Neil Young’s biography ‘Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream’ is due out on October 2nd. Not much information – so far, but according to Neil: ‘I felt that writing books fit me like a glove; I just started and I just kept going’.
The book will cover Young’s personal life and musical career, from his early life in Canada, through to the mid 1960s in Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and with Crazy Horse, his love of cars and train sets. Amazon are advertising it on pre-order at £65! Retail price likely to be around £17.00
The video for Bob Dylan’s new single “Duquesne Whistle” from his new album ‘Tempest’ can be described as a bit of ‘light comedy’ featuring young man trying to impress a woman he spots on the street. However after attempts to grab her attention he knocks down somebody who turns out to be a local thug. As a result he thrown into a van, tied to a chair and gets his knees busted into the bargain.
The video was directed by Nash Edgerton, who previously worked with Dylan “Beyond Here Lies Nothin'” – the latter of which is significantly more violent than “Duquesne Whistle.”
Edgerton is also an accomplished stunt coordinator who worked on the Matrix movies and was Ewan McGregor’s stunt double in the Star Wars prequels.
Dylan’s appears in “Duquesne” shown walking down the street at night with a “posse” that includes a guy dressed up as Gene Simmons circa 1977.
The track “Duquesne Whistle” (sung as “Du-kane” and written by Dylan and Robert Hunter) is a real toe tapper – anticipate lots of airplay.
Read Dylan’s interview in Rolling Stone about his new release here.
The publication of Barney Hoskyns new book on Led Zeppelin ‘Trampled Under Foot: The Power And Excess Of Led Zeppelin’ is being trailed as “a unique look at the history, adventures, myths and realities of this most legendary and powerful of bands, it is a labour of love based on hours of first-hand and original interviews”.
The book charts the history of the group back to the 1950s and early 1960s, through the British blues boom, the glory years of mega stardom in the 1970s and early 1980s, as well as the Zep entourage which included manager Peter Grant, tour manager and general factotum Richard Cole and Atlantic Records boss Ahmet Ertegun, all described as “giant figures from the long-vanished world of 1970s rock”.
The book will feature many rare and never before seen photographs, it is also the first book on Led Zeppelin to cover events as their triumphant 2007 O2 Arena gig and Robert Plant’s Grammy-winning resurgence of recent years.
Hoskyns gave an interview to promote the book – an extract was published in the Metro in the UK :
What do you think of the often rather salacious existing books about Led Zeppelin?There’s good stuff in all of them. But most recycle tales of groupies and mudsharks and chucking TV sets out of windows. For me, this is terribly boring. I wanted to demystify the band but, at the same time, I uncovered stuff that’s even more shocking. Zeppelin were the biggest band on Earth in the 1970s and were a law unto themselves. They drove through red lights in limousines, there were many brutish incidents of physical violence. Any mess was cleaned up very efficiently.
You wrote for a very ideologically charged NME in the early 1980s. Did you hide your love of them? Yes. Zeppelin were hugely uncool throughout the 1980s and not just among the NME’s post-punk Stalinists. It was only in the early 1990s – post-Guns N’ Roses, rehab rock, Loaded and so on – that it became OK to like them again.
The book starts with skiffle and goes up to the present day. Was it a conscious attempt to tell the whole story of British rock music? A lot of music writing is about the deification of talent – I hate all that. I thought it was important to explain the roots and branches of this exotic plant. So I talked to people who’d played on hundreds of 1960s sessions with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, and so on.
You seem to have interviewed everyone on earth for this book… Nearly 200 people and I had earlier interviews with Page, Robert Plant and Jonesy in the bank. The sheer number of interviews persuaded me to repurpose it as an oral history, without an overarching narrator.
So, what’s your favourite Led Zeppelin song? ‘Ramble On’ gives me more pleasure than anything else. A reminder that they’re not only the greatest hard rock band of all time but also one of the great soft rock bands. They start doing their acoustic thing, rather beautifully, and then John Bonham’s drums kick in and it blows up. Zeppelin had this ability, just through sheer musicianship, to explode out of the speakers.
The Irish Times website has already carried a lengthy review of the book by Kevin Courtney which is well worth reading.
Trampled Under Foot: The Power And Excess Of Led Zeppelin by Barney Hoskyns is published by Faber, £20 on September 6th.
