the last of the dead

Some 20 years after the death of Jerry Garcia that institution of counter culture The Grateful Dead have announced the gathering of the remaining core members Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart for the final time. They will reunite for three shows at the Soldier Field in Chicago over the Fourth Of July Weekend this year.
Ex member Bruce Hornsby, Furthur/RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio will all make appearances on this 50th anniversary of the group.
Weir told Billboard. "These will be the last shows from the four of us together,"

And here's the thing, with the passing of their guiding light all those years ago and in a world where you'd maybe think the The Dead were very much part of the 20th Century, the online booking agents Ticketmaster broke all sales records when the Chicago dates were announced and sold out in seconds with half a million queueing up for sales. "Requests for tickets are believed to be in the millions.".

No doubt the whole extravaganza will be captured for posterity in every known medium and in true Dead tradition every type of bootleg going. Failing that call into the Internet Archive after July where, apart from being the only group to have an entire category to themselves, you'll probably find some genius has uploaded the entire concert including the sound check! For as we all know, The Dead Heads are a law entirely to themselves.
So after all this time these Dead Heads were just lying dormant waiting for the final calling. Surely the like of this pop culture phenomena will not be seen again.

Here's 'So Many Roads' from their last concert together and their last performance with Garcia in 1995.

steven wilson's hand cannot erase

Earlier this week Steven Wilson's latest album 'Hand. Cannot. Erase' was released. Always much anticipated, the Wilson catalogue grows into a formidable piece of modern sound production and 'progressive' music exploration. That's progressive with no hint of 1970's over indulgence by the way. And just like his previous albums there lies a theme of almost Gothic story telling arranged with the usual Wilson lightness of touch that belies the subject matter.
This time he enters an urban world not of fantasy but stark reality that most of us have either read a similar story or heard of one.
It is the grim tale of how the death of a young woman went unnoticed, and despite having friends and a career, lay undiscovered in her her flat for 3 years, with even her own family assuming she'd moved away. A very modern story then, of isolation and neglect.
You have to hand it to SW, the man does not take an easy route with his subject matter. Yet from the grimness of the tale the music and words never sink into maudlin morbidness. It is reflective and thoughtful with an empathy to how this nightmare of an urban nightmare could exist.
In a recent interview with Record Collector Wilson remarked how he "thought of an album in the same way as creating a film or a novel".
And with that comment the entire Wilson approach to recording is more than clear.
It does have one drawback in the contemporary world of downloads and random play-lists, he's asking the listener to hear the entire album in one go.
"I'm fighting against the prevailing trend.. bottom line is music I make is still outside of the mainstream.. it's still underground"
Wilson is more than aware of the difficulty his music has in wider acceptance but his "war of attrition" continues. Where and what this modern composer eventually ends up producing will be a fascinating story in itself.
This track, "A Perfect Life", from the album is unusually more in the Wilson 'pop' mode. The clip below is a teaser for the album. Available in all sorts of exotic media from Burning Shed

mondo drag in a world of their own

If it's rare enough to find a modern prog rock band sounding like they've just stepped out of the early 70's the fact that they are based in California is even more unlikely. Prog rock never did have it's natural roots in the States and it wasn't until the 1980's and the likes of Genesis and Yes redesigned their sound for the MTV market prog rock, if that's what it could still be called by then, had any impact on the wider US audience. But here we are in 2015 and Mondo Drag have just released their second album creating as near a perfect set of prog tracks you'd think they'd formed in Europe at the height of rocks progressive evolution between 1970 and 72 and well before punk rock set the rock and roll clock to zero again. There's not an inkling here there ever was such a thing as new wave. Mondo Drag's analogue sound has all the instruments and themes associated with an era when audiences sat on the floor of a venue and just spaced out to the music.
"The band caravanned across the country last year, settling in Oakland, CA." hints at the back story to the album, and an experience any UK rock band would be highly envious of in this gig strapped land. But it's served as the perfect way for Mondo Drag to to shape their sound. although they say the three core members of John Gamino, Nolan Girard, and Jake Sheley grew up together which is why the cohesion of the sound is so good, but we'd still love to know the influences that drew them to this music. They've also played headlining shows at the Chicago Pysch Fest and the Cincy Psych Fest so surely a Europen tour would be the logical next move for them. Germany for one would surely embrace this sound given some of their summer festival line-ups.

