Cindy Cashdollar with John Sebastian and Happy Traum
[ Crash on The Levee and I Am A Pilgrim]
after the profile I found this . . . . . . .
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
KOYAANISQATSI : Godfrey Reggio / Philip Glass
Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance premiered in Santa Fe, NM on 28 April 1982.
In 1972, 30-year-old Godfrey Reggio began making a number of “advertising” spots sponsored by the ACLU for the Albuquerque, New Mexico viewing area, focusing on “invasions of privacy and the use of technology to control behavior.” The spots were so popular that people called the TV stations asking when they would be shown again. After the campaign ended Reggio tried to raise more money to begin another project, but failed. He was then convinced by his cinematographer Ron Fricke that they could use the remaining $40,000 to make a film.
After quickly exhausting their budget (resulting in about 20 minutes of edited film), Fricke moved to Los Angeles and worked as a waiter while trying to get jobs in Hollywood. Reggio continued to try and raise funds and the 2 began working together in 1976, traveling around the country and filming when and where they could.
In 1981, Reggio met Francis Ford Coppola who was so impressed with the footage that he saw, he offered to attach his name to the project in order to secure theatrical distribution. Reggio turned down offers from larger studios in order to have greater control of distribution and went with Island Alive (started by Chris Blackwell of Island Records), and Koyaanisqatsi was the company’s first release.
The film received significant critical praise and was a surprise financial success, due to support from college campus theatres and art house screenings.
Michael Nesmith’s Pacific Arts Video initially released Koyaanisqatsi on VHS and laserdisc.
Koyaanisqatsi also brought wider attention to Philip Glass, whose soundtrack for the film was released on Island Records in 1983.
My old friend and colleague, artist Micha Lewin introduced me to this extraordinary work and I watched the whole thing several times in that year and several times since (always a go to for a certain kind of mood) Miche had a sister who I think knew Godfrey and she had early or advance knowledge about it as memory serves but I am forever in her debt . . . . .
GUITARS : CINDY CASHDOLLAR | with "Foggy Mountain Rock” Fretboard Journal
Cindy Cashdollar.....
bonnie lass n all!
Cindy Cashdollar is an American non-pedal steel guitar and Dobro musician. She grew up in Woodstock, New York where she perfected her skills by playing with bluegrass musician John Herald, blues musician Paul Butterfield, and Levon Helm and Rick Danko of The Band. After residing in Austin, Texas for 23 years, she has now returned to her hometown of Woodstock, New York.
Cashdollar received five Grammy awards while playing for eight years with Asleep at the Wheel, and has also backed such noted performers as Bob Dylan, Leon Redbone, Redd Volkaert and Ryan Adams as a member of his band The Cardinals. In 2003, the Academy of Western Artists recognized Cashdollar as Instrumentalist of the Year Award in the Western Swing Music genre. She was inducted into The Austin Chronicle Hall of Fame in 2011-12.
She authored a series of instructional videos on her instruments and released her first solo album, Slide Show, in 2004. Cashdollar currently makes guest appearances on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, conducts workshops nationwide, and plays in a number of musical venues around Austin, Texas.
During the fall of 2004 she was a member of Ryan Adams's band The Cardinals playing the steel guitar live on stage. She also went into the studio with this band and played on the album Cold Roses, although she didn't tour the album with Ryan Adams & The Cardinals and was replaced in 2005 by Jon Graboff.
From 2005 to 2008, Cashdollar played with Elana James, Redd Volkaert, and, sometimes, Nate Rowe, as The High Flyers, appearing on A Prairie Home Companion twice, as well as playing Austin area venues.
In 2006, she toured with Van Morrison promoting his country and western album, Pay the Devil. She also appeared with him at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, on September 15, 2006 (subsequently released on Val Morrison's Live at Austin City Limits Festival limited edition recording), and on the television show Austin City Limits featuring Van Morrison, broadcast in November 2006. Cashdollar plays steel guitar on two of the tracks on Morrison's March 2008 studio album, Keep It Simple. She is also an eponymous member of Dave Alvin's 2009 project, Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women.
Cindy's favorite steel guitar is a double neck Remington 8 string nonpedal. The neck closest to her when she plays is tuned to C6 (A-C-E-G-A-C-E-G, low to high). The other neck is tuned to E13 (E-G#-D-F#-G#-B-C#-E, low to high). This is a custom guitar that Herb Remington made especially for her that is thinner than most console steel guitars, and is made from a lighter wood to keep the weight down. Remington also made special pickups for this guitar that are wound to Fender specifications. She also plays a variety of Fender instruments, and uses Fender amplifiers.
