Sunday 27 December 2009

The people who died 2009 edition

The People who Died 2009 edition;

Al Alberts ~ Singer w/ 1950's pop vocal group The Four Aces "Three coins in the fountain" ~ 87

Mike Alexander ~ Bassist w/ British thrash metal band Evile ~ 32

Rashied Ali ~ American jazz drummer w/ John Coltrane ~ 74

John Almond ~ English jazz & blues sax player w/ John Mayall ~ 63

Maryanne Amacher ~ American avante-garde composer and sound artist ~ 66

Douglas Arau ~ Singer/guitarist w/ Alaskan Grunge/metal band Dredgeseven ~ 34

Ron Asheton ~ Guitarist/Bassist for Punk Godfathers The Stooges and later Destroy All Monsters ~ 60

Ernie Ashworth ~ Country singer/songwriter ("Talk back trembling lips") ~ 80

Gerhard Asphiem ~ Norwegian jazz sax player and one of the founders of Norway's post war jazz scene ~ 79

Tony de la Barreda ~ Canned Heat bassist

Molly Bee ~ Country singer "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus" ~ 69

Louie Bellson ~ Big Band drummer, married to Pearl Bailey, worked w/ Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Harry James, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Lionel Hampton, James Brown, Sammy Davis Jr., Dizzy Gillespie, Louie Armstrong, The Dorsey Bros. ~ 85

Chuck Bennett ~ Bassist w/ Link Wray ~ 66

Estelle Bennett ~ 67 ~ Singer with the classic girl group The Ronnettes with Phil Spector produced hits like "Be my baby", "Baby I love you" and "Christmas Baby please come home".

Jay Bennett ~ Wilco guitarist ~ 45

Terry Black ~ Canadian 1960's teen idol ("Only 16") and later radio dj ~ 62

Eddie Bo ~ New Orleans 1950's R&B singer/pianist/songwriter "Slippin' & Slidin'", "My dearest darling" ~79

Bob Bogle ~ Guitar/Bass for The Ventures ~ 75

Clarence Boyd ~ Country/Western Swing pianist w/ Patsy Cline, Johnny Lee Wills ~ 76

Jimmy Boyd ~ American singer "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus ~ 70

Pat Brady ~ Drummer for 1980's Boston punk band The Moving Targets ~ 43

Randall Brewley ~ American guitarist w/ Pylon ~ 53

Jake Brockman ~ Keyboardist w/ Echo & The Bunnymen ~ 53

Billy Brown ~ Rockabilly singer "Meet Me In The Alley, Sally" and a version of "He'll Have To Go" ~ 79

Mel Brown ~ American/Canadian blues singer/guitarist ~ 69

Piney Brown ~ 1950's blues singer "You bring out the wolf in me" & songwriter w/ James Brown, Rosco Gordon, Little Milton ~ 87

Tom Brumley ~ Steel guitarist for Buck Owen's Buckaroos, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Rosie Madddox ~ 73

Stephen Bruton ~ American country/rock guitarist w/Kris Kristofferson, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, NRBQ ~ 60

Norton Buffalo ~ Singer/Harmonica player w/ The Stampede and also played w/ Elvin Bishop, Steve Miller, Clover, The Moonlighters, Commander Cody, Bonnie Raitt and Mickey Hart, appeared in "Heaven's Gate" and "The Rose" ~ 58

Irving Bush ~ Jazz trumpter w/ Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, George Shearing, Nat King Cole, Nelson Riddle, The Dorsey Bros. and music text book writer ~ 79

Sam Butera ~ Sax player w/ Louis Prima, Tommy Dorsey ~ 81

Gary Butler ~ Country piano & fiddle player w/ Webb Pierce, Tanya Tucker, Shenandoah ~

Randy Cain ~ R&B singer w/ The Delfonics ~ 64

Sam Carr ~ Blues dummer & son of Robert Nighthawk ~ 82

Jim Carroll ~ N.Y. punk singer/songwriter & poet/novelist ~ 60

Johnny Carter ~ Doo Wop singer with The Flamingos ("I only have eyes for you") and the Dells ~ 75

Ric Cartey ~ 1950's rockabilly singer, did original version of "Young Love" later covered by Sonny James & The Crewcuts ~ 72

John Cephas ~ American Piedmont blues guitarist w/ Cephas & Wiggins ~ 72

Jim Chapin ~ Jazz drummer and author of jazz drumming instructional books, also father of Harry Chapin ~ 89

Vic Chesnut ~ American singer/songwriter ~ 45

Johnithin Christ ~ Singer w/ Hardcore band Code of Honor ~ 51

Liam Clancy ~ Singer/guitarist w/ 1950's & 60's Irish folk band The Clancy Brothers ~ 74

Jeff Clyne ~ British jazz bassist w/ Ronnie Scott, John McClaughlin, Zoot Sims ~ 72

Mick Cocks ~ Guitarist for Australian Hard Rock bands Rose Tattoo and Heaven ~

Johnny Collins ~ British maritime folk singer ~ 71

Johnny Cox ~ Sax player w/ 1960's garage band the Swingin' Medallions ~

Hank Crawford ~ Jazz & R&B sax player w/ Ray Charles, Etta James, Ike Turner, Bobby Blue Bland, Dr. John ~ 74