Radio 2 broadcast a celebration of the life bluesman David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards, on August 28th. Honeyboy died a year ago.
According to the BBC blurb: “American based music journalist and broadcaster Gianluca Tramontana conjures the wild and tangled forests, the broad, unhasting river flows, somewhere ‘twixt Memphis and Tupelo’, to the heart and home of Honeyboy.
Honeyboy Edwards was among the first generation of pre-war Mississippi blues musicians that rambled the countryside playing juke joints, picnics, house parties: anywhere music was needed.
He knew the first blues musicians to be recorded, such as Charlie Patton, and travelled with the founding fathers of blues music including Robert Johnson.
Honeyboy was one of hundreds of thousands teenagers hopping freight trains during the Great Depression. He travelled in search of work – to play music, but his weakness for gambling, wine and women often got him into trouble.
After the war he settled in Chicago where his reputation as the greatest country blues musician took hold.
Honeyboy’s death marks the end of an era, that lives in the hearts of music lovers around the world. His life story is mostly untold, but it’s a crucial slice of American history that has been in the shadows.
Tramontana hobos across the country – taking in Chicago, New York, Mississippi and the National Hobo Convention in Iowa – to understand the world and ways of a different type of American hero”.
You can listen to the broadcast on BBC for seven days from today (August 29th) by clicking here or on the photo of Honeyboy. He made some great record and to find out more about his life and music read Tony Russell’s obituary from the Guardian.
Foo Fighters played their “last show for a long time” at the final night of Reading Festival yesterday. They played a two-and-a-half hour set which was reportedly different from their 21 song show at the Leeds e Leeds Festival on August 24th At Reading they played 26 songs in total digging deep into their back catalogue.
Dave Grohl said that the Reading show was a special night in that it marked the end of the band’s tour in support of their last album ‘Wasting Light’. Grohl said: “Well, well, well. The fucking Reading festival. You guys realise we’ve got a lot of songs to play. It’s the last show of the tour and it’s the last show for a long time.”
Grohl dedicated ‘These Days’ to his former band mates in Nirvana, Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, He also brought his daughters Violet and Harper onstage and dedicated ‘Walk’ and ‘Monkey Wrench’ to them.
Speaking of Grohl, drummer and vocalist Taylor Hawkins told the crowd that Grohl was “The greatest musician of this generation”.
Their Reading set drew tracks from their career, and included seven tracks from their debut album, including ‘Exhausted’ and ‘Alone + Easy Target’ as well as ‘Winnebago’, which featured on ‘Pocketwatch‘, the cassette tape Grohl recorded on his own as Late! before he put the band together.
Grohl said: ”First time we ever played here, we played in the tiny tent and it was the hottest show we ever played. They asked us to headline and we said “No! We don’t to headline the first time we ever play in England”. This was the first song we ever played.”
The set, which also included a cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘In The Flesh?’ and ended with a rousing airing of ‘Everlong’ with a firework display.
Reading Set List: ‘White Limo’; ‘All My Life’; ‘Rope’; ‘The Pretender’;’My Hero’; ‘Learn To Fly’; ‘Arlandria’; ‘Breakout’; ‘Cold Day In The Sun’; ‘I’ll Stick Around’; ‘Walk’; ‘Generator’; ‘These Days’; ‘Monkey Wrench’; ‘Hey Johnny Park!’; ‘Alone + Easy Target’; ‘Bridge Burning’; ‘This Is A Call’; ‘In The Flesh’; ‘Best Of You’; ‘Times Like These’; ‘Winnebago’; ‘Watershed’; ‘For All The Cows’; ‘Exhausted’; ‘Everlong’
Few people have devoted as much of their life to records as Joe Bussard has. Born in 1936 in Frederick, Maryland, he started playing records on his parents’ phonograph and by the end of World War II, he had the collecting bug. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, he led thousands of record expeditions through the mid-Atlantic and the Southern states, looking for 78s of jazz, blues, ethnic and old time country and bluegrass music.
For Joe, record collecting has always meant driving into the backwoods, parking your car, and walking door-to-door asking the locals if they had any records in the house and, if so, would they be willing to sell them. It is not an exaggeration to say that over 50,000 records have passed through Joe’s hands or circulated through his collection.
