Leonard Cohen European tour

Have you booked yet? Better hurry up!

Booking for London O2 and Manchester Opera House opened this morning. The Manchester option on Ticketmaster didn’t let me buy, so I booked for London O2, very reluctantly – far too big, far too expensive … .

I wouldn’t have booked this venue at these prices for anyone else, not even St Bob … industrialised fun … blah … blah …, but I’ve never seen Lenny; I’ll just have to train myself to look forward to it.



Gerry Smith

Bob v Neil and 30th Anniversary Concert

Thanks to Martin Cowan:

“Further to the recent discussion about Bob versus Neil, readers may be interested in following this link:

www.thrasherswheat.org/jammin/dylan.htm


“And further to comments about the Dylan audience booing Sinead O'Connor, I seem to remember from John Bauldie's coverage of the event at the time that the audience was made up of record company suits, showbiz types and corporate guests - I believe it likely there were very few ‘real’ Dylan fans present ... “

Keep It Simple - more on the new Van Morrison CD

Promoting Keep It Simple, the new Van the Man album released in England next Monday (17 March), Lost Highway Records are hosting “good quality, non-pirated, preview tracks - full versions of ‘That's Entrainment’ and ‘Behind The Ritual’”:

www.losthighwayrecords.com

And, for the next few days, you can hear Morrison’s interview with bluesman Paul Jones from his Monday BBC Radio 2 show:

www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio2_aod.shtml?radio2/paul_jones

After an unpromising, solipsistic start – “the album addresses the propaganda about myself” (oooh, noooooooh, I groaned - not that tedious old BS again …), the interview found Morrison in jovial, generous mode.

Result? An unusually compelling listen, and an intro to what could well be Morrison’s best album since The Healing Game.



Gerry Smith

Yes - Neil Young IS upstaging Dylan

Thanks to Dave Dingle:

“Neil Young upstaging Bob? You better believe it!

“Having seen Bob over 100 times (an amateur compared to some, I know), I was struck last week by Neil doing a full one hour acoustic set, the like of which we haven’t seen from Bob since the 1960s, and a storming electric set ... active, prowling the stage, playing his own lead …

“I was left with the feeling that going to see Neil was an altogether more satisfying experience than Bob in recent years, stuck behind the piano, or even doing his few guitar songs.

“Sad to say, my conclusion is that Bob will never undergo the kind of renaissance that Neil obviously has!”


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EARLIER RELATED ARTICLE:

Neil Young upstaging Dylan?

Neil Young’s current London shows, with long setlists drawn from across his catalogue, have been getting rave reviews.

According to Martin Cowan:

“Interesting to compare Neil Young's 23/24 song sets from his current tour with the 17 that Dylan serves up these days.

“I have been pondering lately on Dylan set lists (further to my last email) and concluded that if he cut short some of the instrumental "noodling", he could play a few more songs and perhaps be a little more generous with that superlative song book. Just a thought.”


Here’s a sample of Young’s ever-changing setlist, from 8 March at Hammersmith Apollo, courtesy of Bad News Beat:

01. From Hank To Hendrix
02. Ambulance Blues
03. Sad Movies
04. A Man Needs A Maid
05. Flying On The Ground Is Wrong (grand piano)
06. On The Way Home (grand piano)
07. Harvest
08. Journey Through The Past (upright piano)
09. Love In Mind (upright piano)
10. Mellow My Mind
11. Love Art Blues
12. Love Is A Rose
13. Heart Of Gold
14. Old Man
---
15. Mr. Soul
16. Dirty Old Man
17. Spirit Road
18. Down By The River
19. Hey Hey, My My
20. Too Far Gone
21. Oh, Lonesome Me
22. Winterlong
23. Powderfinger
24. No Hidden Path
---
25. Roll Another Number



Gerry Smith

Leonard Cohen tour dates

The Leonard Cohen tour dates, announced this morning, are disappointing if you’re English: a choice of Manchester – I’d rather visit Baghdad – and London’s cavernous O2 Arena – ditto. Looks like Montreux or Nice for me!


http://www.leonardcohenforum.com


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EARLIER, RELATED ARTICLES:

Leonard Cohen European tour 2008 (You heard it here first #2)

In mid-2007, like a voice in the wilderness, Music for Grown-Ups was confidently speculating that Leonard Cohen would tour Europe this summer, after years without live shows.

Well, blow, me: Leonard’s 2008 European tour dates are set to be announced early next week!

Watch this space …

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Leonard Cohen live - looking a bit more likely

Earlier speculation about possible Leonard Cohen London shows (see below) looks a bit more accurate with the news that Lenny is appearing in a free pre-show “conversation” with Philip Glass at The Barbican at 6pm on Sat 20 0ctober.

The show itself is a performance of Glass’s treatment of Book Of Longing, Cohen’s new volume of poetry, set for voices and instruments (but not, note, Leonard himself).

Leonard Cohen? Free? What?

Well, there’s a snag – you need a ticket for the main gig to get in to the pre-show talk. And the main gig is, er, sold out. It was already sold out in the new Barbican programme - which arrived today. I wonder where it was first advertised?


