Essential Elsewhere
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Jean Michel Jarre: Oxygene (1977)
8 May 2011 | 4 min read | 2
Sometimes in history there comes that rare conjunction of the artist, the time and the art. In the case of Jean Michel Jarre it seemed they were all out of alignment. He could not have chosen a more inhospitable climate into which release his work. Jarre's album Oxygene came out in France in 1976 but wasn't given release in Britain until the following year.It was the height of... > Read more
Oxygene Pt 4
The Feelies: Crazy Rhythms (1980)
20 Apr 2011 | 6 min read
Pub quiz time and your starter for 10 points: Who was the drummer in Talking Heads? “Okay there was David Byrne and . . . Tina Weymouth on bass and . . . Any of you guys know?” “Jerry . . . Harrison? Yeah, Jerry Harrison was the guitarist and the drummer was . . . . . .” Okay, let’s flip all the cards and remind you that the drummer in Talking Heads was... > Read more
Forces at Work
B.B. King, Live at the Regal (1965)
11 Apr 2011 | 3 min read | 1
With his royal surname, a 60-year career which has earned him Godfather status, a sophisticated demeanour and dapper suits, and his own chain of nightclubs it is hard to see BB King as an earthy and edgy blueman: the guy who used to play 300 nights a year, who has fathered at least a dozen children to as many different women, the one who grew up on a plantation in Mississippi and... > Read more
BB King: Sweet Little Angel
dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip: Angles (2008)
27 Mar 2011 | 2 min read
Hip-hop's global reach was achieved well over two decades ago now, and because "the word" is the most important medium for a message in any culture it's no surprise that just about anywhere on the planet where there are words, so too there are rappers. In a decade -- from the early Eighties -- rap went from an inner-city movement by the disenfranchised (party music a lot of it) to... > Read more
Magician's Assistant
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (1968)
21 Mar 2011 | 3 min read
By the latter part of the Sixties there was a clear difference between how American and British "hippies" perceived "the psychedelic era". If it's true that no music movement comes without its own new set of clothes then the difference was visible on the streets. In the US where ponchos, fringed-jackets, tie-dye t-shirts and buckskin boots were the style of the day the... > Read more
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown: Come and Buy
Harry Nilsson, Nilsson Schmilsson (1971)
28 Feb 2011 | 6 min read | 2
The too-short life of the greatly under-appreciated singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson (1941-94) was full of bitter ironies: not the least was that this gifted songwriter's biggest hits were written by others. His memorable Without You was penned by Pete Ham and Tom Evans from the Beatles-blessed power poppers, Badfinger; and although Nilsson's beautiful original song I Guess the Lord... > Read more
Harry Nilsson: The Moonbeam Song
Elvis Costello: Imperial Bedroom (1982)
19 Feb 2011 | 2 min read
By the time Elvis Costello got to this remarkable, emotionally dense and astonishingly concise album (so many moods, styles and emotions in 50 minutes) he had become well separated from his post-punk peers. By '82 -- and he had appeared just five years previous -- he had skirted off from punk-fuelled rock through country music and had flirted with jazz as well as classic r'n'b . . . He was... > Read more
Elvis Costello: Little Savage
The Allman Brothers Band: At Fillmore East (1971)
6 Feb 2011 | 3 min read
When the mobile recording studio was parked outside the Fillmore on New York's 2nd Avenue in March 1971 to record this double vinyl Allman Brothers Band album it was both a beginning and an ending: it was last concert at Bill Graham's Fillmore East (also on the bill were Albert King and the J Geils Band) but also the start of the Allman's ascent into becoming a legendary band . . . which ended... > Read more
The Allman Brother Band: Statesboro Blues
Richard Thompson: Rumor and Sigh (1991)
17 Jan 2011 | 2 min read | 2
Like Elvis Costello, Christy Moore, the late John Martyn and a few others in a very select company, English singer/songwriter and guitarist Richard Thompson made timeless albums. Pick up any of his from the early Eighties or even the late Seventies and they make as much sense today as they did then. Yet after more than 45 years in the game, he's still not a household name . . . and... > Read more
Richard Thompson: I Misunderstood
King Sunny Ade: Synchro System (1983)
18 Oct 2010 | 2 min read
Given the long (and often shameful) history Britain has had with various parts of Africa from colonial times, it comes as a surprise that this album -- from 1983 no less -- was the first pop album to be recorded by an African musician in London. In the early Eighties there was surge of interest by the UK music press in certain African artists, notably Fela Anikulapo Kuti from Nigeria whose... > Read more
King Sunny Ade: Mo Ti Mo
