portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Terry Reid - The Other Side of The River | Plain & Fancy

Terry Reid - The Other Side of The River (1973 UK- 2016 remaster)



British musician Terry Reid is a relatively unsung legend. With his incredible voice (that earned him the nickname “Superlungs”), spot-on songwriting, and underrated guitar skills, Reid invented new sounds and others followed suit. His 1973 LP, River, is an under-the-radar but deeply loved album. Our special new release, The Other Side Of The River, features all previously unreleased material from the River sessions, including six never-before-heard Reid compositions and five very different alternate takes of tracks from River.

Over the decades, as River went in and out of print, there were rumors of a mythological double album’s worth of unreleased material. The rumors turned out to be true, as the entire album was recorded twice: once with British producer Eddy Offord and again with the legendary Tom Dowd. The sessions captured Reid’s free-associative mix of folk, blues, rock, jazz, bossa-nova, soul, and samba, recalling at times Tim Buckley and Van Morrison, while featuring some remarkable guests including Gilberto Gil on percussion, Ike & Tina Turner’s Ikettes on vocals, and David Lindley, of psych band Kaleidoscope, on violin.

The Other Side Of The River includes songs that even Terry had forgotten – rockers in the style of the River track “Dean,” Latin grooves with percussionist Willie Bobo, and beautifully sparse vocal material not unlike David Crosby’s If Only I Could Remember My Name and John Martyn’s Solid Air.

Reid’s vocal prowess earned him offers to front both Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, but he turned down both opportunities to carve out a distinctive solo career. Instead, he rocked on the sidelines, ultimately touring with Cream and Fleetwood Mac, writing songs for CSNY, and opening for The Rolling Stones on their 1969 tour. More recently, Terry’s songs have been covered by a number of younger artists including the Raconteurs, and his voice can be heard on DJ Shadow’s track “Listen”. This spring he will be touring the East Coast and U.K. Though his “superlungs” would have no doubt served Zepp well, perhaps his solo status allowed him to be more experimental and nuanced than he would’ve been able to be as a mainstream frontman, and for that we are grateful. The Other Side Of The River stands alone as a fresh and utterly groundbreaking Terry Reid gem.
LITA
Tracks
1. Let's Go Down - 6:51
2. Avenue (F# Boogie) - 6:04
3. Things To Try - 6:30
4. Country Brazilian Funk - 9:14
5. River - 5:55
6. Listen With Eyes - 3:48
7. Anyway - 5:46
8. Celtic Melody - 1:54
9. Funny - 8:06
10.Late Night Idea - 2:22
11.Sabyla - 5:33
All compositions by Terry Reid

Personnel
*Terry Reid - Guitar, Vocals
*Leo Miles - Bass
*Conrad Isidore - Drums
*David Lindley - Steel Guitar, Slide Guitar, Electric Guitar
*Willie Bobo - Percussion


More from Plain & Fancy 1966-69  Terry Reid - Superlungs / The Complete Studio Recordings (2004  two disc set) 

1974  Terry Reid - Seed of Memory (2004 remaster)  

The Women of Music!

 WOMEN OF MUSIC!

(an ongoing series)

SPRING BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL

They used to look like this . . . . . . 


Janis


Marianne Faithfull photographed by Chris Morphet at an exhibition opening at Robert Fraser Gallery on Duke Street.

Jane Asher around 1978 right before she cut her hair for Peter Pan. From eBay 

Kim

Nico


Jerry and Grace Slick

Rickie 

PATTI

Sade


the stunning Marianne again


Sandy Denny


Beautiful Kim again . . . 
I mean phew!








Now they look like this . . . .

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

LADY GAGA by Collier Schorr for T Magazine.


Olivia Rodrigo



Amy Lee - Evanescence

Billie (Eilish)

Charlie XIX

Even our bass players look like this now!
Cal W!

Riley Keough (Elvis’ granddaughter!)




Tuesday, April 15, 2025

ADVERT BREAK | Everything But The Girl - new gigs Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt




Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn back at the MOTH Club for three nights in June

Tickets on sale this Thursday for new shows on June 8, 9 and 10.