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Leonard Cohen set to tour?

Leonard Cohen’s portrait on the cover of new issue of The Word, following loads and loads of recent UK press, makes me think that we’re about to see Leonard touring England - after such a long break.

He can’t surely be doing the press rounds in support of the slightly expanded reissues of the first three albums, or Anjani, his companion’s, new album of Leonard material. There simply has to be a bigger picture.

I’ve never seen Lenny live, but, then, who has? He hasn’t toured – anywhere - in 14 years…

If, like many grown-ups, you’re excited by the interface where pop culture (rock) meets high culture (literature), Lenny is certainly your man.

Watch this space…



Gerry Smith

Neil Young upstaging Dylan?

Neil Young’s current London shows, with long setlists drawn from across his catalogue, have been getting rave reviews.

According to Martin Cowan:

“Interesting to compare Neil Young's 23/24 song sets from his current tour with the 17 that Dylan serves up these days.

“I have been pondering lately on Dylan set lists (further to my last email) and concluded that if he cut short some of the instrumental "noodling", he could play a few more songs and perhaps be a little more generous with that superlative song book. Just a thought.”


Here’s a sample of Young’s ever-changing setlist, from 8 March at Hammersmith Apollo, courtesy of Bad News Beat:

01. From Hank To Hendrix
02. Ambulance Blues
03. Sad Movies
04. A Man Needs A Maid
05. Flying On The Ground Is Wrong (grand piano)
06. On The Way Home (grand piano)
07. Harvest
08. Journey Through The Past (upright piano)
09. Love In Mind (upright piano)
10. Mellow My Mind
11. Love Art Blues
12. Love Is A Rose
13. Heart Of Gold
14. Old Man
---
15. Mr. Soul
16. Dirty Old Man
17. Spirit Road
18. Down By The River
19. Hey Hey, My My
20. Too Far Gone
21. Oh, Lonesome Me
22. Winterlong
23. Powderfinger
24. No Hidden Path
---
25. Roll Another Number



Gerry Smith

Van Morrison on radio promoting Keep It Simple, the new album

In advance of next Monday’s (17 March) UK release of the new Van Morrison album, Keep It Simple, Van The Man is busy in promo mode.

You can catch him tonight on BBC Radio 2 at 1900-2000 on the Paul Jones blues show, with, we are told, five live songs and an interview.

Then, on Saturday (15 March), Radio 2’s Music Club (2000-2100) has a concert presenting the new album, recently recorded in London - Van Morrison Live & Exclusive.

Here’s hoping Morrison has re-ignited the spark which made him one of the top poprock writer/performers for grown-ups for almost 40 years from the early 1960s.


Gerry Smith

Shine A Light - new 2CD and concert film from the Rolling Stones

Shine A Light, the new live Rolling Stones 2CD, recorded at the Beacon, New York City in late 2006, is set for UK release on Monday 7 April. (Tracklist below.)

It’s followed on Friday 11 April by the nationwide UK release of the film of the same name, directed by Martin Scorsese. And preceded on Wednesday 2 April by the film’s UK premiere – in London, but also to be shown in 100 cinemas nationwide: tickets cost £12.50.


Album tracks:

Jumping Jack Flash
Shattered
She Was Hot
All Down The Line
Loving Cup (with Jack White)
As Tears Go By
Some Girls
Just My Imagination
Faraway Eyes
Champagne And Reefer
Tumbling Dice
You Got The Silver
Connection
Sympathy For The Devil
Live With Me
Start Me Up
Brown Sugar
Satisfaction
Paint It, Black
Little T and A
I’m Free
Shine A Light

I’ll be passing on the CD and the cinema show, but waiting to buy the DVD in about three months – unless it’s as ludicrously overpriced as the last two Stones concert DVDs - Forty Licks and The Biggest Bang – which, combined, cost a cool £100 – about £75 too much - when I last looked in HMV!



Gerry Smith

Leonard Cohen European tour 2008 (You heard it here first #2)

In mid-2007, like a voice in the wilderness, Music for Grown-Ups was confidently speculating that Leonard Cohen would tour Europe this summer, after years without live shows.

Well, blow, me: Leonard’s 2008 European tour dates are set to be announced early next week!

Watch this space …



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EARLIER, RELATED ARTICLES:

Leonard Cohen live - looking a bit more likely

Earlier speculation about possible Leonard Cohen London shows (see below) looks a bit more accurate with the news that Lenny is appearing in a free pre-show “conversation” with Philip Glass at The Barbican at 6pm on Sat 20 0ctober.

The show itself is a performance of Glass’s treatment of Book Of Longing, Cohen’s new volume of poetry, set for voices and instruments (but not, note, Leonard himself).

Leonard Cohen? Free? What?

Well, there’s a snag – you need a ticket for the main gig to get in to the pre-show talk. And the main gig is, er, sold out. It was already sold out in the new Barbican programme - which arrived today. I wonder where it was first advertised?


XXXXXXXXX

Leonard Cohen set to tour?