Cindy Cashdollar - "Foggy Mountain Rock" (solo) | Fretboard Journal
Lap steel virtuoso Cindy Cashdollar stopped by the Fretboard Journal magazine and performed this take on Josh Graves' "Foggy Mountain Rock" solo.
Cashdollar is playing a Lap King Rodeo lap steel with Lollar El Rayo humbucking pickups. Cindy is also a proud endorser of Terraplane Guitars and uses John Pearse strings and picks. On this clip, she's playing through a Carr Sportsman amplifier
Start the Day with more 50s music! | The Cadillacs [with The Jesse Powell Orchestra] - Speedo (1955)
The Cadillacs with The Jesse Powell Orchestra - Speedo (1955)
Esther Navarro
from: ”Speedo” / ”Let Me Explain”
On this date in 1956, a Harlem vocal group called THE CADILLACS entered the Billboard Pop Chart with the single SPEEDOO, a song that would become a Doo-Wop classic (Feb 4, 1956)
NOTE: This rare clip of The Cadillacs performing in 1955 is in a heavily deteriorated condition. Not miracle restoration here but hopefully now a little more watchable!
Written by Esther Navarro and performed by The Cadillacs featuring the Jesse Powell Orchestra, SPEEDOO reached number 3 on the U.S. R&B chart and number 17 on the U.S. pop chart in 1955.
The song was featured on their 1957 album, The Fabulous Cadillacs.
Lyrically, the song tells of Mister Earl who acquired the nickname "Speedoo" because, when it comes to his pursuit of pretty girls, "he don't believe in wastin' time" and "he don't never take it slow".
Earl Carroll, LaVerne Drake, and Robert Phillips were already singing together in the early '50s as the Carnations, whose lineup also included "Cub" Gaining.
Carroll and Phillips were nearly as close as brothers, Carroll having been taken in by Phillips' family after the death of his own mother.
The group -- based in New York's Harlem in the area around 131st St. and Seventh and Eighth Avenues -- had an energetic approach to music, but somewhat threadbare harmonies, and they were popular at dances held at the local public school they all attended. Their main influence was the Orioles, whose slow romantic numbers went over very well with the group members and the audiences of the period. Carroll's own musical roots included gospel, specifically the Five Blind Boys, the Swanee Quintet, and the Soul Stirrers, but also R&B vocal outfits such as the Clovers, the Ravens, the Swallows, and the Five Keys.
The Carnations were heard in a performance at Public School 43 by Lover Patterson, a one-time associate of the Orioles who had organized a group called the Five Crowns (whose 1958-era membership would become the new Drifters, of "There Goes My Baby" fame), who was impressed enough with their singing to introduce the group to Esther Navarro, a secretary for the Shaw Artist Agency who also wrote songs.
The audition itself brought about changes in the Carnations' lineup. Baritone Bobby Phillips wanted to switch to bass, partly to see if the novelty value of a 5' 4" bass singer would have some value (most basses were big guys), but Cub Gaining didn't like the idea and quit before the audition. Patterson replaced him with James "Poppa" Clark of the Five Crowns and Johnny "Gus" Willingham. It was this group -- Earl Carroll (lead tenor), LaVerne Drake (tenor), James Clark (tenor), Johnny Willingham (baritone), and Bobby Phillips (bass) -- that auditioned for Navarro. They were duly signed but had to give up their name, as the Carnations was already being used by a professional outfit. The Cadillacs was chosen for its association with automotive elegance and to separate the group from the spate of bird and flower names that were common among singing groups.
kdo
The Cadillacs with The Jesse Powell Orchestra - Speedo (1955) Esther Navarro
from: ”Speedo” / ”Let Me Explain”
The group brought a pair of songs, Navarro's "Gloria" and Patterson's "I Wonder Why," to Jubilee Records, an independent outfit owned by former bandleader Jerry Blaine. Their first single was in stores by the end of July 1954, and it proved to be a regional success, with strong sales on the East Coast from Baltimore to Boston, especially (no surprise) in New York. Patterson's more uptempo "I Wonder Why" had more success than the more restrained and romantic "Gloria." By the time of the release of the group's second single, "Wishing Well," issued later that summer, the lineup had changed, with James Clark and Johnny Willingham replaced by baritone Earl Wade and tenor Charles "Buddy" Brooks.
