Bob, seemingly, finds himself in some sort of Kafkaesque cold-war nightmare, being chased through the streets of a cold Moscow with a case full of roosky nuclear secrets ... or yankee candy bars.
Friday, 9 September 2016
Moments In Time - Cold War Blues
Bob, seemingly, finds himself in some sort of Kafkaesque cold-war nightmare, being chased through the streets of a cold Moscow with a case full of roosky nuclear secrets ... or yankee candy bars.
Monday, 5 September 2016
Moments In Time - Nights of the Round Table
Bob & Sara Dylan Chill With Mason Hoffenberg & John Sebastian
Sunday, 4 September 2016
The Song - Primal Scream's “Velocity Girl”
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splendour in silver dress; velocity possessed ...
Here's a nascent Scream with the beautiful bijou lead track on the seminal C86 tape - a compilation of jangly guitar-based indie (featuring important bands like the Scream, Pastels, The Wedding Present, The Soup Dragons, The Mighty Lemon Drops, Half Man Half Biscuit, The Servants etc.) released by NME Magazine; one that became so influential that its title became synonymous with an entire musical genre.
Velocity Girl", was originally the b-side to the 1986 single "Crystal Crescent". It later appeared on the wonderful 2004 collection of rarities and B-sides, "Shoot Speed – More Dirty Hits."
Being included on the now legendary C86 compilation - which led to their being associated with the scene of the same name - didn't exactly please Bobby Gillespie, who hated many/most of the bands in that milieu; a scene as described by Gillespie in an Uncut magazine interview as containing bands who "can't play their instruments and ... can't write songs"!
Being included on the now legendary C86 compilation - which led to their being associated with the scene of the same name - didn't exactly please Bobby Gillespie, who hated many/most of the bands in that milieu; a scene as described by Gillespie in an Uncut magazine interview as containing bands who "can't play their instruments and ... can't write songs"!
Influenced by ill-fated socialite / actress Edie Sedgwick - who got truly mangled by the machine and Warhol's fucked-up Factory freakshow - it's a gorgeous and restrained (especially by later Scream standards) dark meditation on drug addiction.
With a delicious jangly melody, its' a short-sharp-shock song about "velocity" - which, as well as obviously referring to speed, also - more broadly - seems to refer to that all so temporary state of being high; feeling elated and forgetting the pain for those very few moments when "the world was her's again" ... but, of course, all too soon, "it fell apart again."
Opening with a nod to the Velvets' "Femme Fatale" (a sublime song, again about Sedgwick) with the seminal lines "here she comes again", the song reflects upon Edie's lifestyle (addicted to speed, and heavier stuff, and, at all other times, seemingly hanging on to a drink and a cigarette) ... a girl "with vodka in her veins ... playing with a spike."
Though such "splendour in silver dress", she was soon deserted by her so-called friends (including, allegedly, Bob Dylan, with whom she was romantically involved in the period just before his marriage to Sara) and doomed to early death ... "my so-called friends have left me and I don't care at all."
Though such "splendour in silver dress", she was soon deserted by her so-called friends (including, allegedly, Bob Dylan, with whom she was romantically involved in the period just before his marriage to Sara) and doomed to early death ... "my so-called friends have left me and I don't care at all."
Art of the Cover - Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" (1963)
Sailor Bob adorns the nice, simple, effective artwork to the single "The Times They Are A-Changin'".
On this date (October 23) in 1963, 'Protest Bob' recorded the seminal "The Times They Are A-Changin" at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City.
A momentous song that truly influenced a generation.
A momentous song that truly influenced a generation.
Dylan recalled writing the song as a deliberate attempt to create an anthem of change for the moment when speaking to muso/director Cameron Crowe for Rolling Stone in 1985:
"This was definitely a song with a purpose. It was influenced of course by the Irish and Scottish ballads ... 'Come All Ye Bold Highway Men', 'Come All Ye Tender Hearted Maidens'. I wanted to write a big song, with short concise verses that piled up on each other in a hypnotic way. The civil rights movement and the folk music movement were pretty close for a while and allied together at that time."
The song has since been covered by countless renowned artists, including the Byrds, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beach Boys, Joan Baez and Bruce Springsteen.
Phil Collins did a cover version too!
