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On This Day – Blue Suede Shoes

Phil — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:34:46 +0000

On this day in 1955 one of the all time rock classics was recorded by Carl Perkins at Sun Records in Memphis. It later went on to reach number 2 in the US and number 10 in the UK. It has been covered by loads of artists including Elvis (also a Sun Recording artist) and John Lennon.

He had a very poor upbringing. The son of a sharecropper in Tiptonville Tennessee he started working in the cotton fields at the age of 6. He would often finish his school day and then work for several hours in the fields. This upbringing made him resilient and exposed him to Southern Gospel music, whether during regular worship on Sundays or while working in the fields as the black workers sang in the fields.

In what now seems to be almost trite his first guitar was home made cigar box and broom handle affair made by his dad. He learnt to play being taught by a 60 year old John Westbrook a fellow field worker who Carl referred to as “Uncle John”. The African American played Gospel and blues and instilled a love of music into a willing Carl.

Later the family moved to Madison County and so closer to Memphis and more musical influences. From the age of 14 Carl and his brother played in local bars (while still having day jobs in the fields). Gradually, his repertoire and confidence grew. In 1954 he auditioned for the great Sam Phillips of Sun Records. Later Phillips would say of Carl “I knew that Carl could rock and in fact he told me right from the start that he had been playing that music before Elvis came out on record… I wanted to see whether this was someone who could revolutionize the country end of the business.”

Records followed but the great success was “Blue Suede Shoes” recorded on this day in 1955 (or on 19th December depending on who you believe. Carl’s immortality was assured.

Perkins was the son of poor sharecroppers near Tiptonville, Tennessee.[3] He grew up hearing Southern gospel music sung by whites in church, and by black field workers when he started working in the cotton fields at age six. During spring and autumn, the school day would be followed by several hours of work in fields. During the summer, workdays were 12–14 hours,

1955, Carl Perkins recorded ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ at Sun Studios in Memphis. The rock ‘n’ roll classic became a US No.2 & UK No.10 hit for Perkins in 1956, and has been covered by many acts including Elvis Presley and John Lennon.

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The Stone Roses Reform – You Heard it First Here (Part 2)

Phil — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 06:09:55 +0000

So all rumours and pre-announcement leaks were true. The Stone Roses are back together, or will be in 2012 for 2 gigs in Manchester (where else?) and then a world tour. There will even be some new songs and, perhaps, a new album.

The gigs will take place at Heaton Park in Manchester on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th June next year 2012.

Right the important stuff;

Tickets go on sale on Friday 21st October at 9.30. They will be available from;

Gigsandtours.com/ 0844 811 0051

Ticketmaster.co.uk/ 0844 826 2826

ticketline.co.uk/ 0161 832 1111

Good Luck!

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Stagger Lee – Nick Cave

Phil — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 08:32:10 +0000

No other reason for posting this than I played the album version (Murder Stories 1996) and I remembered this live versio. Anyway, who needs an excuse to play NC?

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Wanna be in The Beatles?

Phil — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 08:12:26 +0000

There is a letter going to be actioned that shows that The Beatles were looking for a drummer who would have replaced Pete Best.

In 1960 a drummer placed an advert in the Liverpool Echo the advert said “Drummer-Young-Free.”

McCartney replied and the letter that going to auction is his reply; It is interesting because the letter invited the (unknown) drummer to an audition. It also said that the drummer should be prepared to drop everything and go off to Hamburg for 2 months. The letter said that the pay would be £18 per week. (Not too shabby in 1960).

So, this was not someone to replace Ringo – he replaced Pete Best a couple of years later. It was was someone to take to Hamburg instead of Pete Best. It is known that PB was in The Beatles, not so much because he was a great drummer but more that he had a drum kit!

Bruce Spicer, a well known Beatles Scholar said “This shows that Pete wasn’t the only person they were interested in,” Spizer said. “They needed a drummer and Pete was convenient. It makes sense that they would have responded to some drummer in Liverpool looking for work. My speculation is that two months in Hamburg intimidated him, maybe he didn’t want to go and never replied. If he had responded, and if he was good, it might have changed everything.”

It was in Hamburg that The Beatles grew into a tight and professional unit ready to take the world by storm. Years later Lennon said that The Beatles were the best rock band in the world at the time when they were playing in Hamburg. (He probably meant the later stints in Hamburg in ‘62 rather than the first one). He also said, “I might have been born in Liverpool – but I grew up in Hamburg”

Somewhere there is a man who was a drummer in his youth, who might have, just might have become the best known drummer in the world. Who he was we will probably never know. There are lots of unanswered questions; Did he have an audition? Was he offered the job? Did not bother to reply to Sir Paul ‘cos he did not fancy Hamburg? How did this letter turn up being used as a bookmark in a book at a car boot sale? Why do I never find things like this when I go to car booties?

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The Stone Roses to Reform – You Heard it First Here!

Phil — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:29:28 +0000

In fact, you probably did not hear it here first, it is all over the media. Even in the Daily Mail (that well known organ obviously has its finger on the pulse of Yooth Kulture). That being inspite of a press conference being set for Tuesday 18th October to make “an announcement”.

It now seems common knowledge that the reunion will start next year and 2 concerts in Manchester being widely touted.

While not a big fan myself it is good to see an iconic band coming together again. It seems that Ian Brown and John Squire have put those “musical differences” behind them. That was the big stumbling block to the band getting together again.