Leonard Cohen’s portrait on the cover of new issue of The Word, following loads and loads of recent UK press, makes me think that we’re about to see Leonard touring England - after such a long break.

He can’t surely be doing the press rounds in support of the slightly expanded reissues of the first three albums, or Anjani, his companion’s, new album of Leonard material. There simply has to be a bigger picture.

I’ve never seen Lenny live, but, then, who has? He hasn’t toured – anywhere - in 14 years…

If, like many grown-ups, you’re excited by the interface where pop culture (rock) meets high culture (literature), Lenny is certainly your man.

Watch this space…



Gerry Smith

Rock gigs with unacceptable ticket prices

It’s a pleasure to see Music for Grown-Ups favourite Neil Young receiving plaudits for his current European tour promoting Chrome Dreams II.

Young’s setlists, a career-spanning trawl through one of rock’s premier songbooks, plus three or four tracks from the new album, and the show format, a solo acoustic half, followed by an electric set with a small band, made we wish I’d booked for this week’s London shows.

Until, that is, I remembered why I didn’t book in the first place – the ticket prices: £75 or £55, plus all the usual add-ons, plus transport, and you’re looking at £175 for two for a couple of hours of pleasure. No thanks: greedy consumerism gone bananas.

There’s a trend towards US-style prices, especially for American artists. Like Young, Springsteen’s upcoming shows are priced beyond what I think he’s worth. And they’re not alone.

You can still book for most vital home-based poprockers (except the Stones/Led Zep et al) – Morrissey to Van The Man - for about £35, but if you’re price-sensitive, forget American touring bands. They’ll charge what the market will bear – and good luck to them - but I won’t be booking.



Gerry Smith

Neil Young’s Chrome Dreams II DVD

Having been a long-time Neil Young fan, I guess I’m in for the duration. After all, his back catalogue is one of the richest in rockpop.

But, though I’ve dutifully bought the last few studio albums, I’ve hardly listened to any of them. Greendale (2003), Prairie Wind (2005) and Living With War (2006) have disturbed my hi-fi a mere once or twice each. If I want to listen to shrill preaching, I can go to a nasty little church.

But the trio of heritage dadrock releases - Live At the Fillmore East (1971>2006), Live At Massey Hall (1971>2007) and Greatest Hits (2004) – have fared rather better. They remind me why I like Young.

Chrome Dreams II (2007) sounds as if it’ll get some play, too. But I’m bemused by the Chrome Dreams II de luxe release. Disc 2 has the album repeated in “DVD” format; the DVD pictures are stills of cars in Young’s garage.

What’s he up to? Should someone tell him that tape/slide presentations had become redundant 35 years ago?

Wakey, wakey, Shakey.



Gerry Smith

Coffee bar chain to release new Dylan influences compilation

A well-known chain of foreign-owned coffee bars is to release Artist’s Choice - Bob Dylan, next week. The new CD assembles 16 tracks of the type Dylan has played on Theme Time Radio Hour, by musicians of the Stanley Brothers, Junior Wells and Billie Holiday vintage.

But, as with its Dylan Live At The Gaslight 1962 CD release, the “global” coffee bar company doesn’t supply online outside the US/Canada. How terribly quaint!

I assume the new CD won’t be available from local coffee bar outlets, either - I failed to find any evidence of the Gaslight CD in its central London branches last year.

I’d start to boycott the chain if I hadn’t been doing so for years. I never darken the doors of their coffee bars. Not for any ideological reasons, though – I just can’t bear to drink coffee from grossly oversized mugs, or to sit amongst serried ranks of shiny happy customers with too much time and money to waste. I choose to waste mine in Caffe Nero or Coffee Republic.


Gerry Smith

Billy Fury – Liverpool’s foremost poprocker for grown-ups

The Beatles: Liverpool’s foremost poprockers for grown-ups, yeah?

Naaaah: not even the foremost 1960s Scouse beat band (The Searchers, if you’re wondering).

No, Music for Grown-Ups’ favourite Scouse poprocker, by a country mile, is Billy Fury, best known for a slew of hit singles like Halfway To Paradise, which elevated the classic Goffin-King ditty into pop art.

Until recently, though, Fury’s rich legacy was hidden, thanks to a confusing multiplicity of sub-standard compilation albums. Whenever I’ve attempted to play The Collection, a disappointing album in my collection, I’ve quickly switched it off, wondering why I ever thought so highly of Billy Fury in the first place.

Pap like covers of Hippy Hippy Shake and Glad All Over are not where it’s at, pretty baby. Fury was a powerful singles artist, but what’s been available hitherto have been compilations juxtaposing a few singles with filler.

Thankfully, Fury’s catalogue has now been massively improved by His Wondrous Story: The Complete Collection, a high quality compilation which has been in the Anglo album charts for weeks. It’s a complete collection of Fury's singles, for the first time on a single CD.

Play.com is selling it for £8.95 delivered – bargain of the month, I’d say.



