOPf3lmXsI4NuGbY7JKfn63x641eEW0qVBlOyLJl9CNRZ4M2zZwpBkSidELoL83bRqNgMHpF2VtyVKGpUra7EFDlfJKDWs95U-rudwLhw/s320/%2317%20Thru%20The%20Years.jpg" width="318" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">17. Curly (1967)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another track recorded on February 16, 1967 by the power trio of Green, Aynsley Dunbar and John McVie, this lumbering instrumental workout is as heavy as anything Cream was turning out at the time. Credited only to The Bluesbreakers (John Mayall doesn’t appear), it first appeared as the A-side of a March 1967 UK single (Decca F12588) and was later mopped up on the 1971 Decca leftovers LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thru The Years</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. More recently “Curly” was included as a bonus track on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Hard Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> CD. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Lc8NXoVhTjqbLJK05_Tw3cBh2hophGWn0lnO9yL46oqhGD-HnbVtFZ5x0pBsKWmze9oPEkD3QctAnCDDsnHax1hDcMs8JUhsUr3XYyP5Wri5iXvc8RPxXRm8O1s8MSh9PbufqGeQ2YW_DzHWbYD2sWpQL090_nuOLTuczMPAdXoS7QhVCJ1WJS6oiw/s480/%2317%20the-bluesbreakers-curly-decca.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Lc8NXoVhTjqbLJK05_Tw3cBh2hophGWn0lnO9yL46oqhGD-HnbVtFZ5x0pBsKWmze9oPEkD3QctAnCDDsnHax1hDcMs8JUhsUr3XYyP5Wri5iXvc8RPxXRm8O1s8MSh9PbufqGeQ2YW_DzHWbYD2sWpQL090_nuOLTuczMPAdXoS7QhVCJ1WJS6oiw/s320/%2317%20the-bluesbreakers-curly-decca.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">16. Sugar Mama (1969)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sorry lads, half of it wasn’t on tape” says Mike Vernon sheepishly over the studio talkback. Presumably he’d forgotten to press the "record" button at the start of the take. “It’s always the same with your bum producing, Vernon”, laughs Peter Green. “I shall ignore that, thank you” replies the producer, feigning indignation. And so, Take 3 of “Sugar Mama” gets under way, only to break down again seconds later. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s all good-natured, of course. Green and Vernon were the best of pals and one of the joys of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blues Jam At Chess</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> double album is hearing the jokey studio banter between producer and band members. He chivvies them along when studio time is running out and is not afraid to kill the take and admonish them when someone plays a duff note. It’s all taken in fun and Green gives as good as he gets: “Can we turn the lights out, so I won’t see Jerry’s stupid face looking at me?” quips Peter as yet another take breaks down. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As with so many old blues songs, opinions vary as to who wrote this one. Some say Sonny Boy Williamson, Yank Rachell or Tampa Red, while others claim the tune is traditional. Meanwhile, the sleeve notes to </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blues Jam At Chess</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> credit slide guitarist Homesick James Williamson who was, coincidentally, a cousin of Jeremy Spencer’s favourite player Elmore James. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whoever wrote the song, they could never have imagined it performed with the fire and aggression Fleetwood Mac gave to it in January 1969. Green and Danny Kirwan’s twin guitars almost strip the paint from the walls, and I don’t believe I’ve heard Peter deliver a stronger vocal performance. The great Otis Spann provides the authentic blues piano backing here. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisuUVEtREFkxecewJncEI6ZvWDug-AXQWgfQK9J5H7EGmk1WJzN-DDE_xaCguhDVG9a25Ax-isPqP66dKhXudFGcYYVps854PlNZplhWPLgTJMpkhyuhD0GXPAMyY1n7NWC_sTYG4Zt2FpCkao09VYEIgLQzET0N8FlvMcbfA76U7hgV96YYrPr6S1kg/s590/%2315%20Fleetwood%20Mac.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="587" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisuUVEtREFkxecewJncEI6ZvWDug-AXQWgfQK9J5H7EGmk1WJzN-DDE_xaCguhDVG9a25Ax-isPqP66dKhXudFGcYYVps854PlNZplhWPLgTJMpkhyuhD0GXPAMyY1n7NWC_sTYG4Zt2FpCkao09VYEIgLQzET0N8FlvMcbfA76U7hgV96YYrPr6S1kg/s320/%2315%20Fleetwood%20Mac.jpg" width="318" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">15. Merry Go Round (1968)</span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If fans were expecting a surfeit of guitar histrionics from Peter on the first Fleetwood Mac album, they were disappointed. Much of the record was given over to Jeremy Spencer’s Elmore James bottleneck routine, with Green’s guitar taking an uncharacteristic back seat. He really unleashes on this stripped-back blues, however. With no effects or distortion pedals and the simplest of productions from Mike Vernon, “Merry Go Round” is pure, undiluted electric blues guitar with a clean guitar sound and a tremendous vocal from Peter. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It's Take 2 we hear on the “Dog & Dustbin” album, as the debut </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> became known. But the shorter Take 1, which breaks down after only a minute, can be found on the 1999 box set </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967–1969</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This song was covered by Gary Moore on his 1995 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blues For Greeny</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> using the same 1959 Gibson Les Paul Peter had played on the original track.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBKghwzqJ7RUcY-r4lKgt5ZgSkb6auL8J3f3GF9ktBizwRLbyHtBYNpPISUampHTtqd90HPhLMl0sA06Z3n7JZwa49MO-b3TijtrKio2VOeszBGLfFlEOdfWi13RWryKBYJ232Ixhur_DOeKbaDwJC59lIk34stD6dz2SFOUc297CMRepJok-yA6VaQ/s601/%2314%20Jumping.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="599" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBKghwzqJ7RUcY-r4lKgt5ZgSkb6auL8J3f3GF9ktBizwRLbyHtBYNpPISUampHTtqd90HPhLMl0sA06Z3n7JZwa49MO-b3TijtrKio2VOeszBGLfFlEOdfWi13RWryKBYJ232Ixhur_DOeKbaDwJC59lIk34stD6dz2SFOUc297CMRepJok-yA6VaQ/s320/%2314%20Jumping.jpg" width="319" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14. Jumping At Shadows (1970)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even if Anthony “Duster” Bennett had only ever written one song, his immortality would be assured, thanks to “Jumping At Shadows”. This tremendous eight-bar blues shuffle with its unusual chord changes is a gilt-edged British Blues Boom classic which was picked up by Fleetwood Mac for their late 60s live set. It appears on several Mac concert albums, notably volume three of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Live In Boston</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, recorded at the Boston Tea Party venue in February 1970 (other versions are available). Listen as Peter’s guitar goes from a whisper to a scream and back again. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Bennett was basically a one-man band, which is how he performed in concert, playing a gold top Gibson Les Paul (a gift from Peter), harmonica and assorted percussion. In the studio, however, he was sometimes backed by Green and other Fleetwood Mac members, making the albums he recorded for Blue Horizon hugely collectable today. Duster sadly died in a car crash in 1976 aged just 29.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSsiY8U139iZA7AqkykV7xOHjbALW9YJekxj5B9hr3gHgEveHciCY48cPgm_KnpEOc9r3oT78QNzEPrXpMiJ1TmF6w1LfZlHygkouLOg9hqEAS9Cwm4CdskRchF51GaPLfgy4shQnzKfLeIB0EPE09Ve8bBVGvxxTUmHNN7Af5Ri3Uqqn7RMOfF5k6w/s3334/Peter%20Green%20Box%20Set.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3334" data-original-width="2501" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSsiY8U139iZA7AqkykV7xOHjbALW9YJekxj5B9hr3gHgEveHciCY48cPgm_KnpEOc9r3oT78QNzEPrXpMiJ1TmF6w1LfZlHygkouLOg9hqEAS9Cwm4CdskRchF51GaPLfgy4shQnzKfLeIB0EPE09Ve8bBVGvxxTUmHNN7Af5Ri3Uqqn7RMOfF5k6w/s320/Peter%20Green%20Box%20Set.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13. Lazy Poker Blues (1968)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another up-tempo shuffle in the style of “Stop Messin’ Round”, this </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Wonderful</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> cut really motors along with added backing from Johnny Almond and Steve Gregory on saxes and Christine McVie on piano. This was probably just meat and potatoes material for Fleetwood Mac at that time, but the two solos Peter takes here are worth the price of admission alone. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> In 1970 Status Quo covered “Lazy Poker Blues” on their third album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ma Kelly’s Greasy Spoon</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjduvR7FIl9mKNIKA_X_RPqOVtEE7tJVxnLIUKbVQFUqOwvYx5xEXXkK6jDGdJlMwGBpCj-mQ_I7U7qdcKGvvYnf1rMAw-uoHYQG8YX5kHVkkHJ-VfUYc2Xf11A0gPzF2qllp00F9TdFM5ck_rQCJ9Ksh0BGucnNgSbNsZjrQJDCig-ClWEsUZAHQElnw/s3028/%2312%20Madge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2734" data-original-width="3028" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjduvR7FIl9mKNIKA_X_RPqOVtEE7tJVxnLIUKbVQFUqOwvYx5xEXXkK6jDGdJlMwGBpCj-mQ_I7U7qdcKGvvYnf1rMAw-uoHYQG8YX5kHVkkHJ-VfUYc2Xf11A0gPzF2qllp00F9TdFM5ck_rQCJ9Ksh0BGucnNgSbNsZjrQJDCig-ClWEsUZAHQElnw/s320/%2312%20Madge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12. Searching For Madge/Fighting For Madge (1969)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is complicated. It’s probably true to say that the two “Madge” tracks do not appear in the same place twice on any of the countless released versions of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then Play On</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. They have appeared separately and together, consecutively and split over different sides of the individual (and different) UK and US vinyl LPs. And that’s before we get to the endless CD reissues with their bonus tracks etc. So, it’s much simpler if we view them as one track, which is how they started life. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The Madge Sessions” as we shall call them, began as a series of jams kicked off by John McVie and Mick Fleetwood (hence the writing credits), before Peter and Danny joined in, creating a ferocious guitar duel. What were considered the best bits were selected, a short section of a string orchestra and some arbitrary vocal noises were edited in just to add to the mystery, and the result was split into two tracks with a total running time of just under 10 minutes. These were placed seemingly at random on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then Play On</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Depending on which version of the album you have (and there are many) will determine where “Madge” appears for you. It was about as far from the blues as the early Fleetwood Mac ever got. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Should the 10 minutes of “Madge” on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then Play On</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> not contain enough wild and crazy guitar for you, why not seek out the rare double CD </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Vaudeville Years Of Fleetwood Mac 1968-1970</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> where you’ll find the full-fat 17 minute version. Psst: it’s on YouTube. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> According to an interview Mick Fleetwood gave around the time </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then Play On</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was released, the tracks were named for Madge Jones, a hardcore Mac fan - “the ultimate groupie” as he put it, who followed the band around Europe. So, it’s somehow fitting that she has been immortalised with the title of her own album track.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Underway” also originated from the same series of jams which produced “Madge”.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkRKmXou8-Jhbfla55ISMDeOkUDtMu29NL13CwPrRth_4uO3Nr_NHaBYijCSxAHPPBAgGoVGNWmUTeR0ef4YeJ9nel1v4mVjn4WYqYSmN71acuHX7lJUkq2GybyHQT2bn_BQAquGXrgJ6bmVV3N_BK0lvhKfgYW571sXFUHzJC-_lcjaQYyHFRsx3IA/s1280/%2311%20The-World-Of-Blues-Power.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1265" data-original-width="1280" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkRKmXou8-Jhbfla55ISMDeOkUDtMu29NL13CwPrRth_4uO3Nr_NHaBYijCSxAHPPBAgGoVGNWmUTeR0ef4YeJ9nel1v4mVjn4WYqYSmN71acuHX7lJUkq2GybyHQT2bn_BQAquGXrgJ6bmVV3N_BK0lvhKfgYW571sXFUHzJC-_lcjaQYyHFRsx3IA/s320/%2311%20The-World-Of-Blues-Power.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11. Greeny (1967)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although recorded in February 1967, this seemingly throwaway instrumental first surfaced in April 1969 on the UK budget sampler LP </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The World Of Blues Power</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Decca SPA 14). It was one of four Bluesbreakers’ tracks cut without John Mayall and featuring just the power trio of Green, John McVie and Aynsley Dunbar. Beautiful in its restrained simplicity and yet powerfully executed with Peter’s razor-sharp technique on display, this is a masterclass in low volume electric blues guitar. It later appeared on both the UK and US </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thru The Years</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Mayall compilations and has been included as a bonus track on several versions of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Hard Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> CD. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The name “Greeny” was later applied to Peter’s legendary 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard, a guitar subsequently owned by Gary Moore and then sold to Metallica’s Kirk Hammett for a reported (yet oft denied) seven figure sum.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf1WnxvGfaGGIJOYtpVHXGfiVMo-nbcVFA3YnJvsD8xfVLqZBJup1sf8DcTvnFEJOO6pOtn5K70wb55k58J2y2DXiHyGQBXhaDtA_s5cZ7Jn-o6D47GaP7_R1njZRxGt-9XQk5TkGJNpfcpPWpKFOZ917sXwZSoKBGYgoOB-aXnhyGuJAjutx6E8g4zA/s1066/%2310%20F.Mac%201969%20Poll%20Winners.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1066" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf1WnxvGfaGGIJOYtpVHXGfiVMo-nbcVFA3YnJvsD8xfVLqZBJup1sf8DcTvnFEJOO6pOtn5K70wb55k58J2y2DXiHyGQBXhaDtA_s5cZ7Jn-o6D47GaP7_R1njZRxGt-9XQk5TkGJNpfcpPWpKFOZ917sXwZSoKBGYgoOB-aXnhyGuJAjutx6E8g4zA/w400-h300/%2310%20F.Mac%201969%20Poll%20Winners.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. Albatross (1968)</span></span><div><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1969 Fleetwood Mac spent more weeks in the UK top 50 singles chart than the Beatles (59, compared to 43). Mac spent 23 of those weeks in the UK top 10, compared to 19 weeks for the Fabs, the first time anyone had achieved that feat since 1963. </span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Released in late November 1968, the dreamy instrumental “Albatross” was responsible for much of that success, spending 20 weeks in the chart overall and becoming the biggest selling UK instrumental of all time along the way. Fleetwood Mac’s last Blue Horizon single (reissues excepted) also gave Mike Vernon’s label its first and only number one hit. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKe5rZZ1n7Koi-KT0Zw8txQgArZpt8kDRSJoYt7ocDjhlUgYv_XQ4XWEmQS4oZ6BxWKtPdTKVoYAFovK2PIrm85J3HzxMYmZ89jsQw80FRkoZBkfyKYhJn3Pw_-qIl-9KtAypescSQLfHvlWwYNxtRyvbO14hkJGVa2b39k2DcLpNOfNPRgEsVusdKpg/s564/%2310%20Albatross.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="544" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKe5rZZ1n7Koi-KT0Zw8txQgArZpt8kDRSJoYt7ocDjhlUgYv_XQ4XWEmQS4oZ6BxWKtPdTKVoYAFovK2PIrm85J3HzxMYmZ89jsQw80FRkoZBkfyKYhJn3Pw_-qIl-9KtAypescSQLfHvlWwYNxtRyvbO14hkJGVa2b39k2DcLpNOfNPRgEsVusdKpg/s320/%2310%20Albatross.jpg" width="309" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thought to have been inspired by Santo & Johnny’s 1959 Hawaiian guitar instrumental classic "Sleep Walk", Mac’s fourth single in turn directly influenced the Beatles’ “Sun King” on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abbey Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It was all a very long way from the blues, but Peter Green and Danny Kirwan’s beautiful harmony guitar lines (Jeremy Spencer did not play on the record) provided the surprise crossover hit of 1969.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lRxjVWngqrCLJJQClK6yWuvzyAnEHAFFNwKhtgS4nxZGulDwQUr4t6GsWJyWevJOgmlmoe_kyVjm7W9UxQcho2xWfmS8FHntjCSjVc-ryf_gLkAyToKIydTpvC3na1VrhcOOIuavEoK11V-kthceXw0ah2mTik05Qk-UQrhO-XwhBp86ae20y0FzNA/s701/%2310%20Albatross%20Chart%20Stats.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="639" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lRxjVWngqrCLJJQClK6yWuvzyAnEHAFFNwKhtgS4nxZGulDwQUr4t6GsWJyWevJOgmlmoe_kyVjm7W9UxQcho2xWfmS8FHntjCSjVc-ryf_gLkAyToKIydTpvC3na1VrhcOOIuavEoK11V-kthceXw0ah2mTik05Qk-UQrhO-XwhBp86ae20y0FzNA/s320/%2310%20Albatross%20Chart%20Stats.jpg" width="292" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This was almost certainly the last occasion a record in 12/8 time reached the top of the UK charts.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those 1969 top 50 chart statistics in full: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fleetwood Mac: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Albatross (20 weeks) #1 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Man Of the World (14 weeks) #2 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Need Your Love So Bad - reissue (6 weeks) #32 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Need Your Love So Bad - reissue (re-entry) (3 weeks) #42 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh Well (16 weeks) #2 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total: 59 weeks</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Beatles: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Get Back (17 weeks) #1 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Ballad of John & Yoko (14 weeks) #1 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Something (12 weeks) #4</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total: 43 weeks</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4xTApd_GPCsmc0TztAp1LJCuWoChLwZ-TT9CArUjHAySv0jM4YPKhk4NhYQHruKX8zTT8QTakE0BB_zsb6o73NCA6idL8MJauvWOYfVrjPTlBl2rOYd6kEhnXkVjb2lhhcShca1-YLYOa7eGtFpESjfA2pSAPjuQd3z0ST_VbPhyze4eZ1XCqAdkVRw/s800/%239%20Rattlesnake%20Shake%20single.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4xTApd_GPCsmc0TztAp1LJCuWoChLwZ-TT9CArUjHAySv0jM4YPKhk4NhYQHruKX8zTT8QTakE0BB_zsb6o73NCA6idL8MJauvWOYfVrjPTlBl2rOYd6kEhnXkVjb2lhhcShca1-YLYOa7eGtFpESjfA2pSAPjuQd3z0ST_VbPhyze4eZ1XCqAdkVRw/s320/%239%20Rattlesnake%20Shake%20single.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. Rattlesnake Snake (1969)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Turning Japanese” - The Vapors. “Muscle of Love” - Alice Cooper. “Holding My Own” - The Darkness. “Dancing With Myself - Billy Idol. Yes, they’re all songs about masturbation. Earlier (and arguably better) than all of them, however, was Fleetwood Mac’s “Rattlesnake Shake”. One of the stand-out tracks on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then Play On</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, this ode to onanism ticks all the boxes: bawdy, semi-comic lyrics, lashings of heavy guitar riffage from Peter and Danny and a tremendous vocal performance. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This song was released as the US follow-up single to “Oh Well” which had failed to sell in America, but did only marginally better there, reaching #30 in the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Billboard</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> chart. In concert, however, “Rattlesnake Shake” soon developed into a crowd-pleasing extended jam, sometimes running 20 minutes or more. The 13-minute live version on the 3CD set </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before The Beginning 1968-1970: Live & Demo Sessions </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is especially</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">worth seeking out as it contains sections of “Fighting/Searching For Madge” amid the endless guitar soloing. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The song later became a heavy rock favourite, covered by Aerosmith, who regularly played it in concert. Erstwhile Mac members Bob Welch, Rick Vito and yes, even Mick Fleetwood, the subject of the song himself, have recorded versions on their own albums. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Other than a piano part on "Oh Well Pt.2," Jeremy Spencer did not appear on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then Play On.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The original</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">plan was to include a bonus five song EP of his rock & roll pastiches with the album, but this didn’t eventuate. Those tracks later turned up in 1998 on the Mac retrospective double CD set </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Vaudeville Years</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. A full solo LP titled, simply, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jeremy Spencer </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Reprise RSLP 9002)</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> containing a mix of blues, rock & roll, doo wop and comedy, featuring every Fleetwood Mac member in some capacity, was released in January 1970.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMTu5rnV5QecuD-EvS0C9JcKcb_6LK1HoThYyngPUiYfu8QdCeynT_Q73MMVyRWpe-hcH21_p0c0QpRO8lwrkzUMefEzTJthDgafUvAgzi7xcxa266RUHMqNDJ2scfBqW7jnsyhQT--zKG8PAbK3QGq00QYRbzQCwFvJC_VdwVZ5qKhOPECVH1vXPJFQ/s755/%238%20John-Mayall-LIVE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="755" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMTu5rnV5QecuD-EvS0C9JcKcb_6LK1HoThYyngPUiYfu8QdCeynT_Q73MMVyRWpe-hcH21_p0c0QpRO8lwrkzUMefEzTJthDgafUvAgzi7xcxa266RUHMqNDJ2scfBqW7jnsyhQT--zKG8PAbK3QGq00QYRbzQCwFvJC_VdwVZ5qKhOPECVH1vXPJFQ/s320/%238%20John-Mayall-LIVE.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. The Stumble (1967)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Freddy King’s influence on the British blues scene is incalculable, with many big-name guitarists covering his songs and instrumentals, including Eric Clapton, Stan Webb, Dave Edmunds, Mick Taylor and, of course, Peter Green. “The Stumble” first appeared on Freddy’s album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let's Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 1961 and it was released as a single the following year. It became Peter’s showcase instrumental with the Bluesbreakers both on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Hard Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album and in concert, with live versions stretching out to seven minutes or more. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> BBC Radio 1’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Friday Rock Show</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> hosted by DJ Tommy Vance used the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Hard Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> version of “The Stumble” as its theme music for many years during the 80s.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sound quality may not be the best but check out an amazing version of “The Stumble” on the 2015 Bluesbreakers official bootleg album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Live In 1967</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Forty Below Records FBR 008). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The Stumble” was recorded by Gary Moore during the sessions for his 1990 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still Got the Blues</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It later appeared as a CD bonus track and on a CD single.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. The Super-Natural (1967)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Coming directly after “The Beano Album”, John Mayall’s third LP had some big shoes to fill. But with Peter Green on board in place of the departed Eric Clapton, and Aynsley Dunbar taking over on drums, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Hard Road</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> remains one of the truly essential blues rock albums of the 60s. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mayall recognised the value of his new guitarist and Peter was given acres of space to show off his skills. He contributed two timeless guitar instrumentals to the album - a masterful version of Freddie King’s “The Stumble” and his own composition “The Super-Natural”. The latter an ethereal minor key workout drenched in echo and controlled feedback. Peter was barely 20 years old when he recorded this spine-tingling proto-Santana style piece, yet it stands as arguably the best thing on an already great record.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This song was covered by Gary Moore on his 1995 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blues For Greeny</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Moore played the same 1959 Gibson Les Paul guitar Peter had used to record the original track.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho3xYV7cR5R9iC-zuYuppsLM5b4vHzg78LWjeJtSczzeI3teB7JMZvZ2gGiTc63jF_CbfJSabAiyAtT8sxBAD862StsMvApuN5BHlG9-erJ9bUPmEwT2UAN1PtS037Sw3PJ0XOMQXZlIjLPRiyWQ4n50YNYpqZGJ6aLIyp-NgxIVrJFdCsHMyrzOUupA/s3486/Mayall%20Box%20Set.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3486" data-original-width="2592" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho3xYV7cR5R9iC-zuYuppsLM5b4vHzg78LWjeJtSczzeI3teB7JMZvZ2gGiTc63jF_CbfJSabAiyAtT8sxBAD862StsMvApuN5BHlG9-erJ9bUPmEwT2UAN1PtS037Sw3PJ0XOMQXZlIjLPRiyWQ4n50YNYpqZGJ6aLIyp-NgxIVrJFdCsHMyrzOUupA/s320/Mayall%20Box%20Set.jpg" width="238" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Stop Messin’ Round (1968)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This hard rocking blues shuffle is one of the strongest and most representative of the early Fleetwood Mac recordings, featuring Peter’s guitar and vocals at their powerful best. If the debut Mac album was somewhat light on guitar pyrotechnics from Green, all that changed with their second outing </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Wonderful</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Alongside the inevitable handful of generic Elmore James slide workouts from Jeremy Spencer, Peter really made his presence felt with some killer lead work. The band is augmented here by Christine McVie’s piano, Steve Gregory (alto sax) and Johnny Almond (tenor sax). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967–1969</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> six CD box set contains five takes of “Stop Messin’ Round” comprising three (almost) full versions and two false starts, all seemingly recorded live in the studio. Take 4 is the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. Wonderful</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album version, while Take 5 turned up as the B-side of the “Need Your Love So Bad” single. Take 3 motors along amazingly well before one of the saxophones plays a bum note, causing producer Mike Vernon to call a halt. This triggers loud protests from Peter (who apparently hadn’t noticed the off-key honks from the sax), resulting in a magnificent shouting match between Green and Vernon, complete with expletives almost worthy of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Troggs Tapes</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A year later Steve Gregory played sax on the Rolling Stones’ hit single “Honky Tonk Women”. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This song was covered by Gary Moore on the CD version of his 1990 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still Got the Blues</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIw72Z_046GhYJ1JlS9dbIsB24v4VwTy6ueq12_Y7BDVH0PT5tWYyyeky9hFhMEjeZdfKaCr1VDqHUBW6cRNZJKYvmnkGp1uFrrOC4Oj6ZEs0WF7czj4omn1AuG41tPBDatuiclsA9y3d1LCo8McRACNw_G_1Pk3-hrCe8I1Vt1YMg3CiMzcHseOSJGw/s2899/%235%20Pious.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2834" data-original-width="2899" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIw72Z_046GhYJ1JlS9dbIsB24v4VwTy6ueq12_Y7BDVH0PT5tWYyyeky9hFhMEjeZdfKaCr1VDqHUBW6cRNZJKYvmnkGp1uFrrOC4Oj6ZEs0WF7czj4omn1AuG41tPBDatuiclsA9y3d1LCo8McRACNw_G_1Pk3-hrCe8I1Vt1YMg3CiMzcHseOSJGw/s320/%235%20Pious.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Black Magic Woman (1968)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The second UK Fleetwood Mac single was their first brush with the pop charts, peaking at #37 in early 1968. The Latin-tinged minor key rocker was later included, along with Mac’s other early non-album singles, on the compilation LPs </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Pious Bird Of Good Omen</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (UK) and </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">English Rose</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (US). Ironically, “Black Magic Woman” went on to become Peter Green’s biggest money earner after Santana covered it on the 1970 multi-platinum album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abraxas, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">turning it into a massive worldwide hit. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLsvB-VMode0MAqguNNfxNPR_R4IwQF0SIthb0yaYlIXeyPamD0-o1ccFQZt_JzcYDM1BaTWqLKkyCdsH4XKMPaiCO6-BoWU0kDuuBqZPtmatVS3f1CWQzqkk54hUYhYEzOxA884mL4W33-ixFWvxWVhG9x9AUIFGEftt2F6ldgAdpcagv5aMgAAWfVg/s500/%234%20fleetwood-mac-man-of-the-world-immediate.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLsvB-VMode0MAqguNNfxNPR_R4IwQF0SIthb0yaYlIXeyPamD0-o1ccFQZt_JzcYDM1BaTWqLKkyCdsH4XKMPaiCO6-BoWU0kDuuBqZPtmatVS3f1CWQzqkk54hUYhYEzOxA884mL4W33-ixFWvxWVhG9x9AUIFGEftt2F6ldgAdpcagv5aMgAAWfVg/s320/%234%20fleetwood-mac-man-of-the-world-immediate.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Man of the World (1969)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the nine months between December 1968 and September 1969, Fleetwood Mac released three singles on as many different labels: Blue Horizon, Immediate and Reprise. “Man of the World” was the second of the trio and the band’s sole release for Andrew Oldham’s Immediate imprint (the label folded only months later, after releasing just four more singles). This poignant, introspective ballad was the first indication that all was not well with Peter Green and while it would produce some incredible music, his mental health would soon give cause for alarm. By contrast, the B-Side was one of Jeremy Spencer’s rock & roll comedy spoofs. “Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked in Tonite" was credited to Earl Vince and the Valiants, a continuance of Spencer’s onstage 50s pastiche.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3hgwwPWg6DWMxdJL5TiGNyM2RufEqx_qhFTbMKTlNd4x8wsG9hAZeMDuY69YiJziBuiSCUJeLY0U6f2Qq4F422XDF3Ri741s89-bN0UKOsJQdAawqRJmKeItFANzeBHj2yR7_5fSY0wBxWMlfkmFGkMY3gHmnWCwqVEEcO-nHgHMtIeNxuZc3Iy7uQ/s811/%233%20fleetwood-mac-the-green-manalishi-with-the-two-prong-crown-1970-6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="811" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3hgwwPWg6DWMxdJL5TiGNyM2RufEqx_qhFTbMKTlNd4x8wsG9hAZeMDuY69YiJziBuiSCUJeLY0U6f2Qq4F422XDF3Ri741s89-bN0UKOsJQdAawqRJmKeItFANzeBHj2yR7_5fSY0wBxWMlfkmFGkMY3gHmnWCwqVEEcO-nHgHMtIeNxuZc3Iy7uQ/s320/%233%20fleetwood-mac-the-green-manalishi-with-the-two-prong-crown-1970-6.jpg" width="316" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) (1970)</span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a cruelly ironic twist, as Peter’s mental health deteriorated, so his final months with Fleetwood Mac produced not only some of his finest work but also a bunch of the greatest blues rock singles of the late 60s. Green’s final recording with Mac was this May 1970 single. It reached #10 in the British charts, which would prove to be their highest UK placing until the Buckingham Nicks line-up hit #6 with the “Tusk” single nine years later </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The song grew out of a drug-induced dream Peter had in which he was visited by a green dog which he took to represent the Devil warning of the evils of money. He tried to convince the other band members they should give all their money away but, predictably, the suggestion didn’t go down too well with McVie and Fleetwood. Even so, it was a fabulous record and probably the heaviest thing Mac ever recorded - producer Martin Birch went on to work with Iron Maiden and a host of other UK metal bands. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> When performed live “The Green Manalishi” could last up to 20 minutes with Peter playing extended solos on a Fender VI six string bass.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzmjDypFUghfkyeLjt4SFCW7PrGfPe9jRmzRF_RRxmKbEr-k9fHTAuaAh6h00Rsjm-QYPM0PyQpomabCKbs9otCu1DwydPbCmLZsBSvEBQXS5Wqrs-2aPQ-iy8ETrwuJyYwSZ5wIpfY_W8uRI4vwmYRKa9galUkt8mUn2RTcLO3kJt3f2bTOvaTZ3Yg/s700/%232%20fleetwood-mac-oh-well-part-1-1969-19.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzmjDypFUghfkyeLjt4SFCW7PrGfPe9jRmzRF_RRxmKbEr-k9fHTAuaAh6h00Rsjm-QYPM0PyQpomabCKbs9otCu1DwydPbCmLZsBSvEBQXS5Wqrs-2aPQ-iy8ETrwuJyYwSZ5wIpfY_W8uRI4vwmYRKa9galUkt8mUn2RTcLO3kJt3f2bTOvaTZ3Yg/s320/%232%20fleetwood-mac-oh-well-part-1-1969-19.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Oh Well Part 1 & 2 (1969)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Released in September 1969, this was Fleetwood Mac’s first single for the Reprise label which (as a subsidiary of Warner Bros) would be the band’s home for the next 40 years. Starting with that familiar hard-driving blues riff played in unison on Dobro and electric guitar, Part 1 powers along with several stop/start unaccompanied vocal sections before grinding to a halt a little over three minutes later. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tucked away on the B-side of the single, Part 2 features delicate nylon string guitar, cello and recorder. It worked beautifully but clearly reflecting Green’s fragile state of mind, it was also very strange and unlike anything else in the charts in late 1969. Continuing Mac’s dream run of hit singles, it peaked at #2 in the UK, but hardly made a dent in America, where it stalled at #55. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Originally a non-album single, “Oh Well” was added to the revised version of the US </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then Play On</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LP in late 1969 and the full eight minute track later turned up all CD pressings of the album. Because the two halves of the single were edited together for CD release, it meant that the last minute of Side 1 was heard twice.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl0CDHfZaZzg3mdzi5XKK8Cb9jNXrXGoYD7F9XUVV3yJnlyUXq3vT3T2lnn59L8rfClIBONwmhku-wtg_sbTjhA1Ahdj5mDjUoPKO8PPOfcGmbjeXw9-S6X21Iwp_7ccMldodzuay-QRxPvUBxR793awVpNiToc0E0DiUFK_L_lODvxXXcMo1wKYh6Yw/s773/%231%20fleetwood-mac-need-your-love-so-bad-blue-horizon-7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="773" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl0CDHfZaZzg3mdzi5XKK8Cb9jNXrXGoYD7F9XUVV3yJnlyUXq3vT3T2lnn59L8rfClIBONwmhku-wtg_sbTjhA1Ahdj5mDjUoPKO8PPOfcGmbjeXw9-S6X21Iwp_7ccMldodzuay-QRxPvUBxR793awVpNiToc0E0DiUFK_L_lODvxXXcMo1wKYh6Yw/s320/%231%20fleetwood-mac-need-your-love-so-bad-blue-horizon-7.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Need Your Love So Bad (1968)</span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This exquisite cover of the 1955 Little Willie John blues/gospel classic appeared as Fleetwood Mac’s third single in 1968. Featuring one of Peter’s greatest vocal performances and some heart-stopping guitar, it’s surely one of Mac’s finest moments.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If, like me, you’ve always been sorely disappointed when the “Need Your Love So Bad” single fades out around 3:30, just as Peter is gearing up for the guitar solo, never fear. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967–1969</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> six CD box set contains no fewer than eight takes of this song, running more than 30 minutes</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. These include a six-minute extended version which picks up where the original single left off and gives us the entire guitar solo. Go on, fill your boots! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jazz guitarist Mickey Baker, one half of the 1957 “Love Is Strange” hitmakers Mickey & Sylvia, was hired to arrange the string section for Mac’s “Need Your Love So Bad”. In a wonderful case of happenstance, Baker had also played guitar on the 1955 Little Willie John original.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOGG1OSRKjncg8RRHq-DvfSPtdlOamhhEiT3wVRWBteGTif0mlJBL4e0E_EQZJ1BMIC4Z6iG-VHcYUQO9DVNlHk4AvygAPHbzWJjlj69I-BxIWxTJWCd4k-UF9UblIYe9ybKrBS23S84-MShJptR04gOoYja2LBAvW2R11dhfxBenQCa7ZHl83eTV-A/s554/%231%20Need%20Your%20Love%20So%20Bad.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="554" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOGG1OSRKjncg8RRHq-DvfSPtdlOamhhEiT3wVRWBteGTif0mlJBL4e0E_EQZJ1BMIC4Z6iG-VHcYUQO9DVNlHk4AvygAPHbzWJjlj69I-BxIWxTJWCd4k-UF9UblIYe9ybKrBS23S84-MShJptR04gOoYja2LBAvW2R11dhfxBenQCa7ZHl83eTV-A/s320/%231%20Need%20Your%20Love%20So%20Bad.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trivia:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This non-album track appeared on a Fleetwood Mac single no fewer than three times. First in 1968 b/w “Stop Messin’ Round”, then in 1969 b/w “No Place To Go” and finally in 1973 as the B-side to a reissue of “Albatross”*. The first two releases barely grazed the top 30, while the 1973 with its illustrious A-side peaked at #2. Like many of Mac’s early non-album singles “Need Your Love So Bad” ended up on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Pious Bird Of Good Omen</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> compilation LP in mid-1969. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">B.B. King recorded "Need Your Love So Bad" way back in the early 60s, but in a different style and tempo to the Mac version. However, B.B. took to performing it live in the late 60s using a very similar arrangement to the Fleetwood Mac recording, but it’s not clear who was influencing who at this stage.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aQtMm4AJxmQqGMveHDtmS_PhZWI-IaEK7uU4wYHGYeNshRWs8kEzOKlp52gqz3UgnGoRgQlKW-VtcyyNBvSWX5ZG_wfl9B9pbQt8cNbGeDKgAcQuG0yf68_GXloDISJuAhBWrFRkXy618Lcxs1N4TEClsmjC5YbK58IsDXhocdxPmC9y0o3Lq8Ztjw/s1527/Screenshot%20(8).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1029" data-original-width="1527" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aQtMm4AJxmQqGMveHDtmS_PhZWI-IaEK7uU4wYHGYeNshRWs8kEzOKlp52gqz3UgnGoRgQlKW-VtcyyNBvSWX5ZG_wfl9B9pbQt8cNbGeDKgAcQuG0yf68_GXloDISJuAhBWrFRkXy618Lcxs1N4TEClsmjC5YbK58IsDXhocdxPmC9y0o3Lq8Ztjw/w640-h432/Screenshot%20(8).png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sharp-eyed viewers of Peter Jackson’s 2021 Beatles documentary <i>Get Back</i> may have spotted a copy of the “Need Your Love So Bad” 7” single complete with its Blue Horizon sleeve atop Billy Preston's electric piano at exactly 48 mins into part three. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This song was covered by Gary Moore on his 1995 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blues For Greeny</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Moore played the same 1959 Gibson Les Paul guitar Peter had used to record the original track.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* The Albatross/Need Your Love So Bad coupling was reissued on single at least three times in the 70s with different catalogue numbers.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVqiE49lnnwXL5Yv6vnQ9WERzkcthNCo0UKp8ZgpdIl1JAOavyLQSLyq5IC9Z5WfbIcU8AzTAukYksk1y7ofvklJ5ZlI3GscZMqtPdk4iE6Y-pkNMDPMFUQ31jNRnJr3EjFnHw3rmYQnF_B55CBk6ckphMC4ct4waLmunLt-h_0WI5d2vW6z5sDV7UA/s800/%231%20fleetwood-mac-need-your-love-so-bad-1968-7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="800" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVqiE49lnnwXL5Yv6vnQ9WERzkcthNCo0UKp8ZgpdIl1JAOavyLQSLyq5IC9Z5WfbIcU8AzTAukYksk1y7ofvklJ5ZlI3GscZMqtPdk4iE6Y-pkNMDPMFUQ31jNRnJr3EjFnHw3rmYQnF_B55CBk6ckphMC4ct4waLmunLt-h_0WI5d2vW6z5sDV7UA/s320/%231%20fleetwood-mac-need-your-love-so-bad-1968-7.