The group experienced modest success during the latter part of 1954 and early 1955, and then they had their breakthrough record, "Speedo." There have been several stories associated with the origins of the song, all of which surround Earl Carroll's attributes: Carroll claimed that it originated with a nickname he got as a child, but also said that the beat and background were influenced by the group's appreciation of a Regals song called "Got the Water Boiling." Esther Navarro, whose name is signed to the song as writer, claimed at the time that it derived from Carroll's derisive nickname "Speedy," earned by his slow-moving demeanor; she claimed that he said to her, "They often call me Speedy but my real name is Mr. Earl."
The song was recorded in September of 1955, and released in October of that year. It became a monster hit, but only after laying dormant for weeks. The turning point came when Cleveland-based disc jockey Alan Freed booked the group onto his Christmas show at the Academy of Music. The group by that time was completely professional, and had added dance routines choreographed by Cholly Atkins, who later trained most of the Motown acts in their stage presentations. The group swept the board during the two weeks of appearances in the Freed show, which, itself was a major turning point in the history of rock & roll. There had been showcases of that kind going on for several years, but mostly before Black audiences; the Freed show broke the theater's box-office record, and in the process drew in a major contingent of white teenagers.
"Speedo" finally broke out in early December, and it entered the Billboard pop charts before it reached the R&B charts, something that had never happened before with an R&B single. The music industry began taking notice not only of this phenomenon, but also of the Cadillacs. The song rode the charts for four months, well into 1956, by which time the Cadillacs were established as one of the top R&B groups in the country. They also had a membership change early in that year, with Jimmy Bailey replacing founding member LaVerne Drake. Their attempts at a follow-up hit failed despite some initial encouraging signs from the trade papers, but this didn't slow their momentum on-stage; they remained one of the most heavily and prominently booked groups among the package tours that were the norm, and the bookings were still good into the late winter of 1957.
Unfortunately, nothing was that straightforward for the group itself. At some point, they split with Esther Navarro, and the group also split into two rival sets of Cadillacs. Earl Carroll led the Original Cadillacs, as they became known -- consisting of Carroll, Charles Brooks, Bobby Phillips, and Earl Wade -- while Navarro had Jimmy Bailey leading Bobby Spencer, Bill Lindsay, and Waldo "Champ Rollow" Champen under the name the Cadillacs. The groups both continued recording, both on Jubilee (which was caught in the middle of the dispute), and effectively canceled each other out.
Navarro's Bailey-led Cadillacs (who only recorded once officially, doing "My Girlfriend" in May of 1957) went on the road in an abortive attempt to carry on, but they were pulled out of the late-1957 package tour before it was half over. By November of 1957, the two groups had made a sort of peace: Champ Rollow and Bill Lindsay were out, and Carroll, Bailey, Brooks, Phillips, and Wade were working together in the studio as the Cadillacs. Brooks was soon replaced by Bobby Spencer, but there were other changes as well: Earl Carroll was pushed into the background of the group's vocals by Jimmy Bailey and Bobby Spencer. Of course, it didn't matter that much, because in their search for a sound that would sell, the group had changed into a comedic doo wop outfit in the mold of the Coasters, specializing in humorous novelty numbers. They hardly resembled the outfit that Earl Carroll had co-founded in the early '50s.
The sad thing, in some respects, is that this worked. They were back on the national charts for the first time in over two years in October of 1958 with "Peek-A-Boo," a sort of "Yakety Yak"-type number that made the Top 40 and gave the group a new lease on life as a concert attraction. Having succeeded once with a comic novelty tune, they mined this vein again with a pair of singles, "Jay Walker" and "Please Mr. Johnson." Both were recorded early in 1959 and featured (in very effective performances) in the 1959 Alan Freed-starring jukebox classic Go Johnny Go, which also featured Jimmy Clanton, Sandy Stewart, Chuck Berry, Jackie Wilson, Eddie Cochran, Ritchie Valens, and Jo-Ann Campbell.
The group's string of hits had ended, however. Earl Carroll left the group that he had founded in 1959; the Cadillacs kept working for a few more years, recording unsuccessfully for a number of labels before packing it in during the early '60s. Carroll fared reasonably well, however, remaining in music and eventually joining the Coasters in 1961, where he remained for more than 20 years. He later re-formed the Cadillacs, with Bobby Phillips the only other veteran member of the group, and he kept the new group going throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, even doing a well-received comeback record early in the '90s. Phillips died in March 2011, and Carroll -- who had become a New York City school custodian -- passed away in November of the following year.
