Pink Floyd have heightened fans’ excitement for their first new album in 20 years by releasing a short trailer online.
The legendary rock band will release The Endless River on 10 November, a collection of “mainly ambient and instrumental music” based on early Nineties sessions for their Division Bell album.
The mysterious 30-second teaser clip shows a turning sphere of coloured geometric shapes that come together to form a scientific-looking logo. Haunting atmospheric music without vocals provides the soundtrack.
David Gilmour, Nick Mason and multi-instrumentalist Richard Wright all feature on the album, dedicated to Wright, who died in 2008 aged 65.
A statement published on the band’s website reads: “The Endless River is a tribute to Rick Wright, whose keyboards are at the heart of the Pink Floyd sound.
“It is a mainly instrumental album with one song, ‘Louder Than Words’ (with new lyrics by Polly Samson), arranged across four sides and produced by David Gilmour, Phil Manzanera, Youth and Andy Jackson.”
Original bassist Roger Waters, who left in 1985, does not feature on The Endless River.
Last year, drummer Mason said that he does not believe a full band reunion will ever happen, despite being “ready to go” if it did.
Gilmour’s wife Polly Samson and former live backing singer Durga McBroom-Hudson were the first to reveal the upcoming project when they discussed it on social media. Details were officially confirmed by Pink Floyd’s record label in July.
The album artwork for The Endless River was shared earlier this week.
Egyptian digital artist Ahmed Emad Elgin, aged just 18, has designed the “enigmatic” sleeve, after Pink Floyd’s long-time iconic designer Storm Thorgerson died in 2013.
The 50th anniversary is always a big one for legendary classic rock groups, a big, round number sure to involve some sort of special release. The Who are of course no exception—the band will release Who Hits 50!, a two-CD, “definitive hits collection” on Oct. 27. Of special interest to Who fans, however, is the fact that the recording will also include the first new Who song in eight years, an upbeat rocker called “Be Lucky.”
The song was recorded this summer at British Grove and Yellowfish Studios, and features Who live players Zak Starkey (drums) and Pino Palladino (bass), with the keyboards being provided by ex Style Council and Dexys sideman Mick Talbot. In keeping with their ongoing support for Teenage Cancer charities, the band have donated their royalties from the song to Teen Cancer America, a charity founded in 2011 by Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend.
If you’re curious exactly what tracks will appear on this “definitive” hits collection, the full list is below. “Be Lucky” will be included as the final track on the second disc.
Disc 1
“Zoot Suit” – (as The High Numbers), “I Can’t Explain”, “Anyway Anyhow Anywhere”, “My Generation”, “Substitute”, “The Kids Are Alright”,“I’m A Boy”, “Happy Jack”, “Boris The Spider”, “Pictures Of Lily”, “The Last Time”, “I Can See For Miles”, “Call Me Lightning”, “Dogs”, “Magic Bus”, “Pinball Wizard”, “I’m Free”, “The Seeker”, “Summertime Blues” (live), “See Me, Feel Me”, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (single edit), “Let’s See Action”, “Bargain”, “Behind Blue Eyes”
Disc 2
“Baba O’ Riley”, “Join Together”, “Relay”, “5:15”, “Love Reign O’er Me”, “Postcard”, “Squeeze Box”, “Slip Kid”, “Who Are You”, “Trick Of The Light”, “You Better You Bet”, “Don’t Let The Coat”, “Athena”, “Eminence Front”, “It’s Hard”, “Real Good Looking Boy”, “It’s Not Enough”, “Be Lucky” (new song).
IT WAS A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME opportunity to hear The Beatles as they were intended in the hallowed space where they created their extraordinary music. To mark the launch of The Beatles In Mono vinyl remasters, Apple Records and MOJO hosted a special evening gathering at Abbey Road’s legendary Studio 2 to listen to tracks from the new versions and hear a panel of distinguished guests discuss how the group recorded and mixed their songs.
The doors of Studio 2, where The Beatles recorded the majority of their material, swung open at 5.30pm to welcome a specially invited audience of 100 or so Fabs fans, including several dozen MOJO readers selected from our recent online competition.
The event started with the master of ceremonies – storied music writer and broadcaster Mark Ellen – introducing the panel, comprising Beatles engineer Ken Scott; BBC radio producer and Beatle boffin Kevin Howlett; Sean Magee, the remastering and cutting engineer who worked on the new vinyls; and Toerag Studios producer and mono enthusiast Liam Watson.
After hearing the first selection from the new platters, You Can’t Do That – sounding punchy and powerful on £300,000 sound system (with NAIM amp, Focal speakers, KJ West One turntable, Ortofon cartridge) – discussion began about the merits of experiencing The Beatles in mono, Kevin Howlett pointing out that it was the primary format on which records were sold until 1968 and that The Beatles showed little interest in the stereo mixes of their albums until that time.