Track List

Halfway To Paradise
Maybe Tomorrow
Margo
Colette
That's Love
Wondrous Place
A Thousand Stars
Don't Worry
Jealousy
I'd Never Find Another You
Letter Full Of Tears
Last Night Was Made For Love
Once Upon A Dream
Because Of Love
Like I've Never Been Gone
When Will You Say I Love You
In Summer
Somebody Else's Girl
Do Really Love Me Too
I Will
It's Only Make Believe
I'm Lost Without You
In Thoughts Of You
Run To My Loving Arms
I'll Never Quite Get Over You
Give Me Your Word
Love Or Money
Devil Or Angel
Forget Him



Gerry Smith

Asda supermarket keeping me out of HMV

I used to be a habitual HMV customer – and a strong advocate of the retailer on this site - but I gradually kicked the habit. Because, while CD prices have been plummeting from online suppliers and supermarkets, HMV’s prices look stubbornly high.

I was reminded of the gap last weekend after leaving my local HMV branch empty-handed (again), after recently visiting Asda, Wal-Mart’s English subsidiary.

Sample price comparisons of product currently interesting me were startling:

* Morrissey Greatest Hits De Luxe: HMV £19, Asda £14

* Van Morrison Best Of v3: HMV £13, Asda £5

* Morrissey Who Put The M in Manchester DVD: HMV £18, (has been widely available elsewhere @ £5)

* Led Zep DVD: HMV £30, (has been widely available at Asda and elsewhere @ £13)

HMV might well manage to turn round its ailing chain, but until its prices are back in line with the marketplace, I won’t be contributing.



Gerry Smith

Stunning rock photography in Birmingham

Birmingham’s Snap Galleries has an exciting season of rock photography coming up:


1. Art Kane - Visionary Portraits 1958-68 now on show

2. Eric Meola - New Bruce Springsteen photographs

3. Elvis Presley from 1956 by Alfred Wertheimer

4. Lawrence Watson - Britpop icons and more

5. Art Fairs in London and Harrogate in March 2008

6. Bob Dylan from 1966 by Barry Feinstein - next exhibition

Snap Galleries Limited, Unit 7 - Ground Floor, Fort Dunlop, Fort Parkway, Birmingham B24 9FD. Tel: 0121 748 3408/from US: 011 44 121 748 3408.

www.snapgalleries.com




Gerry Smith

You heard it here first: #1 Amy Winehouse

Congratulations to London chanteuse Amy Winehouse on her success in landing a fistful of Grammys on Sunday night.

The jazz-inflected pop vocalist has long been a favourite of Rockpop for Grown-Ups.

Here’s what we said long before she became a global sensation:



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Amy Winehouse: music for grown-ups

If you’re reading this outside the UK, the name Amy Winehouse will probably be new you – the word is that she has yet to be promoted overseas.

If you’re in the UK, you can hardly have escaped Ms Winehouse. Back To Black, her chart-topping second album, her colourful lifetyle, and triumph at last week’s Brits awards, have made her the best-publicised English pop persona since, er, Oasis.

Back To Black, the new album, released before Xmas, has already stacked up 700,000 sales. Frank, her fine debut album, was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2003.

A fine, ballsy, songwriter, an authentic soul/jazz/r&b voice, and on-stage charisma, Winehouse is a massive new talent. Lovely tone. Fine range. Convincing actress. And – bonus – she swings.

But, because she was cross-promoted to the supermarket market with a bunch of less talented Brit “jazz” singers at launch, I’d dismissed her along with the rest of the wannabes. Mistake. Amy’s the first pop star to have made me pay serious attention for many years.

Music for grown-ups? From a boozy, potty-mouthed, loose-lipped 23 year old? You bet. Best check out Amy Winehouse - rapido!


Gerry Smith

Morrissey mania for grown-ups

Following a very lucky break at the third, and what turned out to be the final, gig in Morrissey’s week-long London residency – Moz’s bad throat forced him to curtail then cancel the last three shows – I’ve been marvelling at the power of the Manc Miserablist’s PR machine.

With the new single released last Monday and the Greatest Hits album due next Monday, Morrissey’s everywhere: Russell Brand show on E4, Jools Holland and Culture Show on BBC2 …

The most visible press I’ve seen is the Smiths cover of the new (“March”) issue of MOJO. It advertises several articles about Mr Gloomy of Manchester. And MOJO’s sitting on the news-stand shelves right next to the Mozza cover on the front of the Feb issue of The Word.

The de luxe 2CD Greatest Hits and the new MOJO are must-buys for those who get it (and those wondering what all the fuss is about).



Gerry Smith

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EARLIER RELATED ARTICLES:

Coming very soon - Morrissey Week in London!

Morrissey, one of the most revered of rockpop artists in his native land, returns to London next week with a six night residency at the recently reopened Roundhouse. Watch this space for the exclusive Music for Grown-Ups concert review - I’m due at the Wednesday gig.

I expect the setlist to include a sizeable selection of the songs on Greatest Hits, Morrissey’s first compilation from his post-1997 releases (track list below), due on 11 February. Plus some earlier solo material and the odd Smiths classic.