Colouring The Past version is quite a bit better sound quality. . . . . . . .
go on click on it anyway!
Monday, April 29, 2024
Albums That Should Exist | Donovan Live in New York 1976 | resolving download issues notes!
Donovan - The Bottom Line, New York City, 4-10-1976
Paul says : "This is one of my favorite Donovan concert recordings, if not the favorite. It's unreleased, but the sound quality is excellent, due to the fact that it was professionally recorded for live broadcast on the radio at the time. It's a solo acoustic concert, which allows one to hear many of his songs in a different way. And it came at an interesting point in his career, resulting in some lessen known but still very good songs to get played.Donovan is very closely associated with the 1960s. As a cultural phenomenon, the 60's actually started a few years into the 1960s, maybe around 1963 or 1964, and ended a few years into the 1970s. By 1976, Donovan's hippie image seemed increasingly out of step with cultural trends at the time. Then 1977 came along, with punk and disco, and his popular declined even more. So 1976 was the tail end of his most popular and creative era. For instance, note the archival retrospective album for him, "Troubadour," deals with that whole period, 1964 to 1976. After 1976, Donovan found it hard to even get record contracts to make new albums. But he was still going pretty strong up through 1976. I think a lot of his 1970s output is underappreciated.
So this turns out to be a really good time for a concert recording. He was still writing and performing excellent new songs, such as "Dark Eyed Blue Jean Angel," while also doing his older hits.
There were a few problems with the bootleg recording though. One of them was that the DJ for the radio station broadcasting the concert often cut in for station identification between songs. With some audio editing, I was able to remove all of that DJ talk while still keeping the appropriate amount of cheering after each song. The songs with "[Edit]" in their names are all cases where I had to make significant edits to get rid of the DJ chatter. Also, on a few songs, but only a few, the lead vocals were low in the mix. So I used the UVR5 audio editing program to fix that.
After those changes, this is a really top notch recording. If you're a Donovan fan at all, you should give it a listen."
This album is an hour and 16 minutes long.
01 Sunshine Superman
02 There Is a Mountain
03 talk
04 Dark Eyed Blue Jean Angel [Edit]
05 talk
06 Laughing River
07 talk
08 Take Your Time
09 talk
10 Friends
11 Woman's Work [Edit]
12 talk
13 Catch the Wind
14 talk
15 My My They Sigh
16 Season of the Witch [Edit]
17 Black Widow [Edit]
18 Happiness Runs
19 talk
20 Lalena [Edit]
21 talk
22 Atlantis
23 I Love My Shirt
24 Mellow Yellow
25 Saturday Night
26 Hurdy Gurdy Man
Now regular and old friend & blogging pal Sealy dropped by and reminded me that I had been meaning to address a workaround for those of us trying to download from ATSE as I had been struggling and he asked for any tips!
All I can say applies to Mac users I guess but if you have any difficulty and keep getting sent to other pages that you don’t want and it doesn’t download try this workaround
1. Copy the address for the volume you want but stopping at the zip. That is not featuring the html bit of the link.
2. when arrived at the UploadEE page click on the download button
https://www.upload.ee3. if ( I say IF- it always has done this for yours truly but) if the clicking of the button leads to the opening of another page, click it off and try again
4. Now it usually does the same thing again but just persevere and click off the unwelcome page again and click the download button a third time and it SHOULD start downloading immediately (it has only once down this a fourth time but again persistence is key)
I have tried to contact Paul at ATSE to discuss this and even having mentioned it before wondered if anyone else was having similar problems but his page does not accept my enquiry and I cannot ‘comment’ or contact him.
A final note is that I use Safari by preference but have Firefox and others too and Opera is my last port of call if all else fails for browser applications I would recommend trying others
The Doors with Scott Weiland - Break On Through (LIVE) The Year Grunge Broke!
Well Ray n John n Robbie (obvs - ED 🙄)
I have never been entirely happy with others singing the Jim Morrison parts but Scott here is highly listenable and does a great job . . . . looks like th guys had fun . . . . . . .
The Doors with Scott WeilandBreak On ThroughVH1 Storytellers - 2000
Kate Pierson (B52s) birthday this week (76th!)
Pictured: Pierson captured by Lynn Goldsmith in the early 1980s.
