Blues, jazz and country - according to Robert Crumb

The finest musical gift I received on Monday was a beautifully designed book - R Crumb’s Heroes Of Blues, Jazz & Country (Abrams, New York, £10.95/$19.95).

Counter-cultural cartoonist/illustrator Robert Crumb applied his unique talent to drawing/painting portraits of a couple of hundred pre-rock musicians, originally for a series of collectable cards. The cards have been lovingly collated in the book and the artwork complemented by brief biographies.

An already desirable package is completed by a splendid sampler CD from the Yazoo vaults, with tracks by 21 of the musicians, from Skip James to King Oliver, Dock Boggs to Blind Willie McTell.

A lovely piece of art – it’ll be cherished.



Gerry Smith

ABBA: giants among pygmies

Is pop music for grown-ups?

It depends.

Most pop – 95%? - isn’t: it's too trite, too shallow, too dumb. Disposable. Entertainment, not art. Shake yer ass. Sing along. But forget in five minutes.

Some pop IS music for grown-ups. None more so than the great ABBA songbook – a couple of dozen beautifully crafted songs, perfectly executed - unique harmonies, especially the two girls, one mezzo, one soprano; suitably outstanding production.

OK, at their peak, ABBA looked cheesy. Serious music buffs scoffed. Not any more – a quarter of a century on, their music sounds better than ever. It appeals to anyone with the ability to smile.

Last night’s ITV profile, in which supreme ABBA videos and revealing interviews with the quartet were foolishly inter-cut with superfluous talking heads, was a perfect example of great music transcending its milieu.

ABBA were giants among pygmies: most pop music is lightweight trash; ABBA rose above it to produce transcendant music.



Gerry Smith

Best of 2006 (3)

Happy Xmas/winter solstice/holidays to all readers. I’ll be back next Wednesday, 27 December - Gerry Smith


Thanks (again) to Mike Ollier for the second part of his list of the best of 2006:

1. Gigs of the year…

I did manage to get to a good load of gigs this year (compensating for the lack of albums bought), starting the first week with..

· Chuck Prophet ~ All Saints Church, Newcastle. Just Chuck, a Gibson Harmony, an Echoplex and a crowd in a never-to-be-repeated gig.

· Jackie Leven ~ The Cluny, Newcastle. Great songs, great voice, great stories, great guy.

· Tandy ~ Lakeside Lounge, NYC. My favourite band, on their home turf, a great venue in the East Village with a great selection of beers. Oh, and a photobooth!!

· The Pirates ~ Borderline, London. OK, they may be pushing 70 but they rocked big time ~ Britain's own rock n roll heroes from the 60s would put many a band half their age to shame.

Honourable mentions should go to Alejandra Escovedo, Peter Donegan (Lonnie's son) and The Caffrey Brothers and Richard Thompson.


2. BEST gig of the year (though not music): Jerry Sadowitz @ the Soho Theatre in London. Never has the tag line "Not For The Easily Offended" meant it so much!! Glaswegian potty-mouthed comedian/magician in fine form - until the 7th of January. This is magic/comedy most definitely for grown-ups. I justify its inclusion here because the tape being played whilst the venue was filling up included Warren Zevon and Tom Waits, amongst others.



Mike Ollier

Best of 2006 (2)

Thanks to Mike Ollier for his two-part list of the best of 2006 (to be continued):

1. Albums of the year…
I haven't actually bought a lot of "new" albums this year, but here goes…
· Bob Dylan ~ Modern Times. Well, obviously!
· Bruce Springsteen ~ Seeger Sessions. Despite Mr Smith's views I found it engaging and a whole load of fun!
· Tom Waits ~ Bawlers, Brawlers and Bastards. Genius? I think so.
· The Yayhoos ~ Put The Hammer Down. Faces-type rock n roll fun from NYC and Dan Baird and Eric Amble
· Rob Love ~ Ghost Flight. The Alabama 3 leader with a downbeat jazz-inflected Dylan-esque blues/country/gospel/soul album.
· Gurf Morlix ~ Cut & Shoot. Has there ever been a better named guitarist? A full on country album from Lucinda Williams' ex-guitar player.


2. Re-issue/caught-up-with albums of the year…
· Frankie Miller ~ Long Way From Home. Unreleased projects from the early 90s, that voice…
· Various ~ Nuggets. Reissue of the Lenny Kaye compiled Garage Rock compilation.
· Lucinda Williams ~ Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Her 1998 masterpiece with outtakes and a live radio session added.


3. Definitely Not album of the year
· Meatloaf ~ Bat Out Of Hell Part 7 (or is it 8? 9?). "In the land of the pig the butcher is king?" Eh? Surely in the land of the pig the butcher would be given a right going over. I heard this whilst browsing in a shop, as I did this one...
· The Beatles ~ Love. An abortion. Fair enuff, I'm not actually a Beatles fan but this sounds like Beatles on 45 to me. I would have to say that the actual production sounded fantastic, but I agree with Noel Gallagher (there's a first) who, when asked about it, said "What's the point?"


4. DVD of the year
· Ronnie Lane & the Passing Show. An extended edition of a affectionate BBC Four documentary of the life story of one of the great unsung heroes of acoustic music.

Mike Ollier






What are YOUR top albums/gigs of 2006? I - and Music for Grown-Ups readers - would love to know….

Gerry Smith

Sampling new music: Chris Ward and Simon Stewart

With its focus on celebrating an eclectic range of more or less well-known musicians, Music for Grown-Ups doesn’t normally cover up-and-coming musos.

But, in the spirit of the winter Solstice, here are sound samples sent by readers from two musos you’ll probably never have heard of, but might decide to investigate further.

Thanks to Martin Grant for recommending Chris Ward, who gigs in Donegal, Martin’s ancestral home:

www.pringlesunsung.com/submissions/view/533

And to Simon Stewart, who says: “I am a singer/songwriter very much inspired by the musicians that you cite (especially Dylan and Cole Porter; and Tom Waits!). I thought you may be interested in hearing my songs.

“Longman Records is releasing my debut album in June 2007. I thought I'd let you know in advance. The album is produced by label founder Richard Durrant (an excellent concert guitarist).

“Longman are currently offering two of my songs as free downloads at:

www.longman-records.com/

“There are also a further two available for purchase.”

Best of 2006 (1)

Thanks to Ed Stofko for kicking off the series with his list of the best albums of 2006:

“As the year winds down here is a list of my Best of 2006, in no particular order:

Jim Lauderdale - Super Country Hits Vol 1.
Watermelon Slim and the Workers
Kris Kristofferson - Live on Austin City Limits.
Dr. John - Mercenary.
Patti Staton - His Hands.
Dave Alvin - West of the West.
Bob Dylan - Modern Times.
Jerry Lee Lewis - Last Man Standing.
Bonnie Bramlett - Roots, Blues and Jazz.
The Black Keys - Magic Potion.


“Honorable Mentions:

Willie Nelson - You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker.
Willie Nelson - The Complete Atlantic Sessions.
Eric Burdon - Soul Of A Man.
BR549 - Dog Days.
The Hacienda Brothers - What's Wrong With Right.”



What are YOUR top albums/gigs of 2006? I - and many Music for Grown-Ups readers - would love to know….



Gerry Smith

The Doors – a fitting tribute

Though the Doors were an immensely influential rock band, they go in and out of fashion. Most of the time, they’re the favourites of ageing hippies and a few younger retro fans, but, periodically, they re-enter the poprock mainstream.

