One of the greatest Scottish singers-songwriters of a folk stripe, Dick Gaughan stopped performing ten years ago, after suffering a stroke, but his status has been incessantly growing in scope since then, so an idea emerged of compiling the veteran’s concert recordings into a respectable box set – which is out now. A result of a successful crowdfunding campaign, “R/Evolution: 1969/83” spans seven CDs and a DVD, with all the profits benefitting the retired and visually impaired artist.
“A living memoir” is how Francis Dunnery‘s new album, titled “England’s Tales Of The Council House Kid” and getting issued on March 20th, was described when the singer started performing pieces of it a few months ago. Actually, the release date in this case means the day when the last track of the ten-track record will be made available on his Bandcamp page, because the veteran’s been posting fresh numbers for some time now.
It’s been subtle but Michael Schenker’s career came under scrutiny in recent years: there were reissues of UFO albums with him on – plus, the guitarist’s own album of the band’s classics – and a couple of box sets of his ensemble’s studio records. And now there’s a six-disc collection of the MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP‘s concert recordings is ready to be out on April 3rd. Titled “Live & Ready: 1980-1984” and including both previously released and yet-unheard cuts, it focuses on the two periods when Gary Barden was fronting the line-up.
Frank Zappa‘s lore has its fare share of almost apocryphal artifacts, and one of those is “Sinister Footwear”: in the composer’s own words, it’s “a ballet about a guy who designs the ugliest shoe in the world and then all the things that happen before you get to wear it” – only a full version of the piece, which premiered in Berkeley in June 1984 has never been released. A few artists, such as NAKEDEYE ENSEMBLE, have covered its parts over the years, yet now there’s a complete take on the nigh-mythical classic, recorded by Hans Annellsson and issued now for mass delectation.
1980 saw Ian Dury‘s relationship with THE BLOCKHEADS strained to the limit, the singer’s addictions and other personal issues fueling his writing and performances but affecting camaraderie within the collective. The collective didn’t seem the same too, as the vocalist’s creative partner Chaz Jankel had left the fold and got replaced with Wilko Johnson, and though this line-up managed to record “Laughter” and go on the road, “Lord Upminster” which Dury released the following year found him billed as a solo artist, it wouldn’t be until 1998’s “Mr. Love Pants” that Ian reunited with his old compadres. The more interesting is a concert document from the beginning of the end of their first joint jaunt.