Abbey Road’s Studio 2 with esteemed panelists (from left) Mark Ellen, Kevin Howlett, Ken Scott, Sean Magee and Liam Watson. Photo by Simon Matthews.
Abbey Road’s Studio 2 with esteemed panelists (from left) Mark Ellen, Kevin Howlett, Ken Scott, Sean Magee and Liam Watson. Photo by Simon Matthews
Ken Scott revealed that the radically different stereo mix of White Album track Helter Skelter (it’s around a minute longer than the mono mix and ends with Ringo Starr’s cry of “I’ve got blisters on my figures!”) was inspired by Paul McCartney’s realisation that fans were becoming increasingly interested in comparing the two versions. “He told me, ‘If we make them different than we’ll sell twice as many records,’” laughed Scott.
He also explained that the jet engine sound effect on Back In The USSR is different on the two mixes because the tape used on the mono version became so worn out it began to wow and flutter.
After hearing Helter Skelter and the single version of Revolution at gloriously loud volume, Liam Watson selected the Ringo-sung Boys from The Beatles’ debut album Please Please Me to be cued up next. Howlett explained that the group didn’t bother to change the gender of the song’s title when they covered the (all-girls) Shirelles B-side.
Then came the highlight of the evening: “It would be insane to be in this Sistine Chapel of a building and not hear A Day In The Life,” announced Mark Ellen, before the stirring piano chords and Lennon’s opening line, “I heard the news today, oh boy…” of the Sgt Pepper pocket symphony brought a hymnal, emotional ambience to the hushed room.
More fascinating talk followed, including Scott’s recollection of his first time in charge of a Beatles session, on a shelved version of Your Mother Should Know, when in the control room he “had to tell the biggest band in the world to shut the f**k up” because they were discussing something noisily while he was trying to concentrate.
Abbey Road’s Studio 2 as it was then, after The Beatles had left the building…
The mono versions of I Am The Walrus and While My Guitar Gently Weeps spread more good cheer, as did Scott’s story that no one, including him, actually remembers Eric Clapton turning up to play the guitar part on the latter. After Love Me Do, a truly memorable evening drew to a close – the organisers graciously allowing the audience to photograph at their leisure the legendary room where The Beatles created their magic.
Read our feature and review of The Beatles In Mono box set in the latest issue of MOJO (251).
The Beatles In Mono Vinyl Box Set and its individual constituent albums are on sale from September 8, 2014.
THE BEATLES’ ORIGINAL MONO STUDIO ALBUMS REMASTERED AT ABBEY ROAD DIRECTLY FROM THE ANALOGUE MASTERS FOR VINYL RELEASE
180-Gram LPs Available September 8, Individually and in a Limited 14-LP Boxed Edition with Hardbound Book
London – June 12, 2014 – The Beatles in mono: This is how most listeners first heard the group in the 1960s, when mono was the predominant audio format. Up until 1968, each Beatles album was given a unique mono and stereo mix, but the group always regarded the mono as primary. On September 8 (September 9 in North America), The Beatles’ nine U.K. albums, the American-compiled Magical Mystery Tour, and the Mono Masters collection of non-album tracks will be released in mono on 180-gram vinyl LPs with faithfully replicated artwork. Newly mastered from the analogue master tapes, each album will be available both individually and within a lavish, limited 14-LP boxed edition, The Beatles In Mono, which also includes a 108-page hardbound book.
In an audiophile-minded undertaking, The Beatles’ acclaimed mono albums have been newly mastered for vinyl from quarter-inch master tapes at Abbey Road Studios by GRAMMY®-winning engineer Sean Magee and GRAMMY®-winning mastering supervisor Steve Berkowitz. While The Beatles In Mono CD boxed set released in 2009 was created from digital remasters, for this new vinyl project, Magee and Berkowitz cut the records without using any digital technology. Instead, they employed the same procedures used in the 1960s, guided by the original albums and by detailed transfer notes made by the original cutting engineers.
Working in the same room at Abbey Road where most of The Beatles’ albums were initially cut, the pair first dedicated weeks to concentrated listening, fastidiously comparing the master tapes with first pressings of the mono records made in the 1960s. Using a rigorously tested Studer A80 machine to play back the precious tapes, the new vinyl was cut on a 1980s-era VMS80 lathe.
Manufactured for the world at Optimal Media in Germany, The Beatles’ albums are presented in their original glory, both sonically and in their packaging. The boxed collection’s exclusive 12-inch by 12-inch hardbound book features new essays and a detailed history of the mastering process by award-winning radio producer and author Kevin Howlett. The book is illustrated with many rare studio photos of The Beatles, fascinating archive documents, and articles and advertisements sourced from 1960s publications.
The Beatles In Mono: Available individually and collected in a limited 14-LP boxed edition, accompanied by an exclusive 108-page hardbound book.