The Doors’ incandescent catalogue is about to get another wider airing with an impressive series of releases.

Perception, a (second) box set of the six Doors albums, with bonus material, has already sold out – even before becoming visible in the UK, even in the biggest retail outlets.

The double disc sampler, Legacy – The Absolute Best, looks like a worthwhile second best for disappointed fans outside the USA; the 33 remastered tracks include nine which were omitted from the preferred previous compilation, The Best Of The Doors, even from the 2CD European version.

A new coffee table book, The Doors By The Doors, edited by Ben Fong-Torres (Hyperion) looks very tempting, too.

And there are rumours of a new DVD box set: watch Music for Grown-Ups for details.

If you have yet to catch up on The Doors, the recommended albums are the first, The Doors, and the last, LA Woman.



Gerry Smith

Major release from the vaults of John Lee Hooker, blues master

While always open to new blues singers, I tend towards the view that the genre peaked from about 1945 to 1965, and then died a long, lingering death. So most of the blues releases which are vital to me are reissues of material up to fifty years old.

Highlight of 2006’s blues releases has to be the sumptuous new repackaging of the catalogue of one of the blues masters, John Lee Hooker.

His (messy, confusing, mammoth) catalogue gets a long-awaited career-spanning retrospective in Hooker, a new 4CD box, which tracks the great man all the way from his late 1940s raw solo material, through his 1960s success, decline in the 1970s and his late-career blossoming, when middle-aged rock stars from Van the Man to Clapton were queuing up to pay tribute.

Hooker: highly recommended.


Gerry Smith

Satanic Stones - maybe, but rather less than majestic

Grappling with how many tracks from a few weaker Rolling Stones albums to add to my iTunes collection, I’ve been listening carefully to Their Satanic Majesties Request, for the first time in a quarter of a century.

Yes, the psychedelic extravaganza has a few strong songs – notably She’s A Rainbow and 2000 Light Years From Home - but most of it sounds even weaker than it did on release in 1967 – ill-conceived, indulgent, crying out for a strong producer with the power to say “No!”.

Checking out critical approval for my rejection of most tracks, I re-read Acid Reign, a long article praising the album by Dave DiMartino, in 2003’s MOJO Special Edition, marking the band’s 40th Anniversary.

Now I’m all for contrarian views on music. But I just can’t believe that DiMartino was being entirely serious: “one of the strongest albums in the band’s catalogue, and maybe even one of the strongest albums of the ‘60s… throughout, an absolute delight… “

After several listens, my own considered reaction to Satanic Majesties echoes that of Keefe, quoted near the end of the article – “a load of crap.”

With Satanic Majesties, the Stones made the strategic error of following the Beatles, and recorded their weakest album of all.

No coincidence, I’d say.




Gerry Smith

Jackie Leven – take 2

Following last week’s championing of Jackie Leven by Mike Ollier, I pulled from the Music for Grown-Ups Archive this appreciation by another smitten reader, Alan Ewart:



Jackie Leven for beginners

Alan Ewart writes:

Jackie Leven grew up in a Scotland of dying coalfields and a declining textile industry. His unique body of work has traces of the different musics he heard as a child - jazz and blues at home, Protestant hymns at school, and the folk songs of his native Fife. They all add substance to his powerfully evocative song writing.

Leven's first album, Control, in the early '70s, was released under the pseudonym John St. Field. In the late '70s, he moved south, to Dorset, forming the outstanding rock band, Doll By Doll. They made five strong albums between 1978 and 1982 - Remember, Gypsy Blood, Doll By Doll, Grand Passion and A Last Flick of the Golden Wrench - though the last album was never released. Tired of trying to make a breakthrough in the days of punk and disco, Doll By Doll disbanded in 1982.

Jackie Leven went solo, but in 1983 he was attacked in a North London street, and was left with severe damage to his larynx. Unable to sing or even speak, Leven turned to drink and drugs. In 1985, he turned his experience to positive use by founding the Core Trust, a treatment centre for addicts, focussing on alternative therapies for beating addiction.

Leven resumed his career in the mid-'90s, with a string of superbly crafted albums. His songs draw richly on his own experiences and he frequently alludes to the darker side of life. He sings about death from heroin (Poortoun), the perils of drink (Classic Northern Diversions) and violence (Extremely Violent Man). At the heart of his attraction as a musician is the contrast between his often dark subject matter and the beauty of his singing and playing.

These dark songs are only a part of his work, however. If I had to categorise Jackie Leven's music, I would describe it as Celtic Soul. Many of his songs (Your Winter Days, Ancient Misty Morning) draw pictures of lyrical beauty (in the way of Van Morrison). Others tell of love lost (Exit Wound). He frequently draws American and Russian poetry into his work (last year's Shining Brother, Shining Sister). His respect for the written word led to collaboration with poet Robert Bly and writer Ian Rankin. In fact, Rankin has written a short story, Jackie Even Said, which they will perform together at this month's Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow.

Go and buy an album (my favourites are Fairy Tales for Hardmen, Defending Ancient Springs, and Shining Brother, Shining Sister). Better still, get out and see this rewarding musician, live. Jackie Leven's shows are always entertaining, offering well-crafted songs, unusual guitar playing and hilarious storytelling: most definitely music for grown-ups!

Jackie Leven is a friendly, accessible man. I recently sent him CDR copies of a couple of his shows I'd recorded. By return of post, he sent me a signed copy of his self-written fan magazine (The Haunted Valley) and a letter of thanks. Annual subscription to the magazine is only £14 and the price includes an exclusive fan club-only CD: how's that for value?

If you are interested in seeing him live, he will be performing at a Leven internet list-organised charity event on the weekend of 18/19/20 June 2004: a midsummer party in Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Activities Centre, Manor Farm Country Park, Bursledon, Hants. Accommodation is available in log cabins in the forest. It will be a great weekend (and very reasonably priced).

Two cheers for theJazz, new digital radio station

TheJazz is a new digital radio station launching in the UK on Christmas Day. It claims it will play music from across the jazz spectrum, including bebop, swing, cool jazz, trad, blues, and modern jazz. Artists featured on the station are set to include Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Charles Mingus, Louis Armstrong, Weather Report, Branford Marsalis, Denys Baptiste, Jamie Cullum, Diana Krall and Madeleine Peyroux.

The new station will be broadcast on DAB digital radio, online at theJazz.com and on Sky and ntl:Telewest. So it’s a global, rather than a national, resource. The station’s PR says it will be engaging existing jazz fans and new listeners by asking the question ‘What is Jazz?’ Listeners will be asked to vote online for their top three jazz tracks – with results broadcast over the Easter weekend, in theJazz 500, a countdown of the UK listeners’ all-time greatest jazz music.

Promising. So why does it raise only two cheers in this parish? Well, because it’s being launched alongside Classic FM. And, fair enough, “Classic FM has taken classical music into the mainstream”, so theJazz might well succeed in its stated aim of “making jazz a part of everyday life in the UK”

The trouble is, I never listen to Classic FM, vastly preferring the original, less popular, classic music station, BBC Radio 3 – my station of choice.

I don’t like Classic FM’s narrower range of music. Or its focus on “soothing”, “beautiful” music. Or its programming of bite-sized chunks of music, the catchy hum-along bits instead of complete works. Or its middlebrow, mainstream tone. Or the relentless adverts (which tell you all you need to know about the audience for any media outlet).