Phil Collins did a cover version too!
"The Times They Are A-Changin" was ranked #59 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Saturday, 3 September 2016
The Video - Shack's "Since I Met You"
A wonderful simple fan vid for the gorgeous "Since I Met You" by Mike Head and his Shack pals.
Yap, all you need for a great vid are clips of the delectable Kathy Simmonds and a gun-toting /gun-stroking Judy Huxtable!
The gorgeous Beatlesque "Since I Met You"appeared on 1999's classic H.M.S. Fable LP.
The gorgeous Beatlesque "Since I Met You"appeared on 1999's classic H.M.S. Fable LP.
Friday, 2 September 2016
Art of the cover - Wonky Tonk's "Stuff We Leave Behind" (2015)
Looks like blondie's crash diet really worked.
Nice work, babe.
Art of the Cover - Neil Young's "A Letter Home" (2014)
Love the artwork on this beautiful collection, released a few moons back on Third Man Records.
Yap, Young does his best Dr. Who impersonation in this minimalist, delightfully decorated, stylised shot of himself recording in Jack White’s 1940s-style vinyl recording booth.
And there's definitely no need to have the words Neil Young anywhere!
And there's definitely no need to have the words Neil Young anywhere!
Yap, Neil relocated to a phone booth to record an album of sparse lo-fi cover versions of songs he loves.
The eclectic A Letter Home features covers of songs from the likes of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, and many others.
The album features White on a number of the songs.
Young recorded all of the album in the vinyl recording “Voice-o-Graph” booth at Third Man - a 1940s-style straight-to-vinyl recording setup that seems guaranteed to leave plenty of warm crackles on the actual record.
Talking to Kamps recently, Young called the album “retro-tech” and then clarified:
“Retro-tech means recorded in a 1940s recording booth. A phone booth. It’s all acoustic with a harmonica inside a closed space, with one mic to vinyl.”Neil also said that the record sounds “like Jimmy Rogers or something.”
Interestingly, later in the interview, he mentioned that he regrets the digital mastering he used for some of his older records, most notably the classic Harvest Moon and Freedom LPs.
Tracklisting
01 “Changes” (Phil Ochs)
02 “Girl From The North Country” (Bob Dylan)
03 “Needle of Death” (Bert Jansch)
04 “Early Morning Rain” (Gordon Lightfoot)
05 “Reason To Believe” (Tim Hardin)
06 “On The Road Again” (Willie Nelson)
07 “If You Could Only Read My Mind” (Gordon Lightfoot)
08 “Since I Met You Baby” (Ivory Joe Hunter)
09 “My Hometown” (Bruce Springsteen)
10 “I Wonder If I Care As Much” (Everly Brothers)
Thursday, 1 September 2016
Art of the Cover - Eddie Kendricks' "People ,., Hold On" (1972)
For his second outing People…Hold On, back in 1972, former Temptations leader Eddie Kendricks expanded his horizons, dabbling with communally conscious soul and making initial forays into dance music that would predate disco.
He also spent a lot of time sitting gloomily with a big-ass spear on a creepy, piece of occult art masquerading as a giant chair, while flashing a few masonic signals.
Art of the Cover - Eddie Kendricks' "People ,., Hold On" (1972)
For his second outing People…Hold On, back in 1972, former Temptations leader Eddie Kendricks expanded his horizons, dabbling with communally conscious soul and making initial forays into dance music that would predate disco.
He also spent a lot of time sitting gloomily with a big-ass spear on a creepy, piece of occult art masquerading as a giant chair, while flashing a few masonic signals.
Art of the Cover - Barb Wire Dolls' "Desperate" (2016)
Desperate music, indeed.
If you thought Greece was totally fucked before, listen to this thing!
The Word - Ridiculousness
"When you've got a bosom like mine, there's a very narrow margin between being sexy and ridiculous."
-- Madeline Smith
The Music - The Mighty Diamonds' "Danger In Your Eyes"
or maybe you're just lonely ...
A mighty moment from The Mighty Diamonds - a neglected nugget from the mighty Trojan Records catalogue.
Yap, it's the supendous version of "Danger In Your Eyes", released by the boys back in 1978 via Gussie Roots Sounds.
Dig that fucking horn!
Saturday, 13 August 2016
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