    After two instant sell-outs in April, Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn return to the 200-capacity MOTH Club in London for THREE more intimate shows onSunday June 8, Monday June 9 and Tuesday June 10

    They will perform again as a part-acoustic part-electronic duo accompanied by Rex Horan (double bass) and Family Stereo’s Blake Watt (guitar, vocals), playing songs from their 40-year careers as both a duo and solo artists.

    The evening will consist of two sets and an interval. Ben and Tracey will be on stage at 8pm. There is no support. The venue will be mostly seated with some additional standing. Seats allocated on first come first served basis.Doors 7pm.

    Tickets (max 2) on sale at 6pm GMT this Thursday 17 April via DICE. 

    What to do next?

    (1) You will need the DICE app on your phone AND an account set up to complete your purchase and access your tickets. If you haven’t got the app, download it now and create an account
    (2) Get a ticket link for your preferred night either below or through the DICE app
    (3) Use your ticket link (or find event on DICE app) to purchase tickets (max 2) at 6pm GMT this Thursday 17 April 
    (4) If you are unsuccessful you will be placed on the DICE Wait List and may be offered a return

    Terms and Conditions (1) Tickets are not transferable (2) ID matching ticket purchase required on entry (3) No filming (4) No photos (5) If you are unable to attend we ask you to return your ticket(s) to the DICE Waiting List via the app



    The Bangles - 14-04-2003 - Amsterdam, Netherlands (FM) | so many roads

    The Bangles - 2003-04-14 - Amsterdam, Netherlands (FM)

     

    The Bangles
    2003-04-14
    Melk Weg
    Amsterdam, Netherlands
    FM Broadcast




    01. DJ Intro > Hazy Shade Of Winter
    02. Something That You Said
    03. Rain Song
    04. If She Knew What She Wants
    05. September Gurls
    06. Manic Monday
    07. Single By Choice
    08. Going Down To Liverpool
    09. Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution)
    10. Silent Treatment
    11. Walk Like An Egyptian > Mrs. Robinson
    12. Ride The Ride
    13. In Your Room
    14. Eternal Flame > Radio Outro 

    Bonus Tracks:
    15. Something That You Said - Acoustic live at WDR
    16. Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution) - Acoustic live at J-WAVE
    17. Manic Monday - Acoustic live at J-WAVE
    18. Mary Street - From 1983 E.P.
    19. How Is The Air Up There?/Pride - Susanna Hoffs Demo Fragment

    2000s - #2:  Products of the Los Angeles music scene, The Bangles were the perfect band to capitalize on the rise of the MTv generation and the resurgence of pop music in the late 1980s. While the 1986 album Different Light, which included Manic Monday and Walk Like An Egyptian, gets most of the attention from fans and critics alike, I prefer their first disc, All Over The Place. That one includes Hero Takes A Fall and Going Down To Liverpool, my 2 favorite Bangle tunes. The band broke up in 1998, but after a decade separation, reformed in 1998. After touring in 2000, they spent 2001 and 2002 in the studio recording Doll Revolution, their first album of new material in 15 years. This FM broadcast captures The Bangles in the Netherlands on April 14, 2003, 22 years ago today, on tour in support of that disc. 



    Suzanna


    The Cocteau Twins - Fluffy Tufts |jt1674

     

    Dead Can Dance - The Promised Womb . . . . Wow! | jt1674

    R.E.M. Perfect Circle - Live at the BBC (Peel Sessions) | jt1674

     

    Mo’ Libba Cotten | Elisabeth Cotten - When I´m Gone (1965) |ZeroGSounds

    Elisabeth Cotten - When I´m Gone (1965)

    Zero hat gesagt: The third volume in the original Folkways series of albums by this master fingerpicker and acoustic music legend was actually pieced together from recordings made hither, thither, and yonder over nearly a decade.

    From the first notes of the opening instrumental, "New Year's Eve," the listener will know they are in presence of greatness. The best way to describe her playing would perhaps be some kind of symbolic contrast to other well-known artists. For example, she is a Rembrandt painting while John Fahey is a picture postcard, no slight to Fahey intended. 