You can read a full interview on Dust And Grooves by Marc Minsker and Eilon Paz with Joe and view some great photos taken by Eilon Paz by clicking on the photo above.
And you can listen to over 40 minutes of his favourite jazz and blues 78s by clicking on the left hand photo.
You can read more information on the ‘King Of Record Collectors’ on ‘Let The Jukebox Keep Playing’ by clicking here.
Joe Bussard is the subject of the excellent documentary film by Edward Gillian, ‘Desperate Man Blues’ released in 2003. Absolutely essential!
Van Morrison’s latest album his first for Blue Note in nine years, sees the ‘Belfast Cowboy’ getting back to jazz. It was Blue Note Records, who released his Grammy-nominated album, ‘What’s Wrong With This Picture?’ in 2003.
‘Born To Sing: No Plan B’ sees Van The Man moving into jazz territory, and reports are that the set contains some of his most acerbic, politically charged and socially conscious lyrics to date, not least the biting commentary on ‘If In Money We Trust’.
Produced by Morrison and recorded in Belfast, the track listing of ten originals is as follows: 01. Open The Door (To Your Heart) 02. Going Down To Monte Carlo 03. Born To Sing 04. End Of The Rainbow 05. Close Enough For Jazz 06. Mystic Of The East 07. Retreat And View 08. If In Money We Trust 09. Pagan Heart 10. Educating Archie
In a press release Morrison said of his move back to Blue Note: “With most record companies being so corporate I am happy to be working with Don Was and the team at Blue Note. To have such a creative music person as the head of my recording label assures me that all the effort taken to write and record this new album will be rewarded with a music-based focus and marketing approach. I look forward to many recording projects with Don and Blue Note.”
The platter is expected to drop on October 2nd, this year.
Two songs from Bob Dylan’s ‘Tempest’ due out on September 10th. ‘Early Roman Kings’ has already been featured on this site. Uncut magazine in the UK gave the album ten out of ten!
Since B.B. King started recording in the 1940s, he has released over fifty albums. Born on September 16th, 1925, on a plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi, near Indianola.B.B. has one of the world’s most identifiable guitar styles. Now in his 80’s B.B. continues to tour extensively, averaging over 250 concerts per year around the world.
This multi-format career retrospective is being released to celebrate his 50th Anniversary signing to ABC-Paramount Records in 1962. The 10 CD, 194 track collection chronicles his entire career from his first recordings in 1949 through to his most recent studio album. Housed in a deluxe box including a 72 page silver gilded hardback book, featuring essays from Ashley Kahn and Dick Shurman. Also packed images and memorabilia, illustrating this incredible career. All assembled and engineered by the Grammy Award winning Bill Levenson and Andy Mckaie.
KEY FEATURES 10 CD Box Set
Two CDs chronicling his early years on Bullet, Modern/RPM and Kent/Crown Records
Eight CDs chronicling his recording achievements on ABC-Paramount, ABC Bluesway, ABC, ABC/Impulse, MCA and Geffen Records, as well as high profile collaborations
Highlights include key recordings from every ABC/MCA/Geffen era album
Rare, non-album singles
Rare album tracks
Rare “One Touch” EP tracks:
Collaborations with Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, U2, Robert Cray, Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, Gary Moore, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and others.
Packaging to feature career spanning photos and memorabilia.