Will I listen to theJazz? I’d like to think so. I’ll certainly give it a fair hearing over Christmas. But if, as feared, it turns out to be a Jamie Cullum/Kenny G jazz-lite station, with token coverage of the serious end of the jazz canon, then I’ll have stopped listening well before the New Year. I might end up applauding it, as I do Classic FM, for taking great music to new listeners, while ignoring it completely for personal listening.



Gerry Smith

Dylan, Stones, Jackie Leven and The Pirates

Thanks to Mike Ollier:

“A big thanx for putting that Dylan/Stones link up... great. And Bob smiled! Or perhaps he had wind? Now then, if we could get a video of both Van Morrison and Bob smiling together, wow that would be great!

“Your comments about why we should read other views about Dylan/Beatles etc is pertinent: I subscribe to UNCUT and I'm about sick of lists, Q&A from readers, stupid top 100s etc ~ it's called lazy journalism, in my book. They can't be arsed to pay someone or research something themselves. And when it comes to Xmas, the lists just hit the roof ~ reviews of the "best of the year" that I've already paid for previously...

“Saw Jackie Leven last night... exceptional artist ~ better 'celtic soul' than Van has mustered for many a year. Catch him (if you haven't already); not only is he a great singer, a great guitarist and a great performer... he is also very, very funny. His albums are superb and beautifully packaged and the man is a joy to speak with.

“Finally off back to London next weekend... Fopp an obvious stop! The Pirates @ The Borderline on Saturday evening. Oh yes!”


(And Mike isn’t the first correspondent on Music for Grown-Ups to speak so highly, unprompted, of Jackie Leven… - Gerry Smith)

Best ever value for grown-up music buyers

The way you read it in the press, music retailing is all bad news at the moment - those High St shops which have survived the triple onslaught of downloading, Internet retailing, and supermarket discounting (and many haven’t) – are having to cut prices still further.

From where I stand, this is excellent news. It’s a jungle out there, and there are phenomenal bargains about.

Recent purchases include:

* The Very Best of Elvis Costello 2CD, £3.97 at Woolworths

* The Hour Of Bewilderbeast, by Badly Drawn Boy, £6.99 at Borders

* Leaders Of The Free World, by Elbow, £3 at Fopp.

Total: under £14. Ten years ago that lot would have cost me £40-50.

Viva competition!


Gerry Smith

Dylan/Stones’ Like A Rolling Stone: rock’s highest peak

Thanks to Gerhard Bonhoffer for alerting me to the video clip from You Tube of Dylan as a guest of the Rolling Stones at a gig in Brazil, on the band’s Bridges To Babylon tour.

The sight of the Poet Laureate of Rock n Roll duetting with Sir Jack Flash, the greatest rock performer of them all, fronting rock’s best live band, on the best rock song ever written, brought tears to my eyes. Almost seven minutes of uncontrollable joy: a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Even on a computer screen.

Is this video clip the highest peak of rock music? I think so.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTqEW2em0u4



Gerry Smith

Live Licks from the Rolling Stones

The Live Licks double album from the Rolling Stones garnered lukewarm-to-poor reviews on release a couple of years ago, and it’s now retailing at a giveaway £5.

Despite the omens, it’s a surprisingly strong album and an absolute must-have at that price. CD1 has the usual stadium crowd-pleasers, but CD2 consists entirely of semi-rarities.

If you’re a Stones fan, you need Live Licks. It comes in two different sleeves – on one the rock chick animation is wearing a bikini; on the other, she’s discarded the top half. Ooooh, those saucy Stones - still rebels after all these years.



Gerry Smith

Oasis v Beatles

It came as a mild surprise that, in the housewife-and-kids-driven top pop racks in the supermarkets I frequent, the new Oasis hits compilation seems to be consistently outselling the new Beatles release.

Neither album is likely to trouble the Music for Grown-Ups trolley, you understand - let’s make that quite clear.



Gerry Smith

Bjork – 10 recommended downloads

The Daily Telegraph, allegedly the favoured news source of ageing English Home Counties conservatives, has made laudable efforts to lose its fuddy duddy image in recent years, and nowhere more so than in its increasingly catholic arts coverage.

The Thursday edition carries a substantial, eclectic music section, which is always worth a glance on the web page. The Perfect Playlist feature, recommending ten tracks by that week’s subject, often covers music for grown-ups, among some ill-chosen riff-raff.

Last Thursday’s Perfect Playlist covered ten recommended tracks to sample the catalogue of the wonderful Bjork, from her early Icelandic days with The Sugarcubes, to 2004’s Medulla. Nice article, and the site invites you to download the tracks for about £10.

If you still think of The Daily Telegraph as merely a rest home for Olde Fartes, perhaps it’s time to think again.


www.telegraph.co.uk



Gerry Smith

Joan Sutherland celebrations

A contemporary of Callas, Joan Sutherland is preferred to the Greek-American by many hardcore opera buffs. The Aussie soprano, who’s celebrating her 80th birthday, had a voice with few equals, with consistency that her more celebrated contemporary could only dream about.

The BBC has been paying its respects to the great singer with a fine three and a half hour sequence on Radio 3 last week (you can still catch it via Radio 3’s Listen Again button), to be followed by a one-hour TV documentary on BBC Four this Friday.

The TV doc promises to rescue a new Legends series that has until now been a music for grown-ups-free zone. The first three nostalgiafests have featured '40s/'50s Britbabes Alma Coogan, Petula Clark and Vera Lynn. No kidding. Music for Very Very Olde Fartes.

BBC Four used to be a favourite channel of this column, with a succession of inspired, ground-breaking musical broadcasts. But it’s going down the pan, opting instead for lightweight, mainstream show biz. Someone needs to patiently explain to the Four Controller that, in music, “grown-up”, which used to be its undeclared target, isn’t the same as “ageing popster”, which looks like its new focus.


Gerry Smith

Themes/playlists for the Dylan-as-DJ series on BBC radio

Details of the themes of the 30-odd Dylan-DJ’d radio programmes to be re-broadcast on BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music, plus playlists for each episode, are available on the excellent specialist website, Not Dark Yet.

So you can savour the riches even before the broadcasts start in late December.

http://www.notdarkyet.org/themetime.html



Gerry Smith

BBC to broadcast Dylan’s US radio series

BBC Radio has bought the XM Satellite Theme Time Radio Hour series, for broadcast on both Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music (digital channel, on DAB and Freeview).

Radio 2 leads off, with six of the shows over Christmas - starting Saturday 23 December 2006 and running to Thursday 28 December at 1900 (except 1700 on Xmas Eve), and then weekly from 21 March. BBC 6 Music broadcasts the whole series first, starting on 31 December at 2100 and then Friday nights from 12 January.

Theme Time Radio Hour With Your Host Bob Dylan features an eclectic mix of music, interviews and commentary. Themes include weather, including an challenging range of classics, from The Wind Cries Mary by Jimi Hendrix to Keep On The Sunny Side by The Carter Family. It's essential listening for those keen to understand the roots of Dylan's muse. And a coup for the BBC: in particular, it will raise 6 Music's low profile.

The good news for listeners outside the UK is that Radio 2 streams its output over the web, and then leaves programmes up for seven days after broadcast.

The Dylan juggernaut shows no sign of slowing down. None whatsoever. Yippee!