Here's their bandcamp stream of the album and you can either download it via the widget below or better still go and buy the whole thing on vinyl from their website. which surely must be the medium of choice for Mondo Drag. Mind you how on earth they came up with that band name is another matter and probably a lot less to do with analogue prog chat and a lot more to do with how long they could inhale a blunt. Just look at their picture above for your best guess.

peter hamill and all that might have been

Ever since his first solo LP's back in the early 70's Peter Hamill albums have always thrown down the guantlet to the listener. He makes no compromise to popular trends in rock or easy toe tapping sing-a-long. Peter Hamill demands your attention or you just pass by without a clue and a bitter taste in the mouth. Ever since the first albums with Van Der Graaf Generator Hammill told stories that on first listening were utterly baffling yet compelling. By the time you'd heard them a few times you sort of new what he was saying but still couldn't explain it clearly. But the story felt important just the same. None of these have lost their impact as the years have passed.
And so it's gone on through the decades. Peter Hammill never fails to mystify yet thrill the listener. There is absolutely no one like him in rock music and probably never will be again. His tales are too personal to ever be copied, covering a Peter Hammill song is virtually a no go because nothing can be added to them and it's as sure as eggs you aint gonna improve them. Yet his influence on other name musicians has been unexpected and influential. Bowie to name one, John Lydon to name another. But once you hear they've name checked Hammill it sort of makes sense.

And so in November a new set of Hammill's solo recordings were added to that ever demanding body of work. No fuss. No fanfare. A Hammill album seems to just materialise from nowhere. And this is as ambitious a project as he's done. It's a single album which also comes as 3CD boxset with 14 full length songs and an instrumental CD. The group is guitar, keyboards and drum machine and Hammill plays the lot. The unmistakeable vocals are all over the place, double tracking his lead vocal, multi tracking the backing ones, the prog rock vocal no one else has dared to sing. It's difficult and demanding and about as dynamic piece of contemporary rock as can be heard today.
Here is the thrilling drama he calls "Inklings, darling" from the album '…all that might have been'. Give it a few listens and you'll understand what it's all about. Maybe.

P.S. The video has been put in place by uploader PolSet2 who likes to put his name over everything but we'll forgive him that as he's got more Peter Hammill and some Van Der Graaf on his channel.

second slice of cranium pie

Fruits De Mer have announced their first release this year with Cranium Pie's double LP of classic UK progressive rock.

"...three years in the making, at last the band follow up their brilliant (and highly-collectible) first long-player on Fruits de Mer ( 'Mechanisms Part 1', for those of you keeping count), and it's a more than worthy successor to the album that was voted by Geoff Barton in Classic Rock as "bonkers prog LP of the year, 2012".
Mainly instrumental, with lots of lovely Hammondy organ sounds and fx, 'Mechanisms 2' recalls the classic bands and years of progressive rock, with shades of Van Der Graaf Generator, Egg, Soft Machine, even Zappa - but with that twisted Wiltshire sound. Four sides of great music, it could almost be a lost album from Charisma, Vertigo or Music for Pleasure, but it isn't..."

No it's a typical piece of FDMs fine vinyl and as usual they'll be in short supply if you don't advance order. In the UK you can pre-order 'Mechanisms 2' for £20 post-free direct from Fruits de Mer if you're not, please pre-order from heyday-mo.com or shinybeast.nl
Here's the splendid 'The Lost Song' from the new album and a cautionary tale about the band and crustacean interference.

lost and found prog rock

Such was the ephemeral nature, or thought to be, of early music programmes at the BBC up until the 1970's many of the most valued performances on video were erased or destroyed. Particular victim of the purging was the long running weekly chart show 'Top Of the Pops' which had the last live Beatles appearance in 1966 and most of the Pink Floyd hits with Syd Barrett along with countless other groups of the time. In a darkened room somewhere there is still a BBC archivist sobbing.
The BBC have since regularly pleaded to the general public for any forgotten attic treasures to be forwarded. It's probably more surprising the occasional gem does come to light, mainly from a long gone comedy show. Pop music on the other hand is an increasingly rare find.