”Later we [Culture Club] played with them a few times and they had the most unique, hypnotic sound. It’s trashy Americana, John Waters, Divine, the Shangri-La’s, high camp and bubblegum punk. The beat is everything. Fred always reminded me of Dr Zachary Smith from Lost in Space. I never thought about whether the B-52’s had a gay angle. They were just against rules in general – taking classic American kitsch and giving it a punk, space-age irreverence, like a beautiful car crash with pop surrealism. They were very camp but very funky: always on it, melodic but effortlessly free. It’s the sort of pop music that I want to hear.”
/ Boy George reflecting on the B-52’s in The Guardian /
Born on this week: happy 76th birthday to the sublime Kate Pierson (née Catherine Elizabeth Pierson, 27 April 1948) - singer, multi-instrumentalist, bouffant wig enthusiast and one of the founding members of Athens, Georgia’s essential post-punk party band the B-52’s! For me, Pierson’s spine-tingling dissonant science fiction anti-harmonies with co-vocalist Cindy Wilson are one of the defining sounds of American New Wave music.
Unknown photographer, polygonal stone and upright triangular stone, Cornwall, 3000 to 2001 BC
Large perforated stones standing upright; left one locally known as “Menetol”, polygonal in form, pierced by circular hole sculpted through center; right one known as “Tolven”, similarly pierced; b) drawing showing outlines of stones and perforations at “centers.Giedion observes that the perforations appear to have been shaped by sculpting from both sides as in countersinking so that the center of the hole is also the center of the stone. He writes that these megaliths are believed to have possessed magic properties of healing and rebirth. As ritual objects it is thought that they may have been early sacrificial stones or altars. According to Neumann, the feminine symbol of the dolmen and gate is always connected with rebirth through the woman’s womb, thus the act of passing through signifies a journey to renewal. Giedion states that within memory Menetol has been used for curing infirm children by passing them through the aperture and for healing lame people by lifting them sunward through Menetol’s ring. According to Levy the anointing and circumambulation of monolithic stones has been practiced until recent times. this leads to the belief that they were endowed with sacred meaning from earliest times, when the setting up of a stone for the habitation of a spirit, as a place kept sacred to him, to which be could be summoned by rites, was practiced. Layard Cn writes that the rough-worked stone, or the stone "cut out without hands” of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, carries with it the meaning of the immanence of the spirit which fills the whole earth like a great mountain. Stones carry within them the spirit of the living men who erect them and their contact with the earth kept them within holy ground. [- - Levy.]
A long time fan of Julian Cope’s two volumes on the Standing Stones of Britain and Europe this caught my eye . . . down in Cornwall . . . .
Sound of The Day | The Beatles - Roll Over Beethoven - VARA TV (The Netherlands, 1964) / One After 909 (rooftop edit) /Jimmy Nichol profile /+ “John and Paul’s Early Songwriting Days”
George sings . . . . . . ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN!
Love this and live it may not be but the vocals appear tp be miked and why plug the guitars in if it was backing track? Just me . . . . nitpicking!
Note the absence of Ringo . . . .
BeatleAlex notesNOTE: This isn't actually live. The group mimmed over the original tracks. Their mics were on, so you do hear their live vocals. This was also the time when Ringo was being hospitalized for his tonsillitis, so he was out, and they had to get a fill-in drummer, which was Jimmy Nichol
Note from me to the younger audience the lovely and lively Dutch audience are doing the ’TWIST' . . . . it was a dance! Ask your grandparents !!
Meanwhile some time later back in Pepperland . . . . .
what bus (it’s a train! - ED.) did she say she was on?
UPDATE: someone on Facebook thought the drummer was Pete Best (sic) so just to be clear it was Jimmy Nichol about whom . . . . . . . .
Beatle For A Day
The Incredible Story of Jimmy Nicol.
The Instant fame of the British Drummer Who Stepped In For Ringo.
James George Nicol is best known for sitting-in for Ringo Starr in the Beatles for eight concerts of the Beatles' 1964 world tour during the height of Beatlemania, elevating him from relative obscurity to worldwide fame and then back again in the space of a fortnight. Nicol had hoped that his association with the Beatles would greatly enhance his career but instead found that the spotlight moved away from him once Starr returned to the group, and in 1965 his subsequent lack of commercial success culminated in bankruptcy. In 1975, after having worked with a number of different bands which included a successful relationship with the Spotnicks, and several more while living in Mexico, he left the music business to pursue a variety of entrepreneurial ventures.