Track list as follows:
Disc 1 1. Miss Martha King 2. When Your Baby Packs Up And Goes 3. Got The Blues 4. Take A Swing With Me 5. B.B. Boogie 6. Don’t You Want A Man Like Me 7. Fine Looking Woman 8. She’s Dynamite 9. 3 O’Clock Blues 10. That Ain’t The Way To Do It 11. You Know I Love You 12. Woke Up This Morning (My Baby She Was Gone) 13. Please Love Me 14. Blind Love 15. The Woman I Love 16. Whole Lotta’ Love 17. Everyday I Have The Blues Single Version 18. Love You Baby 19. When My Heart Beats Like A Hammer 20. You Upset Me, Baby 1954 Version 21. Sneakin’ Around 22. Shut Your Mouth 23. Boogie Rock 24. Ten Long Years 25. Crying Won’t Help You 26. Bad Luck 27. Troubles, Troubles, Troubles
Disc 2 1. Sweet Little Angel 2. Early In The Morning 3. (I’m Gonna) Quit My Baby 4. On My Word Of Honor 5. Days Of Old 6. Recession Blues 7. Please Accept My Love 8. B.B. King, The Count Basie Orchestra Everyday I Have The Blues 9. Precious Lord 10. Sweet Sixteen Parts One & Two 11. B.B. King, The Duke Ellington Orchestra Don’t Get Around Much Anymore 12. I’ll Survive 13. (I’ve) Got A Right To Love My Baby 14. It’s My Own Fault 15. You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now 16. Walking Dr. Bill 17. Catfish Blues (Fishin’ After Me) 18. Partin’ Time 19. You’re Breaking My Heart 20. Rock Me Baby 21. Blue Shadows 22. The Jungle 23. That Evil Child
Disc 3 1. You Ask Me Album Version 2. I’m Gonna Sit In ‘Til You Give In Single Version 3. Blues At Midnight Single Version 4. My Baby’s Comin’ Home Single Version 5. Chains Of Love Album Version 6. Sneakin’ Around Single Version 7. Slowly Losing My Mind Single Version 8. How Blue Can You Get? Single Version 9. And His Orchestra Whole Lotta Lovin’ 10. I Wonder Why First Version 11. Please Accept My Love 12. Help The Poor Single Version 13. Never Trust A Woman Single Version 14. Worryin’ Blues 15. Stop Leadin’ Me On Single Version 16. Every Day I Have The Blues 1964/Live At The Regal Theater 17. Sweet Little Angel 1964/Live At The Regal Theatre, Chicago 18. It’s My Own Fault Live AT The Regal Theatre (Less Talking) 19. How Blue Can You Get? Live (1964/Regal Theatre) 20. Please Love Me 1964/Live At The Regal Theatre, Chicago 21. Tired Of Your Jive Single Version 22. All Over Again Single Version 23. I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water Album Version 24. Cherry Red Album Version 25. You’re Still A Square 26. Don’t Answer The Door Album Version 27. Waitin’ On You Single Version 28. Night Life Single Version
Disc 4 1. Gambler’s Blues Live At The International Club, Chicago/1966 (Extended Version) 2. Buzz Me 1966/Live At The International Club 3. Sweet Sixteen, Parts 1 & 2 1966/Live At The International Club, Chicago 4. Think It Over Single Version 5. I Done Got Wise Album Version 6. Worried Dream 7. Paying The Cost To Be The Boss Album Version 8. I’m Gonna Do What They Do To Me Album Version 9. Dance With Me Album Version 10. Lucille Album Version 11. Watch Yourself Album Version 12. You Put It On Me Album Version 13. Messy But Good Album Version 14. Get Myself Somebody Single Version 15. My Mood Live (Village Gate) 16. I Want You So Bad Album Version 17. Get Off My Back Woman Album Version 18. Why I Sing The Blues Album Version
Disc 5 1. The Thrill Is Gone 2. Confessin’ The Blues Album Version 3. So Excited Album Version 4. No Good Album Version 5. Go Underground Album Version 6. Nobody Loves Me But My Mother Album Version 7. Chains And Things Single Version 8. Leon Russell, B.B. King Ask Me No Questions Single Version 9. Hummingbird Album Version 10. Every Day I Have The Blues Live (Cook County Jail) 11. How Blue Can You Get? Live At Cook County Jail, Chicago/1971 12. Worry, Worry 1970/Live In Cook County Jail 13. Sweet Sixteen Live At Sankei Hall, Tokyo, Japan/1971 14. Eyesight To The Blind Live At Sankei Hall, Tokyo, Japan/1971 15. Niji Baby Live At Sankei Hall, Tokyo, Japan/1971 16. The Thrill Is Gone Live At Sankei Hall, Tokyo, Japan/1971