Please Please Me With The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night Beatles For Sale Help! Rubber Soul Revolver Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Magical Mystery Tour The Beatles (2-LP) Mono Masters (3-LP)
ORDER THE BEATLES ON MONO AT THE OFFICIAL STORES OR AT YOUR LOCAL RETAILER
A guitar that Buddy Holly played during his UK tour in 1958 has made a return to the Bradford Odeon (formerly Gaumont), before being taken to the Buddy Holly Center in Buddy’s hometown of Lubbock, Texas.
Photo credit: Buddy Holly official Facebook page
The Hofner President guitar was used by Buddy mainly on the tour bus for rehearsing and songwriting, and was given to the tour’s compere, a young Dec O’Connor, at the end of the tour. Des sold the guitar to the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation (BHEF) in 2010.
Buddy Holly and the Crickets (Joe B. Mauldin on bass and Jerry Allison on drums) played two shows at the Bradford Gaumont on March 9th, 1958. Also on the bill were Ronnie Keene and his Orchestra, the Tanner Sisters, Garry Miller and Des O’Connor. The show was a hit with the young rock ‘n’ roll fans, but met with less enthusiasm by Peter Holdsworth of the Telegraph & Argus, who complained:
“Unless they had previously read the lyrics or heard them sung by an articulate vocalist, I would have defied anyone in the audience to tell me what 70 per cent of the words were which issued from the lips of this foot-stamping, knee-falling musician. Where on earth is show business heading?”
I don’t think Mr Holdsworth really understood the new music. Heaven knows what he would have made of Jerry Lee Lewis if Jerry’s planned June 1958 gig at the venue hadn’t been cancelled.
Souvenir programme for the Bradford show
Among the other stars who played the Bradford Gaumont over the years were Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
In the Summer of 1970, a number of rock bands, including the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, the Band, and Buddy Guy, played a series of festivals across Canada. Instead of flying the musicians from show to show, the promoter rented a train that traveled from Toronto to Winniepeg. A film crew captured the historic ride, but the negative disappeared–until now, when director Bob Smeaton reassembled the lost footage and added contemporary interviews to complete the film. Unlike festivals like Woodstock, where musicians would arrive, play, and leave, the train ride offered them a unique opportunity to hang, jam, and party with each other. Crammed onboard the train for long overnight trips, rolling jam sessions evolved in every car. “The train was for many things,” the Dead’s Mickey Hart winks, “but not for sleeping.”
The footage in “Festival Express” bears witness to this: as the countryside chugs by outside, Garcia gets into a deep blues jam with Buddy Guy, somebody spikes the whiskey with acid, and in one of the film’s most fascinating scenes, a way-stoned Rick Danko sings with Janis while Jerry and Bob pick along. When the rolling party runs out of booze, the train pulls over in front of a liquor store in Saskatoon. Financially, the festival tour turned into a failure when protesters in Toronto, outraged by the high price of admission (fourteen dollars!), started to riot. Policemen got hurt, and in a natural display of their Sixties generosity, the Grateful Dead played in the park to calm the scene–for free.
But the film’s many privileged glimpses at some of rock history’s legendary icons are only a side show, and Smeaton never loses sight of the music. Mixed by Eddie Kramer (famous for his work with Jimi, Zeppelin, and Santana), “Festival Express” showcases the incindiary guitar work of Buddy Guy, the antics of Sha Na Na, and the country-rock of the Flying Burrito Brothers. The Band does “The Weight” and “I Shall Be Released,” and the Dead play “Don’t Ease Me In” and a beautiful afternoon “New Speedway Boogie.” The highlight of the film are two absolutely stunning performances by Janis Joplin: “Cry Baby” and “Tell Mama” are tight, intense, and so emotionally raw that it seems hardly surprising Joplin died only two months later.
Exuberant, outrageous, and seriously smokin’, “Festival Express” is an essential document of the heady days when, as Bob Weir puts it, “rock ‘n roll mattered.” It’s impossible to imagine a comparable trip–and movie — with today’s crop of ClearChannel performers. Garcia and Joplin appear as obsessively dedicated musicians who are as serious about their craft as they are about having a good time. The decision to retain the look of the original 16mm stock and to use montage and split screen effects truthful to the period turn “Festival Express” into a lost gem, an instant classic. The only complaint is the film’s brevity: I would gladly have sat through more than 90 minutes of this outstanding material.
With the current comeback of the vinyl format, fans of T.Rex are in for a treat this Christmas withe Demon Music release on November 3rd, 2014 of “T.Rex: The Vinyl Collection”, an 8-album box set featuring ‘T.Rex’, ‘Electric Warrior’, ‘The Slider’, ‘Tanx’, ‘Zinc Alloy & The Hidden Riders of Tomorrow’, ‘Bolan’s Zip Gun’, ‘Futuristic Dragon’ and ‘Dandy In The Underworld’. Whether intended to replace scratched and worn original vinyl editions, to frame some of the most iconic, respected record sleeves for display, or simply to be reacquainted with the work of one of rock’s best-loved, most enduring legends, the T.Rex Box Set Collection is both stylish and affordable.
