Oasis Split ! (again)
Aug 29, 2009 On This Day
Noel G has walked out of Oasis, this time for good, perhaps. In their time both Noel and Liam have left and returned to the Manchurian Beatle tribute band.
Oasis was formed in 1991. Originally the band was called The Rain but changed its name when Liam joined. Liam was inspired to rename the band after seeing a poster featuring The Oasis Swindon, a small music venue in Wiltshire, UK. How inspired.
The band was of limited musical ability with no finesse, but it was loud. Noel had been writing songs for some time but had no band. The answer was to put the two together. It would seem that Noel needed to be leader and sole writer if he was going to join and let them play his songs. (How old were they at the time 12?)
The rest as they say is history. That Oasis is not my favourite band is not a secret, from the Beatle-esque songs to the banal and boring rock and roll life of the principals they leave me cold. They were doomed in my eyes when they started out by copying a coke advert. They were sued by The New Seakers for plagiarism over Shakemaker. All the swaggering and posturing should be reserved for real rock gods, and the Gallaghers aint them.
Tags: love rock music, oasis, On This Day, rock and blues
On This Day – Stones Engage Klein After 3 Days
Aug 28, 2009 On This Day
On this day in 1965, after just 3 days The Rolling Stones decide to engage Allen Klein as their co-manager along with long term manager Andrew Loog Oldham.
In 1966 Klein bought out Loog Oldham. This was the start of what Richards later called an expensive education. For now everything was tickerty boo (i.e. good). Klein began to work his magic for the Stones. Klein’s magic was to wring more money out of the record label for the artists.
The first time he had managed to do this was with Bobby Daring. The story is that he ran into Darin at a party and said “How would you like to make $100,00?” When asked what Darin would have to do Klein said nothing. Klein reviewed Darin’s books and went after the record company. A $100,000 cheque was soon on its way to Darin.
At the start of their relationship both the Stones and Klein profited. So much so that Jagger had no hesitation in recommending Klein to The Beatles. However, Jagger began to have doubts about Klein’s honesty. When he asked Bill Wyman he did not like him Wyman told Klein truthfully that he did not trust him.
Eventually the Stones sacked Klein and the inevitable court case ensued. The settlement (giving rise to Richards’ expensive education quote) gave control of most of the pre-1970 Stone’s recordings to Klein. (Klein set up ABKCO to release the growing number of records he owned). After Klein The Stones ran their own affairs setting up Rolling Stones Records, their first album on their own label was Sticky Fingers.
Klein died on 4th July 2009 aged 77 of Alzheimer’s.
By the way if you are getting the impression that Klein was universally bad for music I should point out that Klein did inspire song writers. McCartney wrote “You never give me your money/You only give me your funny papers” about him and Lennon “Steel and Glass”.
Tags: allen klein, glimmer twins, On This Day, rock and blues, rolling stones
On This Day – The Beatles Jam with Elvis
Aug 27, 2009 On This Day
On This Day in 1965 the Beatles were on their second US tour. Brian Epstein was able to arrange a visit to meet Elvis in his Bel-Air home. The visit lasted some 4 hours and while Col Tom Parker an Epstein played pool the Fab Four and The Hips told stories and chatted. They also jammed together. Want a copy of that recording? Well, tough luck no one thought to turn a tape recorder on!
Here is an excerpt from the book The Beatles Anthology talking about meeting Elvis.
PAUL We met Elvis Presley at the end of our stay in L.A. We’d tried for years to, but we could never get to him. He was our greatest idol, but the styles were changing in favor of us. He was a pretty powerful image to British people. You’d look at photos of him doing American concerts, and the audience would not even be jumping up and down. We used to be amazed, seeing them sitting in the front row – not even dancing.
JOHN LENNON : When I first heard “Heartbreak Hotel,” I could hardly make out what was being said. It was just the experience of hearing it and having my hair stand on end. We’d never heard American voices singing like that. They’d always sung like Sinatra who enunciated well. Suddenly, there’s this hillbilly hiccuping with echo and all this bluesy background going on. We didn’t know what the hell Presley was singing about or Little Richard or Chuck Berry. It took a long time to work out what was going on. To us, it just sounded like great noise.
PAUL We tried many times to meet Elvis, Colonel Tom Parker, his manager would just show up with a few souvenirs, and that would have to do us for a while. We didn’t feel brushed off we felt we deserved to be brushed off. After all, he was Elvis, and who were we to dare to want to meet him? But we finally received an invitation to go round and see him when he was making a film in Hollywood.