Gerry Smith

New issue of free MUSIC for GROWN-UPs newsletter - Nov 2006

Here’s a copy of the latest issue of the free MUSIC for GROWN-UPs newsletter, mailed to subscribers yesterday. To ensure you receive your own copy of future issues, please register as a subscriber, by typing your email address in the box in the left column of the web site - www.musicforgrownups.co.uk

It’s 100% music for grown-ups! It’s free! You can unsub at any time!



MUSIC for GROWN-UPs - celebrating the great musicians - from Sinatra to the Stones, Miles to Mozart, Dylan to David Bowie, Beck to Bjork, and Coltrane to Cole Porter.

Exclusive news and views, emailed to registered subscribers.
Editor: Gerry Smith (email: editorial@musicforgrownups.co.uk)

The articles listed in this newsletter are published in full in the DAILY UPDATE on the web site: http://www.musicforgrownups.co.uk


*** Please forward this issue to anyone who might be interested ***


NEW ARTICLES ON MUSIC for GROWN-UPs - http://www.musicforgrownups.co.uk

* Bryan Ferry tour? Naah!
* Springsteen in the Rustbelt
* Catch this: music for grown-ups highlights on radio this week
* Top 100 albums - a grown-up free zone
* Sunken Treasure - Jeff Tweedy live in the Pacific Northwest

* Neil Young - Phoenix rising from the ashes
* Lucinda Williams - aided by a very special guest - lights up London
* Digital radio - little music for grown-ups
* New Waterboys album (and label)
* New hits compilations filling the supermarket shelves

* Roger McGuinn's mesmerising London gig
* Anna Netrebko, continued
* Tonight's Netrebko/Villazon London gig: big mistake
* James Hunter - overnight sensation!
* Bob Dylan - the Musical

* An (almost) ideal free intro to the genius of Miles Davis
* Nailed at last: the recorded legacy of the Rolling Stones
* The Waterboys - The Platinum Collection: underwhelming
* Marvellous Miles Davis series on radio this week
* Five hours of Miles Davis on radio next week

* New Beck, Sting, Mozart, Sinatra releases
- cures for the autumn-time blues
* Rough Guide To Bob Dylan - competition winners
* Stones, Herbie Hancock, Shostakovich
- fending off the autumn-time blues
* Dylan's support to include Raconteurs
* The Rolling Stones in the Noughties - a wealth of new product

* Top Dadrockers Young and Morrison release heritage live recordings
* Boots of Spanish plastic?
* Van the Man in Spain
* Free copy of the new Rough Guide to Bob Dylan
* Win a free copy of the new Rough Guide to Bob Dylan

* Trilogy box sets from Warner now heavily discounted
* Beck celebrated on BBC 6Music
* A superlative Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
* Viva Bryan Ferry
* At last! Van Morrison on DVD

* Electric Mud - another prime Muddy Waters set
* The Byrds and Free reissues: why?
* Magnificent Mozart - must-hear new CDs
* Black pop music - then and now
* Prime Muddy Waters box - at a bargain price

* The Fall for Beginners
* Post-Punk under the microscope in recommended new book
* The Fall - finally, the penny drops
* High praise for the new Rough Guide to Bob Dylan
* Tupac's hip-hop legacy

* Buddy Holly's genius commemorated
* Viva Roxy! Roxy Music re-discovered


PREVIOUSLY ON MUSIC for GROWN-UPs - http://www.musicforgrownups.co.uk

* Last Night of The Proms - praying for rain
* A magnificent Mahler
* The Buddy Holly story on Radio 2
* Van the Jazz Man in new issue of Ronnie Scott's mag
* Radio for Grown-Ups

* Modern Times reviews: Slate the pick of the bunch
* Joe Zawinul, Roy Ayers, Allen Toussaint, De La Soul for Jazz Café
* New product from John Martyn, 'a huge talent'
* Raving about Modern Times: encore, encore...
* Raving about Modern Times # 2: The Independent

* More high praise for Bob Dylan's new CD, Modern Times
* Radiohead, Morrissey and Beck - victorious at V Festival
* A towering Shostakovich
* Compelling new Columbia Legacy releases
* Best by Miles?

* The decline and re-birth of rock
* Jazzwise 100
* Lowest prices for new Bob Dylan album, Modern Times
* Fopp bargains
* Arthur Lee

* Fopp - changing the face of music buying for grown-ups
* Elisabeth Schwarzkopf RIP
* Stones in France celebrated in special edition of Les Inrocks
* Scarlet Rivera and Rob Stoner, sometime Dylan sidekicks, booked for London
* Sympathy for the Devil: encore

* Pavarotti forced to curtail farewell tour
* More recent Miles product
* Sympathy for the Devil: Godard's Stones film now on DVD


*** NEW - THE DYLAN DAILY - NEW SISTER SITE ***
Just click on: www.dylandaily.com to check it out.

Music for Grown-Ups is fond of Bob Dylan's music - rather too fond,
according to some non-Bobfan correspondents! Because we always have loads of Dylan copy, but feel reluctant to burden Music for Grown-Ups readers who don't share our passion for Bob's art, we've launched a new dedicated sister blog site, The Dylan Daily (www.dylandaily.com).


ADMIN
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And why not bookmark http://www.musicforgrownups.co.uk, to make it easy to re-visit the site? New reviews and commentaries are added to the Daily Update page on the web site every weekday. And Gigs for Grown-Ups and Recommended Recent Releases bring you actionable, up-to-date news of live music and new products.

MUSIC for GROWN-UPs is delivered free, by email, once a month. You can access the full content of this newsletter much earlier - as it is published - in DAILY UPDATE on the web site:
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(c) Music for Grown-Ups Ltd 2006

Bryan Ferry tour? Naah!

When the ticket agent’s forthcoming gigs list included a short March 2007 English tour by the estimable Bryan Ferry, I was sorely tempted. For about five minutes.

After all, hadn’t I just got back into the wonderful Ferry/Roxy Music catalogue, after ignoring it for 20 summers? Platinum Collection 3CD set was my constant in-car companion in August. And the provincial venues – Sage Gateshead, Harrogate Centre and the like – are tempting, smallish gigs…

But wait a minute. The London venue’s the dreadful Albert Hall. And think of the probable setlist – it has to be a heritage nostalgia set, unless Bryan has some new recordings up his sleeve. So it’s likely to be a well-scrubbed Boomer poprock audience. The kind of ageing adolescents who attend Elton and Rod gigs. And clap to the beat, sway their fat hips, nod their grey/bald heads, singing along to the choruses. I’d rather mix with bag ladies.

And Bryan Ferry - solo - isn’t a patch on Roxy Music. Never was. The magic’s in the mix of disparate talents.

I’d jump at the chance to see a Roxy Music gig supporting a new release, but Bryan solo, singing oldies (which were oldies when he first recorded them)? No thanks: I’ll save the £50 and savour the inspirational back catalogue instead.



Gerry Smith

Springsteen in the Rustbelt

Thanks to Bernard McGuinn, Van Morrison aficionado who recently branched out:

“I went to see Springsteen last week at Sheffield Hallam Arena. I’d bought the tickets a lifetime ago, as a treat for my son, Adam, who'd expressed a wish to see him live. Of course, my son, the guitar hero, was clearly fixated on the E Street Band with Nils Lofgren and Steve Van Zandt - and Bruce is currently touring with his folk revival band performing the Pete Seeger stuff. So I was a bit wary about how he might respond.

