Thanks to Jerry Crew:
“I’ve been waiting to see someone’s take on Van’s Still on Top compilation, but have seen precious little discussion of it, either here or on various Van-related lists.
“No doubt, this is due at least in some part to this having been the third compilation album of the year. However, I think it is worth noting, that, at least to this Van fan, this compilation holds together and flows start to finish better than any of the three Best-of compilations or the At the Movies compilation.
“Why? The total and complete absence of Van’s various and frequent dabbling in what I consider to be side projects. No blues or jazz covers, no country, no skiffle – just the ‘Celtic Soul’ that initially drew me to Van and has kept me a fan through thick (‘70s to early ‘90s) and thin (most everything since).
“The only tracks that really sound out of place alongside the larger body of work are the early Them numbers – Gloria, Baby Please Don’t Go, and Here Comes the Night. I don’t recall having read if Van had anything to do with the track selection on this album as he did on Best of Volumes 2 and 3, but it appears that with this collection, either Van or Polydor get what many, if not most, fans are about.”
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Original article:
Rockpop for grown-ups: a vintage year for best-of CDs
If you’re wondering about buying rockpop for grown-ups best-of CDs as Xmas presents, you’re spoilt for choice this year. A pile of exciting new releases has made 2007 a vintage year for this oft-derided but very popular form of release.
Stunning best-ofs praised here this year (you can find them via the Archive) include:
* Doors – Very Best Of The Doors (2CD/DVD/booklet version preferred)
* Dylan – DYLAN (3CD version preferred)
* Van Morrison – Still On Top (3CD version preferred)
* Mick Jagger – Very Best Of
* Rolling Stones – Rolled Gold+
* Led Zeppelin – Mothership (2CD/DVD version preferred)
* Ella – Forever Ella
* The Very Best Of Miles Davis: the Warner Bros Sessions 1985-1991.
Mamma mia! Any one of them would bring a broad smile to my face on Xmas morning. Supermarkets and online suppliers (eg play.com) generally undercut the music megastores on such product – so you can save lots by shopping around.
Gerry Smith
Monday, 17 December 2007
Friday, 14 December 2007
Dylan in new Tom Petty rockumentary
Watch the trailer for Runnin’ Down A Dream, the new Tom Petty rockumentary directed by lauded veteran Peter Bogdanovich, and, I’ll bet, your eyes will be drawn to the singer duetting with Petty on two clips – from the Dylan/Petty 1986 tour and the Traveling Wilburys project.
In his ‘80s creative trough, Dylan made some perplexing decisions, and touring with Petty was one: surely their musical styles were too far apart – what was Dylan doing with mainstream stadium rockers?
Surprisingly, the pairing worked well. If nothing else, the shows were audience-friendly. The problem was, Dylan looked diminished in the company of the Heartbreakers: unaccountably, Petty’s rock-lite shtick seemed to dwarf the greatest popular musician of the century.
Or did it? Maybe that perception flowed from the general malaise afflicting many Bobfans in those barren years?
It’ll be instructive to dig out and re-evaluate the VHS tape of the Dylan/Petty Sydney show, broadcast some years ago on BBC TV. I have a sneaking feeling that Dylan’s performance will, almost miraculously, have somehow improved since the film was shot.
Runnin’ Down A Dream is reviewed, with link to the trailer, at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/12/13/bmpetty113.xml
In his ‘80s creative trough, Dylan made some perplexing decisions, and touring with Petty was one: surely their musical styles were too far apart – what was Dylan doing with mainstream stadium rockers?
Surprisingly, the pairing worked well. If nothing else, the shows were audience-friendly. The problem was, Dylan looked diminished in the company of the Heartbreakers: unaccountably, Petty’s rock-lite shtick seemed to dwarf the greatest popular musician of the century.
Or did it? Maybe that perception flowed from the general malaise afflicting many Bobfans in those barren years?
It’ll be instructive to dig out and re-evaluate the VHS tape of the Dylan/Petty Sydney show, broadcast some years ago on BBC TV. I have a sneaking feeling that Dylan’s performance will, almost miraculously, have somehow improved since the film was shot.