Joe Ely: Live at Antones (2000)
27 Sep 2010 | 3 min read
After Joe Strummer's terrific showing at the Big Day Out in 2000, albums by his old band the Clash got a fair thrashing round my way, especially their sprawling three-album set from 1980, Sandinista! Over six sides of vinyl, they dragged together garage-trash rock and dub reggae, power pop and rockabilly, and most points in between. Strummer said he hoped people would just bang... > Read more
Joe Ely: Gallo del Cielo
Neil Young: On the Beach (1974)
11 Sep 2010 | 3 min read | 2
By consensus the idealism of the 60s was dealt two fatal blows in late '69: the first in August when the victims of Charles Manson's murderous family started turning up in flash Hollywood homes; then at the Rolling Stones' free concert at Altamont in December when Hells Angels took control of the crowd by means of billiard cues and blades. In a world of peace, flowers and waterbeds the bad... > Read more
Neil Young: Revolution Blues
Frank Sinatra: In the Wee Small Hours (1955)
9 Sep 2010 | 5 min read | 1
Some may remember it, that strange time when we were told that Tony Bennett was hip with the grunge crowd. It seemed unlikely (I doubted it) but it at least gave me the opportunity to interview him and he was, of course, positively charming as you might have expected. Quite why anyone would prefer Tony Bennett over Frank Sinatra was always the question, especially the so-called dissenting... > Read more
Frank Sinatra: Ill Wind
U2: Achtung Baby (1991); Zooropa (1993)
22 Aug 2010 | 6 min read | 2
Bono from U2 tells a good story. In fact Bono has a lot of good stories but this one is revealing . . . It seems that backstage at some gig in the mid Eighties Bob Dylan was playing an acoustic guitar and handed it to him. Dylan asked him to play one their songs. Bono said he realised in that moment that they didn’t have any real “songs”. They had plenty of stadium-shaking... > Read more
U2: The Fly (from Achtung Baby)
Elvis Presley, The Memphis Record (1969)
17 Aug 2010 | 3 min read
The consensus on Elvis Presley's genius among rock critics settles on two periods: his Sun Studio days in the mid 50s when he fused black blues and white country, and his famous '68 television special when he appeared wrapped in leathers for a menacing and sweaty performance which proved, despite all evidence to the contrary, that he still had the magic. Go beyond critics however and... > Read more
Elvis Presley: Long Black Limousine
The Ramones: Hey! Ho! Let's Go: Ramones Anthology (1999)
1 Jun 2010 | 4 min read | 1
Like many of my generation, I can remember exactly where I was when JFK, RFK and John Lennon were shot. And when Kurt Cobain proved, contrary to what he sang, he did have a gun. But with as much clarity I can also remember when I first heard the Ramones’ Sheena is a Punk Rocker. It came on a tape from a friend in London and I was driving when this blast of wonderful noise... > Read more
Sheena is a Punk Rocker
Various Artists: The History of Rhythm and Blues 1952-1957 (2010 collection)
24 May 2010 | 3 min read | 1
The first two volumes in this 4-CD series which traces the history of old style r'n'b have already been acclaimed at Elsewhere here and here respectively. These multi-genre, colour-blind, cross-label and highly inclusive collections not only cherry pick the most significant artists and songs in the growth of r'n'b but also intelligently include extensive selections from other genres (the... > Read more
Ruth Brown: Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean (live in '56)
The Incredible String Band: Wee Tam and The Big Huge (1968)
6 Apr 2010 | 2 min read
Sometimes for my own private amusement I will sing aloud The Incredible String Band's The Son of Noah's Brother in its entirety. All 16 seconds of it. The lyrics run, "Many were the lifetimes of the son of Noah's brother, see his coat the ragged riches of his soul". And that's it: a lovely descending melody and not a wasted note or word. Quite what it means is anyone's... > Read more
The Incredible String Band: Douglas Traherne Harding
Donovan: Troubadour; The Definitive Collection 1964-76 (1998 compilation)
22 Feb 2010 | 3 min read | 1
When I interviewed Donovan in 1998 -- mindful I might have to introduce him to a readership which had probably never heard of him -- I noted that even back in his heyday of the Sixties he'd been a hard one to figure out. The "folkie" tag he'd been pinned with after the success of his first songs Colours and Catch the Wind (and his "protest" song, the cover of Buffy... > Read more
Donovan: Sunshine Superman (1966)
Scott Walker, In Five Easy Pieces (2003)
10 Feb 2010 | 4 min read
The only time I saw Scott Walker I burst out laughing. It was the mid-60s and he was one of the (non-sibling) Walker Brothers on a package tour with the Yardbirds (guitarist Jimmy Page) and Roy Orbison. When the Walker Brothers ran on to the Auckland Town Hall stage, skinny-legged guys in tight pants and teased-out bouffants, they looked like hairy lollipops. My mates and I hooted with... > Read more