Over the decades, Nicol increasingly shied away from media attention, preferring not to discuss his connection to the Beatles nor seeking financial gain from it.
In 1964 Nicol helped to form The Shubdubs with former Merseybeats bassist Bob Garner, a jazz line-up similar in musical style to Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, a group with whom Nicol had sat-in when they were the resident house band at London's now defunct Flamingo Jazz Club. Other members of The Shubdubs were Tony Allen (vocals), Johnny Harris (trumpet), Quincy Davis (tenor saxophone), and Roger Coulam (organ – went on to form Blue Mink). It was at this point that he received a telephone call from the Beatles' producer, George Martin. Nicol recalled: "I was having a bit of a lie down after lunch when the phone rang."
When Ringo Starr became ill with tonsillitis and was hospitalised on 3 June 1964, the eve of the Beatles' 1964 Australasian tour, the band's manager Brian Epstein and their producer George Martin urgently discussed the feasibility of using a stand-in drummer rather than cancelling part of the tour. Martin suggested Jimmie Nicol as he had recently used him on a recording session with Tommy Quickly.
Nicol had also drummed on a 'Top Six' budget label album as part of an uncredited session band, as well as an extended play single (with three tracks on each side) of Beatles cover versions (marketed as 'Teenagers Choice' and titled Beatlemania) which meant that he already knew the songs and their arrangements. Producer Bill Wellings and Shubdubs trumpeter Johnny Harris (freelancing as an arranger and composer) were responsible for putting together alternative budget cover versions of songs taken from the British Hit Parade aimed at cash-strapped teenagers. Harris said: "The idea was for me to try and guess which six songs would be topping the charts about a month ahead. I would do the arrangements and then go into the studio and record 'sound a-likes'; the first EP (extended play) released got to number 30 in the charts. Jimmie was on drums and, as you can imagine, we covered a lot of the Beatles' songs."
Although John Lennon and Paul McCartney quickly accepted the idea of using a temporary substitute, George Harrison threatened to pull out of the tour telling Epstein and Martin: "If Ringo's not going, then neither am I. You can find two replacements." Martin recalled: "They nearly didn't do the Australia tour. George is a very loyal person. It took all of Brian's and my persuasion to tell George that if he didn't do it he was letting everybody down." Tony Barrow, who was the Beatles' press officer at the time, later commented: "Brian saw it as the lesser of two evils; cancel the tour and upset thousands of fans or continue and upset the Beatles."
Starr stated that "it was very strange, them going off without me. They'd taken Jimmie Nicol and I thought they didn't love me any more – all that stuff went through my head." The arrangements were made very quickly, from a telephone call to Nicol at his home in West London inviting him to attend an audition/rehearsal at Abbey Road Studios, to packing his bags, all in the same day. At a press conference a reporter mischievously asked John Lennon why Pete Best, who had been the Beatles' previous drummer for two years but dismissed by the group on the eve of stardom, was not rehired, to which Lennon replied: "He's got his own group [Pete Best & the All Stars], and it might have looked as if we were taking him back, which is not good for him."
Nicol's first concert with the Beatles took place just 27 hours later on 4 June at the KB Hallen in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was given the distinctive Beatle moptop hairstyle, put on Starr's suit and went on stage to an audience of 4,500 Beatles fans. McCartney recalled: "He was sitting up on this rostrum just eyeing up all the women. We'd start 'She Loves You': [counting in] 'one, two', nothing, 'one, two', and still nothing!" Their set was reduced from eleven songs to ten, dropping Starr's vocal spot of "I Wanna Be Your Man". McCartney teasingly sent Starr a telegram saying: "Hurry up and get well Ringo, Jimmy is wearing out all your suits." Commenting later on the fickle nature of his brief celebrity, Nicol reflected: "The day before I was a Beatle, girls weren't interested in me at all. The day after, with the suit and the Beatle cut, riding in the back of the limo with John and Paul, they were dying to get a touch of me. It was very strange and quite scary." He was also able to shed some light on how they passed the time between shows: "I thought I could drink and lay women with the best of them until I caught up with these guys."
