ALL THIS AND MORE
Looks like the new year is going to be interesting from many aspects, even though it started sad, with the deaths of Gerry Rafferty, who made Baker Street famous for more than just being a home to a certain detective, of producer Pat Moran, of Mick Karn, without whom JAPAN couldn’t be as exquisite, and of Y&T’s bassman Phil Kennemore. Combined with the passing of BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST’s Woolly Wolstenholme and Captain Beefheart in December, the count for the last month is huge even for such a risky genre as rock ‘n’ roll. We soldier on, still, and DME gets in the lyrics writing deeper and deeper, so if any of musicians mentioned on these pages is interested in hooking up, the email address is on the left. Now, on to the real news… Ah yes, and in a couple of days the huge reviews update’s forthcoming.
THERE’S THE RUB
Perhaps, less famous than a near-legendary KILLING FLOOR, Mick Clarke‘s other band, SALT, was an impressive project nevetheless, with great players in the line-up, which started in 1974 but, save for memorable festival appearances, didn’t leave that much of a legacy. But now they’re back in the original form – Stevie Smith on vocals, Clarke on guitarm Stuart McDonald on bass and Chris Sharley on drums – for a string of live dates starting tonight in London. More on ’em read here. But what about recording some shows to add to the rarities CD out there, please?
MOONWALKER AT THE BOTTOM END
For the other Clarke, Mark Clarke, whose CV is stunning – including such bands as COLOSSEUM, a subject of recent book, URIAH HEEP and RAINBOW – it took some decades to come up with an album of his own. But here it finally is, titled “Moving To The Moon” and joining the sole record of another supergroup the veteran played in, NATURAL GAS, in the It’s About Music catalogue. Not the kind of thing you’d expect from singing bassist yet good – in a couple of days read the review here.
| 1. One Of These Days 2. A Cowboy’s Song 3. Without You 4. Madeleine 5. You Save The Day 6. The Falling 7. Heaven And Hell 8. Movin’ To The Moon 9. Then Forever Comes 10. A Little Something |
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DYLAN LEAVES THE HEADS
Dylan Howe, a son and bandmate of Steve’s and a great jazz drummer in his own right, spent last 13 years in THE BLOCKHEADS‘ ranks, having joined the band when they still were fronted by Ian Dury. Now, though, the time came for Howe to move on to the pastures new, which he did thanking the colleagues and fans.
WAKING UP AND RUNNING FAR
Moving on is a concept not alien to Rick Wakeman. The maestro is still on his fender-bender with fellow ex-YES man Jon Anderson, and now the two plan to gather a group to both play live and record. They found the guitarist already: it’s another former band member Trevor Rabin who Rick performed before only in the “Union” era. Then there’s a couple of keyboard unions on Wakeman’s cards – with Keith Emerson and Jon Lord, not in the trio format but separately. Exciting, especially the latter combination. Last but not least, there will a reissue programme of the entire Rick Wakeman’s A&M catalogue in 2011 – in modern way, with bonus material and stuff – which contains the veteran’s best albums from the ’70s.
HAPPENINGS NOT YEARS AGO
Among the gems lined up for this year on Angel Air is “Happen Again”, a brand-new album by Andy Kim. Not a household name, the man’s the author of immortal “Sugar Sugar” and “Rock Me Gently” among other hits. These dried up, and Kim has stalled the moment for two decades to return now, and in good company as “I Forgot To Mention” here is co-penned with Ed Robertson, a singer with BARENAKED LADIES.
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1. 3 Days In Heaven 2. Judy Garland 3. This Is Me 4. The Oh, Oh, Song 5. Love Is 6. Happen Again 7. I Forgot To Mention 8. Love Has Never Been My Friend 9. Someday 10. Without You |
NO STONE UNTURNED
It’s been 20 years now that THE ROLLING STONES last played with Bill Wyman, but the bassist joins his former bandmates for one session, a cover of “Watching The River Flow”, a rare song that Dylan wrote during his early ’70s hiatus. The recording is for a tribute album to the late Ian Stewart, the group’s original pianist whose looks didn’t fit the hooligan image the ensemble presented but who played with and engineered for STONES for many years. It was him the titular man of LED ZEPPELIN’s “Boogie With Stu”, which gives the tribute album its name, “Boogie For Stu”. Behind the project is a British pianist Ben Waters, but who else is going to appear hasn’t been reported yet.
RIDIN’ IT HOT
Some may say guitarist David “Rock” Feinstein is exploiting the sad passing of his great cousin Ronnie James Dio, but that’s not the point. Yes, there’s the late singer’s vocals on “Metal Will Never Die” from Feinstein’s recent solo album “Bitten By The Beast”, and now another Ronnie-sung cut surfaces, “The Code”, which only proves Dio and Rock were indeed planning the ELF reunion at the time of the warbler’s death. Still, the latter track will appear on the record by THE RODS, another band of David’s who were rather big in the ’80s but dissipated to get back in 2008 in the original line-up of Feinstein, drummer Carl Canedy – who went on to produce the likes of MEGADETH and ANTHRAX – and bassist Garry Bordonaro. Now, they’re ready to present a new album, “Vengeance”, out March 29th. Here’s what’s inside.
| 1. Raise Some Hell 2. I Just Wanna Rock 3. Rebels Highway 4. Ride Free Or Die 5. The Code 6. Livin’ Outside The Law 7. Let It Rip 8. Fight Fire With Fire 9. Madman 10. Runnin Wild 11. Vengeance |
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