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Life After Fleetwood Mac</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, Skip Spence, Roky Erikson, Sky Saxon - famous acid casualties all. The music world (and the music press in particular) loves a good “rock star loses marbles” story and Peter Green handed them one of the most newsworthy (and yet saddest) of those stories on a silver platter. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’ve examined Peter’s acclaimed records with Mayall and Fleetwood Mac at length elsewhere but his post Mac albums, sad to say, are a very different story. No matter what some may try and tell you, most of the records he made after 1970 are forgettable, generic affairs, especially when compared to the high-octane delights which came prior to his breakdown, and none come close to matching his best work with the Bluesbreakers and Fleetwood Mac. But, as is often the case, the lure of the legend far outstripped the quality of the music and Peter Green albums continued to appear in the shops with monotonous regularity well into the new millennium, 40 years or more after the muse had comprehensively deserted him. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Green’s very first solo album, the aptly titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The End Of The Game,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> arrived in December 1970, only months after he had quit Fleetwood Mac. At that stage we had little knowledge of Peter’s mental health situation and the record was fervently anticipated by all. We were clearly hoping for something along the lines of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then Play On Volume 2</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, so it came as a shock when the finished product sounded nothing at all like that. I bought my copy on the day of release and rushed home to play it. But Instead of the hoped-for guitar pyrotechnics, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The End Of The Game</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> turned out to be a collection of listless jams with no direction or fire and, in fact, no songs to speak of at all. After a couple of exploratory plays just to make sure, it was quietly filed away at the dusty end of my LP collection, where only the brave or the foolhardy dare to venture. See below for a celebrity guest retrospective of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The End Of The Game</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Incidentally, fact fans, the futuristic font used on the LP sleeve is called "Westminster". Designed in the late 60s by Leo Maggs, it was inspired by the machine-readable numbers printed on cheques and is frequently used to indicate computer involvement.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apart from a couple of nondescript singles, it would be almost nine years before we saw another album of new material from Peter. This was the 1979 release </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In The Skies</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It sounded a little more structured than </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The End Of The Game</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but upon reading the small print we were dismayed to discover that the lead guitar on some tracks was played not by Peter, but by Thin Lizzy/Pink Floyd sideman Snowy White, which rather took the shine off things. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More low-key albums followed in similar vein until 1984 when Peter again dropped off the radar, this time for more than a decade. He resurfaced in 1997 with the moderately successful Splinter Group, recording eight albums and playing live shows and making TV appearances. But it all fell apart again in 2004 when Peter moved to Sweden.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2009 further attempts were made to bring him back with the band Peter Green and Friends but this amounted to very little and ultimately, that proved to be the end of the road for the once great bluesman. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Peter Green may have left us forever in July 2020, but his legacy will live on for as long as people listen to electric blues guitar. More than 50 years after it was recorded, the music he made with John Mayall and Fleetwood Mac is still considered among the most authentic, hard-hitting and expertly performed blues rock of the late 60s. He wrote most of the songs, he sang them amazingly well and boy, could he play the guitar. That’s all you need to remember about Peter Green.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXtVZzUlRZxNNFu05-R2PgdCaalP4wZcYMZzhBA2HpBTboXm2ycMsnp6gOycIL9Z-y3fswiWMGmJwsJP_5i9jz2S-jL_6HyFbntfX1dFDnbFtrNnpoNHfYEVNf16_UbHKv1doZR_CKLqx4bz9kgoMQSQDT2Mhach0I6Hc4fisA4ooupjeRtKYG6dd-Ag/s2814/End%20Of%20The%20Game.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2814" data-original-width="2777" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXtVZzUlRZxNNFu05-R2PgdCaalP4wZcYMZzhBA2HpBTboXm2ycMsnp6gOycIL9Z-y3fswiWMGmJwsJP_5i9jz2S-jL_6HyFbntfX1dFDnbFtrNnpoNHfYEVNf16_UbHKv1doZR_CKLqx4bz9kgoMQSQDT2Mhach0I6Hc4fisA4ooupjeRtKYG6dd-Ag/s320/End%20Of%20The%20Game.jpg" width="316" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guest review: esteemed novelist Tim Earnshaw re-visits </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The End Of The Game</span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Peter Green was always the most melodic of guitarists, loved a tune, layered one on top of another. Listen to his astonishing break in “Man Of The World” (before the gear change into “and I need a good woman”) - he’s playing what he couldn’t sing, the notes he couldn’t reach, but it’s a whole song in itself, every note composed to express the yearning he felt. It’s a theme absolutely worthy of a symphony. And he brought his melodic gift to the blues, each solo a song. And there was the unashamed sentimentality of "Albatross", like remembering a perfect summer holiday. Even riff-based songs like “Oh Well” and “Green Manalishi” are essentially melodic. So anticipation was high for his solo album, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The End Of The Game</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That cover first, because album covers are important. It looks like a cheap jigsaw box. It’s shit. Right, that’s the cover discussion over.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I remember listening to each track, trying to avoid staring at that stupid cover and waiting for the tune to kick in, and the disappointment and puzzlement and ultimate sense of betrayal I felt. Not one tune on the whole wretched album. Not one sweetly melodic solo. It was like he was deliberately and perversely denying us what we loved in his playing - debasing it. If he was expressing anything in his playing here, it was “fuck you”. I filed it under R for rip off and moved on.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Years later, I went back to it during one of those periods of reassessment, and the first thing I heard was the powerhouse rhythm section of the unpronounceable Alex Dmochowski, and Godfrey Maclean. Unpronounceable was later picked up by cunning talent-spotter Frank Zappa, who rechristened him Erroneous. Listening to them play put the album into a different perspective; this was more like a Miles Davis session, jazz-funk with a dirty, raw edge. And I enjoyed it for a while in that shifted context, but Peter Green is no Miles Davis, and he’s no rhythm player. He didn’t have an idea in his head. The melodic muse had flown. He was just standing in a studio listening to the beat and unable to do a damn thing with it. Game over.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Check out Tim Earnshaw’s books on <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tim-Earnshaw/e/B0034P1SYA?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1649677019&sr=1-3" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and read his excellent blog: False Memory Foam <a href="https://falsememoryfoam.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQS1hJ5OeDzP-jDWVabZ4wwTYL4CZni-jAROb4XdYXCFpITbz9sYHDCYSUVrvrDdbrU6mlOkd5iOO8mvap1db9VNHLKEuhnMvu_deuMrnPZ_ROVLlyyl6h4eHpJOTJA2upIsOU5s7QKOZZMqvlenX2DS6tYjZFKHVC-UdFV29Q8xE92CzzyBzsXQrGQ/s669/Green1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="513" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQS1hJ5OeDzP-jDWVabZ4wwTYL4CZni-jAROb4XdYXCFpITbz9sYHDCYSUVrvrDdbrU6mlOkd5iOO8mvap1db9VNHLKEuhnMvu_deuMrnPZ_ROVLlyyl6h4eHpJOTJA2upIsOU5s7QKOZZMqvlenX2DS6tYjZFKHVC-UdFV29Q8xE92CzzyBzsXQrGQ/w306-h400/Green1.jpg" width="306" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivf18mHCslwKVVqBcoqb2cKbHiH27k6FrRZRho-5y6xhdFLCcu_LB3XVZ4o8EbC4v9ofbkKWNwC2pLy9nzj66EgoE_G7inmHtdoruSxKcyqhkhQiiz-r0z7uyWgPsLaQrPYHWhD1AO6zpgkjhjC8qiK9hZ-6mBQ9ZW_xd9kaE-UpWqHYkWmMQ6NEi_Ww/s2791/English%20Rose.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2778" data-original-width="2791" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivf18mHCslwKVVqBcoqb2cKbHiH27k6FrRZRho-5y6xhdFLCcu_LB3XVZ4o8EbC4v9ofbkKWNwC2pLy9nzj66EgoE_G7inmHtdoruSxKcyqhkhQiiz-r0z7uyWgPsLaQrPYHWhD1AO6zpgkjhjC8qiK9hZ-6mBQ9ZW_xd9kaE-UpWqHYkWmMQ6NEi_Ww/s320/English%20Rose.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3955159282833300296.post-79088385219253488022022-02-11T23:20:00.439-08:002024-02-24T16:40:12.200-08:00 Great Concerts Revisited: Leon Russell at the Royal Albert Hall, 1971<p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Mx_x0UeEUxKkreiyHSq_H1ym7WrNgSGA2gvhrgAxeH-tay9fSmJ0K6inaPzuoxCyBpDN6HC9L7jGnovfWbzCFLcKeMC0aYSBwJiJIoOuOq0dRMtFJT2ee9ZSyhyphenhyphenuzhMWUlJYuT6QTsgjB5-ULszdd8Y6_uAvKnKVheelOg_TZ8Q8_Kxtxd9C_EG2B50/s1769/Leon%20Russell.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="1769" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Mx_x0UeEUxKkreiyHSq_H1ym7WrNgSGA2gvhrgAxeH-tay9fSmJ0K6inaPzuoxCyBpDN6HC9L7jGnovfWbzCFLcKeMC0aYSBwJiJIoOuOq0dRMtFJT2ee9ZSyhyphenhyphenuzhMWUlJYuT6QTsgjB5-ULszdd8Y6_uAvKnKVheelOg_TZ8Q8_Kxtxd9C_EG2B50/w640-h224/Leon%20Russell.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>by Stuart Penney</b></div><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f8a98400-7fff-3069-0a95-373f547b0fa9"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Venue</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Royal Albert Hall is possibly my favourite London music venue. Over the decades I’ve witnessed dozens of memorable shows there, maybe 50 or more at a rough estimate. My first concert at the iconic 5,000-seater was the ostentatiously titled “The Sonnets of Donovan” in January 1967, which I wrote about <a href="https://andnowitsallthis.blogspot.com/2019/09/confessions-of-donovan-fan.html" target="_blank">here.</a></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> After that initial visit I fell madly in love with the Grade I listed building in all its decadent Italianate splendour and since I was living just across the other side of Hyde Park in Notting Hill Gate for much of the 70s I’d show up for virtually anything of a rock or folk nature without too much persuasion.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0kQcUhwllkmUJ46BryCjMnESnD9YgBbJBjM9LvpT8IsCH7n-TViEpl5kJrobbw8fiJ2l8APZt1-iYCEq7ZVIqyu34EIf-MgeTLMqjlsqnfMJ25UvZS4gaw7ZUVRJQ7uGBeHAdT9fn3Y4EGqrxJzUfp9uQS9CGKgNvAEP3c9IsKu4O7GKZqFEunrEWnw=s300" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="300" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0kQcUhwllkmUJ46BryCjMnESnD9YgBbJBjM9LvpT8IsCH7n-TViEpl5kJrobbw8fiJ2l8APZt1-iYCEq7ZVIqyu34EIf-MgeTLMqjlsqnfMJ25UvZS4gaw7ZUVRJQ7uGBeHAdT9fn3Y4EGqrxJzUfp9uQS9CGKgNvAEP3c9IsKu4O7GKZqFEunrEWnw=w400-h267" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In March 1968 I saw another Donovan concert there. This was only days after he returned from his legendary sojourn to India where he studied meditation under the Maharishi alongside the Beatles and, naturally, the evening had a suitably cosmic vibe as a result. For this show Don was supported by a virtually unknown acoustic duo named Tyrannosaurus Rex comprising Marc Bolan and Steve Peregrin Took. The cavernous Albert Hall was absolutely no place for their wonky nylon string guitar and bongo music, and I remember thinking that would probably be the last we’d hear of them. </span></span><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In later years I bought (or was sometimes given, if I was lucky) tickets for a wildly eclectic range of artists. I saw everyone from Ralph McTell to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Pentangle to John Mayall, Tom Paxton to Georgie Fame, Steeleye Span to Ginger Baker’s Airforce, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac to the Dubliners and a whole lot more, most of which are forever lost in the mists of time (or, more accurately, in the recesses of an old man’s fading memory).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhldU5VuEKgCl6jOz4177UZ2Be10jtkF5uq2pGlqzQDQ01zpm2Woz0cXVYYOiW9w_9X2BJb0AZA_VETs-Sw6LsHy8kb-Gr7MbS1mxvQi5frrx4pqgbxe1R6dRI8Ssa9fV7NMAkJ7RuLESAMvYwYF9CH22C7p8sjb6ZDupgv8aU6Mbje385CvRU8o_bYTg=s1240" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1240" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhldU5VuEKgCl6jOz4177UZ2Be10jtkF5uq2pGlqzQDQ01zpm2Woz0cXVYYOiW9w_9X2BJb0AZA_VETs-Sw6LsHy8kb-Gr7MbS1mxvQi5frrx4pqgbxe1R6dRI8Ssa9fV7NMAkJ7RuLESAMvYwYF9CH22C7p8sjb6ZDupgv8aU6Mbje385CvRU8o_bYTg=w400-h297" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t know if it’s still the case, but back in the 60s and 70s it was possible to buy cheap standing-only tickets in the Albert Hall Gallery for a fraction of the price of a decent seat in the stalls. This was a balcony which ran almost the entire circumference of the hall but located way up high, almost level with the 85 giant fibreglass acoustic diffusers (known to one and all as “mushrooms”) which hang from the great glass and wrought-iron dome some 135 feet (41m) above the stage. The “mushrooms” were installed in the late 60s to try to combat the dreadful echo which had marred concerts at the venue since it was built. Almost from the moment the Hall was opened in 1871 it was often jokingly said to be "the only place where a British composer could be sure of hearing his work twice.”