Runnin’ Down A Dream is reviewed, with link to the trailer, at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/12/13/bmpetty113.xml
Thursday, 13 December 2007
Rolling Stones – must-have photos book now deeply discounted
As soon as it was published, I knew that Bent Rej’s impressive book of exquisite photographs, The Rolling Stones In The Beginning (Mitchell Beazley), was a must–have. It’s a lovely large format collection of intimate pics following the band as they morphed from hopefuls to megastars in the early 1960s.
But I knew that I would eventually save most of the hefty £40 price tag, just by waiting for a reduction.
Lo and behold! Just in time for Santa, it’s now widely available, deeply discounted, all over the High Street. I’ve variously seen it at £10/£9 and as low as £8 (TK Maxx). For the Stones fan in your life, The Rolling Stones In The Beginning is perfect.
Gerry Smith
But I knew that I would eventually save most of the hefty £40 price tag, just by waiting for a reduction.
Lo and behold! Just in time for Santa, it’s now widely available, deeply discounted, all over the High Street. I’ve variously seen it at £10/£9 and as low as £8 (TK Maxx). For the Stones fan in your life, The Rolling Stones In The Beginning is perfect.
Gerry Smith
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
Music that stopped me in my tracks …
Music that’s stopped me in my tracks recently: Amy Winehouse – the Valerie single, heard while in a shop on Sunday.
The whole shopful of customers simply stopped shopping for the duration. What a soulful interpreter; what mastery of a lyric; what swing.
Here’s hoping the gel deals with her demons and goes on to produce a lifetime of great work – both for her sake and for everybody else’s.
Gerry Smith
The whole shopful of customers simply stopped shopping for the duration. What a soulful interpreter; what mastery of a lyric; what swing.
Here’s hoping the gel deals with her demons and goes on to produce a lifetime of great work – both for her sake and for everybody else’s.
Gerry Smith
Friday, 7 December 2007
Leeds – epicentre of early ‘70s rock
The pre-eminence of the capital of Yorkshire as the epicentre of early 1970s rock is underlined by a feature article in the new issue of Leeds, The University of Leeds Alumni Magazine.
Living The Legend, a seven page feature, tells the story of how a handful of students made the Uni the hottest gig on planet Earth from several years from 1970. They booked some of the biggest rockers of all, at the peak of their powers, including:
24 Jan 1970 – Led Zeppelin
14 Feb 1970 – The Who
16 May 1970 – Leonard Cohen
13 March 1971 – Rolling Stones
At least two of the gigs produced legendary recordings – The Who Live At Leeds, and Get Yer Leeds Lungs Out, the highly regarded Stones bootleg.
The student unions of many Anglo unis organised world-class rockpop gigs, but none equalled the line-ups offered to Leeds students in the early 1970s.
Gerry Smith
Living The Legend, a seven page feature, tells the story of how a handful of students made the Uni the hottest gig on planet Earth from several years from 1970. They booked some of the biggest rockers of all, at the peak of their powers, including:
24 Jan 1970 – Led Zeppelin
14 Feb 1970 – The Who
16 May 1970 – Leonard Cohen
13 March 1971 – Rolling Stones
At least two of the gigs produced legendary recordings – The Who Live At Leeds, and Get Yer Leeds Lungs Out, the highly regarded Stones bootleg.
The student unions of many Anglo unis organised world-class rockpop gigs, but none equalled the line-ups offered to Leeds students in the early 1970s.
Gerry Smith
Thursday, 6 December 2007
The Word - most grown-up rockpopmag in 2007
The major Anglo rockpop mags – MOJO, UNCUT and The Word - are alluring artefacts. I can rarely resist picking up the new issue in the supermarket. Every 150-page issue has at least a few pages worth skimming – though usually not enough to persuade me to buy a copy.
The magazines occasionally feature musicians for grown-ups on the front cover, even if the articles they advertise normally lack allure.
If I had to guess which mag has most grown-up musicians on the cover, I’d rank them: 1 MOJO, 2 UNCUT, 3 The Word. This year, I’d have been hopelessly wrong – The Word (9) had most covers featuring musicians likely to discussed here and MOJO (5) fewest; UNCUT was second, with 8.
