RON COBB 

1937-2020

I've said it before but I am of an age now where so many of my early heroes are dying and today is no exception as I learn of the death of Ron Cobb earlier this week : September 21, 2020 - Cobb, probably best known now for being the production designer for several major films, has died at 83 years of age. 

Cobb brought to life several cantina creatures for Star Wars (1977) and came up with weaponry and sets for Conan the Barbarian (1982), the exterior and interior of the Nostromo ship in Alien (1978) and the earth colony complex in Aliens (1986), and the DeLorean time machine in Back to the Future (1985).

More interestingly, to me at least, is that in the 1960s and 70s he was a great radical political cartoonist, and sadly, many cartoons of those days are still just as relevant today. He was a great hero to me then. Check the dates on these . . . . . . .

I am ashamed to say I wasn't aware of the full extent of his work around the film world and here's some prime examples but do check out his webpages (see below)

Designs for the DeLorean for 'Back To The Future' - beautiful drawings

Vogon Poetry Reading - for an unused design for a US TV series of 'The Htichhiker's Guide To the Galaxy' - Cobb expressed sadness that nothing came of it except "a friendship with Douglas Adams"

more Ron Cobb here . . .

 LOU REED

An extraordinary document from Big O today. Lou Reed around the time of Coney Island Baby (1976) when Lou was touring with this fine fine band Michael Fonfara on keyboards, Bruce Yaw on bass, Marty Fogel on sax and Michael Suchorsky on drums. It start with the obligatory nearly ten minutes 'jazz' improvised introduction to 'Sweet Jane' that his not so much the Rock n Roll Animal stylie but fascinating none the less as we wait for Lou to finish what ever he's doing back stage (this is the time of his alleged full blown methamphetamine and alcohol addiction, his marriage to transexual Rachel and yet  . . . . . .I always figured from Coney Island he was using a lot of coke but the story tells it otherwise  . . . . . this set is smoking'!) This is Live Radio broadcast from the Roxy in Los Angeles 13 of the supposed 22 song concert. Very good KMET-FM the legendary boot 'Winter at The Roxy' from the Rock 'n' Roll Heart tour - enjoy!

Lou Reed - LA 1976

 Just bumped into this . . . . . . . . the Guvnor!

I got the blues . . . . . . . .

A favourite, the How Long Blues or just merely 'How Long' and a classic too, by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell. This song, recorded on June 19, 1928 in Indianapolis, appears to be the first one Carr and Blackwell ever recorded together.

Beautiful stuff . . . . . . . How long has that old evening train been gone?

 VOODOO WAGON

B ★ O ★ W ★ I ★ E 

Wow, brother Jobe on form this morning over at the Floppy Boot's Sister page Voodoo Wagon. . . . . . the rehearsals tapes from Elstree Studios in Boreham Wood of Bowie doing the going Outside tour to celebrate our having to stay in!!!

If you're a Bowie fan (who isn't?) then you NEED this! It is little short of a staggering piece of work. The band here are just exceptional and from the trio that is Dorsey, Gabrels and Alomar can do no wrong for me but augmented with keyboard player Mike Garson and the rest (Peter Schwartz - Synthesizer. Zack Alford - Drums and George Simms on Backing Vocals) this band is tight as a gnats chuff (musical technical term)

Enjoy and TURN IT UP! Superb stuff! This made my day . . . . . . . 

Thanks Jobe!

Bowie:OUTSIDE Tour Rehearsals 1995 - Voodoo Wagon

 SANDY DENNY

A nice set from Sandy Denny from Enoch over at Floppy Boot Stomp. A bit 'noisy' but highly listenable and well worth having as there are scant few recordings of her these days and while standards are improving all the time this is from 1977 so not faultless but really nice to have. Thanks guys at FBS and Enoch in particular . . . . . . 

Denny is of course a tragic figure in folk and taken way too early but drinking, drugs and poor mental health took her way too early. The substance abuse possibly as some early misguided attempt to self medicate and this caused breakdowns of relationships with bandmates, friends and most notably with her husband, fellow musician Trevor Lucas who after this concert here, eventually fled with their daughter Georgia, back to his native Australia fearing for their daughter's safety whilst in the charge of a drunken parent, only to return a short time later to attend the hospital and turn off her life support after a 'fall' down the stairs at her home in Byfield (Northampton) and this, while possibly intoxicated, saw her tragically premature death at 31.