The European countries have been the most likely source of any buried treasure, possibly due at the time to the rarity of grabbing some hot trend in UK pop to be included in one of their own programmes of the time, and simply because their archives have not been decimated by an over zealous BBC management.
So the recent find from an archive of a German TV show 'Hits A Go Go' which included a song by King Crimson on Top Of The Pops is seen by fans of the group as the nearest thing to buried treasure lost but now found after all these years. It's rare content as well. Crimson have always been an ever evolving group except for the continual presence of Robert Fripp and in particular between their first live appearance in 1969 and the early 70's for one reason or another the revolving door was forever spinning with Crimson personnel coming and going.
This film of them on Top Of The Pops in March 1970 caught then at a most precarious moment. Within a month or so Greg Lake left for Emerson, Lake and Palmer who debuted in August 1970 at the Isle Of Wight Festival so must have been one of his last performances with Crimson. On keyboards is Keith Tippett who preferred to remain as a studio collaborator and performed live with the band only once and didn't record with them until the next album 'In the Wake of Poseidon' (May 1970), but was obviously keen enough to be in on this Top Of The Pops gig.
This then is 1.58 of the long lost "Cat Food" with some glorious free form piano from Tippett and the unmistakeable Greg Lake vocals. To think this was on a pop chart show says much about the era.

steven wilson new album and tour

Steven Wilson announces his new plans -

“I’m happy to announce the first tour dates to promote my forthcoming album ‘Hand. Cannot. Erase.’, starting in the UK before hitting Europe. We are currently developing a show that I hope will raise the bar both musically and visually from my previous tours, with a set list based around the new album (of course), as well as casting the net further back into my songwriting past for a few surprises."

.. er "raise the bar"..blimey, last years Raven tour was spectacular enough. Expect world tour dates to follow.
The cleverly titled ‘Hand. Cannot. Erase.’ is due in February and the tour begins in the UK in March (better get those tickets now they'll sell out quickly - from Ticket Master)

‘Hand. Cannot. Erase.’ has been recorded at the mighty AIR Studios, yes that's the one founded by George Martin in 1969 in London's Oxford St only now it's on version 3 and is relocated to Hampstead in North London.
And with the typical Wilson eye for detail on any of his projects here's two 6 minute shorts (Pt 1 & 2) by Lasse Hoile of the band working at AIR Studios last month, including previews of the new album as a work in progress.
The man explains it all -

robert wyatt stops

Sad to see Robert Wyatt announce he's stopped making music. One of Soft Machine's original members and later continuing with his esoteric and exploratory songwriting, Wyatt's music was in a world of it's own. No one like.
Wyatt himself is pragmatic about his cessation.

"I would say I've stopped, it's a better word than retired. 50 years in the saddle, it's not nothing. It's completely unplanned, my life, and it's just reached this particular point." (Uncut Magazine)

So to finish on one of his many great quotes "Being big and famous doesn't get you more freedom, it get's you less".
Hear he performs "Gharbadzegi" in 2006.

how the occult saved rock and roll

If anything peaks the rock fans interest it's when an "occult" background story shows up with the music. In Peter Bebergal's forthcoming book 'Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll' he has found a mystical cape thrown over that often derided genre '70's prog rock'. How he weaves this theory of other worldliness into the world of prog can only be marveled at given how Rick Wakeman once ate his less than mystical takeaway curry from his keyboards during a Yes gig.
But Bebergal sets up the mood nicely in this extract..

"At a recent gallery show of his artwork, Roger Dean -- best known for his lush and fantastical album covers for Yes in the 1970s -- was enjoying the crowd when a man approached him and held out his hand to shake. “Mr. Dean, your work has changed my life,” he said, “I have gleaned so many amazing, mystical secrets from looking at your album covers, can you tell me sort of what you meant by it.” Dean, ever polite, tried to let the man down easily. “I didn’t mean anything at all. It was just a good -- looking album cover.” His superfan, disillusioned, and possibly embarrassed, now turned nemesis, “Well, what do you know?” he angrily spat, “You’re just the artist!” Despite his protestations, Dean might have taken some responsibility for contributing to casting a wide mystical net over an entire subgenre of music, known sometimes derogatorily as progressive rock. You are unlikely to find a prog-rocker who refers to their own music in those terms, but the term serves as a way to describe a movement in rock, one steering a massive ship away from the siren call of blues-based rock that had so long dominated popular music, toward a more English tradition of what Greg Lake of the supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP) described as “troubadour, medieval storytelling.” Rock would inherit this mantle proudly, looking toward the mythology of the past -- often heavily informed by occult images -- to construct the sound of the future."
from Peter Bebergal's forthcoming book "Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll"
VIA BOING BOING

Available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Here's ELP's bizarre track "Brain Salad Surgery" which was never included on the album "Brain Salad Surgery".