With 2 vinyl versions of T.Rex: The Vinyl Collection, a collector’s limited edition of 500 coloured vinyl sets which will be available through D2C, Demon’s online outlet (http://www.myplaydirect.com/t-rex) and a black vinyl set available through Amazon, this release is a must for Bolan fans. With an suggested retail price of £129.99 ($212.00) for the vinyl sets this collection of titles will also make the perfect Christmas gift choice. A ten-CD set,T. Rex: The Albums Collection will be released on the same date.
Marc Bolan was the first superstar of the Seventies. Part hippie mystic, part vintage Hollywood flash, he was a new kind of pop phenomenon, inspiring hysteria and hero-worship of a kind not seen since Beatlemania a decade earlier. At the height of his fame, between 1971 and 1973, his records sold in their millions – his book of poetry was a best-seller, too – and he was the most visible and controversial figure in pop. Amongst T. Rex’s biggest hits, which included 4 No. 1s, were Ride A White Swan, Hot Love, Get It On, Jeepster, Telegram Sam, Metal Guru, Children Of The Revolution, Solid Gold Easy Action and 20th Century Boy.
Unusually for music that’s now 40 years old, the work of Marc Bolan and T. Rex, much of it recorded with legendary record producer Tony Visconti, kicks and sparkles just as much in the 21st century. In recent years, several of his best-known songs have been used in high-profile advertising campaigns.
While best known for his extraordinary run of singles (11 Top 10 hits between 1970 and 1977) Bolan also released some of the best-selling and today most critically rated albums of the era. The Slider, released at his peak in July 1972, was quintessential T. Rex and the prelude to Born To Boogie, the full-length feature film Bolan documentary shot by ex-Beatle Ringo Starr. Its predecessor, Electric Warrior, is rated more highly still. A raw, mesmerizing blend of primal rock’n’roll, hard rock attack, blissed-out balladry, topped with some of the most memorable lyrics ever to appear on record, Warrior is now regarded as one of a small handful of truly definitive rock albums.
The eight original titles featured in the box are as follows:
T. Rex (1971) – With Ride A White Swan the surprise hit of winter 1970, T.Rex was the transition album that saw Bolan successfully reach out beyond his old hippie audience (and ditch the group’s previous mouthful of a name, Tyrannosaurus Rex). Friend and photographer Pete Sanders took the stunning cover photo of Marc and percussionist sidekick Mickey Finn, both of whom wore make-up for the shoot to accentuate their androgynous beauty.
Electric Warrior (1971) – Not just the flagship T. Rex album, but a chart-topping rock classic that has grown in stature ever since its release, thanks to the mix of inspired song writing and raw, seemingly effortless performances. Features iconic, John Kosh-designed artwork based on a photograph by Kieron ‘Spud’ Murphy, and includes the hits Get It On and Jeepster.
The Slider (1972) – Released in summer ’72, when T. Rextasy/Bolanmania was evolving into the generation-defining Glam Rock movement, The Slider captures the definitive T. Rex sound at its commercial peak. Bolan insisted that Ringo Starr took the cover shot (in fact it was Tony Visconti); the songs contained within, including hits Telegram Sam and Metal Guru, have since proved no less timeless.
Tanx (1973) – Eager not to be trapped by his fame and spectacularly successful hit formula, Bolan introduced a range of new instruments including the Mellotron into the T. Rex sound for this rich, satisfying set. Includes Born To Boogie, a theme tune of sorts, and a sleeve that features Bolan suggestively astride a toy tank.
Zinc Alloy & The Hidden Riders Of Tomorrow (1974) – An extraordinary provocation album at the time, with Bolan taking an impassioned leap into the gutsy sound of US soul, Zinc Alloy is the surprise package in the T. Rex catalog and remains ripe for reappraisal. Includes Teenage Dream, Bolan’s extraordinary, self-willed farewell to pop stardom, and a striking cover photo that reflects his conversion to what he called “space-age superfunk”.
Bolan’s Zip-Gun (1975) – In exile both from Britain and his pop past, Bolan hung loose in Los Angeles, and freed himself up in the studio. The results weren’t greatly appreciated at the time, when soft-rock prevailed, but the years have been kind to this, the ‘The great lost Marc Bolan album’ thanks in part to Bolan’s own direct, contemporary sounding production. Includes Light Of Love and the lost classic Think Zinc.
Futuristic Dragon (1976) – The title was reminiscent of Bolan’s days as a late 60s underground cult hero, and so did the artwork, illustrated by David Bowie’s long-time pal George Underwood, who was responsible for the fantastical painting that appeared on the first Tyrannosaurus Rex cover back in 1968. Includes two of Bolan’s best-loved hits, New York City and Dreamy Lady.