In the Netherlands, Nicol and Lennon allegedly spent a whole night at a brothel. Lennon said: "It was some kind of scene on the road. Satyricon! There's photographs of me grovelling about, crawling about Amsterdam on my knees, coming out of whorehouses, and people saying 'Good morning John'. The police escorted me to these places because they never wanted a big scandal. When we hit town, we hit it – we were not pissing about. We had [the women]. They were great. We didn't call them groupies, then; I've forgotten what we called them, something like 'slags'." Nicol discovered that, aside from acting as a Beatle, he could behave much as any tourist could: "I often went out alone. Hardly anybody recognised me and I was able to wander around. In Hong Kong, I went to see the thousands of people who live on little boats in the harbour. I saw the refugees in Kowloon, and I visited a nightclub. I like to see life. A Beatle could never really do that."
Nicol played a total of eight shows until Starr rejoined the group in Melbourne, Australia, on 14 June. He was unable to say goodbye to the Beatles as they were still asleep when he left, and he did not want to disturb them. At Melbourne Airport, Epstein presented him with a cheque for £500 (equivalent to $10,780 in 2021) and a gold Eterna-matic wrist watch inscribed: "From the Beatles and Brian Epstein to Jimmy – with appreciation and gratitude." George Martin later paid tribute to Nicol whilst recognising the problems he experienced in trying to readjust to a normal life again: "Jimmie Nicol was a very good drummer who came along and learnt Ringo's parts very well. He did the job excellently, and faded into obscurity immediately afterwards." Paul McCartney acknowledged: "It wasn't an easy thing for Jimmy to stand in for Ringo, and have all that fame thrust upon him. And the minute his tenure was over, he wasn't famous any more." Nicol himself expressed his disillusionment several years later: "Standing in for Ringo was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Until then I was quite happy earning £30 or £40 a week. After the headlines died, I began dying too." He resisted the temptation to sell his story, stating in a rare 1987 interview: "After the money ran low, I thought of cashing-in in some way or other. But the timing wasn't right. And I didn't want to step on the Beatles' toes. They had been damn good for me and to me."
During Nicol's brief time with the Beatles both Lennon and McCartney would often ask him how he felt he was coping, to which his reply would usually be "It's getting better". Three years later McCartney was walking his dog, Martha, with Hunter Davies, the Beatles' official biographer, when the sun came out. McCartney remarked that the weather was "getting better" and began to laugh, remembering Nicol. This event inspired the song "Getting Better" on 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. McCartney again makes reference to Nicol on the Let It Be tapes from 1969, saying: "I think you'll find we're not going abroad 'cause Ringo just said he doesn't want to go abroad. And he put his foot down. So, us and Jimmie Nicol might go abroad."
While appearing on the radio show Fresh Air hosted by Terry Gross in April 2016, Tom Hanks noted that he was at least partly influenced by Jimmie Nicol's experience with the Beatles when he wrote the script for his 1996 feature film That Thing You Do!
Meanwhile here's an update on One After 909!
Now I thought this was ancient and almost trad arr blues standard and always treated it as such . . . .turns out it was a really EARLY Lennon/McCartney number!
“John and Paul’s Early Songwriting Days”
Written at Forthlin Road, “One After 909” was one of the group’s most successful early numbers. It has the distinction of being recorded three times within months of its arrival, and was also cited in Paul’s promotional letter listing all of the band’s original songs at the time.
It became a regular in the group’s stage act (when Lennon-McCartney numbers were mostly still being shunned), and was then captured twice on tape in the Cavern Club in 1962 (bootlegged).
The song seemed like a good prospect, and come 1963, was considered for their third EMI single. A studio was booked for a March 5 session, with “One After 909” and “Thank You Girl” scheduled for the day. Four or five takes of “One After 909” were captured but, as it turned out, Lennon and McCartney wrote “From Me To You” just days beforehand, and it became the choice for the forthcoming single.
But why was “One After 909” then consigned to the dustbin? The reasons are not clear; possibly the Beatles weren’t sure how to arrange it. It began life as an approximation of the ‘freight-train blues’ style (the ‘909’ being a rail car), but by the end of 1962 had evolved into a slow strut. Certainly the 1963 versions caused some problems during the session and are not great, but it still could have been salvaged.
Yet the song seemed to have been abandoned at that stage and we don’t hear of it again until the Get Back sessions. Recalling the song rekindled John and Paul’s fondness for it, so that it was scheduled into the rooftop session of January 30, where a rollicking performance became the definitive take.
“One After 909” was placed as the lead-off on the unreleased Get Back LP, although when re-produced and restructured as Let It Be, “909” had slipped down the order and was tucked halfway into side 2.
