I used to work with Abdul Hakeem, the guitarist. He's probably the kindest, most insightful person I have ever known, and was a rock for me when my mother died. So - it's not an act or a gimmick. Thinking about it, it's so rare to find that combination of positive vibes and undeniable talent in music these days. Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Although I think it was displaced for its emotional function by Brian Eno's Discreet music, which I'm sure you're equally familiar with. keep to the Fen Causeway
But I am quite a slut when it comes to music - I'll try anything once and be a repeat offender when it comes to kitsch. Though I still have to be convinced that Richard Hawley is the real thing. You can't be me, I'm taken
I have absolutely no idea about music anymore and I was an obsessive. but I don't think the industry ever recognised how difficult and expensive it is to keep up with things if you can't hear anything before you buy it. I just couldn't afford the good to garbage ratio I was getting from music press reviews so I just gave up and lost touch. keep to the Fen Causeway
Though I must confess a connection, you can hear a lot of interesting music (clips) on the Equal Dreams site. There is quite a flourishing online music exchange culture in Finland and I am glad to note that live club gigs have been increasing: the standard model is to take over a restaurant or club for the night, once a week or a month (giving the club a clientele without much marketing investment themselves). These venues are niche music (I went to a trip-hop recently), but if they can get 100 people once a month, then everyone is happy. These gigs tend to be on off nights of the week - Mon, Tues, Wed, Sunday.
The DJs are also really good. It's P2P again. You can't be me, I'm taken
1976 You can't be me, I'm taken
I'm sure I've mentioned before the division in musical tastes in my class at school, those born in 57 liked all the late 60s stuff like Free, Cream etc, all those from 58 liked the 70s bands. there was also a bit of a Clapton as druggie cult thing going on at university which I thought distasteful, so that didn't help. keep to the Fen Causeway
having seen eric when he was a sideman, with the yardbirds, (warming up for the beatles at the hammersmith odeon, lol), and many times with john mayall all over london, i was definitely on board with the 'clapton is god' mania. the guy had no stage presence in the classic stagecraft sense, but the sinuous, stinging fluidity of his solos, and his ferocious concentration while 'giving it up' was redefining blues guitar, and one could feel history being written somehow, as those blazing lines howled out of his les paul.
with cream, it was a constellation of egos, rather than a real merging of talents, three skyscrapers side by side.
meanwhile traffic and the band were showing what ensemble playing was really all about.
when i learned that eric had been raised by his grandparents, and had worked as a stained glass restorer in cathedrals prior to locking himself in a room for three days with nothing but b.b. king to play along to, i felt i understood his mental architecture better...
he never could sound like b.b, but it sure woke up his own voice.
funnest combination: johnny winter jamming with traffic. johnny's handmade boots had little hearts on them, and they were a foot away at my eye level.
frampton was pretty amazing when he was 16.
jeff beck was the most monstrous player i ever saw, (the clip in 'blow up' doing 'the train kept a' running' catches a hint); unfortunately, jimi was more into lighter fluid than music by the time i caught him live. considering how much he'd blown my mind when 'hey joe' came out, it was a sad decline.
still, the memory of him coming out in his space shaman gear on top of the pops was the most surreally wonderful, jaw-hits-floor moment in my memory.
then he started playing! the greatest friend a strat ever had...
hottest guitar interplay live: mike bloomfield and elvin bishop with the paul butterfield blues band, also at the marquee, a totally squalid little dive that just happened to be a portal for so much genius...
two hundred people crammed into a windowless room in soho to experiment with oxygen deprivation, birthing a new cool.
i still feel bad about smoking a whole pack of unflitered gauloises, perched on the edge of the stage while paul simon and art garfunkel sang their hearts out 4 feet away...
<slaps forehead>
making clubs smoke-free would lengthen the lives of many, many musicians.
but they got DJ's now.... who needs musos these daze? ~Government budget deficits are not nearly as dangerous as the deficits we have created in vital and complex natural systems.~ Naomi Klein.
I only got to see a couple of decent bands at Sheffield University - in those days decent bands still played at Universities...Ace comes to mind, in particular.
Paul Carrack takes some beating as a singer IMHO.
The story was told about how the Sheffield University Entertainments Manager (a student on a drug fuelled sabbatical) got a call.
"Hi, it's Paul Macartney here, I've put together a new band, and I'd like to play Sheffield"
..our Ents hero - thinking he was being wound up...
"You're Paul Macartney? I'm the Pope! Fuck Off!"
...and of course he tells everyone in the office, and they have a laugh...
..until Macartney kicks off Wings at Leeds University instead...
Re guitarists (not to mention one of the best vocalists - James Dewar) - Robin Trower was underrated.
"Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
They turned up at Leeds and he sent a roadie into the students union who said "uh...I've got Paul McCartney and his new band in a van outside. they wanna do a gig. any chance?"
The Ents honcho reacts like the Sheffield guy but goes out to the van to check anyway and gets the shock of his life.
So the gig is on. They set up and walk on stage. However, the first song starts with Linda playing some chords and she can't remember how it goes. So Paul says "Don't worry, I'll show you". Only he can't remember either and it takes his roadie to show him how to play the song. keep to the Fen Causeway
According to Robin Trower (never under-rated here, Chris, he was great guitarist, just not succesful), Jimi was losing faith in what he was doing towards the end. He hated that his audience wouldn't let him move on to the more jazzy stuff he was getting into and felt he'd been reduced to a vaudeville show, hence the excess of lighter fluid. keep to the Fen Causeway