</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For around five shillings (25p) in the early 70s you could stand in the Gallery watching the performance from a considerable height and often a very long way from the action. It wasn’t the best vantage point, but at least it was cheap. At the other extreme my girlfriend and I once found ourselves alone in a private box for a January 1971 Pentangle concert. I forget how we blagged that one (it was possibly a Transatlantic records junket, come to think of it) but I do recall that food and drinks were served to us during the show - luxury! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But of all those Royal Albert Hall concerts, there is one I remember more vividly than almost any other. That was the night of February 2, 1971, when Leon Russell and his band kicked off their 14 date UK tour in London.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhva44PIerEeEhgfSzmS12LrOYeV5W4Y9VLl13sRgYqi9SfWEpDPXIIrMqmtVpC4fhWY_FWvpZPprRorOCd8Nzj8sko49SwggStY5kQ7oW6aoN5EYK4kScLlX6CvW9NeJwVW9BU2-i3J9wxLmQeZ8SUUXIl3jVSW835yjTSFgSI8sM9Jg0tFmEHSvwywA=s517" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="412" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhva44PIerEeEhgfSzmS12LrOYeV5W4Y9VLl13sRgYqi9SfWEpDPXIIrMqmtVpC4fhWY_FWvpZPprRorOCd8Nzj8sko49SwggStY5kQ7oW6aoN5EYK4kScLlX6CvW9NeJwVW9BU2-i3J9wxLmQeZ8SUUXIl3jVSW835yjTSFgSI8sM9Jg0tFmEHSvwywA=s320" width="255" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Career Overview</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the 50s and 60s Leon Russell was an in-demand Los Angeles session player and songwriter, working with Jan & Dean, the Byrds, the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Glen Campbell, Doris Day, Herb Alpert and countless others. He also played piano on many Phil Spector productions, including the Wall-of-Sound recordings by the Ronettes, the Crystals, and Darlene Love. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over in Britain we knew very little of this at the time, however. In fact, it’s probably true to say that most Europeans first became aware of the name Leon Russell in 1969 when Eric Clapton began extoling the virtues of Delaney and Bonnie, the blue-eyed soul duo he had hooked up with in America during the Blind Faith tour. Russell produced and played on the early Delaney and Bonnie albums and many of the musicians in their band were subsequently spirited away to work with Clapton’s Derek & the Dominos, Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> George Harrison’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>All Things Must Pass</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album and even the Rolling Stones, much to D&B’s chagrin. Leon himself also featured heavily on Clapton's 1970 self-titled debut album, playing piano on almost every track.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkWSMnpaB7QNxvcuw51jMgYVIBnCoJVnNR5fVUp6CDiiQLeH5hM98b0PY-jylgveBbcyW9wX1bmfOtth23KoBz74Kdy6KLDz9kRF6UCvDXj_4zXNZ92uw3C0bwLYlLUv_orYBhBzFS82n3MTze3_XVCm09T33Qw6kEoSGaDExfdLHJiliF8HtxpimX6w=s2733" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2733" data-original-width="2479" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkWSMnpaB7QNxvcuw51jMgYVIBnCoJVnNR5fVUp6CDiiQLeH5hM98b0PY-jylgveBbcyW9wX1bmfOtth23KoBz74Kdy6KLDz9kRF6UCvDXj_4zXNZ92uw3C0bwLYlLUv_orYBhBzFS82n3MTze3_XVCm09T33Qw6kEoSGaDExfdLHJiliF8HtxpimX6w=s320" width="290" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">By the end of the decade Russell was as hot as he would probably ever get. He had become the personification of the go-to rock guy, with a hand in several important projects, including his own impossibly hip record label. Together with British producer Denny Cordell he launched Shelter records in 1969 signing, among others, Freddie King, J.J. Cale, Tom Petty, the Grease Band (US only) and issuing the sole album by the mysterious Willis Allan Ramsey. The Shelter label initially used an inverted Superman logo, until DC Comics issued a lawsuit, forcing a change to the artwork. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also in 1969 Russell took the reins of Joe Cocker’s career, producing Joe’s self-titled second album at the A&M studios in Hollywood. He then stepped into the role of band leader, arranger and driving force behind the legendary, if ultimately shambolic, <b>Mad Dogs & Englishmen</b> tour and the ensuing film and double album of the same name. Leon later received criticism for upstaging Cocker and using the event to boost his own profile. But I think it’s fair to say that Joe’s career peaked with Mad Dogs & Englishmen and despite the occasional hit and burst of popularity in later years, he never really achieved such heights of fame or creativity again. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGF9L_GNYDkpwSjIbMAxG--W9Lo2VaQaps0Zx495QfGvdmTcEmUmrK-V5yzNwla5UcCmaUlBRUQLTkWQnSj0R76S_i-6QTWcTPRVuW7epstFmfiju3_EgMajY7j9HvY66l-iX00C2twoxnNZu4zevNHBoJgHROsDgizMtJhFtthPV9Mk3f__h4hHTv2g=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="600" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGF9L_GNYDkpwSjIbMAxG--W9Lo2VaQaps0Zx495QfGvdmTcEmUmrK-V5yzNwla5UcCmaUlBRUQLTkWQnSj0R76S_i-6QTWcTPRVuW7epstFmfiju3_EgMajY7j9HvY66l-iX00C2twoxnNZu4zevNHBoJgHROsDgizMtJhFtthPV9Mk3f__h4hHTv2g=s320" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Released in April 1970, Leon’s own self-titled debut solo album was enthusiastically received by the critics, if not the record buyers, initially. Recorded partly at Olympic studios in London with guest appearances by Ringo, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Bill Wyman, Steve Winwood, Charlie Watts and a host of other A-list rockers, it has since become recognised as a true masterpiece, despite failing to chart in Britain and reaching only #60 in America. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All songs on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Leon Russell</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album, except for “Old Masters” (a cover of Dylan’s “Masters of War” sung to the tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner”), were penned by Russell and several became enduring classics. Key tracks “A Song For You” and “Hummingbird” were later covered by everyone from Ray Charles and Andy Williams, to the Carpenters and B.B. King. Written for Leon’s erstwhile girlfriend Rita Coolidge, the universally loved “Delta Lady” was initially bequeathed to Joe Cocker who turned it into a massive hit a year before Russell released it himself.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbbEWzZ7a6_S1bOmEcspTDQSUlGNYjZ8KY7toDEfyc_3BUu-7G0gJPBDzc5vJhuFOswhrAK_Al0KxcPTSRyMLBvrZMb479FAsZ42cya0m6sqPb1GDJ4F-EA12pViqRLRHRCB2RMLtXbTNibq1fkA4E8x-zYUTmoC_BDu2QVYWNzGHgFRtJ1O7eT9gf1g=s1262" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1262" data-original-width="1262" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbbEWzZ7a6_S1bOmEcspTDQSUlGNYjZ8KY7toDEfyc_3BUu-7G0gJPBDzc5vJhuFOswhrAK_Al0KxcPTSRyMLBvrZMb479FAsZ42cya0m6sqPb1GDJ4F-EA12pViqRLRHRCB2RMLtXbTNibq1fkA4E8x-zYUTmoC_BDu2QVYWNzGHgFRtJ1O7eT9gf1g=w640-h640" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was also a track titled, confusingly, “Give Peace A Chance”. But although it may have been intended as a tribute, it had little to do with the John & Yoko song, even though the two were recorded only months apart. Credited to Russell and Bonnie Bramlett, it consisted of nothing more than the title repeatedly sung over a rollicking, double-tracked piano backing. Similarly, “Roll Away The Stone” pre-dated the 1973 Mott The Hoople top 10 hit of the same name by a couple of years, although the hard driving beat and pounding piano figure is spookily similar to another Mott hit “All The Way From Memphis”, also from 1973. Someone should have had a quiet word with Ian Hunter about that, I feel. Equally, "I Put A Spell On You" had no connection to the 1956 Screamin' Jay Hawkins classic.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Spotify statistics for the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Leon Russell</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album make interesting reading. At the time of writing the exquisite opening track “A Song For You” has been streamed almost 12.5 million times, which is ten times greater than the next most popular cut, the equally magnificent “Hummingbird” which sits at just 1.2 million. Everything else on the album is showing between 200,000 and 800,000 plays, including “Delta Lady”. As our American cousins might say: go figure.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTTc-pAI05LBBwnroxqIZhgwmuiIBoTtcfgWJDXTvFGWTcygw0ZfkjBaQkhGYgcm1SfiMxX68rr3n8SaXvk5Rvd_XrDKKwspXSmN4vA5Rvtli0qj0LMSe7iuKyvx3-xzehUOc7bU0MhutGGH2tRRr3CPTwlUKJES4kqu_KrzzNi_CjnT9uNmz5jp5bRQ=s1182" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="1182" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTTc-pAI05LBBwnroxqIZhgwmuiIBoTtcfgWJDXTvFGWTcygw0ZfkjBaQkhGYgcm1SfiMxX68rr3n8SaXvk5Rvd_XrDKKwspXSmN4vA5Rvtli0qj0LMSe7iuKyvx3-xzehUOc7bU0MhutGGH2tRRr3CPTwlUKJES4kqu_KrzzNi_CjnT9uNmz5jp5bRQ=w640-h414" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In March 1971 Leon worked with Bob Dylan, recording "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and the single “Watching The River Flow.” Naturally, his trademark piano was prominent throughout both tracks. Later in the year he almost stole the show at George Harrison’s <b>Concert For Bangladesh</b> where he backed George and Bob Dylan on bass and also played his own set. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Russell’s career arguably peaked with the 1972 album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Carney</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which reached #2 in the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Billboard</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> charts and also spawned the hit single “Tightrope”</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The albums kept coming on a regular basis throughout the 70s and 80s but, following an </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">unexpected move into country music, the law of diminishing returns kicked in, with each new release selling fewer than the one before.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaMGNz1KnKCLiV7GExugvz-UV9k6Xn7LOR6_9tOe06_kvOchlajb4YGuDRuw8v7gelF-cDlbO_Ab-jb9H79Hkz4oR9QU6xqpvrB7-9kk-aaJRYHjF-ffFnlp6Tb9TOSd3cl132ptip9zVp2JcDD4bBrssujA9Q6IjVP8tpCfGSYFQSBR3fgKaUj_imlQ=s500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaMGNz1KnKCLiV7GExugvz-UV9k6Xn7LOR6_9tOe06_kvOchlajb4YGuDRuw8v7gelF-cDlbO_Ab-jb9H79Hkz4oR9QU6xqpvrB7-9kk-aaJRYHjF-ffFnlp6Tb9TOSd3cl132ptip9zVp2JcDD4bBrssujA9Q6IjVP8tpCfGSYFQSBR3fgKaUj_imlQ=s320" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">In 2010 Elton John announced plans to record an album with Russell. Leon had mentored Elton during some early Los Angeles club dates and they played a joint Fillmore East show in November 1970 when Reg was still virtually unknown in America. He later acknowledged Leon as “my biggest influence as a piano player, a singer and a songwriter.” Decades later Elton returned the favour by pulling Russell, by then broke and in poor health, out of retirement to tour and record the album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>The Union</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> which sold well, reaching the top 10 in many countries around the world. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This final burst of activity came just in time and Leon Russell died on November 13, 2016, aged 74.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*<i>Two years previously Russell had recorded an album as the Asylum Choir with Marc Benno and studio musicians.</i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVVg4E08Xkyjm3qFmPIeB3-sVLwmMfGaFbKoZvm5V5OZYY-OSQD6wWYmOMxLitQanTHIrKeFMAtLPB7AE5KxoauYIK8T2_Sn1VFiuXMg6BKnrVu6GGzPWZnB_hcH5imECrW0Bu1IEm8syFG_Bpfvy41IoLKwpbuvTmwZAe_USVUwL9eMOT5xHHIbcY6w=s400" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="400" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVVg4E08Xkyjm3qFmPIeB3-sVLwmMfGaFbKoZvm5V5OZYY-OSQD6wWYmOMxLitQanTHIrKeFMAtLPB7AE5KxoauYIK8T2_Sn1VFiuXMg6BKnrVu6GGzPWZnB_hcH5imECrW0Bu1IEm8syFG_Bpfvy41IoLKwpbuvTmwZAe_USVUwL9eMOT5xHHIbcY6w=s320" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Support Bands</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Support acts at the Albert Hall concert In February 1971 were Status Quo, Juicy Lucy, and the Grease Band. The compere was Gerry Lockran, his name cruelly misspelled “Jerry” in the concert programme and posters. Gerry was a fine folk blues acoustic guitarist with three albums to his name by 1970 but on this occasion he was there just to make the introductions and add some witty patter between the bands. Lockran shared the same manager as Joe Cocker, the Grease Band, Faces, Chris Stainton and Juicy Lucy, which probably explains how he landed the Leon Russell gig. Some music papers wrote that Freddie King was booked for the UK tour, but it didn't happen.