THAT’S A SLAM
Sad to say, but all the Phil Lynott and GRAND SLAM releases, both issued and upcoming, seem to have been deleted from the Zoom Club plans. What’s already out is Philo’s "Live In Sweden" and SLAM’s "The Studio Sessions", while the band’s live package "Live 1984" was written in for March. DME’s inquery met no comments from the label, yet the reason might be the Lynott’s family interception, as all the recordings from the keyboard player Mark Stanway’s collections were unauthorised.
THE STONES BEHIND THE WALL
That might seem funny but THE ROLLING STONES will have to drop four of their hits from the set to be played in Beijing on April 4th. It seems the reason for the Chinese government order to cut off “Brown Sugar” and “Beast Of Burden” is that they deal with slavery and misogyny, subjects too extreme for the Communist-ruled country, while “Honky Tonk Women” and “Let’s Spend the Night Together” are too seductive for a country plagued by demographic problems.
IN THE LIGHT AGAIN
This year marks the 30th anniversary of ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA‘s second album, and that’s a reason good enough for a re-issue, so on March 21st “ELO 2”will see the light of day again – repackaged and much augmented with a unique material to fill two CDs this time, one being the classic record itself sprinkled with bonus tracks, the other a limited edition bonus album entitled “The Lost Planet”. All the stuff had been remastered by Peter Mew at Abbey Road Studios under the approval and direction of Jeff Lynne.
Among the previously unreleased cuts are three songs recorded at George Martin’s Air Studios in February 1973, with THE MOVE’s Carl Wayne on vocals, including a version of “Mama”, and an April 1973 ELO session featuring Marc Bolan on “Everyone’s Born To Die”, “Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle” and “Dreaming Of 4000”. With all those, plus never before published photos, extensive sleevenotes and interviews, as well as new commentary by the band members, this is an indispensable artefact.
THE FINEST BREW
That’s a long overdue project, yet finally CREAM‘s “BBC Sessions” will be out on March 25th as a double CD comprised of previously unreleased cuts the mighty trio notched for the Corporation in 1966-1968, interspersed with Eric Clapton’s contemporary interview snippets – incidentally, some songs recorded for BBC appeared before on Slowhand’s “Crossroads” box set, but not these:
FOR WHOM BELL TOLLS
Angel Air continues the label’s programme of putting out the great Maggie Bell‘s live recordings. It commensed in 2002 with "Live At The Rainbow 1974", and now there’s a document from the STONE THE CROWS warbler’s American tour, called ” Live Boston USA 1975″, that was recorded when Maggie opened for BAD COMPANY. What’s more important though is that Ms Bell is currently writing material for a new album, saying, “I’m getting too old for working in a band so it will be a solo album. I know enough talented musicians who aren’t doing anything who I can get involved”.
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1. Coming On Strong 2. Wishing Well 3. I Was In Chains 4. What You’ve Got Is So Good 5. If You Don’t Know, I Can Tell You 6. I Saw Him Standing There 7. Penicillin Blues 8. Goin’ Down |
THE BOOK OPENS AGAIN
While the fans are eagerly listening to John Wetton‘s freshly released "Rock Of Faith" album, Voiceprint goes down on the veteran’s tour proceedings again, with “Live In Stockholm”, the solo acoustic show recorded in 1998 and featuring, among John’s usual fare, Bob Dylan’s classic “All Along The Watchtower” which Wetton later introduced to the QANGO stage set, as documented on "Live In The Hood". The concert was simultaneously broadcast by Swedish National Radio, but half of the recording has been lost, and that’s what survived (the CD price is full, though):
1. Book Of Saturday 2. Battlelines 3. Arkangel 4. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes 5. Easy Money 6. All Along The Watchtower |
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