Dandy In The Underworld (1977) – Back in London and energized by the punk rock sound then sweeping the capital, Bolan put together a new-look T. Rex for what would be his swansong release. Featuring a gutsier, R&B based sound, though with Bolan’s trademark lyricism still much in evidence, as well as the infectious revivalism of his 1976 hit, I Love To Boogie, Dandy returned Marc Bolan and T. Rex to the news columns. This re-emergence was cruelly curtailed when pop’s most distinctive, and in so many ways influential Superstar of the Seventies was killed in a car crash in Barnes, London, on September 16, 1977.
It’s ironic that BBC Radio 1 shares the same birthday with the late Marc Bolan: September 30th. However, Marc is the elder national institution by 20 years (b.1947), and he was just 20 years old in 1967 when he began to make appearances on the newly-born broadcasting frequency during his time with the bands of ‘John’s Children’ and ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’, and then years later with the commercial rock and pop phenomenon known as ‘T.Rex’. Further irony played a part during this early period too when the BBC actually banned the ‘John’s Children’ song, ‘Desdemona’ (written by Bolan) due to a controversial theme underscored by a lyric. Nevertheless, the ‘natural born poet’ had plenty more words to choose from within his own ‘dictionary’ of the ‘creative self’ and certainly wasn’t deterred from continuing with his artform. Afterall, he had already released several 45rpm singles to his own name credit leading up to this period, albeit none of them successfully-acclaimed. However, by the dawn of his 21st birthday in 1968 things had changed considerably for Marc Bolan – both musically and poetically, and in his own dreamy landscape of melodious verse, the two themes were ‘soulmates’ channeled through one distinctive voice…
“The Wizard”: 1st Single
The former Mark Feld is a very difficult ‘enigma’ to decipher and label. Not that anybody should actually feel the need to ‘label’ him, but the ambiguity of this enigma alone serves as his genius. The fantasy mix of Tolkien and Lewis combined to stir his own myths which also led him eventually to his own best-selling “Warlock of Love”. The knowledge and inspiration of the early rockabilly of Presley, Cochran and Berry that poured forth onto his own musically instinctive palette along with the songwriting and folk-inspired anthems of Bob Dylan, set the premise for something he forever craved. And in the early years after a slight stumble with a makeshift ‘electric’ band (post-‘John’s Children’) he found the channel of reinvention through which to convey his new voice of acoustic whimsical ‘hippy theatre’: the psychedelic landscape of London’s underground music scene – the sights and sounds of a continuous avantgarde development – pre-‘Woodstock’ and with an indirect cultural nexus but very much of the same musically-inspired generation …
Photo: Jorgen Angel Photography
Marc Bolan became the epitome of a youth that held a desire to contribute his own verse of text to the world in both musical and poetical terms, which happened as a consequence of ‘learning a living’ as a sharp-looking London ‘Mod’ about town; he eventually preferred to be ‘earning a living’ by tapping into the creative forces and influences that lay dormant for a while during his early teen period. Furthermore, his mind became a ‘sponge’ of society’s events and surroundings, and through its culture he reinvented himself, and his music, several times through the years. He discovered that life didn’t necessarily have any barriers and if any were to be met, then they were defined as mere obstacles he could walk around.
The aim of this Bolan Birthday tribute is to present a selection of great musical highlights and perspectives – some quite rare, and ones which will offer an insight into the outcomes of his musical arsenal. Marc was a creative genius who is adored by generations and moreso the one he ushered in during the ‘Glam Rock’ era of the early 1970’s: “T.Rextasy”! Personally, I always felt the use of the ‘glam’ phrase somewhat undermined the significance of Marc’s musical achievements in the rock genre; the media had declared the phrase as the musical image of the times – albeit one that Marc’s name would be forever connected in a pioneering-sense of association. Nevertheless, he was technically paying homage to the ‘big bang’ of music from an earlier time – it was, afterall, still Rock ‘n’ Roll as we know it! However, before we arrive at the “glam” seventies, lets experience a taste of the earlier psychedelic-acoustic Marc Bolan along with percussionist Steve Peregrin Took – the duo known as ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’ with their very first album in 1968: “My people were fair and had sky in their hair…But now they’re content to wear stars on their brows”…
The following is a poem which was influenced by the idea of Marc undertaking the creative process of one of his early psychedelic-folk compositions which was about to experience a radical change in movement. The formatting of the text represents a whimsical free-flowing style in lighter contrast to the style of the ‘heavier’ electric compositions of T.Rex. This is “BOLAN!” – Part I:
Here is the follow-up which depicts the beginning of ‘T.Rextasy’ and the switch to electric for Marc and the band’s attack on the commercial pop market. This poem was crafted as a deliberate rhyme moreso than the first poem in order to reflect the more commercial appeal of T.Rex’s major transitional period. The text is formatted in bold to represent the prominent outcome of this switch in style. This is “BOLAN!” – Part II:
The name change from ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’ to the simplified ‘T.Rex’ in 1970 became the first part of the transition into electric rock ‘n’ roll. Having introduced new percussionist Mickey Finn into the creative realm on the “A Beard of Stars” album, Marc was on the look out to expand the duo format of the band and consequently the overall sound. This was soon achieved and the transition was complete: the hit singles were soon in abundance beginning with ‘Ride A White Swan’ and classic critically-acclaimed albums such as ‘T.Rex’ (1970), ‘Electric Warrior’ (1971) and ‘The Slider’ (1972) reinforced Marc’s musical vision and development which aided the god-like appraisal he was being given, not only by his fans, but by the more regal figures in Rock ‘n’ Roll music. One such figure was Ringo Starr, and this such praise culminated in the birth of “Born To Boogie”…
‘TELEGRAM SAM’ –
Just prior to filming “Born To Boogie” in early 1972, T.Rex achieved their 3rd UK No.1 in the form of “Telegram Sam” – a very popular favourite amongst the ‘Bolanmania’ elite with its lyrical illustrations of pop culture elements and expressions including a reference to Bolan’s very own ‘corkscrew hair’. It’s a great song, but considerably underrated, with its infusion of Beatles-like string bursts combined with an emphasis on an uptempo blues texture. The hit single was the first to be released on Marc’s new ‘T.Rex Wax Co.’ label and maintained his policy of giving the fans and record-buying public value for their money with the inclusion of 2 tracks on the ‘B’ side of the single. In this case it was then-unreleased song, ‘Cadilac’ (spelt with one ‘l’ in the middle) and ‘Baby Strange’ from ‘The Slider’ LP…
‘JEEPSTER’: EVOLUTION –
The following features two individual videos of two startling live performances of the same song. Each one holds its own merit and are both spectacular interpretations. The earliest one is when T.Rex staged two sell-out concerts at the Empire Pool, Wembley on March 18th, 1972 and both were filmed for the “Born To Boogie” documentary. Presented here is “Jeepster” from the evening show and also included in the concert film. It’s a fine performance combining Marc’s masterful guitar skills and showmanship as he stokes a hot fire of adulation, lick after lick, and his expressions tell a story in their own right…
The following live version of ‘Jeepster’ is really something to behold! This is over a year later in the US, and considering that he never thoroughly established himself across the Atlantic, the audience are totally in awe of the delivery of his performance. What we see here is a further expansion of T.Rex which also includes Gloria Jones – Marc’s future partner and the mother of his son, Rolan. This is the height of the ‘Glam’ era and Marc is excessively kitted-out, but somehow the ‘spectacle’ all appears to shine appropriately; his guitar work is ‘bleeding’ with added panache and skillful control – it’s a wonderful performance which truly deserves the ovation:
‘LIFE’S A GAS’: DUET – “It was like being jealous of your best girlfriend,”Cilla Black later recalled. “He had everything – the hair, the eyes, the makeup, the glam. The worrying thing was you did kind of fancy him – being this feminine-looking guy. But then you had the music as well, both things together, and the combination was unbelievable.” (Source: The Guardian)
In January, 1973 T.Rex appeared on the BBC’s “Cilla Black show” and after performing the song “Mad Donna” from the ‘Tanx’ album, Marc picked up his acoustic guitar for a seated duet with his host(ess). It’s another iconic moment in the life and career of Marc Bolan and it’s also one of those rare unlikely collaborations that shouldn’t really have worked, but it’s quite obvious that both stars have a mutual respect for each other. It’s both fantastic and fascinating especially when you put into context Cilla’s statement above with her expressions on screen. Enjoy this stripped-down and inspired reading of ‘Life’s A Gas’ – the ‘B’ side of ‘Jeepster’…
‘BUICK MACKANE’: LIVE –
Originally from ‘The Slider’ album but performed live here on the German TV show ‘Musikladen’. It’s a heavy delivery ignited with sensual overtones to the max. A performance that is driven by Marc’s command of the throbbing rhythm, thrashing lead and intricate solos; the band’s prowess as a tight unit is undeniable. This is great viewing – a totally awe-inspiring execution…
After pulling through the traumas of further excesses encountered whilst trying to push T.Rex to the wider audience regions of America, including the break-up of his marriage, the mid-70’s became an intense period of reflection and reevaluation for Marc Bolan. Considerable changes began to take place during the creation of several soul-inspired pieces of music with partner, Gloria Jones in collaborative support. Then, with the birth of their son in September, 1975 his outlook was further transformed and his creative inspiration began to flourish once again in view of the pop market and a newfound family lifestyle. The live appearances took on a more back to basics structure but maintaining an inventiveness for new sounds and direction. It was through this outlook and approach that Marc began to champion the expressive sound of the Punk rock movement – or ‘New Wave’ sound as he mainly referred to it. In 1977 he was back touring and in keeping with current musical trends of the time he ensured that ‘The Damned’ were in support. Here for your listening pleasure is a live concert showcase at the Rainbow Theatre, London in March, ’77 with some interesting extras…