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sitting firmly at the bottom of the bill were Status Quo. In early 1971 they were in the process of re-inventing themselves from the pop psych band of “Pictures Of Matchstick Men” fame to the denim-clad boogie outfit we would soon know and love. The </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melody Maker</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> review of their set was less than generous, however, stating: </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Opening the evening Status Quo were loud, noisy and generally awful". Harsh words indeed, but Quo would have the last laugh. Later in 1971 t</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he classic line-up of Francis Rossi (then still calling himself Mike), Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> signed to the new, go-ahead Vertigo label where they enjoyed a run of 13 straight UK top ten albums over 20 years, starting with </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Piledriver</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 1972. With 118 million worldwide album sales to date, Quo ended up as the biggest act on the bill by a very long way.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Juicy Lucy was another band signed to Vertigo. In fact, their 1969 debut “Who Do You Love” was the very first single release on the label, proudly bearing the catalogue number V1. They were formed from the ashes of Californian outfit The Misunderstood who had re-located to London in 1966 on the recommendation of John Peel. By the time their </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Juicy Lucy</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> debut album appeared, however, there was only one original Misunderstood member left in the band. This was lap steel guitarist Glenn Ross Campbell, who probably spent his entire professional life being mistaken for the “Wichita Lineman” hitmaker himself. Also onboard in 1971 were guitarist Mick Moody (later to join Whitesnake) and the big-voiced Paul Williams as front man.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9ak9xtidwxGCpOvaMl1JnUQmbLgqa3O6Z7UVRAbfuCdVyAoOPUtjtyYrPKOePNecDdmUZDoRC-R_NuvMqskcdjo6eO5a7DbIDWXvEIW_XAUVXLFuruXbtbeZyUGYJ7rrDdWj_dxS7GIiPxH_Rd5Dws4B5WPqfw0OvxDxPJKkFfLPQ4rumr6qumBaczQ=s3211" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3211" data-original-width="2180" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9ak9xtidwxGCpOvaMl1JnUQmbLgqa3O6Z7UVRAbfuCdVyAoOPUtjtyYrPKOePNecDdmUZDoRC-R_NuvMqskcdjo6eO5a7DbIDWXvEIW_XAUVXLFuruXbtbeZyUGYJ7rrDdWj_dxS7GIiPxH_Rd5Dws4B5WPqfw0OvxDxPJKkFfLPQ4rumr6qumBaczQ=s320" width="217" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's a wonderful thing to witness a lap steel guitar played in anger through a big Marshall amplifier and Campbell was an absolute master of the instrument (as witnessed on the single “Who Do You Love”). He made the thing scream Hendrix style and I swear he was louder than anything Moody played on his regular guitar. After two critically acclaimed albums for Vertigo, Lucy moved to the Bronze label for their third outing, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Get A Whiff A This</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which appeared in August 1971 to mixed reviews. Frequent personnel changes didn’t help their cause and after mainstay Campbell left, Lucy disbanded in 1972, leaving </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Pieces</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as their fourth and final album. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On paper, at least, the Grease Band were possibly the most interesting support act. Starting out as Joe Cocker’s backing band, they played a remarkable set together at the 1969 Woodstock Festival before parting ways as the <b>Mad Dogs & Englishmen</b> tour took shape. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhokx-K2s4LPMyAm0J_qZl-PaYFAxRndfNd4_aM30OLA4Grlip-P5h0d3DgB4bHjbKtwwuwFsTkAQuVoPONH9AbsGXGP96uqyQWTwUREFU83Darmrs1Vbrx-HXRUzr5yG7ZWZOZNzIodPxk7_HSOl0p9rkafcLrlH518XcJssyAAVYfE7eoeMMvLayf0w=s3254" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3254" data-original-width="2190" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhokx-K2s4LPMyAm0J_qZl-PaYFAxRndfNd4_aM30OLA4Grlip-P5h0d3DgB4bHjbKtwwuwFsTkAQuVoPONH9AbsGXGP96uqyQWTwUREFU83Darmrs1Vbrx-HXRUzr5yG7ZWZOZNzIodPxk7_HSOl0p9rkafcLrlH518XcJssyAAVYfE7eoeMMvLayf0w=s320" width="215" /></a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The line-up of Henry McCullough, Bruce Rowland, Alan Spenner and Neil Hubbard had all played on the original 1970 recording of the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Jesus Christ Superstar</b> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LP</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> before striking out on their own. But with no Grease Band records in the stores at that point they were an unknown quantity to the Albert Hall audience and their brand of soft country rock sounded tentative and under rehearsed. It would be some months before their debut album </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The Grease Band</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> appeared on the Harvest label in the UK (it was released on the Shelter label in America) and I believe the RAH gig was their debut show after they split with Joe Cocker. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite their impressive pedigree, the Grease Band were not a commercial success, and there would be a lengthy four-year gap before they reconvened to record </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Amazing Grease</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, their second and final album in 1975. The individual band members had not been idle in the interim, however. Henry McCullough spent 1973 in Paul McCartney’s Wings, Bruce Rowland turned up in Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance and Fairport Convention, while Alan Spenner and Neil Hubbard both surfaced in blue-eyed soul outfit Kokomo. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Grease Band were offered a session fee or royalty points for their work on <i><b>Jesus Christ Superstar</b></i>. In a poorly judged career move they chose a one-off session fee. Meanwhile, the <i>JCS</i> LP went on to top the US <i>Billboard</i> charts and sell close to 8 million copies worldwide. Bad luck, guys.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Master of Space and Time</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so, to the main attraction. Leon Russell’s eagerly anticipated debut UK concert was the hottest ticket in town and the Albert Hall was the only place to be seen in London on that Tuesday night in February with many celebs in attendance, including Elton John and Eric Clapton.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8tFVqIvjNJhLK4lv_kaSy9oscDF1IjWv8iC0gDr4q9wQTquI78u9vT2dkz1GlekiSxuz0fklTRj6Zhn6sMVQ9mxxVMoqlPU8h92xCGOUrxxEYj8taMjyAOiI46qK1SC44eZYtra2onB0IxjLRQmyTuyQ4LxSO6B04qmrowTS9926Vvjhx526E7xGnsQ=s618" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="618" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8tFVqIvjNJhLK4lv_kaSy9oscDF1IjWv8iC0gDr4q9wQTquI78u9vT2dkz1GlekiSxuz0fklTRj6Zhn6sMVQ9mxxVMoqlPU8h92xCGOUrxxEYj8taMjyAOiI46qK1SC44eZYtra2onB0IxjLRQmyTuyQ4LxSO6B04qmrowTS9926Vvjhx526E7xGnsQ=s320" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Possibly because there had been so many support bands it was past 10pm by the time Leon took the stage. Gerry Lockran walked to the microphone and, with perhaps a smidgen of hyperbole, announced “Here he is, the world’s greatest rock & roll star”. Such was the air of expectation in the Hall we were absolutely prepared to believe it, at least for the next hour or so. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t know how we managed it, but we ended up with front row seats, which is always a welcome bonus at any show and greatly improves the concert-going experience. Now, I’ve been to some loud gigs over the years, AC/DC and Metallica among them, but perhaps because we were sitting directly in front of the PA bass bins, this one was absolutely bloody deafening. It was the kind of show that leaves you with industrial strength tinnitus for days afterwards.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhq_6d7Z3vSkPLlx7e2qBO0BSU-ll7sBsxEJgJLTLh-uulitbPnXeQ-Hs5MuJ-aLwQGe5xAttSknDNbjdhB0JxISEvMjlGaK3NeTSysc0ToH4jVIVaRqrRZ1HeAdHniNT-klkH6V616KdcbIT7Ga1wUfBP3N5WeraS5FXgU3ULFTt1anfqh60MY4_76uw=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="577" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhq_6d7Z3vSkPLlx7e2qBO0BSU-ll7sBsxEJgJLTLh-uulitbPnXeQ-Hs5MuJ-aLwQGe5xAttSknDNbjdhB0JxISEvMjlGaK3NeTSysc0ToH4jVIVaRqrRZ1HeAdHniNT-klkH6V616KdcbIT7Ga1wUfBP3N5WeraS5FXgU3ULFTt1anfqh60MY4_76uw=s320" width="308" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many have tried but (with apologies to Slash, Marc Bolan, Tom Petty and the rest), in my opinion no one in rock has ever carried off the top hat look better than Leon Russell. Judging by the contemporary photos, he appeared to own countless varieties of tall headgear with a top hat for every occasion. One hat in particular was a gift from Gram Parsons via Keith Richards. It was originally worn by Al Jolson in the movie <i><b>The Jazz Singer</b></i>.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbRX-CzhiYy6goDuVwDvETZYQgP-HgOSUmgb3CFvCbN1O0yfPNiQuRkb0bMQ8dcVpySJlpdh0lqsY_ajpeq06dGB1iYGX4hI5H3I7BDvJHngii_CsQ9j7NvGEBm4bXd-yKYcMFKVTj7eHNw_JSfRKokiVK7jvQhpPZvFAEdKaC0PU2kZyTxABFaA_qvg=s3019" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3019" data-original-width="1862" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbRX-CzhiYy6goDuVwDvETZYQgP-HgOSUmgb3CFvCbN1O0yfPNiQuRkb0bMQ8dcVpySJlpdh0lqsY_ajpeq06dGB1iYGX4hI5H3I7BDvJHngii_CsQ9j7NvGEBm4bXd-yKYcMFKVTj7eHNw_JSfRKokiVK7jvQhpPZvFAEdKaC0PU2kZyTxABFaA_qvg=w246-h400" width="246" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the 1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour many band members were given a suitably cryptic and/or cosmic nickname. Leon was dubbed the "Master of Space and Time" and, dressed completely in white and sporting a spectacular sequined topper, the name suited him perfectly as he strolled nonchalantly to the front of the RAH stage amid tumultuous applause. With his near waist length salt-and-pepper hair and matching beard, he cut a distinctive, not to say magnificent, figure. Sitting at a grand piano he noodled on a slow blues for a while before the first recognisable tune emerged. It was Bob Dylan’s “Girl From The North Country.” Originally dating back to 1963 and Bob’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Freewheelin’</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album, the song was currently enjoying a new lease of life thanks to the somewhat ramshackle Dylan/Johnny Cash duet on 1969’s </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Nashville Skyline</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Leon had performed the song with Joe Cocker on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Mad Dogs & Englishmen</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album, and it was one of several Dylan songs in his repertoire. Russell’s distinctive vocals were an acquired taste for some and he often struggled to reach the high notes, but I loved his voice back then and I still love it today. </span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuRu9RxoWjyIxCQEzvSbRmVKdR3DGLifg7mgj-StuwyRftDDsERvrRXvPuhom9I8QZXGHe4-vB4WcVAnpzz5sbNS0iEe2xlqvOhT3yX362aSLlCIZOqPdPquC5Xmtpne1fqOkipuCrLcaA9CUfJ1neZFwZ94fdlxG4vIqbw6Sa6vQeSMwEcuvVTc1f5Q=s2750" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2719" data-original-width="2750" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuRu9RxoWjyIxCQEzvSbRmVKdR3DGLifg7mgj-StuwyRftDDsERvrRXvPuhom9I8QZXGHe4-vB4WcVAnpzz5sbNS0iEe2xlqvOhT3yX362aSLlCIZOqPdPquC5Xmtpne1fqOkipuCrLcaA9CUfJ1neZFwZ94fdlxG4vIqbw6Sa6vQeSMwEcuvVTc1f5Q=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The musicians then began to drift out onstage one by one. And with a line-up of Don Preston - lead guitar; Joey Cooper - rhythm guitar; John Gallie - Hammond organ; Carl Radle - bass; Chuck Blackwell - drums; Claudia Lennear - vocals and Kathi McDonald - vocals, what an amazing band it was. Leon raised a hand in the air to give the signal and, as one, they launched into a rock solid groove. It was pure, undiluted southern rock live onstage at the Royal Albert Hall and boy did it sound good. </span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a lifelong student of rare and beautiful guitars my eye was immediately drawn to Don Preston’s instrument. I must confess that my heart skipped a beat when I saw it was a 1958 Gibson Explorer. That may not mean much to the uninitiated, but even in 1971 this was an outrageously rare and extremely desirable guitar. See below for a longer discourse on Preston’s guitar and the Gibson Explorer generally.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The set comprised five songs from the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Leon Russell</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album, plus four from the then-unreleased follow-up </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Leon Russell and the Shelter People</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Naturally the closer was “Delta Lady” which seemed to last an eternity, with a greatly extended mantra-like outro, during which Leon switched from piano to guitar. The encore was an untidy romp through “Roll Over Beethoven” which may have indicated a shortage of material.