GOING IN AND OUT OF STYLE
June 1st brings a small yet worldwide celebration, as the date marks 40 years of THE BEATLES’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” release date. There’ll be a string of events recreating the quasi-conceptual album in its grandiose entirety.
One, arranged by the BBC, is to be hold at the Abbey Road studios where – on the Fabs’ original recording equipment and under the watchful eye of the Liverpudlians’ engineer Geoff Emerick – the contemporary British stars will reproduce the record. The chosen ones are TRAVIS, THE FRATELLIS, THE KILLERS, James Morrison, THE KAISER CHIEFS and, of course, OASIS; their take on the classic is to be aired on June 2nd.
The American response will come much later, on August 10th and 11th, at the Hollywood Bowl, with CHEAP TRICK as the house band and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra backing several singers, the names still to be announced.
OFF THE LITTLES SPACE THAT’S LEFT
“Memory Almost Full” is a title of Paul McCartney‘s new record, to be released on June 4th. The veteran started working on it in 2003, before the pale “Chaos And Creation In The Backyard”, with the "Driving Rain" producer David Kahne, and recently went back to the project adding new things on the way. Or old things – with“Abbey Road”-like 5-song suite on there. But the opener, “Dance Tonight”, required a bit more talent than Macca’s own, as the video for the tracks features Natalie Portman and Mackenzie Crook and is directed by Michel Gondry famous for “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind”. Hopefully, there really is more good music.
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1. Dance Tonight 2. Ever Present Past 3. See Your Sunshine 4. Only Mama Knows 5. You Tell Me 6. Mr. Bellamy 7. Gratitude 8. Vintage Clothes 9. That Was Me 10. Feet In The Clouds 11. House of Wax 12. The End Of The End 13. Nod Your Head |
THE THINGS THAT IN THE END BECAME A SONG
This year sees PROCOL HARUM going into their fifth decade, so there’s a celebration’s preparations afoot. Called “Procol Rarum” and staged on July 20 and 21st, it will bring something special to the fans’ attention. Gary Brooker and friends – which means, not only the band – are to perform songs that HARUM played live but never recorded, songs that they recorded yet never did on-stage, the Gary Brooker and Keith Reid’s songs written before the band came to be and the writers’ soundtrack material, alternative and voice-and-piano versions of familiar songs. The names of the friends are to be announced yet but Mr Reid is among them.
ECCE HOMI
This month sees SCORPIONS putting out a new album, co-written with American gloss-metal master, Desmond Child. Called “Humanity – Hour 1”, its tracklisting reveals rather familiar, though eternal themes. Well, the band haven’t surprised the fans for a long time while delivering the goods that really rock it like a hurricane.
| 1. Hour I 2. The Game Of Life 3. We Were Born To Fly 4. The Future Never Dies 5. You’re Lovin’ Me To Death 6. 321 7. Love Will Keep Us Alive 8. Your Last Song 9. Love Is War 10. Rise Again 11. The Cross 12. Humanity |
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HIS TURN TO REMEMBER
Autobiographical songs aren’t a rare thing but what about the albums – if you’re not Pete Townshend? Ken Hensley went further than that: having published an autobiography, “When Too Many Dreams Come True”, now the veteran has an album of the same subtitle, called “Blood On The Highway”, to be out on May 25th. It’s Ken’s whole life, with good and bad turns, told in songs, mostly new but partly a bit old, though cut anew. A versatile player himself, this time Hensley asked some good friends to help him out because he needed some different characters to be in the rock opera. So appearing on the records – and playing with Ken at the showcase performance of the entire CD in Hamburg on May 22nd are Hensley’s former partner in URIAH HEEP, John Lawton (*), Glenn Hughes (**), Jorn Lande (***) and Eve Gallagher (****). The Alicante Symphony Orchestra, also on the record, won’t be there to be documented on the DVD…
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1. (This Is) Just The Beginning ** 2. We’re On Our Way *** 3. Blood On The Highway *** 4. You’ve Got It (The American Dream) *** 5. Doom (Scene 1) 6. It Won’t Last * 7. Think Twice **** 8. Doom (Scene 2) 9. There Comes A Time 10. Okay (This House Is Down) *** 11. What You Gonna Do ** 12. We’re On Our Way… Postscript 13. I Did It All 14. The Last Dance (El Gitano Viejo) ** |
ALL RIGHT NOW
If not for Dave Mason, George Harrison wouldn’t have mastered his trademark slide guitar, so the teacher deserves mass recognition, though not only for that and not only for his role in the TRAFFIC history. Mason’s solo output is not massive but great through and through. A testament to this is a live album “XM Radio” taped for this station. There’s his old band’s tunes, there’s his own classics, there’s a Hendrix smash, but the aficionados should opt for the special edition which has three bonus tracks, among those a new song “Deaf, Dumb and Blind” and a rare studio duet with the great late compadre Jim Capaldi on “40,000 Headmen”.
| 1. Intro 2. World In Changes 3. 40,000 Headman 4. Only You Know And I Know 5. We Just Disagree 6. Interview 7. Look At You, Look At Me 8. Dear Mr. Fantasy 9. All Along The Watchtower 10. Feelin’ Alright 11. Closing |
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THERE WAS A BOY
Dave Cousins‘s not Rod Stewart but he doesn’t refuse himself a pleasure to record an album outside of his band, THE STRAWBS, once in a decade. Now, a time has come for another one, “The Boy In The Sailor Suit”, to be released soon. There are ten songs, produced by THIN LIZZY knob-fiddler Chris Tsangarides, featuring another veteran, Miller Anderson, on guitar – but there’s no Dave’s old partner Rick Wakeman who played recently with his first professional group, that same STRAWBS, again.
