News
September 29, 2007
THE WEATHER'S CRY
Joe Zawinul has made a lot in his 65 years on Earth, The keyboard player added colors into Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis' palettes, yet it's not the latter's "In A Silent Way" and "Pharao's Dance" that he composed that Joe was famous for, it's for his own band, WEATHER REPORT's work. The ensemble became a launching pad for some fantastic young musicians including bass prodigy, Jaco Pastorius. And it's with Jaco that Zawinul's undoubtedly jamming now in the skies. The veteran died on September 11th, and is already sorely missed.
FROM HERE TO...
Their profile might be not as high as 35 years ago, but Andy Powell still steers WISHBONE ASH towards greatness. That's why October 15th is to see the release of the band's new record, "The Power Of Eternity", which has the ugliest cover any classic rock group have ever come up with, and the following tracks:
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1. The Power |
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Those who crave some classic ASH mixed with more recent material, can get a hold of another new release, a "Live In Hamburg" DVD:
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1. Eyes Wide Open |
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10. Sorrel |
TO FIND A WILL
This man could be one of the kings of rock 'n' roll - if only he played rock 'n' roll! But without him, rock 'n' roll wouldn't come off as we know it. So there's a serious point to be made with "Goin' Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino" paid by the stellar line-up including his fellow New Orleaners Dr John and Allen Toussaint as well as the likes of Robert Plant and Paul McCartney. The double CD, out on September 24th, features mostly new, previously unreleased tracks penned by the Big Easy hero who survived the flood but lost everything he had - except for the talent. And if John Lennon-sung opening track is well-known, the rest seems indispensable.
CD 1:
1. Ain't That A Shame - John Lennon
2. I'm Walkin' - Tom Petty & HEARTBREAKERS
3. Goin' Home - B.B. King with Ivan Neville's DUMPSTAPHUNK
4. Blueberry Hill - Elton John
5. My Girl Josephine - Taj Mahal and THE NEW ORLEANS SOCIAL CLUB
6. Every Night About This Time - THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND with Joss Stone and Buddy Guy
7. I Want to Walk You Home - Paul McCartney feat. Allen Toussaint
8. Whole Lotta Loving - Lenny Kravitz with REBIRTH BRASS BAND and Maceo Parker
9. Don't Leave Me This Way - Dr John
10. I'm In Love Again / All By Myself - Bonnie Raitt and Jon Cleary
11. Please Don't Leave Me - Art Neville
12. Going To The River - Robbie Robertson with GALACTIC
13. Blue Monday - Randy Newman
14. It Keeps Rainin' - Robert Plant with LIL BAND O' GOLD
15. One Night Of Sin (live At Tipitina's) - Corinne Bailey Rae
CD 2:
1. Walking to New Orleans - Neil Young
2. Valley Of Tears - Robert Plant and THE SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR
3. My Blue Heaven - Norah Jones
4. Honey Chile - Lucinda Williams
5. Rising Sun - Marc Broussard feat. Sam Bush
6. When I See You - Olu Dara and THE NATCHEZIPPI BAND
7. Be My Guest - Ben Harper with THE SKATALITES
8. Let The Four Winds Blow - Toots & THE MAYTALS
9. I Hear You Knockin' - Willie Nelson
10. I Just Can't Get New Orleans Off My Mind - Irma Thomas and Marcia Ball
11. Don't Blame It On Me - Bruce Hornsby
12. I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday - Herbie Hancock
13. The Fat Man - LOS LOBOS
14. So Long - Big Chief Monk Boudreaux with GALACTIC
15. When The Saints Go Marching In - PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND with Walter Washington and Theresa Andersson
IT'S HOT, DON'T BURN YOUR FINGERS
The more time passes since Gram Parsons' death, the more ghostly his presence in the rock history becomes. The situation doesn't get better what with the scarcity of the fallen hero's recorded material outside the obvious entries in THE BYRDS, THE SUBMARINE BAND and the FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS' discographies. But now the latter's concert tapes have surfaced. The recordings that'll be released on October 30th as "Flying Burrito Brothers - Gram Parsons Archives Vol. 1: Live At The Avalon 1969" come from the GRATEFUL DEAD archives and include 10 songs never recorded by Gram and never before available. Parsons' band opened for the DEAD on April 4th, 5th and 6th, 1969 at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, so the Garcia camp committed everything to tape and, recently discovered, the recordings to be out are from the first and the third shows.
Disc 1:
1. Close Up The Honky Tonks |
Disc 2:
1. Undo The Right / Somebody’s Back In Town |
MORE OF MOORE
Whatever the definition of the word 'definitive' is, Gary Moore's "The Definitive Montreux Collection", a double DVD set, out on October 15th, isn't it at all. The collection picks the cream of the Irish blues meister's five appearances on the lake Geneva shoreline and doesn't feature the concerts in their entirety, like the 1997 released in 2004. But the span of the new compilation makes it a desirable item for both fans and newcomers.