</span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqud6rt-f46HPXEDTub_HNxDP2aDGyBkh7FLRg5n3_JV3qqUS88l60jTvycnCckS21IQHL2OurEdlg_Hix4z-Y1Ds7CRTKGW8ljLwokKfC6IM3SyinJdw1Ehl_zwDZeko27Zw7koYx8g3TiaXkzHC70SXFRjtZOWtx400udgJHJLWqeJ4ySOfy58sf6w=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="592" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqud6rt-f46HPXEDTub_HNxDP2aDGyBkh7FLRg5n3_JV3qqUS88l60jTvycnCckS21IQHL2OurEdlg_Hix4z-Y1Ds7CRTKGW8ljLwokKfC6IM3SyinJdw1Ehl_zwDZeko27Zw7koYx8g3TiaXkzHC70SXFRjtZOWtx400udgJHJLWqeJ4ySOfy58sf6w=s320" width="316" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>The exact set list is probably lost forever, but this is a fair estimation of the songs we heard that night:</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Set List:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Girl From the North Country</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stranger in a Strange Land</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alcatraz</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prince of Peace</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Roll Away the Stone</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shoot Out on the Plantation</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hummingbird</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sweet Home Oklahoma</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Delta Lady</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Roll Over Beethoven</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCPlgrnyHBJOsMR5230ti9i0jrjRhNVIN37cfEl0gOlsuPQtNWs1cQAOcAnpw2IE39vpgUEviTr221RZbO24MIK9mF9egpQtpi32VZmly-ujbewjEQDGfZNUe7KCCRwUaXjEi1Qcae8ItxHa_282FE14rf-x5lzy9hpbiTyVq8IscTNSAhALDXtPCQIQ=s1000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1000" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCPlgrnyHBJOsMR5230ti9i0jrjRhNVIN37cfEl0gOlsuPQtNWs1cQAOcAnpw2IE39vpgUEviTr221RZbO24MIK9mF9egpQtpi32VZmly-ujbewjEQDGfZNUe7KCCRwUaXjEi1Qcae8ItxHa_282FE14rf-x5lzy9hpbiTyVq8IscTNSAhALDXtPCQIQ=w640-h384" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Leon Russell Band </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(And Their Mad Dogs & Englishmen Nicknames)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Gentle Giant:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Not to be confused with the Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention keyboard player of the same name, guitarist Don Preston had worked with Ritchie Valens, the Righteous Brothers and Gene Vincent before teaming up with Joe Cocker and Leon Russell. Six months after the 1971 UK tour Preston joined Leon at George Harrison’s <b><i>Concert For Bangladesh </i></b>and his famous Gibson Explorer was pictured for all to see in the album booklet, onstage alongside George and Eric Clapton.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN7VLTW2q-59iRMxMElMS1HJSkdHwDuMNTMYhjrX82TmXmVpFvQxl1HFjn51COFrqwoqoLFxl-msgqxHBc0WboIsh2Cy08tPxWLklOziojqi0FQXgcZ4xhoDK-OWsF1dTWT3SrMZTdNmYUsjpHd8BXdDAvwdaRbx58bjM-E6xr5Xh8XhNNxgMEHJCVzQ=s980" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="980" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN7VLTW2q-59iRMxMElMS1HJSkdHwDuMNTMYhjrX82TmXmVpFvQxl1HFjn51COFrqwoqoLFxl-msgqxHBc0WboIsh2Cy08tPxWLklOziojqi0FQXgcZ4xhoDK-OWsF1dTWT3SrMZTdNmYUsjpHd8BXdDAvwdaRbx58bjM-E6xr5Xh8XhNNxgMEHJCVzQ=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Mad Professor:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Bassist Carl Radle came from Delaney & Bonnie’s band directly into Clapton’s Derek & the Dominos where he appeared on the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Layla</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> album and the subsequent live releases. A brief excursion into Joe Cocker’s <b>Mad Dogs & Englishmen</b> tour and album followed before he hooked up with Clapton again for seven straight albums through the 70s. Carl sadly died of kidney failure brought on by drink and drugs in 1980. He was aged just 37.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXVi2SXJ_gcukLWs1cDeYRWU1LL8zW0hn7rWx2DVrCo8ZLsD5GjKC7K0G4z83ST3G1UsDRDhvCRdnAjM1JUuOdpdsdWx5lXrtb80KwAKbgxMATpbR5ZG8xBj6ATgoLQ7e2AYkvx-MOxmBoO67u2ip3JIyE8RPH1MubS0nzjHAQicWfyvydhabCxYM4lA=s547" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="547" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXVi2SXJ_gcukLWs1cDeYRWU1LL8zW0hn7rWx2DVrCo8ZLsD5GjKC7K0G4z83ST3G1UsDRDhvCRdnAjM1JUuOdpdsdWx5lXrtb80KwAKbgxMATpbR5ZG8xBj6ATgoLQ7e2AYkvx-MOxmBoO67u2ip3JIyE8RPH1MubS0nzjHAQicWfyvydhabCxYM4lA=w400-h278" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stellar Gypsy:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Backing singer Claudia Lennear started out as one of Ike & Tina Turner’s Ikettes, before taking the familiar route of Delaney & Bonnie, Mad Dogs & Englishmen and the Concert For Bangladesh. Claudia is thought to have been the real-life inspiration for several songs, including the Stones’ “Brown Sugar” (1971*), David Bowie’s “Lady Grinning Soul” (1973), Leon’s "She Smiles Like a River" (1971) and "Sweet Rhode Island Red" (1974) by Ike and Tina Turner. She also appeared on the 1971 Humble Pie album, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Rock On</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. To absolutely no one's surprise, her 1973 solo album was titled </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Phew!</b> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*(Marsha Hunt has also claimed to be the inspiration for "Brown Sugar").</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg17bpd6mL1rptPdcTb2J6qLksoFPmqSs0aE_u3Ce4CeJFRJCys0PX524lsLMhOf1f9Upb4vTBwEtS-QCgPhcPEDCvRYB8DmPWhxV-IPtShga8mtFvAlpxOvmyU9TFfHp_TaFF-3KJOhRLPhCYASyWNp7ahMjtM2QZbVJQDp2c4m1Jzq3KIzcKWKJmiMg=s613" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="599" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg17bpd6mL1rptPdcTb2J6qLksoFPmqSs0aE_u3Ce4CeJFRJCys0PX524lsLMhOf1f9Upb4vTBwEtS-QCgPhcPEDCvRYB8DmPWhxV-IPtShga8mtFvAlpxOvmyU9TFfHp_TaFF-3KJOhRLPhCYASyWNp7ahMjtM2QZbVJQDp2c4m1Jzq3KIzcKWKJmiMg=s320" width="313" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another former Ikette, Kathi McDonald replaced Janis Joplin in Big Brother & the Holding Company before working with the Rolling Stones on </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Exile On Main Street</b>. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">can be heard on their 1972 single “Tumbling Dice”. Kathi also backed Delaney & Bonnie and Joe Cocker, before touring with Freddie King and Rita Coolidge. In later years she worked extensively with Long John Baldry until his death in 2005. Kathi passed away in 2012. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Direct From the Taj Mahal:</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> In his early years Chuck Blackwell was</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the house drummer for the TV show </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shindig</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. He played drums for the Everly Brothers, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and recorded extensively with Taj Mahal, Freddie King and Leon Russell. Needless to say, </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he was yet another graduate of the Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgF9AMv2-OIHohIUQOxGkFKBntY7LesiZkQeHhgK3CaGo-x_tzb6pSvlvMMnZMzsd0Y2n_LUGAdIO5T5JRd1kogcxmg-cXuXQkqXI3YJd3cth1RChYOECuWjT8boHAHkp_ePmmoRLz4u2QLeH_QLUUrc86Zm9sx7B_2hMLX8z62iizzuWmFbwyzCWrsQQ=s897" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="897" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgF9AMv2-OIHohIUQOxGkFKBntY7LesiZkQeHhgK3CaGo-x_tzb6pSvlvMMnZMzsd0Y2n_LUGAdIO5T5JRd1kogcxmg-cXuXQkqXI3YJd3cth1RChYOECuWjT8boHAHkp_ePmmoRLz4u2QLeH_QLUUrc86Zm9sx7B_2hMLX8z62iizzuWmFbwyzCWrsQQ=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guitar Man: Don Preston’s Intrepid Explorer</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Warning: contains information of a technical nature)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Among people who care about such things, one of the most memorable aspects of Leon Russell’s early 70s concerts was the sight of Don Preston’s staggeringly rare Gibson Explorer guitar. Here’s the story of that amazing instrument.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the mid-50s the Gibson guitar company was losing market share to their upstart rivals over at Fender. With their brightly coloured, curvaceous solid electric models such as the Stratocaster and Telecaster, the young Californian company had begun to make Gibson look old fashioned and out of touch. In an attempt to catch up, Gibson president Ted McCarty commissioned three radical new models which they called the “modernistic” series. These were the Flying V, the Explorer and the Moderne. The Moderne was stillborn and didn't get off the drawing board until decades later (and only then as a retrospective model), but in 1958 the Flying V and Explorer went into limited production. They were constructed from a type of exotic wood known as Korina, which is the trade name for African Limba wood similar to mahogany. Limba is naturally light in colour and Gibson apparently chose it because blonde or white guitars were popular at the time. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjjHA95QWrCMw-V7uER8OqG5mU5i5DE_xYvFELl9msX2Mn-5Bi2etc-lsS7goLL-YLZXYUtdND16s6R2QhevcTR5IPCRRmi6fYDF7s7Ve9Vhh2dNHVWiR0eO6hZP47tH1A8YtDmQvVKktsMc0ZrYz8JdMG89gFpLx9hivLl1cJjfJwnchw6CURMgYEu4w=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="600" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjjHA95QWrCMw-V7uER8OqG5mU5i5DE_xYvFELl9msX2Mn-5Bi2etc-lsS7goLL-YLZXYUtdND16s6R2QhevcTR5IPCRRmi6fYDF7s7Ve9Vhh2dNHVWiR0eO6hZP47tH1A8YtDmQvVKktsMc0ZrYz8JdMG89gFpLx9hivLl1cJjfJwnchw6CURMgYEu4w=s320" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, this was the late 50s and players just weren’t ready for these strangely shaped instruments that looked like they might have arrived from outer space. They were a total sales disaster at the time and Gibson shipped only around 80 Flying Vs and fewer than 50 Explorers during 1958/59 (including a handful of both models in 1963 made from leftover parts) before production stopped. The guitars were simply too weird and futuristic, and no one wanted them. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tastes change, however, and as the mid-60s came around the new rock groups started to pick up on these funny-looking instruments. One of the first exponents was Dave Davies from the Kinks. In 1965 he ended up with a Gibson Flying V quite by accident as an emergency replacement for his trusty Guild guitar which was stolen during a flight to America. Dave owned his Flying V from 1965 to 1992 and it has changed hands several times since then, most recently in 2019. In December 2020 </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guitar</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> magazine published this excellent feature and interview with the guitar’s new owner. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://guitar.com/features/gallery/the-money-shot-dave-davies-supersonic-rocket-ship/" target="_blank">FLYING V Link</a><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other high-profile players such as Lonnie Mack, Albert King and Keith Richards were also seen using original Flying Vs and this prompted Gibson to reissue the guitar in 1968, albeit in limited numbers with somewhat different specifications to the 50s version.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgaH1HrjaWr1kdtEvwekDqJkYe74RJET5YEamigA9_3We1R2Khdj4L0cDfreNEpQMjp8Y_jsoBUP-6BbjwtGZLwcaMIrkqhRM21ZCuts07XrQ_3af5rtJDvfWG33tmIxKa5bDlc9_oZGSOywlr4XfGsh3qqz1FaQTx8lr1NY3Tpf7WPmk8NZ8Rf4nEBA=s1097" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="1097" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgaH1HrjaWr1kdtEvwekDqJkYe74RJET5YEamigA9_3We1R2Khdj4L0cDfreNEpQMjp8Y_jsoBUP-6BbjwtGZLwcaMIrkqhRM21ZCuts07XrQ_3af5rtJDvfWG33tmIxKa5bDlc9_oZGSOywlr4XfGsh3qqz1FaQTx8lr1NY3Tpf7WPmk8NZ8Rf4nEBA=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But what of the Explorer? If the original Flying Vs are rare and valuable, then the 1958/59 Explorers, with less than 10 examples thought to survive today, are doubly so. The current </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vintage Guitar Price Guide</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (2022 edition) values a top condition original guitar at US$735,000, which is around twice the price of a 1959 sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard, itself usually considered the Holy Grail of solid electric guitars. Simply no one had an Explorer back in the 60s/early 70s and you just never saw them onstage. Which brings us neatly to Don Preston. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s not clear how Preston originally came by his Gibson Explorer (or even if he still owns it), but in the early 70s it seemed to show up everywhere. After the thrill of seeing the guitar close-up at the Albert Hall show, it next appeared in glorious widescreen technicolour in the 1972 movie </span><b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Concert For Bangladesh</span></b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The 3/LP box set contained a deluxe colour booklet showing pictures of Don’s guitar in action alongside George’s Fender Stratocaster and Clapton’s Gibson Byrdland.