This Thursday on the ol’ East Village Radio show that I like to call Beyond Beyond is Beyond, I will be talking to the gold-throated ‘god of hellfire’ himself, the amazing Arthur Brown. As seen here, freaking the fuck out…
Esoteric Recordings is reissuing much of Arthur’s works, including the groundbreaking, earth-shaking Crazy World of Arthur Brown album, as well as Arthur Brown’s Kingdom Come albums.
I will also be paying tribute to MAN‘s fantastic guitarist/vocalist/songwriter, Micky Jones, who just passed away on March 10th, losing the battle to a brain tumor that he had been fighting for years. Micky will live on for many through the fine, fine music that he leaves behind. R.I.P. Micky…and thank you for the jams.
Coincidentally, Esoteric Recordings also did the superb remastering job with the MAN catalog as well, so this Thursday will be Esoteric Fest on Beyond Beyond is Beyond. So listen live at noon eastern, Thursday, March 18th to East Village Radio and let’s celebrate jams together! Sound good?
UPDATE: HERE’S THE ARCHIVE OF THIS SHOW! (…and the Playlist)
In the early 1960′s , as popular music underwent its huge catharsis, it was not just the kids in the front rooms with their cheap guitars that would make it a force to be reckoned with. A lot of Jazz musos were crossing over, experimenting with the singles and album market that was growing almost daily. One such jazz player was a certain Jack Bruce. A jazz bassist in his teens, Bruce was playing for Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated by 1962, though on double bass. It was here he met Ginger Baker, and they went on to play with The Graham Bond Organisation, where Bruce finally succumbed to the lure of the Electric Bass. However the legendary hostility between him and Ginger soon brought proceedings to a close, and he joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, where he first played with Eric Clapton. After a stint with Manfred Mann, playing on several hits, he made his career-defining move, forming the ultimate power trio with Baker and Clapton; Cream. It was in the two short years between 66 and 68 that Bruce cemented his reputation as one of the greatest and most influential bassist/vocalists of all-time, his Gibson EB-3 bass becoming almost iconic. His fluid bass lines, almost solos in their own right, and rich, timbred vocals, singing the fantastical lyrics of Pete Brown, ensure that he’s still worshiped to this day.
His fondness for the Power trio never waned, and he experimented with it in several line-ups, including West, Bruce and Laing, (featuring ex-Mountain men Corky Laing and Leslie West) and BBM (Bruce, Baker and Moore, featuring the Irish guitar legend).
Following an almost fatal liver transplant, he returned triumphantly to the stage with Cream for the Albert Hall reunion concerts in 2005.
Recommended: Sunshine of Your Love – an iconic riff, a great vocal. I Feel Free – Classic Bruce!
West, Bruce and Laing: Why Dontcha? – A forgotten classic
And a note from Newm: It is certainly worth mentioning that our good friends at Esoteric Recordings in England have just released an amazing career-spanning Jack Bruce box set called Can You Follow, and having heard it, it’s absolutely brilliant. It’s got stuff that he’s done with Alexis Korner, Graham Bond, Cream, West Bruce & Laing, solo, Eric Clapton & The Powerhouse, Zappa, Manfred Mann, and more.
You might remember that I wrote a piece about the Welsh band, MAN, a few months ago when I was still a newbie to their music. Since then I have received some mind-blowing MAN albums, bursting with their eclectic blend of West Coast psychedelia, hard rock, blues, progressive rock, funk, Beatlesy harmonies, and top notch jamming. These albums have been beautifully remastered with excellent bonus material and packaging and new liner notes from one of the MAN legends himself, guitarist/singer/songwriter, Deke Leonard. The most recent reissues include the three albums, Back Into The Future, Slow Motion and Maximum Darkness.
I’ve got to say that these MAN reissues have been in very heavy rotation in my iTunes and iPod for the last couple months. I have gone from a complete ignorance of this band, not even having heard of them before 2008, to being converted to an unmitigated MAN fan by mid-2008. Why is MAN such a horribly overlooked band, you might ask? I’m really not sure, but my guesses are a) perhaps mismanagement (a la Moby Grape) and b) lack of radio hits. At least the Grateful Dead had “Truckin’” and “Casey Jones” But this isn’t necessarily mainstream music here either. This is music for music’s sake. Here’s my completely-biased account of the most recent set of MAN albums that have just been re-released on England’s Esoteric Recordings this summer.
Click on through for the juicy details…
Well, it’s been quite a week so far with Obama winning the Democratic nomination (go Barack!) and the passing of one of Rock’s true innovators and pioneers, Bo Diddley. Not to mention, the birthday of my lovely wife on Tuesday and our second wedding anniversary today! I am an extremely happy and lucky man.
And with the dreams of America’s regime change inching ever-closer to becoming reality, here’s my little photo tribute to the men and women in the Armed Forces who have been putting their lives on the line to protect our ways of life. Hopefully we’ll soon get someone in office who won’t risk their lives frivolously and as a means to support their owns’ greed. AND I couldn’t resist taking the pic when I saw these guys sitting at a table in Little Italy.
So here’s some stuff to check out…
Speaking of photos, check this out, it’s really cool but it may just jerk a tear or two.
BO……DIDDLEY! Thank you and rest in peace.
Raconteurs on Conan.
There goes the neighborhood!
R.E.M. recently rocked “Ignoreland” for the first time.
Leaked Vampire Weekend demo performed by their keyboard player (and mastermind). Be sure to look at all the comments.
Oh yeah, more great Diddley on NPR’s Monitor Mix!
Shameless plug...it looks good if I get some clicks on my articles.
New MAN remasters. I’m completely addicted to this band now!