“Of course, in the event, I needn't have worried: 17 people on stage, including Bruce, in a 14,000 sold-out hangar of a venue, and Bruce sang us home for a wondrous two and a half hour concert, with barely a second wasted.

“The band, and singers, well-knit yet loose, delivering the goods in a relaxed, happy fashion. The joy of seeing singer, band and audience all just loving it! He even included a nod to Sheffield's lost steel industry before performing Youngstown for the first time on this Euro tour, and a mention of wife Patti at home with teenage boys, before launching into Growin' Up. A memorable father/son moment for me.

“The highpoint of the concert was an unforgettable rendition of Devils and Dust. It really highlighted the power of live performance, in that the album of that name offers a good recording of a decent song, and yet, when I heard it live, it just connected emotionally on a whole new level.

“The song ended with a close-up shot of Bruce's eyes on the plasma screens. A heart-moving moment, so reminiscent of the way Van Morrison transported me in days of yore. And, irony of ironies, the pre-show gathering for a quick beer sported a healthier contingent of Van hardcore fans than has been seen at some of his UK shows lately. Try as I might, I couldn't spot where Bruce keeps his digital clock!”

Music for grown-ups on radio this week

This week’s recommended music for grown-ups on English radio (also available worldwide via the Internet and for seven days via Listen Again):

* Mon-Fri: 1200-1300: Composer of the Week: George Gershwin, BBC Radio 3

* Wed: 1930-2300: La Stupenda! Joan Sutherland Evening, BBC Radio 3

* Fri: 2330-0100: recent Dave Holland London gig, BBC Radio 3.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3



Gerry Smith

Top 100 albums – a grown-up free zone

It’s a struggle to find a single album for grown-ups in the latest Top 100, a ranking of poprock albums by UK sales compiled by the Official UK Charts Company for broadcast on VH1 at the weekend.

Maybe Bob Marley’s Legend qualifies, but it’s in a minority of one. Though I like it enormously, Abba’s Gold – Greatest Hits is hardly music for grown-ups.

Nothing by Dylan… the Rolling Stones… Neil Young… Van the Man… Joni Mitchell… Laughing Lennie.. the Smiths… Joy Division… Roxy Music… the Fall… you could go on listing the worthy missing for ages.

So, what makes the Hot 100? You really wouldn’t want to know - suffice to say it’s wall-to-wall crap. Further proof, if it were needed, that there really is no accounting for popular taste. Or, to put it more bluntly, most music buying is infantile.



Gerry Smith

Sunken Treasure - Jeff Tweedy live in the Pacific Northwest

Thanks to James Ketchell for his review of the new Jeff Tweedy DVD:

Sunken Treasure, a solo DVD from Jeff Tweedy, the Wilco frontman, has been released to tie fans over until the much-anticipated new studio album from the alt.country boys comes out in April.

Alone on stage with an acoustic guitar and harmonica, Tweedy’s vulnerability, sensitivity and love of performance shine through Christoph Green’s film. The cameras have a tendency to lovingly linger on the spotlit Tweedy. The quality of the filming is beyond reproach with the rich warm colours filtering through, in stark contrast to Wilco’s 2000 film, I am Trying to Break Your Heart.

The film follows Tweedy to Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Arcata and San Francisco, featuring performances from all of these concerts. In between we are offered mini-interview sequences and excellent travelling shots of the beautiful Pacific Northwest countryside. He answers questions on the art of and his approach to performing, his songs and the touring life. It all adds up to a compelling look at the life of Jeff Tweedy – musician and performer.

The song selection is eclectic, featuring material from throughout his career with Uncle Tupelo and Wilco. Minus the layered guitars, sounds and studio bells and whistles associated with modern Wilco, these become tender folk songs. Tweedy has previously stated that all of his songs start off as folk songs and this statement rings entirely true after seeing this DVD. ‘I am Trying to Break your Heart’, ‘Summerteeth’, ‘Theologians’ stripped to their bare bones seem to have lost none of their power. The songs in this context also allow the viewer to focus on the quality of Tweedy’s lyrics, which, as far as this reviewer is concerned, have no equal in modern popular rock music.

The later songs on this DVD, ‘Airline to Heaven’, ‘Heavy Metal Drummer’ and ‘War on War’ also feature Wilco’s drummer, Glen Kotche, and guitarist Nels Cline, to add some flavour and texture, but the mood remains ‘unplugged’, so to speak. The DVD ends with ‘Acuff Rose’ sung solo by Tweedy without a microphone to a concert hall in complete silence and awe.

Perhaps the greatest achievement of this film is in challenging and redefining the image of Tweedy as an arrogant, introspective and difficult performer. His on-stage banter is at times hilarious, and even if he loses his temper at the talkative crowd of Portland, one gets the feeling that he just wants to be the best entertainer possible.

Also featured are 24 exclusive audio downloads of the songs, along with some extra tracks. In the past Wilco have not been afraid of using the internet and new technologies to offer their fans more, and this DVD is no different.

Sunken Treasure is a must for any Wilco fan, country fan and music fan. You will be pleasantly surprised by the power and quality of this film. If there is one criticism of the DVD is that it ends all to quickly with the viewer longing for more. Still, with only five months or so to go until a new studio album in April, the wait won’t be too difficult to deal with.

Neil Young – Phoenix rising from the ashes

Neil Young has always been welcome on my sound system. I even stuck with him through his ‘80s drought. But in recent years his shrill preaching has turned me off - I don’t take Young seriously as a thinker and I’m not open to the political ramblings of multi-millionaire pop stars, anyway. So I wouldn’t give you threepence for Greendale or that CD written around an anti-US foreign policy rant

But Neil Young affairs are looking up again, with a desirable new CD this week, and a must-buy new DVD next week.

Live At The Fillmore East, the first release of the Neil Young Archives Performance Series, is a CD of Young/Crazy Horse concerts on March 6/7 1970 at New York's Fillmore East. The nights featured Young with the original lineup of Crazy Horse: Danny Whitten (guitar, vocals), Ralph Molina (drums, vocals), Billy Talbot (bass) and Jack Nitzsche (electric piano).

There’s a single CD album, and a CD/DVD, which has a Hi-Res Stereo version of the album, along with rare photos from the concert, handwritten song lyrics, archival press articles and memorabilia.

And then, on Nov 20, next Monday, there’s the release of Heart Of Gold, the DVD shot in Nashville last year.

Rave on, Mr Shakey…




Gerry Smith

Lucinda Williams – aided by a very special guest - lights up London

Thanks to Anne Ritchie for her report on Friday night’s rearranged Lucinda Williams show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire:

“Like many fans, daughter Lucy and I approached tonight’s rearranged Lucinda Williams show with some trepidation: would she cancel, like last time?

“No worries. Lucinda turned up, and she was in the form of her life. She gave one of the strongest gigs of the hundreds I’ve seen – a joyous, engaging, energetic, even voluptuous, performance, by a musician from the very top drawer.

“Despite (because of?) a heavy cold, her voice was even huskier than normal, the perfect timbre for her unique brand of whatever is the female equivalent of c*ck rock.

“She was up for this one from her entrance. She thrilled the rapt crowd by dipping into virtually her entire catalogue and even trailered some new material from West, the next album. I mis-heard it as “Lust” when she first announced the title. It seemed like a good Lucinda album label.

“The show was already in the ‘classic’ bracket when, towards the finale, she brought on a special guest: Bruce Springsteen, no less.