GEORGE HARRISON Meeting Elvis was one of the high-lights of the tour. It was funny, because by the time we got near his house we’d forgotten where we were going. We were in a Cadillac going round and round along Mulholland, and we’d had a couple of “cups of tea” in the back of the car. It didn’t really matter where we were going – it’s like the comedian Lord Buckley says, “We go into a native village and take a couple of peyote buds, we might not find out where we is, but we’ll sure find out who we is.” Anyway, we were just having fun, we were all in hysterics. (We laughed a lot. That’s one thing we forgot about for a few years – laughing. When we went through all the lawsuits, it looked as if everything was bleak, but when I think back to before that, I remember we used to laugh all the time.) We pulled up at some big gates and someone said, “Oh yeah, we’re going to see Elvis,” and we all fell out of the car laughing, trying to pretend we weren’t silly, just like a Beatles cartoon.
JOHN It was very exciting, we were all nervous as hell, and we met him in his big house in L.A. – probably as big as the one we were staying in, but it still felt like “big house, big Elvis.” He had lots of guys around him, all these guys that used to live near him (like we did from Liverpool, we always had thousands of Liverpool people around us, so I guess he was the same.) And he had pool tables! Maybe a lot of American houses are like that, but it seemed amazing to us. It was like a nightclub.
RINGO STARR I was pretty excited. We were lucky because it was the four of us and we had each other to be with. The house was very big. We walked in, and Elvis was sitting down on a settee in front of the TV. He was playing a bass guitar, which even to this day I find very strange. He had all his guys around him, and we said, “Hi, Elvis.” He was pretty shy, and we were a little shy, but between the five of us we kept it rolling. I felt I was more thrilled to meet him than he was to meet me.
PAUL He showed us in. He just looked like Elvis – we were all major fans, so it was hero worship of a high degree. He said, “Hello, lads – do you want a drink?” We sat down and watched telly, and he had the first remote any of us had ever seen. You just aimed it at the telly and – wow! That’s Elvis! He was playing Charlie Rich’s “Mohair Sam” all evening – he had it on a jukebox.
JOHN He had his TV going all the time, which is what I do; we always have TV on. We never watch it – it’s just there with no sound on, and we listen to records. In front of the TV, he had a massive amplifier with a bass plugged into it, and he was up playing bass all the time with the picture up on the TV. So we just got in there and played with him. We all plugged in whatever was around, and we played and sang. He had a jukebox, like I do, but I think he had all his hits on it. But if I’d made as many as him, maybe I’d have all mine on.
PAUL That was the greatest. Elvis was into the bass, So there I was, “Well, let me show you a thing or two, El…” Suddenly he was a mate. It was a great conversation piece for me. I could actually talk about the bass, and we sat around and just enjoyed ourselves. He was great. Talkative. Friendly and a little bit shy. But that was his image. We expected that, we hoped for that.
JOHN At first we couldn’t make him out. I asked him if he was preparing new ideas for his next film and he drawled, “Ah sure am. Ah play a country boy with a guitar who meets a few gals along the way, and ah sing a few songs.” We all looked at one another. Finally Presley and Colonel Parker laughed and explained that the only time they departed from that formula – for Wild in the Country – they lost money.
PAUL She came in, and I got this picture of her as a sort of a Barbie doll – with a purple gingham dress and a gingham bow in her very beehive hair, with lots of makeup. We all said hello, and then it was, “Right, lads, hands off – she’s going.” She didn’t stay long. I can’t blame him, although I don’t think any of us would have made a pass at her. That was definitely not on – Elvis’s wife, you know! That was unthinkable – she didn’t need to be put away quite so quickly, we thought.
GEORGE I don’t remember even seeing Priscilla. I spent most of the party trying to suss out from the gang if anybody had any reefers. But they were uppers and whiskey people. They weren’t really into reefer smoking in the South.
JOHN It was nice meeting Elvis. He was just Elvis, you know? He seemed normal to us, and we were asking about his making movies and not doing any personal appearances or TV. I think he enjoys making movies so much, We couldn’t stand not doing personal appearances, we’d get bored – we get bored quickly. He says he misses it a bit.We never talked about anything else – we just played music. He wasn’t bigger than us, but he was “the thing.” He just wasn’t articulate, that’s all.
Tags: classic rock music, elvis presley, love rock music, On This Day, real rock and blues, rock and blues, the beatles
On This day – ‘Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy!
Aug 26, 2009 On This Day
On 18th March 1967* my friend Pete Sowter came up to me in school and handed me a single. “You must listen to this, it’s great!” he said (or something similar, it is 42 years ago). He also Said that he had no idea what it was about but the singer wanted to kiss a man, not something that was common on records in 1967.