666 and aphrodites child

Possibly one of the most unlikely pairings in progressive rock produced an even more unlikely classic -

"Aphrodite's Child was a Greek progressive rock band formed in 1967, by Vangelis Papathanassiou (keyboards), Demis Roussos (bass guitar and vocals), Loukas Sideras (drums and vocals), and Anargyros "Silver" Koulouris (guitar).
The band began to record their crowning achievement late in 1970: a musical adaptation of the biblical Book of Revelation, entitled 666. Silver Koulouris, having finished his Greek army duty rejoined the band. However, relations between all the band members were not good at the time, and continued to worsen during the album's creation."

And while we're all shuddering over the idea of pop schmooz Denis Roussos singing prog rock this "genuine mind blowing" double album was the concept of Vangelis.

"By the time the double LP 666 finally came out in early 1972, and having sold over 20 million albums, the band had already split. Both Vangelis and Demis Roussos pursued successful solo careers, Roussos as a pop singer and Vangelis in electronic music. Koulouris worked with both on occasion. Loukas Sideras pursued a less successful solo career, releasing an album and the single "Rising Sun" after the break-up."
wiki article

Reissued on cd and 180gram vinyl by Universal Music on their Back To Black catalogue. Presented as exact reproductions of original LP artwork to retain authenticity. Which in the case of 666 is not a revelation.
Amazon and other outlets will have the full details.
And if you don't know this album... prepared to be amazed. Here's the track "The Four Horseman".

glenn cornick RIP

It was somewhat belated news that one morning newspaper obit announced Jethro Tull bassist, Glenn Cornick, had passed away on August 28th.
If Jethro Tull had a golden moment it was surely with their second album 'Stand Up', where the band still in their early years captured a stand out performance on just their second LP.
Cornick had been an original member of Tull then being led by ace guitarist Mick Abrahams who were working over some driving blues rock around the small gigs and colleges with their first album 'This Was', it's notoriety due more to the cover photo of the group.
After the huge success in the UK with their single "Livin' In The Past " and an outrageous performance on Top Of The Pop's the music and image was an instant hit. Cornick being immediately recognisable with the head band and glasses and just as much an essential part of the bands rag bag persona.
By the second album 'Stand Up' in 1969 their sound was now a clever blend of blues and the new progressive rock surfacing in the UK and produced some genuinely fine musicianship delivered with at times fierce conviction. The rhythm section of Clive Bunkers and Glenn Cornick was particularly central to the quality of the sound.
With the inventive songwriting of Ian Anderson now elbowing Mick Abrahams from the band by "Stand Up" Jethro Tull were now hot news. In 1970 they were performing on the Sunday night at the 1970 Isle Of Wight Festival, by November that year and after finishing a successful tour of the US, Cornick was sacked. Rumours abound as to why but in truth no actual explanation was given. Not even to Glenn himself who remained mystified to the end. The last album he was to play on was Tull's third, 'Benefit' and given that it was released around the same year as his departure made it an equally odd move by the management or shall we say a true rock and roll bass player did not fit comfortably into the Anderson scheme of things.
Watch this great 4 minute video of the whole shabby affair. Glenn always was good value in interviews.

He went onto form 'Wild Turkey' and released 3 albums in the 70's without too much fuss but the band toured Stateside supporting Tull on some tour dates before calling it quits in the mid 70's. Wild Turkey did make it back one more time in the 90's and for the last time in 2000's recording two live albums with his old mates, one of which was Clive Bunker.
He died in Hilo, Hawaii of all places, that's along way to go for a guy from Barrow-in-Furness. Some journey.
Here's the Cornick pile-driving riff kicking off Tulls "A New Day Yesterday" from 'Stand Up'. And that album sleeve.

the endless river, the shortest preview

Pink Floyds first album for 20 years, due on 10th November, has just been previewed on a less than generous 30 second soundcloud clip. Who knows why many of these old rockers have become so paranoid about letting anyone hear more than a short preview is baffling given that a longer clip is hardly likely to effect the sales.
There is an odd paradox happening in rock music that has one of the biggest selling acts giving away an album and another fearful of letting anyone hear a new one. These are indeed strange days.
But there is 30 seconds of The Endless River to be heard, and most folk will be intrigued to know what the bickering ones are up to these days. Apparently they've stopped bickering, but not with Roger Waters who won't be appearing on the album although some of Rick Wright's last compostions will be. The original instrumental recordings were begun by Gilmour and Mason back in 1994 with the later sessions added in 2013. And what does it sound like?.. exactly like Pink Floyd.
The soundcloud clip is posted by a 'Felix Gauloises' of Villach, Austria, but why he should have the first glimpse of the prized 30 second Pink teaser is a bit daft. Who's blowing smoke up who's.. if you get the drift.