    Some might assume that it took ten years to put together a new Cotten album, but this decision most likely had more to do with the label's scaredy-cat approach to marketing or producer Mike Seeger's reputation for perfectionism, or both. 
    The latter trait was certainly one Cotten didn't share, and the fact that so many different recordings were done in situations such as people's living rooms is no surprise as the grand dame simply had to have a guitar in her hand whenever she sat down, and would often go home from a two or even three hour gig and play guitar all night in her motel room. 

    This album features several songs with lyrics by her granddaughter Johnine Rankin. It also came originally with an insert that despite a horribly Xeroxed cover picture has much to offer in the way of anecdotes and historical information as well as printed lyrics. She revives "Freight Train" here, but of more interest are numbers such as "Willie," "Jenny," and "Gaslight Blues," all played with a delicate, precise touch, as if the guitar was speaking to her of its own power. 

    Tracklist  

    A1 New Year's Eve 3:15
    A2 Praying Time Will Soon Be Over 3:10
    A3 Time To Stop Your Idling 2:30
    A4 Gaslight Blues 4:45
    A5 Jenny 2:40
    A6 Street Blues 2:10
    A7 Home Sweet Home 2:20
    B1 Freight Train 3:10
    B2 Casey Jones 1:45
    B3 Willie 5:05
    B4 Boddie's Song 2:15
    B5 Wilson Rag 4:50
    B6 When I'm Gone 4:40


    This, of course is lovely! A bit god bothery but hey, what ya gonna do!?

    Bob Dylan - Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine [The Bootlege Series Vol 12]

     I had previously said the Before the Flood version of 'Most Likely . . . ' was always my favourite (Angry Bob) but this sardonic version is a close second dependent on one’s mood don’t you reckon . . . ? A masterpiece of writing! I’m gonna let you pass and you go last . . . . . . 

    The Dukes of Stratosphear - Shiny Cage - | jt1674

     More XTC Colin Moulding this time . . . . . .

    Monday, April 14, 2025

    Rave On Buddy | Patti Smith - Words of Love (Buddy Holly Cover)

    Words Of Love (Buddy Holly Cover)
    Patti Smith
    Rave On Buddy Holly
    image


    VA - In Memory Of Dickey Betts - 2025-02-28 - Macon, GA | Heavybootz


    In Memory Of Dickey Betts - 2025-02-28 - Macon, GA




    In Memory Of Dickey Betts [Various Artists]
    Macon City Auditorium, Macon, GA
    2025-02-28

    aud (Recorded and Transferred by : Kevin T)
    mp3 @ 320 [413 mb]
    sq: EX-

    __Set 1__
    01 Intro
    02 Hot ‘Lanta [w/ Oteil Burbridge]
    03 Statesboro Blues [w/ Oteil Burbridge & Jimmy Hall]
    04 Nothing You Can Do [w/ Jimmy Hall]
    05 Long Time Gone [w/ Charlie Starr]
    06 Southbound [w/ Chuck Leavell, Charlie Starr & Oteil Burbridge]
    07 Melissa [w/ Devon Allman, Chuck Leavell & Oteil Burbridge]
    08 Nobody Knows [w/ Devon Allman & Oteil Burbridge]
    09 Jessica [w/ Devon Allman & Chuck Leavell] 

    __Set 2__
    10 Dickey Dedications
    11 Pony Boy [w/ Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi & Chuck Leavell]
    12 No One Left To Run With [w/ Jimmy Hall & Chuck Leavell]
    13 Rain [w/ Chuck Leavell]
    14 Seven Turns [w/ Devon Allman]
    15 Back Where It All Begins [w/ Warren Haynes & Devon Allman]
    16 Soulshine [w/ Warren Haynes & Chuck Leavell]
    17 In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed [w/ Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge & Chuck Leavell]
    18 Midnight In Harlem [w/ Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Oteil Burbridge & Lamar Williams Jr.]
    19 Blue Sky [w/ Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Oteil Burbridge, Chuck Leavell & Charlie Starr] 
    20 Revival [w/ Derek Trucks, Lamar Williams Jr., Chuck Leavell, Oteil Burbridge & Jimmy Hall]
    Encore:
    21 Encore Break: Duane Thank Yous 
    22 Ramblin’ Man [w/ Everyone Except Oteil Burbridge]

    tt: 3:00:22

    In Memory of Dickey Betts 

    House Band:
    Duane Betts -Guitar
    Johnny Stachela -Guitar
    Tyler Greenwell -Drums
    Mark Greenburg -Drums
    Frank Lombardi -Percussion 
    Pedro Arevalo -Bass
    John Gintey -Keyboards
    Maddie Schell -Vocals
    Erika Orbison -Vocals