Like thousands of others Pete had misheard the lyrics on one of the best singles ever released, one that is rightly now regarded as a classic. ‘Purple Haze’ by Hendrix was released and was a massive hit, in the UK, in the USA it only reached the mid 60’s in the Billboard chart. Once again proving that the UK was undoubtedly far ahead of the States when it came to music in the 60s. (Apart from Zappa, Lou, The Captain, It’s A Beautiful Day, etc………)
* I had it in my mind that Purple Haze was released on 26 August 1967 and that is why I started this entry. It was not until I had finished it that I checked the date, oops! Now that I think of it it could not have been August ‘cos I was in school when Pete gave me the single. In August school would have been on holiday. I must check some of the other ‘On This Day’ events that I have gathered into a schedule for future use. Either that or I could change to title to ‘On This Day, Probably’.
Anyway, it is a great excuse to show a great video.
Tags: classic rock music, jimi hendrix, On This Day, real rock and blues, rock and blues
On This Day – Bobby Darin Leaves Vegas For The last Time
Aug 25, 2009 On This Day
On this day Bobby Darin finished performing at the The Las Vegas Hilton for the last time in 1973. He would be dead 4 months later after a heart operation.
Although not often remembered these days Darin was a versatile singer and actor. He was born with a heart condition that dogged him throughout his life but that did not prevent him from pursuing a glittering career. He is remembered as a rock ‘n’ roll singer (and for that dreadful single Splish Splash) and was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Songwriter’s Hall of fame in 1999.
He also moved into Jazz and is best remembered for a stunning version of Mack The Knife taken from Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht’s wonderful Threepenny Opera. There was time when ,after this move into ’serious’ music that Darin was compared favourably to Sinatra.
He also showed talent as an actor being nominated for an Oscar, winning the French Film Critic’s Actors award (1963), and being awarded a Golden Globe as the Most Promising Newcomer (1962).
Tags: bobby darin, mack the knife, On This Day, rock and blues
On This Day, Start Me Up
Aug 24, 2009 On This Day
On this day in 1995 Windows 95 was released and, as all us oldies, will remember the song used in the adverts was ‘Start Me Up’ by the Stones. Not one of their best, from the Tattoo You album it seems that the Glimmer Twins were paid £12,000,000 ($17,500,000).
It was a great marketing move by Bill Gates as we were warned about what we were getting. Now, what were the lyrics again? “You make a grown man cry”. (He should have warned us about Vista as well)
Tags: glimmer twins, On This Day, real rock and blues, rock and blues, rolling stones
On This Day – Wanna Buy a Record Player?
Aug 23, 2009 Uncategorized
On this day, well nearly – actually on 22nd August 1906 – the Victor Talking Machine Company (New Jersey) started selling record players. The price was about $200 which must have been huge at the time. Records ranged from $1 to $7.
This was one of those pivotal moments in the history of popular music. There were some who said that it was the end of the world, culture available for the masses? A dreadful development. Having said that no Victrolar (that’s what it was called) and there would have been no James Blunt or Celine Dion and so the world would have been a better place. On the other hand, there would also be no Tim Fite, Nick Cave, Beefheart, Zappa, Patti, or Lou.
OK, on the whole it was a good thing.
J P Sousa (a renowned conductor) was off the mark when he said that recorded music would be the end of the amateur musician. About as right as the head of IBM predicting that there would only ever be 7 mainframe computers in the world, or the American politician (can’t remember his name) who said that the Japanese did not make things that the American public would want to buy…….
Tags: captain beefheart, classic rock music, On This Day, real rock and blues
Les Paul
Aug 14, 2009 Departures, On This Day
Les Paul has died, aged 94. He suffered from complications associated with pneumonia.
It is too easy when talking about music to use lots of superlatives which only leads to them being devalued. So, when I say that Les Paul was one of the true greats of popular music that is exactly what I mean. I am not trying to ‘big him up’, he was the real deal.
He was still performing right up to his death. He was regarded with awe and affection by many leading guitarists (only last year Slash was quoted as saying that he spoke to Les Paul once a week and spoke of their friendship). He said: “Les Paul was a shining example of how full one’s life can be. He was so vibrant and full of positive energy. I’m honoured and humbled to have known and played with him over the years.”
Les Paul invented multi-tracking, for which we should all be grateful (and by extension to Bing Crosby – read why here). He experimented with echo and effects, he and Mary Ford, his wife, recorded in different rooms of their home to get different feels to the recordings. Paving the way for people like Joe Meek. He was also a pioneer in other recording techniques such as phasing and over dubbing.