For younger readers The Stone Roses’ first self titled album in 1989 was hailed by may as the best debut album, ever. (Mainly, their PR team to start with and then music journos, and then the more gullible of the public. A good debut, even a great debut, but the best ever? I think not. Think of Zappa’s Freak Out, The eponymous Bob Dylan album, A Girl Called Dusty, Please Help Me by the Fab Four, I Wanna Be Your Dog by The Stooges. AND obviously, The Velvet Underground with Nico debut.

Nothing wrong with hype, the music industry lives off it, but a bit of realism would be nice.

Anyway, expect huge competition for the tickets – and suitably large prices. I will be hovering my lap top when they go on sale, so perhaps I will see you there. I will be the old fart saying “yeah, not bad but not as good as Iggy, Frank, Don, Lou et al………….

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Blank Generation

Phil — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:22:22 +0000

There is no real reason to post this other than it refers to Blank Generation and my fave guitar player Robert Quine with a couple more clips of him one with the wonderful Fred Maher.

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Patti Smith Does it Better

Phil — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:25:47 +0000

As always …………..

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On This Day – The Mancs Take Over TOTP

Phil — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:27:24 +0000

On This day in 1989 The Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses (both from Manchester) made their debuts on Top of the Pops.

The Roses played “Fools Gold” and The Mondays “Hallelujah” (no not that Hallelujah). I was never a fan of Shaun Ryder and co and time has not mellowed my opinion…………

Now The Roses, I always had a soft spot for them, well, a grudging like of their music.

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On This Day – Bowie Makes it to Network US TV!

Phil — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:54:46 +0000

On this day, in 1975, Bowie made it to US network TV for the first time! (Just why did it take so long for the yanks to catch up?)

Anyway, the album that made it for him was “Young Americans” not one of his greatest (in my opinion) and one that marked another of his reinventions of himself. The song was Fame and he appeared on the cher show.

In many ways “Young Americans” was a stepping stone to his next big persona, the Thin White Duke. The Thin White Duke was an extension of Thomas Jerome Newton (at least visually) the character from “The Man Who Fell to Earth”. The album “Station to Station” released a year later marks one of the highlights of Bowie’s career, of which there have been many.

“Young Americans” was recorded against a background of legal battles and torment as Bowie had sacked his manager Defries and was engaged in a bitter, and costly, legal battle to break the contract.

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On This Day – Hendrix, Suicide, Accident or Murder?

Phil — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 07:19:42 +0000

On this day in 1970 some firends and I were on holiday with our girlfriends in a cottage in South Wales. We were having breakfast when we heard the news of Hendrix’s death on the BBC.

Since then there have been a number of theories as to what happened. Eric Burden of the Animals and a close froend thought that it was suicide, Monika Dannemann, his girlfriend, said that he died after a bout of drinks, drugs and sex. Others have claimed that his manager, Mike Jeffery stood to benefit to the tune of £1,000,000 from an insurance policy. Still others have said that as Hendrix was regarded as being subversive the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program ( COINTELPRO) had an interest in him being ‘removed’.

The truth? I doubt if we will ever know. Here are some things we do know.

Dannemann said that he was alive and sleeping when she went for some cigarrettes but in obvious trouble when she returned a few minutes later. She called Burden. He said that she should call the ambulance. When the ambulance arrived she went to the hospital with him and said that he died en route. The medics say that he was pronounced dead at the flat.

The time of death was never confirmed so we do not know if he was dead when the medics arrived or not.

Burden’s claim that it was suicide may not stack up as, although having a chaotic and professionally troubled life at the time, friends say Hendrix was happy and talking abou the future, both his and his new band’s. He was going to change the drummer of the Band of Gypsies, planning new recordings etc. Not the usual behaviour of someone about to kill themselves.

There was a lot of alcohol in his stomach and lungs there were nine Vesperax sleeping pills in his system. Hendrix was an insomniac and his use of sleeping pills was not unusual. What was unusual was that there was a lot of red wine in his lungs, and relatively little in his blood stream. Even a hard drinkling session rarely, if ever, ends up with wine in the lungs and not in the blood stream. That could be the case if he was water boarded. That points towards murder not a night long alcohol binge.

Jeffery died in a plane crash in 1973, Danneman committed suicide in 1996. So there are few people who can tell us what really happened.

However, hendrix’s roadie James “Tappy” Wright says he knows. He says that Jeffreys was in trouble and he needed the money. He says that Jeffrey’s confessed to him 2 years before his death.

He writes: “I can still hear that conversation, see the man I’d known for so much of my life, his face pale, hand clutching at his glass in sudden rage.”

He says Jeffery told him: “I had to do it, Tappy. You understand, don’t you? I had to do it. You know damn well what I’m talking about.”

He quotes Jeffery as saying: “I was in London the night of Jimi’s death and together with some old friends …we went round to Monika’s hotel room, got a handful of pills and stuffed them into his mouth …then poured a few bottles of red wine deep into his windpipe.

“I had to do it. Jimi was worth much more to me dead than alive. That son of a bitch was going to leave me. If I lost him, I’d lose everything.”

Why did Tappy not come forward earlier? Well, that could be because of the identity of the “old friends”. Friends who are prepared to kill one person are not likely to like someone exposing them………….. Perhaps they are no longer arround.

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