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1990: |
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1997: |
THE FACES NOT LONG... OR ARE THEY
It's surprising yet the heavyweghts that THE FACES were, a huge live attraction in their own time, with the line-up comprised of former SMALL FACES and THE JEFF BECK GROUP members, don't have a cult status now. But there are still those who love the band and not only their nosey singer, Rod Stewart. The fans, then, will be glad to upgrade their collections with the expanded remasters of the band's four classic albums, scheduled to hit the shelves on October 29th. Each one has four bonus tracks, which are:
First Step
- Behind The Sun (outtake)
- Mona (outtake)
- Shake Shudder (Shiver BBC John Peel session)
- Flying (alternate take 3)
Long Player
- Whole Lotta Lovin' (outtake)
- Tell Everyone (alternate take 1)
- Sham Mozzal (outtake)
- Gasoline Alley (live at Fillmore East)
A Nod Is As Good As A Wink... To A Blind Horse
- Miss Judy's Farm (John Peel session)
- Stay With Me (John Peel session)
- It's All Over Now (John Peel session)
- True Blue (Never Been A Millionaire) (live in Pocono PA)
Ooh La La
- Cindy Incidentally (BBC session)
- Borstal Boys (rehearsal)
- Silicone Grown (rehearsal)
- Jealous Guy (live at Reading Festival).
TO MAKE THE BEST OF THE SITUATION
It's been a long time since Eric Clapton lost the God's halo but it doesn't chip away from the guitarist's genius that's the focus on a 2CD career retrospective, "Complete Clapton". Nothing interesting thereon for the people who know Eric's output from THE YARDBIRDS through BLUESBREAKERS, CREAM and BLIND FAITH to the solo spot, which can't be said of "The Autobiography", out on the same day, October 9th, as no matter what's been written about him, Slowhand somehow remains an enigma. So there's a chance to hear the truth straight from the, well, horse's mouth.
SPREADING WINGS ACROSS THE SKY
Active again since 1994, it's only now that EAGLES have a new studio album, their first in 28 years, ready for release. "Long Road Out Of Eden" is long indeed, spreading over two CDs. It can get down on many's nerves, which may be the reason for Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmidt to call the service of not only their old collaborator J.D. Souther who brought in "How Long" that the band performed live back in the '70s and never recorded, but also Paul Carrack who submitted "I Don't Want To Hear Anymore" for the record. Previewed in 2006, on a bonus CD attached to a special edition of the "Farewell Tour" DVD exclusive to Wal-Mart, the album will be released on October 30th for only Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores again. The rest of the world will have to wait - or head for the EAGLES' site.
Disc One:
1. No More Walks In the Wood |
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Disc Two:
1. Long Road Out Of Eden |
THE SMOKER'S BOX
Ian Gillan seems to be celebrating his 40 years in rock kind of jubilee in fine style, with an album featuring new versions of his fave songs, a biography DVD and a re-issue programme. This programme is expanded with a box set of all singles by GILLAN the band. The set of CD-sized replicas of the original sleeves includes a bonus DVD of promo videos, never available commercially but present in most of the fans' collections, though in quite a bad quality. There's also a booklet with a Purple man's own annotations. And that's what's inside in the box:
1. Vengeance / Smoke On The Water (live at Kingsway Recorders)
2. Sleeping On The Job / Higher And Higher
3. No Easy Way (single edit) / Handles On Her Hips / I Might As Well Go Home (Mystic)
4. Trouble / Your Sister’s On My List / Mr Universe (live) / Vengeance (live) / Smoke On The Water (live)
5. Mutually Assured Destruction / The Maelstrom
6. New Orleans / Take A Hold Of Yourself
7. No Laughing In Heaven (single edit) / One For The Road / Lucille / Bad News
8. Nightmare / Bite The Bullet (live)
9. Restless / On The Rocks (live)
10. Living For The City / Breaking Chains / Purple Sky
11. Long Gone / Fiji
The Videos:
1. Sleeping On The Job
2. No Laughing In Heaven
3. Lucille
4. Nightmare
5. Restless
6. Living For The City
7. Long Gone
September 2, 2007
HIS IS NO DISGRACE?
Recently, there was a bit of a hype about "Rick Wakeman Video Vault" DVD collection, but now the news turn sour. That's what DME - and all who'd ordered the set for the princely sum of 99 bloody pounds - received the following latter from Voiceprint:
"As you have no doubt noticed - the Wakeman Video Vault has arrived in a less than perfect condition; the box being of poor quality and the labelling done incorrectly. This is due to circumstances beyond our control, but we have come up with a solution to rectify it. Take the mis-labelled DVDs out of their cases, wrap them up and ship to us. When the new - correctly labelled - discs arrive here, we will ship them out to you, along with the originally planned and improved box. We estimate a turnaround of approx 28 days. We apologise for this mess – it is due to errors at Sony and therefore beyond our control. We value our customers and can only thank you in advance for your patience in dealing with this matter."