check out the twelve string here

Sound Circus

The Royalty Theatre

 London UK

1977-11-27 

01. Solo

02. The North Star Grassman & The Ravens

03. Nothing More

04. Gold Dust

05. The Sea

06. Tomorrow Is A long Time

07. The Lady

08. Wretched Wilbur

09. Stranger To Himself

10. For Shame Of Doing Wrong

11. One More Time

12. Who Knows Where The Time Goes

Sandy Denny - Vocals

Trevor Lucas - Guitar

Jerry Donahue - Guitar

Pete Wilsher - Steel Guitar

Pat Donaldson - Bass

Dave Mattacks - Drums

Sandy Denny - Live in London1977

Denny was a complex, damaged and vulnerable person and possibly in retrospect what we now would describe as bi-polar (manic depressive at the time) and frequently self harmed often hurling herself off things and down stairs so frequently it became known as her 'party piece' to garner attention. This tour to promote the poorly received last album 'Rendezvous' was completed at the Royalty Theatre and this was the last time she would play in public. 5 months later she was dead. 

 This . . . . . . . . . . 

Emily says:

Lyrics to 'When Stars Cannot Be Found' from my new album, 'A Dark Murmuration of Words'.

Please turn up and sing along!

I wrote this song with my niece who is six years old, my grandparents - sadly no longer with us, and my heroes in mind.

Emily

buy the album here . . .

 ENO

‘Ship In A Bottle’ - first music from the forthcoming Brian Eno album ‘Film Music 1976 – 2020’

 and over at The Voodoo Wagon . . . . . brother Jobe has been in a posting frenzy and listed a positive plethora . . . . . . 

N.B. now I don't normally post things for officially released stuff but these are rarified enough to garner differing re-masters and differing editions it really behoves your attention . . . .although obvs you will have the originals on vinyl like me chez Swappers Mansions (down in the vaults passed the dungeon and round the corner from the Ha-ha . . .you know were 'tis!) so for once  . . . . . .  

have at it yee boundless cads and bounders . . . . . 

amongst others:

a Swapper's favourite Wings : Wild Life "What's gonna happen to, the aminals in the zoo?" 

two (count 'em = 2) Jools Holland big band stuff! including the Swing album . . . . . . 

two (count 'em = 2 ) Everything But the Girl priceless gems

and Elvis' 'Get Happy'

Can't say fairer than that . . . . . .                       or can you? . . . . . . . . . . . .I think not . . . . . . . . 

check this action

Aquarium Drunkard's newsletter is out just now . . . . . . . Highlights including a Lagniappe session including JJ Cale, Swamp Dogg (+ John Prine), Lou Reed interview from the Eighties and of course fuss 'n'n stuff about Bob Dylan's new Theme Time Radio Hour and the Pretty Good Stuff (no 9) . . . . no.9, no. 9 . . . no.9, . . . . no.9

The Lagniappe Sessions: Austin McCutchen
For his first ever Lagniappe Session, Liberty Hair Farm-based Austin McCutchen decided he’d look towards the sky. Recorded in quarantine and produced by Dan Horne, McCutchen’s takes on Jim Sullivan’s “UFO” (ft. Horne) and J.J. Cale’s “Cajun Moon” (featuring the Western Stars) offer us all a little respite from a weary world. 

Transmissions: Swamp Dogg 
Our guest on the latest episode of our weekly talk show Transmissions is Jerry Williams Jr., but if you know your musical cult heroes, you probably know him by the name Swamp Dogg. Since the early ’50s, he’s lived as a true record man—writing songs, producing artists, self-releasing music, and putting out major label flops that have gone on to achieve lost classic status. He’s always walked the line between R&B and country, making a joke of the music industry’s intentional segregating of white and black audiences. His latest is called Sorry You Couldn’t Make It, and it pairs him with producer Ryan Olson, Bon Iver, Jenny Lewis, and the late John Prine. Over the many years, Swamp Dogg has embraced auto-tune, twang, and ambient flourishes. He joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss it all. 

Bob Dylan: Pretty Good Stuff (Episode 9) 
The same week that saw the announcement of the imminent return of Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour saw the release of the penultimate episode Pretty Good Stuff, Dylan historian James Adams’ hour-long, monthly, program diving deep into the depths of all things Dwarf Music. Listen to the show below, and to explore further, support our Patreon for the individual tracks and more.

Lou Reed: The Night Flight Interview 
Want to hear Lou Reed break it down, circa 1984, sharing his thoughts on hip-hop, the Velvet Underground's legacy, Metal Machine Music, and the difference between writing a novel and song? Us too, and this Night Flight interview has got it covered. Via Spotify.