In the years since, one of the 1963 versions has surfaced legally, and Paul has performed it live more than once in his solo years, bootlegs of which have appeared.
START THE WEEK! MORNING ALL! Dion & The Belmonts - I Wonder Why (1958) |1950s Music [Facebook]
Dion & The Belmonts - I Wonder Why (1958)
"I Wonder Why" by Dion & The Belmonts stands out as a defining track of the 1950s, capturing the essence of the doo-wop era with its infectious rhythm and harmonious vocals. The song's distinctive bass intro sets the stage for Dion's smooth lead vocals, which, combined with The Belmonts' impeccable harmony, create a resonant soundscape emblematic of doo-wop.The lyrics, centered around the perplexities of young love, are encapsulated in the recurring line "I wonder why," reflecting the ponderings of a smitten heart. The song's catchy "dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah" chorus epitomizes doo-wop and lingers in the listener's mind.Written by Melvin Anderson and Ricardo Weeks, "I Wonder Why" became Dion & The Belmonts' first single in 1958, showcasing their signature sound. The song climbed to number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking their debut on the national pop chart and signaling their potential in the music industry.The song's appeal extended beyond its chart success, resonating with the youth of the time and finding a place in popular culture. It featured in films like "A Bronx Tale" and "Christine," and in the TV series "The Sopranos," introducing it to new audiences and reaffirming its timeless appeal.Cover versions like Showaddywaddy's 1978 rendition, which reached number 2 in the UK, and Australian band Ol' 55's cover on their album "Take It Greasy," demonstrate the song's wide appeal and adaptability."I Wonder Why" is more than a song; it's a testament to Dion & The Belmonts' talent and impact on American music. It remains a classic, celebrating the golden era of doo-wop and the universal themes of teenage love and wonder.
1950s MUSIC
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Sounds of The Day | JOHN MARTYN - Sunshine's Better (Talvin Singh Remix)
From John Martyn 'May You Never' - The Very Best Of John Martyn
℗ 1996 Go Beat Ltd.
speaking of Martyn which we were and to make up for the link at AD being pay-per-view now . . .there is this . . . how incredibly beautiful a track is this?!
PETER & GORDON : ‘WORLD WITHOUT LOVE’ (Paul McCartney)
BEATLES Writing . . . . . . . from April 25 1965
Peter And Gordon reach #1 on the UK Pop chart with "A World without Love", a song given to them by Paul McCartney because he didn't think it was good enough for The Beatles to record. The song would also top the Cashbox Best Sellers list and the Billboard Hot 100 in June.
this is fun . . . . . . .clever too! Peter n Gordon? Meh? Peter was of course Peter Asher (Jane’;s older brother) and went on to be a serious producer of bands in his own write . . . . . . . (right?!) someone should write a book called that!? For me a curiously depressing number, almost serially suicidal in theme, if I can’t have the love I seek then I don’t want to live in this world without it (her?) But that’s just me!It was quite the hit and poppy melody for sure . . . . . maybe see the name checks of covers of Beatles songs including World Without Love even done by Honor Blackman! (Pussy Galore!)
then these mentioned in order are The Rolling Stones, Ella Fitzgerald, Anthony Newley, Russ Conway, Pinky and Perky(!), Honor Blackman ( World Without Love!) finally Peter and Gordon themselves
More Bonnie! | This from Albums That Should Exist Vol Four (of her appearances at the BBC)
Bonnie Raitt - BBC Sessions, Volume 4: BBC 4 Sessions, Stoke Newington Town Hall, Stoke, UK, 6-17-2013
The previous BBC concert took place in 2003, so this is ten years later, with many different songs. She was touring to support her 2012 album "Slipstream." Naturally, there are a lot of songs from that.
I'm glad to say the sound quality is excellent. For once, I hardly had to make any edits, other than breaking the banter into separate tracks.
The songs are mostly what you'd expect, but she finished with a cover of the Elvis Presley hit "A Big Hunk o' Love," which she's never put on an album.
This album is 57 minutes long.
01 talk
02 Used to Rule the World
03 talk
04 Right Down the Line
05 talk (Bonnie Raitt)
06 Thing Called Love
07 talk
08 Million Miles
09 talk
10 Love Has No Pride
11 talk
12 Nick of Time
13 talk
14 Marriage Made in Hollywood
15 talk
16 Love Me like a Man
17 talk
18 I Can't Make You Love Me
19 talk
20 A Big Hunk o' Love
21 talk