Rockpop mag covers (2007):
Jan: MOJO Joy Division; UNCUT Radiohead; The Word Doors
Feb: MOJO Beatles; UNCUT Smiths; The Word Amy Winehouse
March: MOJO Who; UNCUT Iggy Pop; The Word Joni M
April: MOJO Arctic Monkeys; UNCUT Floyd; The Word Rufus Wainwright
May: MOJO 100 Songs; UNCUT Macca; The Word Nick Cave
June: MOJO Bob Marley; UNCUT Stones; The Word Leonard Cohen
July: MOJO Police; UNCUT Dylan; The Word Van M
Aug: MOJO Stones; UNCUT P Weller; The Word J Marr
September: MOJO Floyd; UNCUT Hendrix/50 gigs; The Word Floyd
October: MOJO Oasis; UNCUT Led Zep; The Word Bruce S
November: MOJO Led Zep; UNCUT Neil Young; The Word Led Zep
December: MOJO Amy; UNCUT Lennon; The Word Amy/07
This year saw a total of 22 (of 36) covers featuring musicians for grown-ups. I’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to work out which they were!
Gerry Smith
The magazines occasionally feature musicians for grown-ups on the front cover, even if the articles they advertise normally lack allure.
If I had to guess which mag has most grown-up musicians on the cover, I’d rank them: 1 MOJO, 2 UNCUT, 3 The Word. This year, I’d have been hopelessly wrong – The Word (9) had most covers featuring musicians likely to discussed here and MOJO (5) fewest; UNCUT was second, with 8.
Rockpop mag covers (2007):
Jan: MOJO Joy Division; UNCUT Radiohead; The Word Doors
Feb: MOJO Beatles; UNCUT Smiths; The Word Amy Winehouse
March: MOJO Who; UNCUT Iggy Pop; The Word Joni M
April: MOJO Arctic Monkeys; UNCUT Floyd; The Word Rufus Wainwright
May: MOJO 100 Songs; UNCUT Macca; The Word Nick Cave
June: MOJO Bob Marley; UNCUT Stones; The Word Leonard Cohen
July: MOJO Police; UNCUT Dylan; The Word Van M
Aug: MOJO Stones; UNCUT P Weller; The Word J Marr
September: MOJO Floyd; UNCUT Hendrix/50 gigs; The Word Floyd
October: MOJO Oasis; UNCUT Led Zep; The Word Bruce S
November: MOJO Led Zep; UNCUT Neil Young; The Word Led Zep
December: MOJO Amy; UNCUT Lennon; The Word Amy/07
This year saw a total of 22 (of 36) covers featuring musicians for grown-ups. I’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to work out which they were!
Gerry Smith
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Springsteen 1 Arsenal 0
Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning for a couple of English gigs on Bruce Springsteen’s May 2008 Euro tour.
The London gig, at the Emirates stadium, new home of Arsenal, the Francophone African football franchise, was briefly tempting: I’ve a high regard for Bruce’s best work, notably Darkness and The Rising, and I’ve long wanted to catch him live.
Briefly? I was tempted for all of a minute – before reality kicked in.
Do I really want to spend a summer evening driving (very slowly) to the toilet known as inner North London to spend a couple of hours at a massed karaoke, surrounded by middle-aged beer-bellied drunks (and their boyfriends/partners/husbands), wearing dribble-stained black T-shirts, scruffy jeans and smelly trainers?
And pay well over £100 for two for the privilege?
Probably not: a stroll in the local blueball-carpeted beechwood seems infinitely more attractive.
Stadium rock – by anyone – just ain’t music for grown-ups.
Gerry Smith
The London gig, at the Emirates stadium, new home of Arsenal, the Francophone African football franchise, was briefly tempting: I’ve a high regard for Bruce’s best work, notably Darkness and The Rising, and I’ve long wanted to catch him live.
Briefly? I was tempted for all of a minute – before reality kicked in.
Do I really want to spend a summer evening driving (very slowly) to the toilet known as inner North London to spend a couple of hours at a massed karaoke, surrounded by middle-aged beer-bellied drunks (and their boyfriends/partners/husbands), wearing dribble-stained black T-shirts, scruffy jeans and smelly trainers?
And pay well over £100 for two for the privilege?
Probably not: a stroll in the local blueball-carpeted beechwood seems infinitely more attractive.
Stadium rock – by anyone – just ain’t music for grown-ups.
Gerry Smith
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