Greatest Hits (de luxe version) tracklist:

1. First Of The Gang To Die
2. In The Future When All's Well
3. I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
4. Irish Blood English Heart
5. You Have Killed Me
6. That's How People Grow Up
7. Everyday Is Like Sunday
8. Redondo Beach
9. Suedehead
10. Youngest Wat The Most Loved
11. Last Of The Famous International Playboys
12. More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get
13. All You Need Is Me
14. Let Me Kiss You
15. I Have Forgiven Jesus
16. Alma Matters

Disc: 2 – Live at Hollywood Bowl
1. The Last of the Famous International Playboys
2. The National Front Disco
3. Let Me Kiss You
4. Irish Blood, English Heart
5. I Will See You in Far-off Places
6. First of the Gang to Die
7. I Just Want to See the Boy Happy
8. Life is a Pigsty

Whooppee! I can hardly wait. Rave on, Mozza!


Gerry Smith

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Morrissey in London – pop for grown-ups


Last night’s Morrissey gig at London’s Roundhouse – his third in a six night residency – was pure pop for grown-ups.

The setlist was a mixture of recent and new solo material, with Irish Blood/English Heart, First Of The Gang To Die and Last Of The Famous International Playboys the standouts. The forthcoming single, That’s How People Grow Up, will justify careful scrutiny.

Mozza’s unique talent is pungent, wittily original lyrics, allied to an unmissable on-stage charisma: very few performers give good gig better than he. His rapport with the faithful is wondrous to behold.

Last night’s music was nothing to get excited about, though. Trenchant lyrics apart, Morrissey’s solo work sounds pedestrian to my ears: too little variety in melody, tempo or dynamics. No variation. No improv.

So his musos are in a straitjacket to start with. But this crew sounded dull anyway. And the sound, from stage left, 20 metres from the front, was muddy, too bassy, and Il Mozzo was too low in the mix.

Morrissey was my first gig at the refurb’d Roundhouse. Very impressive – it easily reclaims its traditional status as London’s premier rockpop venue. Big enough for a 2,000 stand-up audience; small enough for intimate communion.

Pity about the audience, though. They’ve had to stop smoking (Hallelujah!), but most still yak incessantly, sing along as if they’re in the bath, and shuffle backwards and forwards to the bars all night long, spilling expensive beer from plastic mugs over innocent bystanders.

All music venues, from the Royal Opera House to Ronnie Scott’s, attract more than their fair share of stiffs. But rockpop gigs are notoriously bad: fully 50% of last night’s Roundhouse crowd were boneheads.




Gerry Smith

Yet another Doors compilation?

The Future Starts Here: The Essential Doors is just hitting the shops. Some readers might share my puzzlement at the appearance of yet another Doors compilation.

The Future Starts Here comes hot on the heels of last year’s slew of highly praised reissues, which included a choice of three compilations, all called The Very Best Of The Doors.

The explanation must be that last year’s wonderful compilations weren’t released in the USA, and are now being rolled out in North America under a different name.

It’s all very puzzling for this Doors fan.


Gerry Smith

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EARLIER RELATED ARTICLE:

The Doors – rock release of 2007

A very strong contender for rock release of 2007 has to be the 40th Anniversary compilation, The Very Best Of The Doors.

There are three versions: a single CD, in the supermarkets now; a better buy is the 2CD version; easily the best buy is the Limited Edition 2CD/DVD/book.

Both of the 2CD versions have virtually everything you need by the Doors:

Disc: 1
1. Break On Through
2. Strange Days
3. Alabama Song
4. Love Me Two Times
5. Light My Fire
6. Spanish Caravan
7. Crystal Ship
8. The Unknown Soldier
9. The End (full version)
10. People Are Strange
11. Back Door Man
12. Moonlight Drive
13. End Of The Night
14. Five To One
15. When The Music's Over


Disc: 2
1. Bird Of Prey
2. Love Her Madly
3. Riders On The Storm
4. Orange County Suite
5. Runnin' Blue
6. Hello I Love You
7. The W.A.S.P. (Texas Radio & The Big Beat)
8. Stoned Immaculate
9. Soul Kitchen
10. Peace Frog
11. L.A. Woman
12. Waiting For The Sun
13. Touch Me
14. The Changeling
15. Wishful, Sinful
16. Love Street
17. The Ghost Song
18. Whiskey, Mystics And Men
19. Roadhouse Blues

The packaging of The Very Best Of The Doors, with a naked torso shot of Mr Mojo Rising pointing at the camera, is stunning. If, like me, you already own all the audio tracks, the Limited Edition is worth buying for the booklet, DVD and the packaging alone. It’s available online for about £16, delivered. Bargain!



Gerry Smith

Ella profile on radio tonight – not to be missed

With tonight’s programme, the excellent Jazz Library series (BBC Radio 3, Fridays 2230 GMT, then for seven days afterwards on the web) reaches the mighty Ella Fitzgerald.