| • Never Take Sweets From A Stranger • Mellow Moon • Bringing In The Harvest • Mother Luck • The Smile You Left Behind • Calling Out Your Name • Skip To My Lou • Lonely Days, Lonely Nights • Hell Fire Blues • Wish You Were Here |
HEAVY RAIN A-GONNA FALL
Having become a household commodity, Ozzy Osbourne seems to have run dry of the interesting musical ideas – though his lyrics are always good – and there’s been nothing to cling on his records since early ’90s. Yet there’s no stopping for his crazy train, and on May 21st, the heavy metal unholy Godfather has a new album out, “Black Rain”. Will he make it this time, eh?
| 1. Not Going Away 2. I Don’t Wanna Stop 3. Black Rain 4. Lay Your World on Me 5. The Almighty Dollar 6. 11 Silver 7. Civilize the Universe 8. Here For You 9. Countdown’s Begun 10. Trap Door |
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ELECTRIC STORM
There are many ways to be banal, and one of these is to come up with an album of cover versions. That’s a fad of here and now, and the next to follow the suit with too obvious choise of material are TESLA who are releasing “Reel To Reel”, on June 5th. This will be a single CD, but those who’ll show up at the band’s summer concerts will get a hold of the second disc, with 12 additional cuts. So here’s a foul play: the poor fans who live in those corners of the world where TESLA won’t tour will be bereft even of the doubtful delight to buy the set in full. What a shame!
Retail CD:1. Space Truckin’ (DEEP PURPLE) |
Concert CD:1. All The Young Dudes (MOTT THE HOOPLE) |
PEACEFUL FAMILY MAN
His voice is a taster’s choice, yet Roger Chapman has a solid fan base, and each of his records boasts a team of top-notch players. A new one, “One More Time For Peace”, is no exception, with Micky Moody and Jim Cregan on guitars, Henry Spinetti от drums and two former members of THE JEFF BECK GROUP, Max Middleton on piano and Bobby Tench on backing vocals. So it’s much interesting than SEX PISTOLS-like cover hints at.
| 1. One More Time For Peace 2. Heading Back To Storyville 3. All Too Soon 4. Oh Brother, Take Me! 5. Hell Of A Lullaby 6. All Night Paradise 7. Naked Hearts 8. Sweet Bird 9. Devil Got A Son 10. The Same Old Loving You 11. Jerusalem |
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WHEN THE ‘SUPER’ IS NOT A SUPERLATIVE
BRITISH LIONS were a kind of supergroup comprised of three MOTT THE HOOPLE mainstays, bassist Pete “Overend” Watts, pianist Morgan Fisher and drummer Dale Griffin, plus MEDICINE HEAD guitar playing singer John Fiddler and MOTT’s guitarist Ray Majors. In 1977 they were to conquer the world, as even punks might have been pleased with the band’s take on rock. Still, they didn’t hit the big time, but that doesn’t diminish the music’s quality. Now, there’s a great chance to re-value the quintet, with Angel Air taking a DVD called “One More Chance To Run – Live Germany 1978” in the shops. An interesting document topped with the musicians’ interviews and the ensemble history written by Griffin the drummer.
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1. One More Chance To Run 2. Fork Talking’ Man 3. Come On 4. International Heroes 5. My Life In Your Hands 6. Wild In The Streets 7. Booster 8. Wild One 9. Eat The Rich bonus tracks – John Fiddler unplugged: 10. One More Chance To Run 11. Big Drift Away 12. Only The Roses 13. Return Of The Buffalo 14. Strong Heart |
Another supergroup’s release on the label is by NOBODY’S BUSINESS. A band from the same time, on board it had Bobby Harrison who’d been singing and drumming with PROCOL HARUM, FREEDOM and SNAFU before that, bassist Tony Stevens from SAVOY BROWN and FOGHAT and then went to form MIDNIGHT FLYER with Maggie Bell, OLYMPIC RUNNERS and STEELER’S WHEEL’s guitarist Joe Jammer and drummer Jerry Frank. They had only one album released, in 1978, but made no less than six promo videos. Now the entire album’s output, with bonus tracks, is in the pipeline as an ultimate CD/DVD package, out in June.
CD:1. Bleed Me Dry |
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DVD:1. Bleed Me Dry |
STILL GOT IT
Blues the love of his life, Gary Moore is never far from the style, and on “Close As You Get”, already on the shelves in some territories, the guitarist’s at it again. This time Moore intersperses his own numbers with classics that are two Sonny Boy Williamson’s songs, “Eyesight To The Blind” and “Checkin’ Up On My Baby”, John Mayall’s “Have You Heard”, “Sundown” by Son House, and Chuck Berry’s “Thirty Days”. A nice addition to the master’s catalogue.
| 1. If The Devil Made Whiskey 2. Trouble At Home 3. Thirty Days 4. Hard Times 5. Have You Heard 6. Eyesight To The Blind 7. Evenin’ 8. Nowhere Fast 9. Checkin’ Up On My Baby 10. I Had A Dream 11. Sundown |
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