NOT SUCH AN EASY GAME TO PLAY
February 24th saw the George Harrison tribute concert taking place in the late Beatle native Liverpool with Steve Harley, Ralph McTell, Pete Wylie and The Fabs’ fellow Liverpudlian act, GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS, performing among others. Out of the blue, there came Paul McCartney up on-stage to deliver an a cappella version of “Yesterday”, saying, “I thought I should just come on and say how much George would have loved this.” Profits from the show benefit the cancer-battling charity fund.
ABBEY ROAD FOR SALE
“Abbey Road” and “For Sale” are the titles of two BEATLES albums and that seemed the only reason for these four words to go together – until recently. Blaming Mariah Carey’s last album for the last year’s financial loss, EMI, the owner of the famous studio, put it to the auction for sale. There’s a possibility that the label’s shares in HMV Media may also go on sale.
A COMET SOLUTION
Since release of their first album, "Judgement Day", BAILEYS COMET had lost their singer and after some pretenders for the spot found the right one, Tony Martin, who used to be in BLACK SABBATH. Martin will be fronting the band during the April-May tour – not only warbling but playing fiddle for the first time as well. The live set is to comprise his songs alongside those by Bailey brothers, and with a song co-written with Tony, there may be more than that for the future.
THE LOUD “HUSH”
For the first time ever, the DEEP PURPLE Mk I live recording is to be released in the “Bootleg Series” started with "Space Vol. 1 & 2". This fantastic item titled “Live At The Forum” harks back to 1968’s LA when PURPLE were a warm-up act for the CREAM’s farewell tour. The sound is taken from an original video reel and said to be very good. As for the songs, the set looked like this:
| 1. Hush 2. Kentucky Woman 3. Mandrake Root 4. Help 5. Wring That Neck 6. River Deep, Mountain High 7. Hey Joe |
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LOVE’S ONE IS FREE
Having served six years of an 11-year jail sentence, LOVE leader, Arthur Lee, was freed last December and currently is going to record a new album and go on tour this summer. After that, Lee plans to start working on his autobiography, “Love Volume One”.
TWO NIGHTS IN THE LIFE OF A WILD ONE
The unique recording of Phil Lynott, titled “Live In Sweden 1983” is out on Zoom Club Records. The Sweden’s route was called Three Musketeers Tour and featured THIN LIZZY’s John Sykes and Brian Downey and MAGNUM’s Mark Stanway. The set represented a mix of both LIZZY’s and Lynott’s solo songs (“Look At These Eyes” aka “No More” being previously unreleased) – and there’s a limited (1000 copies) edition of the album including a bonus CD in a collectors digipack that contains sleeve notes from Mark Stanway and previously unseen photos.
First Night:1. Yellow Pearl |
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Second Night:1. Yellow Pearl |
THE PIANO MAN BOXED
With too many albums released from legendary piano player Rick Wakeman, fans always asked for more stuff from the artist’s past, and, eventually, there’s a wild dream coming true. “Wild” – because the 8-CD box set is the one to cherish but the one too pricey, as the rarities collection “Treasure Chest”, pencilled in for the early summer release, is a limited to 1000 copies edition. It comes in a wooden package shaped according to its title and has been assembled in collaboration with Wakey himself. Hopefully, later on the set will be available as separate CDs but it’s a worthy thing anyway.
CD 1: The Real Lisztomania contains the original Wakeman’s version with Paul Nicholas, Roger Daltrey and Linda Lewis that was rejected by the record company:
The Scene, The Metronome, The Country Sword Dance, Free Song, The Freudian Dream, Dante Period, Orpheus Song, For The Chop, Hell, Wagner’s Dream, The Dream Of Hell, The Inferno Ride, Master Race, The Ride Of Thor, Excelsior Song, The Guardian Virgins, Rape, Pillage And Clap, Love’s Dream, The Suffering, Peace At Last, Love’s Dream.
CD 2: The Oscar Concert comprises the gist of a piano concert recorded on March 21st, 2000 at the Festival Hall in Corby and dedicated to the dog named Oscar in the first row:
Pachobel Canon in D, Put Down, Birdman Of Alcatraz, Guide Dog, Seasons Of Change, Showbiz Dog, Merlin The Magician, Children Of Chernobyl, The Rotweiler, Guinevere/ Lancelot And The Black Knight, Help/ Eleanor Rigby, Classical Doggy In The Window.
CD 3: The Missing Half features the previously unreleased part of the January 18th, 1974 concert at which “Journey To The Centre Of The Earth” album was recorded, plus extras:
Catherine Parr, A Road To Ruin, Catherine Howard, Anne Boleyn, Twelfth Street Rag, The Pearl And Dean Piano Concerto, The David Hemmings Voice Collection (Camp, West Indian, Irish, South London, Welsh), King Arthur, Guinevere.
CD 4: Almost Classical is a collection of a piano sketches beginning from 1975: Sophie For Joy, Merlin The Magician (home demo), The Nursery Rhyme Concerto, The Swiss Suite (La Baumaz, Les Monts De Corsier, Lac Le Mans,Canton Doe Vaud), The Barber Of Wigan.
CD 5: The Mixture represents various live performances including one of the only two concerts at which Rick was accompanied by his old singer, Ashley Holt:
No Earthly Connection, Make Me A Woman, Fool On The Hill/ Eleanor Rigby, Burlington Arcade, Space Oddity/ Life On Mars, The Jig, The Breathalyser, Clair De Lune.
CD 6: Medium Rare contains rarities of various value and quality:
Jane Seymour (original recording), Beyond, The Microcosm Suite (The Sun, Callhinor, Egoniaga, Quiggin, Bodor, Healey-Kae, Quida, Kalum Koll), Flyin’, Robot Man, After Prayers, Your Move, The Realisation, The Suicide Shuffle.
CD 7: Journey To The Centre Of The Earth + – the title says for itself, as it’s the show recorded for television in 1975 in Canada during the North American tour and unique in the way that it featured a choir accompanying Wakeman’s ENGLISH ROCK ENSEMBLE:
Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, Catherine Parr, Catherine Howard, Anne Boleyn, The American Advert Concerto.
CD 8: StoriesRick Wakeman is very famous for his storytelling skills and often intersperses his concert numbers with funny anecdotes, the collection of which is this:
Knickers, St. Giles, The Chop, Countdown One, Countdown Two, Postman Pat, Hotels, Jethro Tull, Grass Skirts, Wrong Number, Siamese Twins, Albert, After The Balls Up.