What impudence! That's beyond any understanding. Why a customer who's paid should spend more money on getting the good back to the label? Why an independent label blames a major for such a fault? Why this happens again? Back in 2002, the booklet to Wakeman's "Treasure Chest" CD box was said to have been destroyed in a fire and promised to be sent out, signed by Rick, at a later date. That never happened, and now Voiceprint are back at it. Doesn't Rick Wakeman do himself a big disgrace placing his gems with the label?..
COLOSSAL RISING
Martyn Hanson has finished writing his eagerly awaited book on COLOSSEUM, "Time Machine" that follows on the heels of his GROUNDHOGS' tome and now reached the proofreading stage. That's what the acclaimed author sent in:
"I am off to British Library Sound Archive to hear demos for the "Daughter Of Time" that Dick [Heckstall-Smith]'s son, Arthur, donated. It also includes the COLOSSEUM version of "Pirate's Dream" that was recorded for Dick's solo album a few months after the band demised. In fact, they recorded a few tracks at Advision for the 4th studio album that never was."
As Martyn had an access to almost all the band members and associates, this undoubtedly will be a great read.
TO TELL THE THINGS NO ONE ELSE HEARS
The good rarely turns for the better, more often it goes worse, but not this time. There was a Sandy Denny "Live At The BBC" 2CD set planne, and now it had been expanded to a ful box containing 3CDs and a DVD, out in the end of August. Not so much by the way of the visuals here, yet when it comes to the audio, these recordings should complete the collection of four recent Sandy remasters and two box sets: old one, "Who Knows Where the Time Goes". and the relatively new, "A Boxful of Treasures". Now all that's still to be released is the "Fotheringay 2" album.
As for the BBC tapes, this is what's on them:
Disc 1: In Session
Folk Song Cellar, 02.12.66
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Disc 2: In Concert
Paris Theatre, London 16.3.72
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Disc 3: DVD
One In Ten: Sandy Denny 15.09.71 |
Disc 4: Off Air
BBC World Service 06.67 |
WHEN THE SLEEPING AWAKES
A major disappoinment descended on the URIAH HEEP fans. The band's new album, "Wake The Sleeper", their first in nine years, is delayed. Instead of this month, it'll be out - hopefully - in January. Here's what the veterans' manager, Simon Porter, writes:
"As a result of the purchase of Sanctuary Records by Universal Records, we have reluctantly taken the decision to postpone the release of the forthcoming album. It would be commercial suicide to release such an important album for the band during a transitional takeover period between record labels. Quite simply, it would be a case of the album being released just for the sake of it without any cohesive promotion or marketing campaign in order to give the album the best shot that it richly deserves. Releasing later in the year would additionally mean that we would be fighting for racking space on the shelves with all the major Christmas releases."
So maybe it's best to wait a little bit longer in order to give the CD a mighty push. Anyway, the album's tracklisting is revealed already:
1. Wake The Sleeper
2. Overload
3. Tears Of The World
4. Light Of A Thousand Stars
5. Heaven’s Rain
6. Book Of Lies
7. What Kind Of God
8. Ghost Of The Ocean
9. Angels Walk With You
10. Shadow
11. War Child
A WAY TO GET BACK HOMEWARD
There surely will be another Paul McCartney live DVD one day sooner or later, as Macca releases one after each tour now, but meanwhile, for a change, Paul has a download only live EP out now, titled "The iTunes Festival" which was recorded in London in July. Nothing special, as you can see:
1. Coming Up
2. Only Mama Knows
3. That Was Me
4. Jet
5. Nod Your Head
6. House Of Wax
But the 3DVD set "The McCartney Years", due out on November 13th, is something special indeed as it's a collection of all the veteran's promotional videos and more, with exclusive commentary from the man himself. The clips on the first two discs can be watched both in chronological order and as playlists personally arranged by Paul, while the third platter is dedicated to the live footage from the WINGS 1978' "Rockshow" film, still to be released on the DVD in its entirety, 1991's "Unplugged" MTV perrformance and 2004's Glastonbury Festival's concert. As of extras, there will be behind-the-scene features, "Let It Be" from Live Aid, archive interviews, alternative versions of some videos and full-length 2005 documentary "Creating Chaos at Abbey Road.. A treasure trove and a dream come true.
Disc 1:
1. Tug Of War |
Disc 2:
1. Pipes Of Peace |
Disc 3:
Rock Show |
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