Known universally as the Day the Music Died, February 3rd, 1959 saw Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper enter immortality. Not fading away as they might if not for the fatal plane crash, the rock ‘n’ roll upstarts became an influence not only on the future generation of artists but also on their peers. And now some of these – led by Pat Boone and including such luminaries as Frankie Avalon and Chris Montez – covered 31 one of the fallen heroes classics.
It takes a lot of talent – and panache – to turn a group’s description into their name, but then THE BLUES BAND had it all from the off. When erstwhile Manfred Mann‘s sidekicks – or, rather, front men – Paul Jones and Tom McGuinness decided to join forces again in 1979 and called on Dave Kelly, Gary Fletcher and Hughie Flint to round off the collective, they immediately became a great attraction, especially on-stage. Which was why the ensemble’s debut, “Official Blues Band Bootleg Album” from 1980, featured a mix of studio and live cuts – and which is why a forthcoming box set titled “Boom Boom”, not after a John Lee Hooker staple yet rather after a Little Walter one, focuses on the veterans’ concerts as well.
Sixty years is a great span for one’s career, especially when said career is as steady as Richard Thompson has been, and though his records can hardly surprise any listener now, they remain solid works which never fail to impress. Sometimes the veteran seems to stop and think about next steps, and Richard’s last album, "Ship To Shore" was about seven years in the making, its successor will appear a little more than two years after that, on October 16th – and “Hippies, Thugs And Heroes” may harbor quite a few unexpected things.
In the past four years since the “Revolver” box set was out, THE BEATLES provided fans with largely uncalled for products, such as “Anthology” or “Red” and “Blue” comps, but it wasn’t a secret that the next in the deluxe line would be “Rubber Soul” – which by now has missed its 60th anniversary mark – rather than “Please Please Me” whose release would reverse the reissues order. And finally, a variety of formats is announced for the 1965 classic – yet what will be released on October second looks deeply flawed.
After a week of subtle teasing, Tony Iommi has finally revealed details of the solo album he’s been working on for some time, leaving hints here and there. “From The Dark” – which features Jorn Lande at the microphone – will be released on October 23rd in a variety of formats, including mediabook with two bonus tracks. Weirdly, the album cover, especially in the latter variant, basically reproduces that of Ozzy Osbourne‘s “The Ozzman Cometh” comp – and it’s hard to understand why nobody pointed that out to the guitarist.