It promises to be one of the highlights of early 2008: not to be missed!

www.bbc.co.uk/radio3


Gerry Smith

Top quality Ella Fitzgerald – at a bargain price

Grown-Up CD buyers who love a bargain will want to check out Forever Ella, last year’s lovely compilation of Fitzgerald classics. It’s now dropping in price – amazon now have it for under £8 (plus del), and Tesco are even cheaper – they’re selling it in the bigger stores I frequent at £7.50.

If you don’t have any Ella recordings, Forever Ella (2007) is a great place to start. I envy you your voyage of discovery.



Gerry Smith

New low price for top Dylan and Cohen albums

The major supermarket chains have driven down CD/DVD/book prices just as much the online retailers and digital downloads. Pity the poor specialist music retailers (only joking!)

But I never thought I’d ever see prime Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen albums retailing at £2.50 each!

Tesco are selling a load of Sony 2-fers including boxed sets of Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind and “Love And Theft”, and Leonard Cohen’s Songs Of Leonard Cohen and Songs Of Love And Hate for £5 each – that’s just £2.50 per album. I paid £15 each for some of these albums - when £15 seemed like a lot of money!

Will top albums soon be available at £1 each? I wouldn’t bet against it.


Gerry Smith

Rock meets jazz: fusion for beginners

Regular readers might recall that In A Silent Way is near the top of Music for Grown-Ups’ favourite albums. Miles Davis’ 1969 masterpiece was the breakthrough work, successfully fusing jazz sensibilities with rock beats – and, most important, finding a huge market while alienating his heritage jazz following.

Fusion flourished for almost a decade, with memorable music from a core of Miles acolytes such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin and Joe Zawinul.

If you want to sample the best of fusion, this is a handy beginner’s guide (from an unexpected source):


www.classicrockmagazine.com/page/classicrock?entry=jazz_rock_buyers_guide


Gerry Smith

Morrissey in London – prime pop for grown-ups

Last night’s Morrissey gig at London’s Roundhouse – his third in a six night residency – was prime pop for grown-ups. A delightful show.

The setlist was a mixture of classic, recent and new material, with Irish Blood/English Heart, First Of The Gang To Die and Last Of The Famous International Playboys the standouts. The forthcoming single, That’s How People Grow Up, will justify careful scrutiny.

Mozza’s unique talent is pungent, wittily original lyrics, allied to an unmissable on-stage charisma: very few performers give good gig better than he. His rapport with the faithful is wondrous to behold.

Last night’s music was nothing to get excited about, though. Trenchant lyrics apart, Morrissey’s solo work sounds pedestrian to my ears: too little variety in melody, tempo or dynamics. No variation. No improv.

So his musos are in a straitjacket to start with. But this crew sounded dull anyway. And the sound, from stage left, 20 metres from the front, was muddy, bassy, and Il Mozzo was too low in the mix.

Morrissey was my first gig at the refurb’d Roundhouse. Very impressive – it easily reclaims its traditional status as London’s premier rockpop venue. Big enough for a 2,000 stand-up audience; small enough for intimate communion.

Pity about the audience, though. They’ve had to stop smoking (Hallelujah!), but most still yak incessantly, sing along as if they’re in the bath, and shuffle backwards and forwards to the bars all night long, spilling expensive, dubious-looking beer from plastic mugs over innocent bystanders.

All music venues, from the Royal Opera House to Ronnie Scott’s, attract more than their fair share of stiffs. But rockpop gigs are notorious: fully 50% of last night’s Roundhouse crowd were boneheads.




Gerry Smith

Van the Man – Ireland’s greatest creative artist?

I've just finished reading a challenging new polemic about Music for Grown-Ups fave Van the Man. In the course of celebrating the fortieth anniversary of his masterwork, Astral Weeks, writer Declan Lynch makes the case for Morrison as Ireland’s greatest ever creative artist.

Yes, that’s greater than James Joyce. And Yeats. And the creators of the Book Of Kells.

Convinced? See what you think:

www.vanmorrisonnews.blogspot.com


Morrison's back catalogue is being reissued in batches, from next Monday, and a new album, Keep It Simple, is due in March.



Gerry Smith

Top poprock record labels profiled

For all that they’re widely regarded as robber barons, record labels have been key gatekeepers in the dissemination of music, a filter helping the consumer cope with a manageable array of talent, and promoting/distributing product so that it’s easily available.

Friday’s Independent had an informative profile of most of the leading labels crucial in the development of post-WW2 poprock, including Music for Grown-Ups favourites like Chess, Sun and Rough Trade.

But why, oh why, did they see fit to ignore the greatest label of them all, CBS/Columbia/Sony, which made superstars of talents like Sinatra, Miles Davis and Bob Dylan?


http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/features



Gerry Smith

Coming very soon - Morrissey Week in London!

Morrissey, one of the most revered of rockpop artists in his native land, returns to London next week with a six night residency at the recently reopened Roundhouse. Watch this space for the exclusive Music for Grown-Ups concert review - I’m due at the Wednesday gig.

I expect the setlist to include a sizeable selection of the songs on Greatest Hits, Morrissey’s first compilation from his post-1997 releases (tracklist below), due on 11 February. Plus some earlier solo material and the odd Smiths classic.