"Bruce, in London for his Seeger Sessions gig at Wembley, traded bluesy riffs on guitar. He didn’t sing, but his mere presence lifted an already great show into the stratosphere.”

Digital radio – little music for grown-ups

The new generation of Anglo radio stations – variously available via DAB Digital Radio, digital TV and the Net – have massively multiplied listening options.

But, as far as grown-up music is concerned, it’s another case of “97 channels and nothing on”. Of the dozens of newly available DAB poprock channels, only Planet Rock, The Arrow and XFM stand out from the legions of Top 40/easy listening clones. On Freeview, only BBC 6Music pulled me in to sample.

I won’t be listening to any of them.

And there’s no single jazz, serious classical or world channel to sample. Not one.

Digital radio presents a major opportunity for niche music programming. But, in England at least, it’s a major missed opportunity.



Gerry Smith

New Waterboys album (and label)

Waterboys fans will be pleased that the band have signed to West 14, part of Universal Records, who will release the new Waterboys album in Spring 2007.

I, for one, feel that Waterboys product is not as prominent as it should be. There is confusion in the catalogue. The 1980s album re-releases were overpriced. Product of the last five years or so has been weak. As a result, Mike Scott/Waterboys are punching below their weight. They're one of Britain's top bands, but you'd hardly know it.

West 14 is run by John Williams, who worked with the Waterboys during their time at Chrysalis Records, and who also produced a classic mid-1980s radio session for the band, later included on the album 'The Secret Life Of The Waterboys'.

It marks a return to a major label for the Waterboys, whose last two albums, 'Universal Hall' and 'Karma To Burn' were on their own Puck Records. Here's hoping it marks a return to form, too.

Mike Scott and co-producer (and Waterboys manager) Philip Tennant are currently close to finishing the new Waterboys album, which features ten songs, including "Everybody Takes A Tumble" and 'The Crash Of Angel Wings" both of which have featured on the band's recent concert tours. The album is as yet untitled.

Musicians include Steve Wickham, Richard Naiff, drummers Brady Blade and Jeremy Stacey, bassman Mark Smith, electric guitarist Leo Abrahams, long-time Waterboys alumni Roddy Lorimer (trumpet) and Chris Bruce (electric guitar), and members of Vancouver band Great Aunt Ida.


Gerry Smith

New hits compilations filling the supermarket shelves

Looks like Xmas is approaching, as the supermarket shelves have suddenly filled up with discounted new greatest hits CDs. Product which could tempt my plastic to peek out from my Filofax includes new compilations such as:

· Jamiroquai – High Times, Singles 1992-2006
· The Clash - Singles Box
· Charlatans – Forever, The Singles
· Moby – Go!
· (Paul) Weller - Hit Parade (DVD)
· Abba - Number Ones
· PJ Harvey - Peel Sessions
· Siouxie & Banshees - ditto
· REM – And I Feel Fine, Best of the IRS Years

This is an unusually strong week for new top pop product.



Gerry Smith

Roger McGuinn in mesmerising London gig

Thanks to James Ketchell:

“Legendary front man and lead guitarist of the Byrds, Roger McGuinn came to London on Tuesday night. Playing solo for the whole gig, he came on to the familiar strains of the Byrds’ version of Mr Tambourine Man, and the 500-strong crowd at the intimate University College London Bloomsbury Theatre cheered ecstatically.

“He then put the electric guitar to one side and played his custom-made seven string Martin acoustic guitar. Playing songs from throughout his career he prefaced them with little stories.

“McGuinn told us about meeting Dylan, his work with Peter Fonda and Dylan on ‘Ballad of Easy Rider’, his love of the Beatles and how they, in his mind, invented folk rock, and some jokes about banjos. (What’s the difference between a Harley Davidson and a banjo? You can tune a Harley). His immense heart, humour and warmth came through and, coupled with his excellent guitar work, could not have left anyone in the theatre unmoved.

“Highlights were an amazing ‘Eight Miles High’, where his guitar work was simply mesmerising. Mixing flamenco licks, Ravi Shankar-esque work and folk guitar picking, it was a musician’s tour de force and reminded everyone in attendance what a talented guitarist he really is.

“Other songs of note included ‘You Ain’t Going Nowhere’, originally by Dylan but played on their country record, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, a cover of Woody Guthrie’s ‘Pretty Boy Floyd’ and an intense ‘St James Infirmary Blues’.

“He returned for the encore to much applause; picking up the electric guitar, he blitzed his way through ‘Chimes of Freedom’ and ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’, encouraging the crowd to sing along and participate. The “A time for war, a time for peace” line in ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ got a loud cheer from the ageing ‘hippy’ crowd.

“It was a wonderful way to spend a cold Hallowe’en night in London. Next time he visits these shores, be sure to get yourself a ticket. You will not be disappointed.”

Anna Netrebko, continued

Reader Penelope Farthing takes me to task for my dismissive report of last night’s Netrebko/Villazon London gig – “Anna is the best female singer alive today…”, she claims…

Well, Pen, you’re welcome to your received opinion. I don’t rate Netrebko quite that highly: yes, she has a beautiful tone, enviable range, and great control. And yes, I’ll book to see her whenever she’s cast at Covent Garden.

But, compared with my faves, particularly Cecilia Bartoli and Renee Fleming, on last night’s evidence, Netrebko lacks presence, she doesn’t engage as much with the material, and I found her diction, especially in French, difficult to follow.

A top soprano, but by no means THE top soprano.



Gerry Smith

Tonight’s Netrebko/Villazon London gig: big mistake

Oh dear! What a wasted evening.

I can only imagine that, when I booked it, the programme was still “To be confirmed”. And that I wrongly assumed that the duo would reprise their fabulously successful La Traviata, heavily promoted by DG on CD/DVD.

Instead, for tonight’s London gig, soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Rolando Villazon performed a selection of crossover Romantic repertoire which can most charitably be described as pap.

How two of the world’s best voices – I’d gladly queue to see both at the Royal Opera House again – could produce a programme which left me utterly unengaged, from first to last, was a puzzle - for a short time. Then the penny dropped: it’s the setlist, stoopid.

Dreadful singaglongapopopera. An attractive young couple skirting around the luuurrvvvv theme. Mediocre musical mush for middle aged, middlebrow, middle class Muppets.

Classic Lite? Keep it: it’s junk.



Gerry Smith

James Hunter – overnight sensation!

People Gonna Talk, James Hunter’s current album having, reportedly, been noticed in the US, the sweet-voiced soul singer is being talked about as an “overnight sensation”.

In fact, he’s been a hard-gigging Brit musician, both as himself and as Howlin’ Wilf, for donkey’s years. I saw him first when he was backing Van Morrison on the great tours which produced A Night In San Francisco, the richly melodic live double CD of 1994, and later, playing to maybe 100 people in The 100 Club, on London’s Oxford Street.

Yes, Hunter’s new CD, People Gonna Talk, is a must-buy. But, then, so was his best album, Believe What I Say - released years ago.

James Hunter: a sensation? Yep. Overnight? The critics who've just discovered him really should get out more.


Gerry Smith

Bob Dylan - the Musical

Short version: no, absolutely not!

Longer version: I wouldn’t go to see the new Broadway musical featuring Dylan songs if the producer arranged a door-to-door return flight by Concorde (RIP) and helicopter, seated me in a premium view box, and arranged a private 30-minute post-show meeting with Dylan himself. (OK, forget the last bit – I might be persuaded).