Oh yes, he also invented and designed the most successful electric guitar in the world. The guitar he designed and that bears his name was the preferred choice for many guitar greats including: Joe Satriani, Jimmy Page, Gary Moore, Peter Green, Pete Townsend and many, many more.
His personal story is as full, interesting and inspiring as his professional story. Born on 9th June 1915 and named lester William Polsfuss. At the age of eight he learned harmonica and it was not until he was 13 (after he had failed to play banjo) that he turned to the guitar. he left school when he was 17 to concentrate on a life as a musician.
In the thirties he was playing on the radio in Chicago and developing the individual style that still influences modern guitarists to this day. He eventually moved to Hollywood in 1943, formed a trio and gained the role of Bing Crosby’s backing group on his radio and TV shows. This helped propel him to stardom. he also met and Married Mary Ford and together they recorded many records employing all his skills, leaving rivals in their wake. His recording career continued into his 80s and won two Grammys in 2006 for his album ‘Les Paul & Friends: American made World Played Hero’
In 1948 he had a serious car accident smashing his right arm and elbow. He was told that his arm would never work again, there would be no movement in it and that it would have to be set. He told the doctors to set his arm at an angle so that he could play the guitar. It took Les Paul 18 months to learn how to play guitar again.
In the ’30s he became dissatisfied with acoustic guitars for performance. he wanted something louder with more presence. HI solution was, initially, a 4×4 piece of wood with a bridge and guitar neck and a pick up running through an amplifier. It was called ‘the log’. As well as not being particularly attractive it also suffered from feedback. The solution was to take an acoustic guitar split it legnth ways and put the log inside it. Style and playability (though still pretty heavy). Gibson loved the design and so began manufacture (any colour you want as long as it is a goldtop, at least at first).
Together with Fender, Gibson revolutionised modern music. It is arguably which design of guitar has most affect, and really that is a sterile debate. What is beyond doubt is that Les Paul himself had an enormous affect on modern music and we all owe him a great debt.
Tags: classic rock music, les paul, love rock music, On This Day, real rock and blues, rock and blues
On This Day – Pete’s Here, Where’s John?
Aug 12, 2009 On This Day
On this day in 1967 Fleetwood Mac played their first gig, the 7th annual Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival at the Royal Windsor Racecourse, Berkshire, UK. The festival ran for 3 days and Mac shared the last day’s bill along with Cream, John Mayall, Chicken Shack, and Jeff beck among others.
The festival was plagued with PA problems. The local residents wanted it turned down, the performers and audience wanted it turned up………. (You would have thought by the 7th time the festival had been held they would have got it right). The following year the festival was moved to a site with fewer (or deaf) neighbours.
Evidently, Cream were the hit of the festival. I would have like dto have been there as Mick Taylor was playing with John mayall at that time and I always liked his playing. The previous days also saw Paul Jones and Aynsley Dunbar performing which I would have enjoyed. (Dunbar was later of The Mothers of Invention, Lou Reed, Whitesnake, and nearly of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Story is that Jimi could not decide between Mitch Mitchell and AD and so tossed a coin. MM won.)
Oh yes, what about John? John McVie did not belong to to Fleetwood Mac at the time and so he was not there. He only took over from Bob Brunner a month later. Which is all a bit odd as the Mac from Fleetwood came from the Mc in Vie, if you see what I mean.
If you want to hear just what all the fuss was about Peter Green’s blues playing then this is the album for you. Known as the dustbin and dog album, no idea why, it is, in my opinion Peter Green at his very best.
Tags: aynsley dunbar, classic rock music, cream, fleetwood mac, john mayall, love rock music, peter green, rock and blues
ON This Day – Lennon Apologises
Aug 11, 2009 On This Day
On This day in 1966 Lennon apologized for saying that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, not that he did.
The original quote was “Christianity will go, it will shrink and vanish – we’re more popular than Jesus now. I don’t know which will go first, rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity.” What he meant to say was something along the lines of; “the way they (some fans) carry on, it’s like we’re more popular than Jesus Christ.”
The quote came in the middle of an interview he gave to Maureen Cleave of the London Evening Standard months before. It had appeared in print in the UK and no one turned a hair. In the States when a teen mag put the contentious bit “We’re more popular than Jesus” on the front cover the reaction was different.
Beatles records were burnt on public bonfires in Memphis, Alabama, and Oklahoma, Some local radio stations (often encouraged by the Ku Klux Klan) banned their records.
It was because of the reaction (mainly in the conservative south) that Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, made Lennon apologise as they started what was to be their last US tour.
Tags: beatles, classic rock music, john lennon, love rock music, On This Day, rock and blues