Greatest Hits tracklist:

1. First Of The Gang To Die
2. In The Future When All's Well
3. I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
4. Irish Blood English Heart
5. You Have Killed Me
6. That's How People Grow Up
7. Everyday Is Like Sunday
8. Redondo Beach
9. Suedehead
10. Youngest Wat The Most Loved
11. Last Of The Famous International Playboys
12. More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get
13. All You Need Is Me
14. Let Me Kiss You
15. I Have Forgiven Jesus
16. Alma Matters

Whooppee! I can hardly wait. Rave on, Mozza!


Gerry Smith

New Stones, Morrissey, Morrison releases due soon

Tempting new rockpop releases already announced for 2008 include:

· Rolling Stones - Shine A Light, the soundtrack to the new Martin Scorsese film documenting the last tour, is due in March.

· Morrissey’s Greatest Hits, the first compilation from his post-1997 releases, comes out on 11 February. It will be followed by a new studio album in the autumn.

· Van Morrison’s new CD, Keep It Simple, is due in March. And a programme of (slightly) enhanced back catalogue re-releases starts with seven albums on 28 January.

All will be worth a careful grown-up listen, even if none promises to be Earth-shattering.


Gerry Smith

HMV to roll out Fopp format?

Music for Grown-Ups was a supporter of the Fopp mini-chain of CD/DVD/bookshops and was saddened when it went belly up last year.

The Fopp format – quality back catalogue at heavy discounts, and a perception of the soundscape which recognised the yawning gulf between pre- and post-Punk poprock – was a refreshing counterpoint to the heavy hand of the music megastores.

Ironically, megastore-in-chief HMV, whose silly prices lost my custom years ago, rescued two of the Fopp branches I used to frequent most, in London and Cambridge, and restored them to exactly the same pre-failure format. And the Fopp shops seem to be doing good business whenever I’m in.

HMV is such a big company, facing multiple threats to its business – downloads, supermarkets, Amazon … blah … blah – that it can’t be interested in running a handful of small Fopp outlets - unless it has a firm idea of what it wants to do with them.

Prediction: before the end of 2008, HMV will roll out the Fopp chain to at least the size of the original network. That would be welcomed here and by all fans of music for grown-ups.



Gerry Smith

Hidden cost of buying Drawn Blank exhibition catalogue

Since posting the previous article, I’ve discovered that UK buyers of the Drawn Blank exhibition catalogue who order direct from the gallery, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, need to factor in the extra cost of making an international bank payment, which is about £20, to be added to the book’s price and delivery: total c£50.

Apologies to readers outside UK, I don’t know the extra bank cost in your country, but it’s worth finding out before you decide where to buy the book.

UK readers might be better advised to find a copy in the UK - if Amazon/Marketplace suppliers are out of stock, there are some copies in the bookshop system – I saw one in a branch of Waterstone's last weekend; and Foyles had it online recently.

Another option is to wait for further exhibitions (London, New York, LA?) - I can't believe Dylan would have done all that work just for a single show - and then expect the catalogue to become a very visible global best-seller.

Bottom line, though: Bob Dylan – The Drawn Blank Series is one helluva Dylan artefact, a must-have!



Gerry Smith

Hurry - Drawn Blank exhibition in Chemnitz closes soon

If you’re planning to catch The Drawn Blank Series, the outstanding exhibition of Dylan artwork at Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, you’d better hurry, because the show closes on 3 February.

It’s a fine collection. Dylan’s artwork – interiors, urban landscapes, men, women - grabs your attention and demands careful scrutiny. The paintings, in the Expressionist style, would be arresting even if they didn’t carry Dylan’s signature. As you’d expect from its artist, the work is observant, witty and worldly-wise. The surprise is that it’s also technically accomplished – it never fails to evoke an emotional response.

Dylan fans worldwide are indebted to curator Ingrid Mossinger. It’s remarkable that the curator of a city art gallery in a regional centre like Chemnitz should have persuaded Dylan to complete such a substantial body of art, and then made it accessible to a global audience via the striking catalogue, Bob Dylan: The Drawn Blank Series.

Danke schon Chemnitz! Danke schon Frau Mossinger!

The exhibition catalogue is a sumptuous stand-alone coffee table hardback book of 170 striking watercolour/gouache paintings that Dylan recently worked up from drawings originally sketched between 1989 and 1992.

It’s an unusual, beautiful, colourful artefact: aficionados need it - it’s one of the Dylan highlights of recent years, far more important than that new film that’s getting all the media attention.

Bob Dylan: The Drawn Blank Series is available from UK suppliers, but the Chemnitz gallery itself is the prime supplier of the catalogue – they are selling the book at 28 euros (plus 17 euros packing/delivery) via their website – excellent value. Specify if you want the English-language version (the book includes several essays about the exhibition).