“MARC”: FOREVER –
The makings of a successful career resurgence was definitely in place by the summer of ’77 when Marc was presented with the opportunity to host his very own television series named after him. The series would include the then-current lineup of T.Rex along with female dance troupe, ‘Heart-Throb’ as regular guests. By this time Marc was referred to as the ‘Godfather of Punk’ and his guests included several of the bands who were part of the Punk ‘revolution’: The Jam, Generation X, and The Boomtown Rats. The show also gave T.Rex the chance to specially re-record some of their greatest hits of which Marc’s performances revelled in the ‘campiness’ of the moment which made for a very entertaining 25-minute format. The final episode also featured him reunited with his old musical buddy, David Bowie. “MARC” was broadcast in a midweek afternoon teatime slot and is very sadly the final piece of the musical legacy of Marc Bolan. The 4th episode of the 6-episode series was broadcast just two days before his tragic death occurred near Barnes Common in the early morning of September 16th, 1977. The following is the finale of that 4th episode and a live vocal rendering of the title song to his then-recent hit album, “Dandy In The Underworld”…RIP Marc…
Experience Hendrix and Legacy Recordings To Reissue The Cry Of Love and Rainbow Bridge – Two Classic Out-Of-Print Jimi Hendrix Albums Out This Month on CD and LP
This month Experience Hendrix, LLC, in conjunction with Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, will reissue two critically revered Jimi Hendrix albums on CD, vinyl and digital. The Cry Of Love and Rainbow Bridge, his first and second posthumous studio releases respectively, will be reintroduced with original album art and track orders. Both albums have been remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog masters. The Cry Of Love was last issued on CD in 1992, while Rainbow Bridge has never before seen an official CD release. The Cry Of Love may be pre-ordered on CD and LP; Rainbow Bridge may be pre-ordered on CD and LP – at Amazon. CDs of both titles will be out September 16 as will the vinyl version of The Cry of Love. Vinyl release of Rainbow Bridge follows on October 14.
Originally released in 1971, The Cry Of Love was compiled and mixed by Hendrix’s longtime engineer Eddie Kramer and Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell. The bulk of these tracks were recorded between December 1969 and the summer of 1970 at Electric Lady Studios in New York, and were intended to be part of an ambitious double LP tentatively titled First Rays of the New Rising Sun. Commercially, The Cry Of Love was a huge success, reaching #3 in the U.S. and #2 in the UK, and spawned favorites such as “Angel,” “Freedom,” and “Ezy Ryder.” While Mitch Mitchell and bassist Billy Cox comprised the rhythm section on the lion’s share of the tracks, Buddy Miles played drums on “Ezy Ryder” and Noel Redding played bass on “My Friend” (recorded in 1968, before his departure from the Jimi Hendrix Experience). The Cry Of Love also includes the participation of notable guest musicians including Steve Winwood, Chris Wood and Buzzy Linhart among others. VH1 recently declared The Cry Of Love the greatest posthumous classic rock record of all time.
Rainbow Bridge was also compiled and mixed by Eddie Kramer and Mitch Mitchell in 1971, with the help of Electric Lady Studios engineer John Jansen. Most of the tracks were recorded in 1969 and 1970, during the same sessions that spawned The Cry Of Love. Rainbow Bridge is often misconstrued as being an entirely live album, being that the film of the same name features excerpts of a live Jimi Hendrix performance in Maui. However, Hendrix had no role in the creation of the rambling, unfocused 1971 film which was directed by Chuck Wein. The film was not a Hendrix project in any way but instead an independent vision of his manager Michael Jeffery. After Hendrix’s death in September 1970, Jeffery scrapped Hendrix’s original vision of a double studio album titled First Rays Of The New Rising Sun and called for Kramer, Mitchell and Jansen to compile two posthumous albums—including one that would serve as a soundtrack for the Rainbow Bridge film.
Mitchell, Kramer and Jansen drew upon Hendrix’s rich trove of studio recordings that the guitarist had been developing at Electric Lady Studios. Songs such as “Dolly Dagger” and “Room Full Of Mirrors” were bright examples of Hendrix’s new creative direction. Other standouts on the album included a studio rendition of “Star Spangled Banner” as well as the majestic “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun).” The one live track on the album, an extraordinary rendition of Hendrix’s original blues composition “Hear My Train A Comin’” is taken from a performance at Berkeley Community Theatre in May of 1970, and not in the film at all. Buddy Miles and Noel Redding both appear on one track each, and the Ronettes provide backing vocals on “Earth Blues.”