    Guests:
    Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Oteil Burbridge, Chuck Leavell, 
    Devon Allman, Charlies Starr, Jimmy Hall, Lamar Williams Jr.

     

     

    We mentioned that we had been talking about Dickey Betts as perhaps our favourite guitarist with the Allman Brothers with his country influences and signature style and compositions like the legendary instrumental beloved of petrol heads (in the UK) ‘Jessica' and now comes this . . . . .  

    Sounds bought when they came out - Earworms and one hit wonders contd. - Simon Dupree and the Big Sound - Kites

     



    Thanks to Twilightzone for the nudge!

    R.I.P. : Max Romeo - Sipple Out Deh (War inna Babylon) 1975

    • Track Name

      Sipple Out Deh (War ina Babylon)

    • Artist

      Max Romeo

    guessimdumb:

    Max Romeo - Sipple Out Deh (War Ina Babylon) (1975)

    This is the original Jamaican mix of this classic collaboration between Max Romeo and Lee Scratch Perry. Sipple means “slippery”.  I can’t possibly describe this song any better:

    “Romeo’s vocal sounds as if he’s standing in a giant tin can, the backing vocals shimmer with ghostly echo, and the rhythm guitar sounds like a match being struck over and over again. It’s the soundtrack to a hot, dirty summer in Kingston in 1976 with violence lurking around every sweltering corner.” Upsetter.net

    R.I.P. Max Romeo

    Noting we posted Bobby after the Mississippi Dirt Road Blues collection comes this . . . . . : ZeroGsound

     

    The Early Blues Roots Of Bob Dylan

    "The Early Blues Roots of Bob Dylan" collects Dylan's early heroes of the genre, including Sleepy John Estes, Blind Willie McTell, Mississippi John Hurt, Leadbelly, and Bo Carter. These 20 remastered tracks are an excellent sampling of predominantly country blues from the '30s. While listening to these originals, it becomes obvious that Dylan didn't change much, wisely capturing the honest grittiness found on this set. Whether a fan of Dylan or the original blues masters, this is a recommended compilation that will more than satisfy both.        

    Bob Dylan is an icon of popular American culture who transformed the folk music world in the 1960's. What many pop fans didn't realize was that he drew heavily from artists of over 4 decades of Blues and popular music. This collection brings together the original versions of songs that he either recorded or songs that greatly influenced him. 

    Tracklist  

    1Sleepy John EstesBroken Hearted, Ragged & Dirty Too 
    2Mississippi SheiksI've Got Blood In My Eyes For You 
    3Blind Willie McTellBroke Down Engine 
    4Mississippi John HurtStack O'Lee Blues 
    5Rev. J.C. Burnett                                        Will The Circle Be Unbroken? 
    6Mississippi John HurtFrankie (And Albert) 
    7Mississippi SheiksSittin' On Top Of The World 
    8Blind Boy FullerStep It Up And Go 
    9Bo CarterCorrina Corrina 
    10Henry ThomasHoney Won't You Allow Me One More Chance 
    11Bukka WhiteFixin' To Die 
    12Blind Lemon JeffersonSee That My Grave Is Kept Clean 
    13Will BennettRailroad Bill 
    14Blind Willie JohnsonMotherless Children 
    15LeadbellyGrasshoppers In My Pillow 
    16Booker T. SappsPo' Lazarus 
    17Blind Lemon JeffersonMatchbox Blues 
    18Mississippi John HurtCandyman Blues 
    19Bukka WhitePo' Boy 
    20Blind Willie JohnsonJesus Gonna Make Up My Dyin' Bed