Disc 6 1. I Got Some Help I Don’t Need Pre-Overdub Version 2. Blue Shadows Album Version 3. Ghetto Woman Single Version 4. Ain’t Nobody Home Single Version 5. Guess Who 6. Five Long Years Album Version 7. I Like To Live The Love Single Version 8. To Know You Is To Love You Album Version 9. Philadelphia 10. B.B. King, Bobby Bland Three O’ Clock Blues Live 11. Lucille Talks Back Album Version 12. Reconsider Baby 13. Don’t Make Me Pay For His Mistakes Album Version 14. B.B. King, Bobby Bland Let The Good Times Roll Live At Coconut Grove/Single Version 15. Don’t You Lie To Me Album Version 16. Mother Fuyer Album Version 17. The Same Love That Made Me
Disc 7 1. When It All Comes Down (I’ll Still Be Around) Album Version 2. The Crusaders, B.B. King Hold On (I Feel Our Love Is Changing) Album Version 3. Never Make A Move Too Soon Album Version 4. Better Not Look Down Single Version 5. Happy Birthday Blues Single Version 6. I’ve Always Been Lonely Album Version 7. Caldonia 1979/Live At Ole Miss 8. I Got Some Outside Help (I Don’t Really Need) Live (Ole Miss) 9. Life Ain’t Nothing But A Party Album Version 10. The Victim Album Version 11. There Must Be A Better World Somewhere Album Version 12. Nightlife / Please Send Me Someone To Love 13. Inflation Blues Album Version 14. Sell My Monkey 15. Darlin’ You Know I Love You Album Version 16. Make Love To Me Album Version
Disc 8 1. Into The Night Into The Night/Soundtrack Version 2. Six Silver Strings Album Version 3. U2, B.B. King When Love Comes To Town Album Version 4. Standing On The Edge Album Version 5. Lay Another Log On The Fire Album Version 6. Take Off Your Shoes Album Version 7. Nobody Loves Me But My Mother Live (San Quentin) 8. B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt Right Place, Wrong Time 9. All Over Again Live (Apollo Theater) 10. I’m Moving On Album Version 11. Back In L.A. Album Version 12. Fool Me Once Album Version 13. There Is Always One More Time Album Version 14. Monday Morning Blues (Blues For Mr. G.) 15. Gary Moore Since I Met You Baby (Live)
Disc 9 1. B.B. King, Robert Cray Playin’ With My Friends Album Version 2. Etta James, B.B. King There’s Something On Your Mind Album Version 3. I Gotta Move Out Of This Neighborhood / Nobody Loves Me But My Mother Album Version 4. Diane Schuur, B.B. King You Don’t Know Me Album Version 5. B.B. King, GRP All-Star Big Band Stormy Monday Blues 6. Rock Me Baby 1994/Live At The Rosengarten 7. Marty Stuart, B.B. King Confessin’ The Blues Album Version 8. B.B. King, The Rolling Stones Paying The Cost To Be The Boss Album Version 9. Blues Man Album Version 10. Bad Case Of Love Album Version 11. Blues Boys Tune Album Version 12. I’ll Survive Album Version 13. Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens Album Version 14. I’m Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town 1999 Album Version 15. Ain’t That Just Like A Woman Album Version 16. Caldonia Album Version
Disc 10 1. B.B. King, Eric Clapton Ten Long Years 2. Eric Clapton, B.B. King Key to The Highway Album Version 3. I Got To Leave This Woman Album Version 4. Monday Woman Album Version 5. Don’t Go No Farther Album Version 6. You’re On Top Album Version 7. Back Door Santa 8. Exactly Like You Album Version 9. Ray Charles, B.B. King Sinner’s Prayer 10. B.B. King, Van Morrison Early In The Morning 11. B.B. King, Elton John Rock This House 12. You Have a Way 13. Everybody Loves You 14. Key To The Highway 2006/Live in Tennessee 15. Midnight Blues 16. Get These Blues Off Me 17. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean 18. Waiting For Your Call 19. Haunted House
To learn more about this 10 CD Box Set and a 4CD “slimmed down” set – and how to buy them click on the image above.
Black Bee Soul Club is a Manchester based Northern Soul nighter based out of Kraak Gallery in the Manchester’s northern quarter. It is run by young ‘soulies’ and has an uptempo 100% Northern Soul music policy. Thanks to Tom Watson for tweeting the information @tom_watson
Neil Young’s biography ‘Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream’ is due out on October 2nd. Not much information – so far, but according to Neil: ‘I felt that writing books fit me like a glove; I just started and I just kept going’.