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiaALbZm_Nz-iMeTdn4Ckb-hSOwdKrFu5wLwPfmuYXqdZrlR0kL8ibHL4OgmPXkZNQQ-bcd5MSfpHC-pBcSuk2ozuMJGPWAFpAPpLz_jsP6OiiJoJpx1QlyruRVOn7EV8NATI1TE8MKVmGzmJHDBV23wZ1g85aqYrsCLJyURDNiVZ8r6-jYRhCs_YYNSA=s474" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="474" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiaALbZm_Nz-iMeTdn4Ckb-hSOwdKrFu5wLwPfmuYXqdZrlR0kL8ibHL4OgmPXkZNQQ-bcd5MSfpHC-pBcSuk2ozuMJGPWAFpAPpLz_jsP6OiiJoJpx1QlyruRVOn7EV8NATI1TE8MKVmGzmJHDBV23wZ1g85aqYrsCLJyURDNiVZ8r6-jYRhCs_YYNSA=w400-h240" width="400" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">During the Bangladesh concert rehearsals Eric Clapton, ever the insatiable guitar collector, reportedly tried to buy Don Preston’s Explorer from him. Don refused to sell, but a year or so later Clapton found another one for sale at a New York store. This example was unusual in having a shortened upper back horn (ie. the pointy bit at the back), and Eric was told it was a prototype. That turned out to be untrue and, in fact, the previous owner had simply sawn a large piece off, presumably to make the ungainly Explorer easier to handle. Slowhand had been conned. Having paid six figures for the instrument (that’s 1973 era dollars, too) Clapton was understandably less than pleased and tried to return the guitar, without success. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQ-cZ42hIiE_tfv8BRIQ29Sca5mmTmzdX7EL10ugLRPOtPm7fDEZ3nP1eTuQPbXy4J3XJJCnGAwGh_UpYF1DWG2MgpFT_EjdI1gbU8tenQRXpdhMak9bXoK6O_Fd91_2b8OtQP4YWscf7o1e2cdyNIfp4tYpa0j14fxZ7fxRw1nvYa8onaocANgLNiQA=s639" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="431" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQ-cZ42hIiE_tfv8BRIQ29Sca5mmTmzdX7EL10ugLRPOtPm7fDEZ3nP1eTuQPbXy4J3XJJCnGAwGh_UpYF1DWG2MgpFT_EjdI1gbU8tenQRXpdhMak9bXoK6O_Fd91_2b8OtQP4YWscf7o1e2cdyNIfp4tYpa0j14fxZ7fxRw1nvYa8onaocANgLNiQA=s320" width="216" /></a></div><br /></span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nevertheless, Eric used this ill-fated Explorer throughout the mid-70s. It can be heard on his </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>EC Was Here</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> live album and it’s pictured on the back cover of </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>There’s One in Every Crowd </b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(both released in 1975). According to Tony Bacon’s excellent book </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Flying V, Explorer, Firebird: An Odd-Shaped History of Gibson’s Weird Electric Guitars</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (pub. Backbeat Books 2011) Clapton gave the mutilated guitar to erstwhile Wailers member Junior Marvin in 1977, who sold it during the 80s. Eric’s disfigured Explorer finally ended up in Japan with guitar collector Kunio Kushida, who also owns Duane Allman’s Gibson Les Paul Junior. Eric purchased yet another original 1958 Explorer (unmolested, this time) in 1983 which was eventually auctioned in aid of his Crossroads charity in 1999. The hammer fell at US$120,000 but the guitar would probably sell for far more today. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKfevrBDv_jdcFbiFJ2GXXb5SB7CYdQ70pl5cwQUMpenRrBi2qtblThzHUeItr4fGiw2duv3sbZoCnJzMCnu1Upb4NebATRS3VnW4m_l43ID9naHqRWLV9deJJHUqcU7Gofb-bdIdBW0IlJcTfGg3Bemrjz0vxmoz2L30Hd2QtDQUf7GzEhQis6pzpiQ=s800" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKfevrBDv_jdcFbiFJ2GXXb5SB7CYdQ70pl5cwQUMpenRrBi2qtblThzHUeItr4fGiw2duv3sbZoCnJzMCnu1Upb4NebATRS3VnW4m_l43ID9naHqRWLV9deJJHUqcU7Gofb-bdIdBW0IlJcTfGg3Bemrjz0vxmoz2L30Hd2QtDQUf7GzEhQis6pzpiQ=s320" width="128" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first Explorer reissues appeared in 1974 when the Hamer company of Illinois started making copies of the Gibson in limited numbers. Rick Nielson of Cheap Trick was an early adopter of the Hamer Explorers, which they called the “Standard Model”. Nielson eventually ended up as possibly the only man on the planet to own TWO original Gibson Explorers, along with countless Hamer copies. Gibson themselves followed suit in 1975 with more accurate reissues and by the late 70s the Explorer had finally found its niche, adopted as the default heavy metal pointy guitar with several companies producing their own versions in myriad colours and designs. 64 years after this odd-shaped instrument was declared an abject sales turkey, the Gibson Explorer is now among the most popular and widely used electric guitars in the heavy rock world.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYEoBwDWuIUrsCy2f4Qb5fS-10vSPRi_o_TLSX_e1qAc8ZcKkUsD6eUYPuiEP9Beuo8ScJeUo4Khku9U4oSstgVP6k-m0kkzzRF-TKK6bylT79LRwCjamibbbExj3WprRq5l5ZyyzL65M8Y4tPLMCqbIxuVWHAbHAXGdSy9h1j10nVZfdCscDd3GY0PA=s865" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="865" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYEoBwDWuIUrsCy2f4Qb5fS-10vSPRi_o_TLSX_e1qAc8ZcKkUsD6eUYPuiEP9Beuo8ScJeUo4Khku9U4oSstgVP6k-m0kkzzRF-TKK6bylT79LRwCjamibbbExj3WprRq5l5ZyyzL65M8Y4tPLMCqbIxuVWHAbHAXGdSy9h1j10nVZfdCscDd3GY0PA=w640-h418" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><b>In the 1958 Gibson catalogue the Explorer and Flying V sold for US$275 each (without case). Today, in 2022, you’d pay close to US$1 million for the pair.</b></div><div><br /></div><div> </div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzFMtuddQQPytnN5zdS4YDnqqX3QmsmB4rT78JEecNuoSB7r-kpFi2KJZljBBDUqBAcMT_OTuBVSt-S_--D46Hs3SHZ1juaHSSRru-IIkyOYA1j_geMEtFv9lVmhiY5wbOiOCVkHQXzidBU1w78H4laHRbh3g15aSxyGlXD1neA8gi9ooM_2dMeAgseA=s980" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="980" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzFMtuddQQPytnN5zdS4YDnqqX3QmsmB4rT78JEecNuoSB7r-kpFi2KJZljBBDUqBAcMT_OTuBVSt-S_--D46Hs3SHZ1juaHSSRru-IIkyOYA1j_geMEtFv9lVmhiY5wbOiOCVkHQXzidBU1w78H4laHRbh3g15aSxyGlXD1neA8gi9ooM_2dMeAgseA=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aftermath: There’s A Riot Going On!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1971 was a busy time at the Royal Albert Hall, in more ways than one. On February 1, just 24 hours before the Leon Russell concert, Deep Purple had played there supported by Ashton, Gardner & Dyke. A week later, on February 8, Frank Zappa and the Mothers were booked to perform extracts from the film </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>200 Motels</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. To everyone’s surprise the Zappa concert was cancelled only hours before showtime after the RAH trustees claimed the song lyrics were “obscene”. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikZpeI8kcIh6sQr6q5cNeXP8qzLEWMS0vOHZSa3yrz33KF3n-Qi7JXPTDKjv6c5C0nLDKAM2O3pCq2UNscULTIPuPqTYfnAhNlZwI46S9fmXmL0Hm-L3q3uRkvJv7is0Yz7C-RYgUAB3puMdO0TC-Pmevu2GqJHbmgRFfc3d2K9nbWrY7ztudK4hcJDQ=s4112" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4112" data-original-width="2874" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikZpeI8kcIh6sQr6q5cNeXP8qzLEWMS0vOHZSa3yrz33KF3n-Qi7JXPTDKjv6c5C0nLDKAM2O3pCq2UNscULTIPuPqTYfnAhNlZwI46S9fmXmL0Hm-L3q3uRkvJv7is0Yz7C-RYgUAB3puMdO0TC-Pmevu2GqJHbmgRFfc3d2K9nbWrY7ztudK4hcJDQ=w448-h640" width="448" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I had tickets for that </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>200 Motels</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> concert and in those pre-internet days we had no way of knowing what had happened until we showed up on the night to find hundreds of dejected fans milling around outside the venue. It would have been my first Zappa concert, so the cancellation was doubly disappointing. Frank sued the RAH and the legal proceedings dragged on for years. Even though it seemed an open and shut case, Zappa eventually lost his claim in April 1975 at which point, in </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">typically sardonic FZ style,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">he vowed never to return to Britain unless he received an apology from The Queen. Spoiler alert: Frank didn’t get his apology from Her Maj, but he did return to Blighty, many times.</span></span></span><div><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMsbk0k-ynAfrRhmd7M72p2OWB3p9GPCISf5hQFyXx4qaBQL-N22QimUSPGg7D94WHYah2AJp5TpZPn6uetE03qbnczkh1sfHA4rpWxqJgUNKtkMcToZmfFW8hWBi8ZIGJ0GtdrxQMHx6nediE5juQYatGDnRDmQhD6bigFOTznqfustnCAax0gZbj0Q=s705" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="705" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMsbk0k-ynAfrRhmd7M72p2OWB3p9GPCISf5hQFyXx4qaBQL-N22QimUSPGg7D94WHYah2AJp5TpZPn6uetE03qbnczkh1sfHA4rpWxqJgUNKtkMcToZmfFW8hWBi8ZIGJ0GtdrxQMHx6nediE5juQYatGDnRDmQhD6bigFOTznqfustnCAax0gZbj0Q=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /></span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If 1971 had started badly for Zappa, the year ended far, far worse for him. On December 4 during a Mothers’ concert at the Montreux Casino in Switzerland “some stupid with a flare gun” (as Deep Purple later reported in "Smoke On The Water") fired into the ceiling, causing a blaze which destroyed the historic building, taking all of the band’s equipment with it. Then, six days later Frank was attacked and pushed off the stage at the Rainbow Theatre in London by an audience member, leaving him with life-changing injuries. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The attack put Zappa out of action and left him in a wheelchair for almost a year, although he eventually made an almost full recovery. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Zappa saga marked the beginning of the end of the Albert Hall’s uneasy relationship with rock music. Things came to a head in July 1971 when fans caused £1,467 (equivalent to more than £22,000 today) of damage to the venue during a concert by Mott The Hoople. A second Mott show scheduled for the next day was cancelled and the following statement was issued:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Some members of the audience in Second Tier boxes became so enthusiastic and jumped and stamped around so much that the ceilings in two boxes in the Grand Tier below fell in. It is for reasons like this that we here do not like concerts at which the audience stamps and dances.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marion Herrod, Letting Agent and Secretary, Royal Albert Hall 9 July 1971</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the Hall’s own website, only one of the 23 rock and pop shows held in 1971 passed without disorder, vandalism, rioting, injury or destruction to the venue. Vilified bands included Deep Purple, Yes, Gordon Lightfoot(!?), James Brown and the Byrds. But it was Mott the Hoople’s show which prompted the decision to impose a temporary ban on all rock and pop concerts at the Hall, beginning March 1972. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The official RAH press release read, in part:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The Council of the Royal Albert Hall has reluctantly decided, after most careful consideration, that it can no longer make the Hall available for “pop” and “rock” concerts.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This decision is in no way intended as a condemnation of the music itself but it has been forced on the Council as a result of the behaviour of substantial numbers among the audiences attracted to such concerts”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Who were one of the first high-profile casualties of the rock ban. They had planned to present an all-star performance of their rock opera </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Tommy</b></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on December 9, 1972, with guests including Rod Stewart, Steve Winwood, Richie Havens, Ringo Starr and Richard Harris, but the show was deemed “unsavory” by the Royal Albert Hall. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The situation turned out to be short-lived, thankfully. Before long the ban was repealed, common sense prevailed, and rock and pop returned to the Hall by the end of 1973. Normal service was soon resumed and today (pandemic notwithstanding) rock concerts make up a huge proportion of the RAH’s income, accounting for a large slice of the 350 annual events in the main auditorium.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0WnZP2Rlgf4ClKw8B-ZJJw0dXZTAy_3rwc69xYbgS1mhAX60z7dkGnWp8EaN03PDzZMgkTfUVtqFXDk5loXAv9Z00V_Ywp9kECCAcL2Mrq3x9sczMrC4cgZIvP01b8FsMJNMiixmTnHMpzoLnLYIqw3VcluY9LCJDVCJDO6HYlyOtLGvxoujpVhjjtw/s514/Leon2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="435" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0WnZP2Rlgf4ClKw8B-ZJJw0dXZTAy_3rwc69xYbgS1mhAX60z7dkGnWp8EaN03PDzZMgkTfUVtqFXDk5loXAv9Z00V_Ywp9kECCAcL2Mrq3x9sczMrC4cgZIvP01b8FsMJNMiixmTnHMpzoLnLYIqw3VcluY9LCJDVCJDO6HYlyOtLGvxoujpVhjjtw/w339-h400/Leon2.jpg" width="339" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /> </span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKxawpnUI0aETz8PqrNN4TeDqr53zXQXrLQojTEFoIsfKtXtNPcB-dGMUAMXb6NlYsTiBMKiLu-cAR9N_Lpzf4QmQSI_zHd4z-2Jj1igraaVL0vng2aY-mHa288bGRA87ZZxN_VPpYWBR3a1RqlhnIzTWvNGr3jKsrITyBAu7YvSJwwWvKXSfJIM_-5Q=s991" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="991" height="518" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKxawpnUI0aETz8PqrNN4TeDqr53zXQXrLQojTEFoIsfKtXtNPcB-dGMUAMXb6NlYsTiBMKiLu-cAR9N_Lpzf4QmQSI_zHd4z-2Jj1igraaVL0vng2aY-mHa288bGRA87ZZxN_VPpYWBR3a1RqlhnIzTWvNGr3jKsrITyBAu7YvSJwwWvKXSfJIM_-5Q=w640-h518" width="640" /></a></span></div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div></div>Mike Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12167650106491968654noreply@blogger.com11