Details: Bob Dylan - The Drawn Blank Series, edited by Ingrid Mossinger. Munich, Prestel, large format hardback, 29 Nov 2007, 288pp.

www.chemnitz.de/de/tourismus/tourismus_kultur_17_2.htm




Gerry Smith

Anglo Pop for Grown-Ups

Hot on the heels of praise for Paul Morley as the BBC’s ubiquitous Manchester post-Punk music correspondent, it’s time to praise him again, in a different role, as the BBC’s English pop music correspondent.

Morley’s new one-hour documentary, Pop! What Is It Good For?, broadcast Tuesday on BBC Four, was a stylishly articulate, richly detailed manifesto for the peculiar genre that is Anglo Pop. Sections on The Smiths and Adam Faith were particularly challenging, though my attention wandered when it turned to inessentials such as Kylie, the Kinks and the Sugar Babes.

Morley’s programme was the grown-up highlight so far of BBC Four’s current Anglo Pop series. The other stuff has been re-runs of trashy, ultra-lite series - Juke Box Jury, Top Of The Pops, Old Grey Whistle Test and other such fluff - and weak movies starring actors with the gravitas of Cliff Richard. The first (pre-Beatles) programme in the three-part Pop Britannia series confirmed what we already knew: that ‘50s Britpop was third-rate, a desperate parochial cloning of the exciting US template.

Morley’s engaging doc confirmed, yet again, that music for grown-ups can come from any genre – the Smiths … Everlys … Roxy are as worthy of scrutiny as Puccini or Coleman Hawkins. And that most music, in all genres, especially pop, is unsuitable for grown-up consumption.

You can view Pop! What Is It Good For? online, on the wonderful new BBC iPlayer service.

Recommended (Morley’s programme and new iPlayer service).



Gerry Smith

Factory Records celebrated

If, like me, you celebrate the post-Punk musical creativity of Manchester, look out for a repeat of BBC Four’s fine 90-minute documentary, Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to the Happy Mondays, a tribute to the recently-deceased label founder/all-round Mancophile, Anthony J Wilson.

The film has welcome contributions from most of the major players, from Ian Curtis’ Joy Division band-mates to Happy Mondays’ Mr Ryder, and from Paul Morley, the BBC’s ubiquitous (but very welcome) Manc music correspondent, to, most notably, a visibly dying Wilson.

Factory ably documents the early success of the label, based on Joy Division then New Order’s popularity, the subsequent failure of the Hacienda nightclub and then the demise of the label itself.

But, much as I like the Manc music scenesters, I’m glad that this motley crew were only ever in charge of their own money. Ultimately, Factory was a failure: a very popular label and nightclub failed and it didn’t need to happen. Factory Records failed to fulfil its massive potential by not developing its roster – The Smiths, The Fall and The Stone Roses, arguably the finest local talents, were signed by other labels, from right under Factory’s nose.

But I’m surely not alone in tiring of the continual barrage of provincial, solipsistic “Manc is great” propaganda. The grim Northern city’s not-so-subtle attempt to ride on the coat-tails of a handful of great pop musicians is wearing a bit thin: Manchester was a dump before Joy Division; it’s just as big a dump today.



Gerry Smith

Dylan, Radiohead, Brian Jones brighten up the January news-stands

New Year issues of rockpop mags - fashionably slim after the ad-led excesses of the Xmas consumption frenzy - are creeping onto the news-stands.

· UNCUT gets top billing with a striking Dylan cover straight from the Nashville Skyline shoot. Bob Dylan: 1968, The Year He Came Back From the Dead, is the cover feature, with extended coverage of John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline. The cover-mounted CD, Drifter’s Escape, has JWH-inspired country rock covers. And UNCUT has a separate photo feature on Blackbushe. Hang on – wasn’t that 1978?

· MOJO has Radiohead on the cover, and a featured interview with Joni Mitchell. Oh dear. I love Mitchell’s music but I lost interest in anything she has to say - about anything - aeons ago. Life’s far too short.

· Record Collector’s cover story is Brian Jones – The Lost Stone.



Gerry Smith

Amazon’s music recommendations – spectacularly wrong

Amazon automatically suggests product you might wish to buy, based on previous transactions/searches. Sometimes it works, selling you stuff you hadn’t thought of buying.

But mostly, in my case, the predictions are risible – the clever software suggests stuff I wouldn’t have in the house even if it was free.

Amazon’s latest suggestions made me laugh out loud – it’s as if some darkly comic software has been programmed to suggest music guaranteed to make me contemplate suicide:



Hello, Mr Smith, Amazon.co.uk has new recommendations for you based on items you purchased or told us you own. We recommended the items because you purchased or rated:
› Van Morrison - Live At Montreux 1974/1980
› Bob Dylan - Don't Look Back (65 Tour Deluxe Edition) [1965]

(Amazon suggestions)

· Chrome Dreams II: +DVD
· The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (Limited Edition) (3CD)
· In Concert November 1975 by Richard and Linda Thompson
· I'm Not There (OST)
· Just Roll Tape: 26 Apr 1968/Studio Demos by Stephen Stills
· Live At The BBC by Sandy Denny
· Under the Blacklight by Rilo Kiley

Crikey! A more laughable wants list would be difficult to compile for me.



Gerry Smith