My musical tastes are reasonably wide, and encompass the fabulous Broadway shows of the great composers, such as Cole Porter. But musicals since the South Pacific era leave me absolutely stone cold: I’ve tried, but I can’t think of modern musicals as anything other than meretricious, middlebrow pap.

The Times… on Broadway? No thanks. Keep it.



Gerry Smith

An (almost) ideal free intro to the genius of Miles Davis

Any reader not yet sharing this site’s passion for the music of Miles Davis can hear what the fuss is all about by accessing the magnificent 5 x 1 hour Composer Of The Week programmes being broadcast by BBC Radio 3 this week. They’re repeated at midnight from Sunday, for five nights; they’re also available on the web for 7 days after broadcast:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3

The playlist has 35 unmissable tracks from across most of the Davis catalogue, plus a first-rate script read by the estimable Donald Macleod. The survey stops at the 1983 release, Decoy, ignoring the late-career jazzpop on Warner - which many despise, but others (fr’instance me, babe) believe to be among Miles’ most telling work. Mistake, but we’ll forgive ‘em. No apologies for listing the entire playlist – this is one of the radio highlights of this or any other year.


Miles Davis (1926-1991)
Part One
Monday 23 October 2006 12:00-13:00 (Radio 3)
Repeated: Monday 30 October 2006 0:00-1:00 (Radio 3)

Donald Macleod explores the compositions of the most influential jazz musician of the 20th century. He looks at Davis's earliest works, written for his collaborations with Charlie Parker, and his partnership with Gil Evans, which led to the groundbreaking Birth of the Cool.
Duration: 1 hour

Playlist

All Blues,
Miles Davis
Album: Miles Davis with John Coltrane:Complete Columbia
Columbia/Legacy AC6K65833
CD4 t9

Donna Lee,
Charlie Parker,
Album: Miles Davis: Young Miles
Proper - Properbox 17
CD1 t8

Milestones,
Miles DavisAlbum: Miles Davis: Young Miles
Proper - Properbox 17
CD1 t12

Half Nelson
Miles Davis
Album: Miles Davis: Young Miles
Proper - Properbox 17
CD2 t17

Boplicity
Miles Davis
Album: Birth of the Cool
Capitol 24353 01172
CD1 t8

Budo
Miles Davis
Album: Birth of the Cool
Capitol 24353 01172
CD1 t5

Down
Miles Davis
Album: Complete All Star Studio Sessions
Definitive DRCD 11237
CD1 t2

The Serpent's Tooth
Miles Davis
Album: Complete All Star Studio Sessions
Definitive: DRCD 11237
CD2 t2

The Leap
Miles Davis
Album: Volume 1
Blue Note 7 81501 2
CD1 t12

Weirdo
Miles Davis
Album Volume 1
Blue Note 7 81501 2, CD1 t14



Part Two
Tuesday 24 October 2006 12:00-13:00 (Radio 3)

Repeated: Tuesday 31 October 2006 0:00-1:00 (Radio 3)

Donald Macleod explores the compositions of the most influential jazz musician of the 20th century, Miles Davis.

By the early 1950s Davis was in the grip of a heroin addiction that threatened to destroy him. But in a supreme act of will he rid himself of the drug and relaunched his career with a new quintet which featured saxophone colossus John Coltrane

Duration:
1 hour

Playlist

Take Off
Miles Davis
Album: Miles Davis Vol. 1
Blue Note CDP 7 851501 2
cd1 T10

Swing Spring
Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants
Album: Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants
Prestige
OJCCD 20 347-2
CD1 t2

Budo
Miles Davis
Album: Miles Davis and John Contrane, Complete Columbia
Columbia AC6K 65833
CD1 t8

The Theme
Miles Davis
Album: Prestige Profiles
Prestige 02498 77024
CD1 t9

Miles Ahead
Miles Davis
Album: My Old Flame
Chant Du Monde (Harmonia Mundi)
274 1347.48
CD2 t4

Miles Ahead
Miles Davis
Album: Miles Ahead
Columbia 67397
CD1 t5

Song No. 1
Miles Davis
Album: Quiet Nights
Columbia 67397
CD4 t4

So What
Miles Davis/Gil Evans
Album: Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall
Columbia C2K 65027
cd1 T1



Part Three
Wednesday 25 October 2006 12:00-13:00 (Radio 3)

Repeated: Wednesday 1 November 2006 0:00-1:00 (Radio 3)

Donald Macleod explores the compositions of the most influential jazz musician of the 20th century, Miles Davis.

During the 1950s Miles was changing the nature of jazz composition. For Louis Malle's French film Lift to the Scaffold, he improvised the score to his soundtrack, using small fragments of melodic ideas to construct entire pieces. He also pioneered modal jazz with Milestones, a stepping stone towards the seminal album Kind of Blue.

Duration:
1 hour

Playlist

3/5. During the 1950s Miles was changing the nature of jazz composition. For Louis Malle's French film Lift to the Scaffold, he improvised the score to his soundtrack, using small fragments of melodic ideas to construct entire pieces. He also pioneered modal jazz with Milestones, a stepping stone towards the seminal album Kind of Blue.

Milestones
Miles Davis
Album: Miles Davis with John Contrane.
Columbia AC6K65833
CD3 t3

Sid's Ahead
Miles Davis
Album: Miles Davis with John Contrane
Columbia AC6K 65833
CD3 t4

Sur L'Autoroute
Miles Davis
Album: L'Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud
LP : Philips 6444 507
S1 t3

Chez Le Photographe du motel
Miles Davis
Album: L'Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud
LP: Philips 6444 507
S2 t5

Fran Dance
Miles Davis
Album: Miles Davis with John Contrane
Columbia
AC6k 65833
CD5 t6

Blue in Green
Miles Davis
Album: Miles Davis with John Contrane
Columbia AC6K 65833
CD4 t5

Freddie Freeloader
Miles Davis
Miles Davis with John Contrane
ColumbiaAC6K 65833
CD3 t3



Part Four
Thursday 26 October 2006 12:00-13:00 (Radio 3)

Repeated: Thursday 2 November 2006 0:00-1:00 (Radio 3)

Donald Macleod explores the compositions of the most influential jazz musician of the 20th century, Miles Davis.

Duration:
1 hour

Playlist

Teo
Miles Davis
Album: Miles Davis with John Contrane
Columbia AC6K65833
CD5 t2

Seven Steps to Heaven
Miles Davis
Album: The Columbia Years 1955-1985
Columbia 5055082000
CD2 t8

Eighty One
Miles Davis
Album: ESP
Columbia 467899 2
CD1 t2

Agitation
Miles Davis
Album: ESP
Columbia 467899 2
CD1 t5

Stuff
Miles Davis
Album: Miles Smiles
Columbia CSK 4353
CD1 t8


Part Five
Friday 27 October 2006 12:00-13:00 (Radio 3)

Repeated: Friday 3 November 2006 0:00-1:00 (Radio 3)

Donald Macleod explores the compositions of the most influential jazz musician of the 20th century, Miles Davis.

Miles's later years were plagued by ill health, yet his experiments with fusion, which began with the 1969 Bitches Brew album, once again changed the direction of jazz and pointed the way for a new generation.

