He may have steered SLADE for decades now, in later years single-handedly if a guitarist’s approach as a leader can be defined as such, so Dave Hill never felt the urge to strike solo. Yet how else could the veteran reach for his own memories and wrap them in music if not without the ensemble? That’s why the coming October will see him release an album titled “Dirty Foot Lane” which will contain ten loosely autobiographical tracks.
Some artists may care about overloading their market and their fans’ budgets, yet YES don’t seem to belong to this category, and on July 17th, a little more than a month after their new album "Aurora" will have seen the light of day, the veteran proggers are to issue “Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, 17 June 1976”: a recording which used to circulate as a bootleg and, apparently, was remastered for official release. It’s a brilliant document of the tour that found the band include into their repertoire not only their classics and piece from “Relayer” the quintet set to promote, but also cuts from Patrick Moraz‘s “Story Of I” and Jon Anderson‘s "Olias Of Sunhillow" – as well as a BEATLES tune.
It’s not a good practice when a massive box set reprises an earlier one but, instead of building upon it to make fans and collectors replace a previous variant with another release, detracts from it, while adding something new. That’s what’s happening with Leo Sayer‘s “Leothology” which is going to be out on August 14th. Said to be selected personally by the artist – as if gathering all the available studio records requires a lot of brain-storming – and containing 18 CDs, this offering doesn’t merely picks up where the dozen discs of 2013’s “Just A Box” left off and puts in four albums the veteran’s issued since then; the fresh package is augmented with a comp of rarities titled “Return To Paradise” and “Don’t Wait Until Tomorrow – Live” originating from 2008 Melbourne concert.
Whatever Simon Phillips may do, listening to this drummer’s work is always a pleasure, especially when he’s not merely laying down imaginative grooves but also composes and arranges arresting tunes. And this is exactly what the veteran’s been doing for the last eight years with his project, PROTOCOL. With an ever-changing line-up, each of the ensemble’s albums offers a change, and now that only bassist Ernest Tibbs remaining, alongside Simon, from the foursome who issued "Protocol 4" in 2017, and guitarist Alex Sill and keyboard player Otmaro Ruiz coming over from its 2022 sequel, “Protocol 6” – which is scheduled for release on June 5th promises to be even more different.
His name might be largely forgotten now, yet at least one song which Jimmy Campbell penned and voiced for THE 23RD TURNOFF, a Liverpool band he used to front – before that they were called THE PANTHERS, and supported THE BEATLES at The Cavern in 1962 under this moniker, and THE KIRKBYS – has remained a firm favorite with psychedelia aficionados. However, this single, “Michael Angelo” from 1967, was a thing of the past by 1970, when Jimmy issued his sophomore solo effort, “Half Baked”: a richly orchestrated album, put out by Vertigo and featuring BADFINGER’s own Joey Molland. It would become a hidden treasure for many – and now it’s being out again, remastered and expaxded with previously unreleased material.