the progressive rock of opeth

For any band to change their approach to composition 4 albums into their releases is indeed a brave thing to do especially with an established following built up from that very partisan world of Death Metal. But that's exactly what Opeth have done. Their last album 'Heritage' began this hienous act of progression causing consternation amongst the diehard's, but it obviuously caused more of a consternation to Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt to produce more of the same old thing.
It's said "he began writing a bunch of songs in the old style but scrapped it a few songs in when he realised he was sick of the way it sounded".

Åkerfeldt's and Opeth's latest album 'Pale Communion' is a sumptuous wide screen drama of progressive rock. No more growling vocals and mosh pit riffing here, but spectacular harmonies that most prog bands would give their roadies for, set against a monster audio landscape of careful planning. This will really put the scare up some of their less than broad minded 'death' fans. Better face it guys Opeth are now progressive.
And what a sound it is. They can still produce a theme of sinister intent but from that dynamic now might be followed by a barely audible organ motif building a change of direction in the song or theme. This has more in common with classical composition than a heavy metal blitz. And of course being a Swedish production the sound is deep to say the least.
Why shouldn't musicians want to follow new directions. The Beatles did it every year for nearly a decade, Dylan has done it throughout his life. Jazz has done it for decades. Now Opeth have taken the choice of a new chapter in their world.
Vive La Change !. Or whatever that is in Swedish.

'Pale Communion' is available from the August 26th on Roadrunner Records. Pre-order it from the Opeth Store.
This is Opeth's official audio stream of the opening track 'Eternal Rains Will Come'.

van der graaf generator's 1972 film footage of a prog rock classic

Thanks are needed to Richard Metzger at Dangerous Minds for stumbling on some fascinating and rare footage of the classic lineup of Van Der Graaf Generator in 1972 performing their opus 'Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers' , released as side two of their near mystical creation and 4th album Pawn Hearts. Originally intended to be part of a double album with the third and fourth sides being the groups individual projects the idea was eventually abandoned to the production of side one and two only. Although Pawn Hearts was their 4th LP it would be better known by their fans as part 3 of the trilogy that began on their second LP, The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (1970), H to He, Who Am the Only One (1970) and a year later with Pawn Hearts (1971).

Side two's Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers is best described as split into a succession of farely short movements - "Eyewitness", "Pictures/Lighthouse", "Eyewitness", "S.H.M.", "Presence of the Night", "Kosmos Tours", "(Custard's) Last Stand", "The Clot Thickens", "Land's End (Sineline)", "We Go Now", with the overall composition a magnificent tour de force of Peter Hammill's songwriting and vocals alongside the bands highly imaginative and uncompromising approach to progressive rock. And if ever that term had been invented for a purpose it was to describe Van Der Graaf Generator who had taken the 60's evolution of rock into a completely unpredictable form that few groups ever came close to achieving outside of King Crimson, no surprise there when Fripp was to guest on a couple of their recordings. Such was Van Der Graaf's assault at gigs audiences were either running for the doors or screaming with joy and disbelief at what they were hearing. There was no half way with Van Der Graaf.
Also by the nature of part improvised and complex arrangements it was if the band needed to have an almost inspired moment every night to make this behemoth of a concept fall into gear smoothly. If technical faults crept into a performance, as they were inclined to do in the early 70's sound systems, it could be agonising listening to hear them fight their way to a conclusion and sometimes even then just not managing to ignite the Generator. On nights where the compositions flowed they became legendary performances amongst fans.
Even today their music is a continual challenge of textures and themes, switching time signatures, high and low dynamics, crescendo and decrescendo. The lyrics sometimes sound coded or symbolic allegories from Hamill's psyche but they scan as if they hold a deeply personal message to the human race. Consequently they kept many a 70's acid head in a state of bewilderment or near enlightenment. The Lighthouse Keeper, as solitary a musing of mortality or a beacon of hope for mankind? It's left up to you to decide.
Despite their lack of commercial success, although always revered in Europe, Van Der Graaf have inspired as diverse an artist as John Lydon to Bruce Dickinson, to a long line of Goth bands in the 80's.
For Belgian TV to capture 25 minutes of the band at their peak in 1972 says much about the lack of inhibition the programme makers had at the time.
It's impossible to think it could happen today.