Duration:
1 hour

Playlist

5.5 Despite a prolonged period of illness and withdrawal from public life, Miles Davis's last years saw him once again change the face of jazz composition, as he explored rock-fusion and funk.Donald Macleod looks at how Davis's irascible temper accelerated his death, and considers how Kind of Blue in particular changed the way that jazz has been written and performed for almost half a century.

Frelon Brun
Miles Davis:
Album Filles De Kilimanjaro
Columbia. 467088 2
CD 1 t1

It's About that time
Miles Davis
Album: In A Silent Way
Columbia CK 86556
CD1 t2

Miles Runs The Voodoo Down
Miles Davis
Album: Bitches Brew
Columbia 504508-2
CD4 t8

Star on Cicely
Miles Davis
Album: Star People
Columbia 504508-2
CD4 t6

What It Is
Miles Davis
Album: Decoy
Columbia 504508 2
CD4 t2

Flamenco Sketches,
Album: Miles Davis with John ColtraneColumbia AC6K 65833



Five whole hours of pure magic, then.

And absolutely free.




Gerry Smith

Nailed at last: the recorded legacy of the Rolling Stones

Alan Clayson’s new book, The Rolling Stones Album File & Complete Discography (Cassell Illustrated, 464pp, pbk, £14.99), nails the recorded legacy of the finest of all English musicians. It’s a welcome addition to the library of the grown-up music listener.

The companion volume on Bob Dylan was also welcome, though not so necessary. Dylan’s catalogue is straightforward: apart from his brief Asylum interlude, he has been a Columbia recording artist since 1962; there’s no significant difference in Dylan releases around the world; and careful tending of the back catalogue in the Legacy series means that there are no great gaps.

By comparison, the back catalogues of a handful of major artists, notably the Stones and Miles Davis, are notoriously difficult. The Rolling Stones catalogue is, in fact, bewildering.

Confusion reigns because of:
· the Decca/London differences in the early product, which led to different UK and US single, EP and album releases;
· the subsequent split in product when the band moved from Decca/London to their own label, Rolling Stones Records;
· the different labels involved with the Stones – EMI, Atlantic and Virgin have all handled the post-Decca material;
· the intrusion of third party compilers, notably K-Tel and Arcade;
· the Virgin repackaging project in the 1990s;
· the ABKCO remastering project earlier in the Noughties, and
· the new Japanese paper sleeve repackaging project.

I’ve been trying to get to grips with the Stones catalogue, on and off, for 30 years – without once ever feeling confident I’d mastered it.

Now, with Alan Clayson’s new book to hand, I feel I’m almost there. Clayson provides a trustworthy route map through a discographical minefield. I’d find it valuable if it had simply cleared up the mired confusion of the endless Decca compilations of the 1970s. (Tip: Rolled Gold, only ever released on vinyl, in 1975, is the only one you need; it’s a masterpiece).

But Clayson does much, much more than that. He gives you all the detail you’d reasonably expect, on nearly all the Rolling Stones product that’s ever been released in the UK and the US. The inclusion of the lovely album cover artwork is a treat – I’ve had Slow Rollers and No Stone Unturned on tape for years without ever knowing what the hard-to-find original vinyl covers looked like.

And the context and evaluation of the magnificent Rolling Stones legacy, in the Album File part of the book, is worth a careful read: even hardcore Stones fans and collectors will learn something new. Coverage of the individual members’ solo projects is a bonus.

The book ain’t perfect. For example, there’s no mention of the three recent singles boxes; DVD/video – important in the Stones release story – is ignored; and the various reissue projects are crying out for a few pages of the expert explanation that Clayson could contribute. And I’m not overwhelmed, either, by the writing style or the sub-editing of the book.

But these imperfections are minor. Alan Clayson’s The Rolling Stones Album File & Complete Discography is the best introduction to the Stones’ treasure trove that’s been published for 10, possibly even 30, years. It’s a lovely little book. Buy it for the Stones fan in your life – s/he’ll cherish it.



Gerry Smith

The Waterboys – The Platinum Collection: underwhelming

EMI have produced some fine compilations in The Platinum Collection series: triple disc sets, which can be had for about £12, of the best of Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry and Maria Callas, for example, enrich my CD collection.

But EMI’s new 3CD set, The Waterboys – The Platinum Collection is underwhelming. It’s simply a repackaging of three separate albums, Fisherman’s Blues, Room To Roam and This Is The Sea – all prime albums, but all three will surely be already filed on the shelves of virtually all Mike Scott fans.

It’s disappointing that EMI didn’t follow the pattern of earlier issues in The Platinum Collection series.



Gerry Smith

Marvellous Miles Davis series on radio this week

Miles Davis, the five part Composer Of The Week series, got off to an impressive start today as presenter Donald Macleod covered the early years.

The series airs for an hour from mid-day, to Friday. It is repeated for five days from next Sunday, starting at midnight. And the BBC Radio 3 web site will have all the programmes online on its Listen Again feature for seven days after broadcast.

Very, very promising start to what will be a fine series: Composer of the Week excels daily; this Miles series will be one of the highlights of 2006 for grown-up music fans.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3



Gerry Smith

Five hours of Miles Davis on radio next week

Miles Davis fans are in for a treat next week: Davis is the featured artist on BBC Radio 3's magical long-running series, Composer Of The Week, expertly presented by the gently didactic Donald McLeod.

The series airs for an hour from mid-day, Monday to Friday. It is repeated for five days from the Sunday of the following week, starting at midnight. And the BBC Radio 3 web site will have all the programmes online on its Listen Again feature for seven days after broadcast.

Very, very promising: Composer of the Week excels daily; it's the first time I've noted a non-classical musician as subject, though. Fitting choice, then....



Gerry Smith

New Beck, Sting, Mozart, Sinatra releases – cures for the autumn-time blues

As well as some great upcoming live music, the autumnal blues are being cured by some outstanding new record releases for grown-ups, including:

* The Information by Beck,

* Songs From The Labyrinth by Sting,

* Tutto Mozart by Bryn Terfel,

* the Columbia Legacy series, the Great American Songbook, with discs by Sinatra and Louis Armstrong, among others

* John McLaughlin’s Industrial Zen, and

* Ali Farka Toure’s Savane.

Autumn doesn’t seem so forbidding, after all.



Gerry Smith

Stones, Herbie Hancock, Shostakovich fending off the autumn-time blues

The shortening of daylight hours and cooling of the temperature is an annual pain for all lovers of nature and the outdoors, but the torrent of renewed musical activity somehow makes it bearable.

This autumn’s sense of loss is being allayed by, inter alia:

* the new DVD release of Stones In The Park, with all the extras

* the prospect of Herbie Hancock at London’s refurbished Roundhouse

* memories of recent exposure to Shostakovich in two great gigs

* bookings for next week’s Anna Netrebko/Rolando Villazon concert at the Barbican

* tickets for the re-arranged Lucinda Williams show at Shepherds Bush Empire.

Hey, autumn’s not all bad!

Gerry Smith

Dylan’s support to include Raconteurs

American Dylan fans currently flocking to see the great man on his tour to promote Modern Times, the commercially successful and critically acclaimed new album, should take their seats early – Dylan has engaged a trio of hot young bands to open for him.

First off are Kings Of Leon, followed by Foo Fighters and then, later in the tour, the pick of the crop, The Raconteurs, the exciting new combo fronted by the supremely talented Jack White, of White Stripes fame.

The Dylan/Raconteurs shows will be one of the hottest tickets of 2006 in the USA. No doubt about that.


Gerry Smith