Beginning in the late 1990s, the tracks on The Cry Of Love and Rainbow Bridge were reassembled into various compilations, including First Rays of the New Rising Sun, South Saturn Delta, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience box set. Now, fans of all ages will be able to enjoy songs such as “Straight Ahead,”“Nightbird Flying,” and “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)” as they were experienced when they first became available 43 years ago.
1) Freedom
2) Drifting
3) Ezy Ryder
4) Night Bird Flying
5) My Friend
6) Straight Ahead
7) Astro Man
8) Angel
9) In From the Storm
10) Belly Button Window
Rainbow Bridge track list:
1) Dolly Dagger
2) Earth Blues
3) Pali Gap
4) Room Full of Mirrors
5) Star Spangled Banner (studio version)
6) Look Over Yonder
7) Hear My Train A Comin’ (live)
8) Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
Retrospectively, we always appear to relate certain shades of sixties pop culture to a type of ‘monochrome’ reflection. Having knowledge of the development of photographic and televisual images during this period can only slightly began to mix a little colour into these ‘colourless saturations’ of musings. It’s all relative to the time period and there’s a certainty you’ll hear somebody mention how things appeared to have had a gray or ‘dirty’ look about them back then; maybe the somebody stating this will be a ‘product’ of that time too! It would seem that the farther back we ‘travel’ through history the more ‘monochromatic’ the encompassing world will appear. No matter, Music has always remained one of the more colourful mediums of communication, especially in terms of conveying an artist’s expressions of life through sound – leaving a potentially resounding impression on the ‘landscape’ of the listening individual.
In late summer 1968, whilst billed as the ‘New Yardbirds’, the members of Led Zeppelin embarked upon a Scandinavian tour – their first concerts played live together as a rock ensemble – which became the blueprint for the subsequent recording sessions of their very first groundbreaking album, “Led Zeppelin” (‘Led Zep I’) released in January and March of 1969 in the US and UK, respectively. During this early defining period of influential musicianship, their powerful Blues interpretations communicated ‘louder’ than any developing media-driven resource available at that time. Zeppelin’s European television appearances conveyed a dark and relatively sinister presentation: the ‘monochrome’ universe was still prominent. Alternatively, their appearances may have seemed less-threatening in the natural colourful setting of the studio, and would have assisted the understanding of the narrative of their impassioned performances. Led Zeppelin’s aura depicted a landscape of colourful overtones and instrumentation; the true picture ambiguously disguised through a medium of black and white images. An early Japanese promo for their debut album, also featuring a lip-synched video performance to one of its tracks, combines the innocent humour of advertising with an element of the dark imagery of the time (surprisingly, Mr. Plant is hardly featured in the zoom of the camera’s path here – did they think his performance was too ‘sinister’ for their promo??):
Led Zeppelin’s ‘palette’ was screaming to be seen, and understood. When one contemplates the band’s early touring schedule before this period it is easy to conclude that a series of UK college and university campus one-nighters, along with a small Christmas bash at the Fishmongers Arms in London, were the more regular fixtures on their gig map. However, a mammoth transition occurred on Boxing Day of 1968 when the band embarked upon a fixture of another kind: supporting ‘Vanilla Fudge’ at the Auditorium Arena in Denver, Colorado. And so began further communication with their audiences as Led Zeppelin’s ‘palette’ began to apply its textures to a much larger canvas. In February, 1969 after the success of the American tour and the subsequent release of their debut album, the band continued to tour both on their home soil and in Europe, and a special documentary entitled “Supershow” was filmed just outside London which allowed the natural colours of a filmed Led Zeppelin ‘bleed’ forth onto the screen of “Dazed and Confused”. The darker undertones of their previously broadcast productions were silenced and the natural passions of their in-performance camaraderie became a visionary truth:
When one attempts to think of those late sixties productions that communicate the psychedelic colours of the day, such musical diversity springs to mind in the form of The Beatles’ animated “Yellow Submarine” and the Monterey Pop Festival. Ironically, the former here were reverting to a more subtle approach in the design of their album covers at the time of Led Zeppelin being the ‘New Yardbirds’:the desolate plainness of the “White Album” (aka ‘The Beatles’) and its accompanying black and white photographs which adorned its insides was in stark contrast to their previous “Sgt. Pepper” and “Magical Mystery Tour” landmarks. Irony also staked a claim in the subsequent release of Led Zeppelin’s debut: the darkly-themed illustration by George Hardie which depicts the Hindenburg – shattered and ‘seeping’ in gloriously doomed black and white with only minimal tones reflecting possibilities of other symbolic themes – both phallic and artistic. It’s only when the product herein is unzipped and unleashed that the full range of anthemic ‘colours’ pour their expressive tones onto the listening experience. For the art of communication is a powerful concept all its own – black and white, and colour!
*Don’t miss “Breaking down Communication” – Part II…but, for the moment enjoy the classic “Led Zeppelin I”:
♫ COSMIC DWELLINGS ♫ 