twice around the world : steven wilson tour blogs 2012-13

In 2013 we published some of Theo Travis' blog posts of Steven Wilson's 'The Raven That Refused to Sing' tour (see posts). Now all the posts have been gathered together from 'The Grace For Drowning' and 'The Raven' tours and along with unseen photo's from top photographers and accounts of recording the band with contributions from band members, Theo has published a glossy, soft cover, limited editon book.

"The Steven Wilson 2013 tour was voted Event of the Year in Prog magazine. In this unique and limited edition book written in Travis' candid and relaxed style, he takes you on this amazing road trip, giving unparalleled access to one of the greatest Progressive bands in the world today."

'Twice Around The World' is available early September with a limited additon of only 1000 so advance ordering will be the smart move. Go to Theo's website.

Here's "Luminol" (from the Get All You Deserve Blu-Ray & DVD)
Steven Wilson with Marco Minnemann (drums), Nick Beggs (bass), Theo Travis (flute and sax), Adam Holzman (keys) and Niko Tsonev (guitars). Filmed in in Mexico City. 2013.

samsara blues experiment live

A rare video of the Samsara Blues Experiment taken in November last year. This is before the lineup change in 2014 when they became a trio. Here with the Hans Eiselt’s rhythm guitar feeding off the sharp drumming of Thomas Vedder it kept there last album 'After The Flood' moving from power rock into a psychedelic groove rarely heard by bands since the days of The Grateful Dead.

Christian Peters (vocals and guitar)

"The world needs digital music, but then again it doesn’t need it at all. It just depends on you, do you want to spend your life in front of a computer searching the endless plains of the world wide web for more and more music or leave that crap and plant a tree, return home happily and listen to that old Neil Young record".

"...we handle our own sales. Which is cool but most people don’t know anything about what happens when the band leaves the stage. We all still have jobs. I’d say this is obvious, but a lot of people look at us with eyes like an Owl when we tell them that we have to work the next morning. We’re all really quite "regular" people."
INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTIAN PETERS : IT'S PSYCHEDELIC BABY. 2013

See that? Day jobs! It's why they're free to do what the flood they like with their music.
You'll probably only catch them at occasional gigs outside of Berlin this year (Berlin Swampfest. 20th September 2014)

'After The Flood' is available from their Bandcamp site. Here is the title track (worth the album price alone) at Kaktus Farm, Dortmund. 13.11.2013

johnny winter gone

photo © Legacy

Only the other week we ran a post on the trials of reaching 70 years old in rock and roll and still touring. (post : a dangerous age for rock and roll) . Then if it wasn't sad enough to be given the news the Tommy Ramone had passed away last weekend, be it at the slightly earlier age of 66, we now have this mornings statement from Kid Logic Media that the legendary blues man Johnny Winter passed away last night in his hotel room in Zurich, Switzerland, age 70.

The Texas 'White Lightnin' as he was nicknamed, Johnny Winter was one of the most enigmatic and exciting live performers that blues and rock music has ever seen. Despite the many years of hard times in his life with him being stuck at the pointed end of serious drug addiction, mainly encouraged by his filth of a long time and exploitative manager, in the later years Johnny was rescued from an even earlier demise by his new found manager and guitarist, Paul Nelson who got him back to a drug free life and helping him relaunch his career. Maybe it was this second life with his music that Johnny found he could never abandon again as he toured consistently there after and for the last decade.
His early years in Mississippi Delta following in the footsteps of his blues heroes were spent dueling it out in the Southern blues clubs or what was then clumsily called 'the Chitlin' Circuit' and as equally daunting being the only white blues player. He sat in with legendary names Muddy Waters and BB King in sessions and held his own. BB King tells a story of him being brought on to play, (paraphrased) "some white kid?" "within minutes you knew he knew some stuff".

By the time Winter sprang his band on the 1969 Woodstock audience his performance was electrifying. This was a truly sensational guitarist and only equaled by Hendrix in the mastery of redefining what the blues was to a new generation already absorbing Clapton, Page, Beck etc.
His classic second LP release and double album 'Second Winter' was as much progressive blues as it was powerful rock, although he always saw himself as a blues man only, the sound of Winter's electric slide guitar and Texas drawl was as familer a sound as Hendrix's wah pedal by 1970.
There were performances that went down in rock history, The Fillmore East, The Albert Hall, even on television in early 70's 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' with the band playing "Jumping Jack Flash" live. From his early days to his last Johnny Winter has inspired generations of young guitarists to listen and explore blues playing for themselves.
Want to play some Johnny Winter blues on your guitar?

Here's some fine examples of his tunings in action - "Dallas" (open G), "Mean Town Blues" (open A), "Highway 61" from "Second Winter, "Mojo Boogie", "Stranger Blues" (open D), or the red hot version of "Highway 61" from "Captured Live", or "Let It Bleed" (open E).

And that is the greatest gift Johnny Winter leaves us.
So long Johnny.

Here's Dylan's masterpiece 'Highway 61 Revisited' in the hands of a master.

santana's latin magic

After 3 weeks of Brazilian World Cup fever.. (it's OK, this is not about football) the one glaringly missing ingredient, and what some of us were tuning in especially to see and hear, were the cutaway shots to the Brazilian streets and crowds in full swing to the irresistible sound of the Brazilian rhythms and bands. But oh no. Nothing.
Surely the opening ceremony would offer the mesmerising beats and brass. But no again, we get a muffled speaker system echoing around the stadium with the usual club backing bump and J-Lo body grinding next to a girl who looked exactly like... J-Lo. It was all a bit strange.
This was not the hot Latin rhythms we might have hoped for. No brass blaring in the crowd, just a school girl like high pitched squeal every time a yellow shirt appeared to run with the ball, or fall over. Not Latin magic.

In 1970 a year after Woodstock, Santana played 'Tanglewood' which was for the first time putting on a series of rock gigs after the Boston Symphony had been installed through successive summers. It was one of the king of promoters, Bill Graham's great "Fillmore" adventures. After the huge success of the first gigs a further 3 dates were secured at Tanglewood one of which was a performance by Santana.
The film shot that night was to capture the band at their best and with the classic lineup that included Mike Rolie on keyboard and Michael Shrieve on drums. And then there were those percussionists.
There's probably never been a rock band since to have such a sound. It's hard to imagine how anyone could add these rhythms to a group and not end up sounding like Santana. It was genre defining.

The band were just about to release their second album 'Abraxas'. This track is 'Evil Ways' from their first, 'Santana'.
And if that Brazilian football team had half this rhythm to their playing the outcome to that World Cup would have had a very different conclusion.

john cale and terry riley's disowned masterpiece

It was one of the most unlikely collaborations of the early 70's when The Velvet Underground luminary John Cale met up with minimalist master Terry Riley and recorded the album 'Church Of Anthrax.' (1971)
Maybe the title had foretold the pair ending up disowning the thing after it had been recorded, Riley walking out at the mixing session and Cale declaring dislike and later damning with faint praise as "a jam with Terry".
Yet you can see how the concept would be more than intriguing at the time. How would Terry Riley's precise almost mathematical approach to notation and his fast keyboard arpeggios work with Cale's raw intense textures of rock and avant garde instrumental experimentation.
Whatever their personal or musical experiences at the time led them to think badly of 'Church Of Anthrax', hearing these recordings 43 years later proves that this monster of an album was worth every moment they shared in its making.
This dangerous and powerful sound has just been reissued on the Esoteric label.
"..the music's kinetic fury and unsettling charge still soars". Gavin Martin. Uncut
Available from Amazon.com

sean lennon and GHOSTT on WNYC

Sean Lennon doesn't half get some stick for just about anything he does. There's some very miserable sods out there who just like being mean. Still, I bet he's used to it and if he's anything like his Dad he'll give two fingers to the lot of them and just get on with it. But the best reply to anything is with the music.
His new band GHOSTT played an in-studio session for New York's WNYC 'Spinning On Air' in April and what a session this turned out to be.
Sean on guitar and vocals; Charlotte Kemp Muhl, bass and vocals; Jared Samuel, keyboards and vocals; Robbie Mangano, guitar and vocals; Tum Kuhl, drums.
This band looks and sounds right from the opening howl of feedback. The song's called 'Too Deep' and you can catch the whole show at WYNC's site.
Note here that the bass player Charlotte Kemp Muhl co wrote the song with Lennon. Yep, he works with a good bass playing song writing partner... right?