Travis Criscola ~ Guitarist w/ Pop Punk band The Cute Lepers ~ 24

Corey Daum ~ Guitarist for American metal band Lizzy Borden ~ 39

Lester Davenport ~ Blues harmonica/guitar played on Bo Diddly's "Oh You Pretty Thing" & Arthur "Big Boy" Spires, Homesick James, Jimmy Dawkins, Snooky Pryor, The Kinsey Report ~ 86

John Dawson ~ Singer/Guitarist w/ New Riders of the Purple Sage ~ 64

Davie Dee ~ British singer for 60's britpop band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beakey Mich and Tich ~ 67

Simon Dee ~ British 1960's radio DJ on BBC and Radio Caroline ~ 73

Andy DeMize ~ Drummer for Danish Psychobilly band The Nekromantix ~ 25

Willy "Mink" Deville ~ New York & New Orleans based CBGB's era singer/guitarist ~ 55

Jim Luther Dickenson ~ Memphis based musician w/ Rolling Stones ("Wild Horses") & Flamin' Groovies ("Teenage Head") and producer, Big Star, Tav Falco, Mudhoney, Screamin Jay Hawkins, Willie DeVille ~ 67

Kenny Dino ~ Early 1960's pop singer known for his bad luck and bad management, he turned down a change to team up with a young Paul Simon (who teamed up with Art Garfunkel instead), his mangager then turned down a chance to record "Suspicion" which became a hit for Elvis and Terry Stafford. Died in a car of a heart attack while driving on his way from a two-a-day matinee gig in Florida. ~ 67

Art D'Lugoff ~ Owner of 1950's & 60's jazz/folk & comedy club the Village Gate ~ 85

Herbie Duncan ~ American rockabilly singer and cult figure ("Hot lips baby") ~ 72

Snooks Eaglin ~ New Orleans Blues and R&B singer/guitarist w/ Professor Longhair, Earl Hooker ~ 73

Travis Edmonson ~ American folk 1950's & 60's folk singer w/ Bud & Travis, The Kinsman, Gateway Singers~ 76

Tommy Ellison ~ Gospel singer w/ The Harmonizing Four ~ 77

Ian Evans ~ Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist ~ 48

Amy Farris ~ Fiddler, Singer, Arranger/Composer w/ Exene Cervenka, Dave Alvin, Alejadro Escovedo, Brian Wilson, Ray Price, Stan Ridgeway, Peter Case, Greg Dulli & solo~ 40

Chris Feinstein ~ Bassist w/ Ryan Adams & the Cardinals ~ 42

Steve Ferguson ~ Guitarist w/ NRBQ ~ 60

Jesse Fortune ~ Blues singer ~ 79

Lukas Foss ~ American Avant Garde Classical composer ~ 86

Jerry Fox ~ Swing trumpet player w/ Louis Prima & The Dorsey Bros. ~ 88

Freddie Frog ~ Rockabilly/Doo Wop singer ~ 66

Jerry Fuchs ~ Drummer for Athens, Georgia Psyche/Space rock band Maserati ~ 34

George Fullerton ~ Guitar maker w/ Leo Fender ~ 86

Mark Gallagher ~ Singer w/ 1960's garage rock band The Litter "Action Woman" ~ 70

Leonard Gaskin ~ BeBop bassist w/ Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Billie Holliday, Miles Davis ~ 88

Micky Gee ~ British guitarist w/ Dave Edmunds ("I hear you knockin"), Carl Perkins, Bill Wyman, Tom Jones, Shakin' Stevens ("The Green Door", "This old house") ~ 64

David Godbey ~ Country singer/guitarist/fiddle player w/ The Brazos County Boys ~ 69

Jack Golly ~ Dixieland clarinet player w/ Jimmie McPartland & Spike Jones ~ 86

Vern Gosdin ~ American country singer ~ 74

Bobby Graham ~ 1960's U.K. session drummer w/ the Kinks "You really got me","All day and all of the night", The Dave Clark 5 and Dusty Springfield, was the original choice to replace Pete Best in The Beatles ~ 69

Ellie Greenwhich ~ Brill Building songwriter on; "Da Doo Ron Ron","Be My Baby","River Deep Mountain High","The Leader of The Pack" ~ 68

Archie Greene ~ Canadian/American musicologist (The IWW Little Red Songbook) ~ 91

Buck Griffin ~ Country/rockabilly singer/guitarist/songwriter w/ Marty Robbins & Red Foley ~ 86

Kelly Groucutt ~ ELO bassist ~ 63

Peter Haggert ~ Bassist w/ U.K. Skiffle King Lonnie Donegan ~ 83

Guy Hall ~ Big Band sax player w/ Sammy Kaye ~ 94

Monte Halle ~ 1940's singing cowboy actor ~ 89

Walter Haynes ~ Steel guitarist & songwriter w/ Del Reeves, Everly Brothers, Little Jimmy Dickens, Webb Pierce, Patsy Cline, J.J. Cale ~ 60

Kent Henry ~ Guitarist w/ Steppenwolf ("Black Pit" and "For Ladies Only"), Blues Image ("Ride Captain Ride"), Lord Sutch ~ 61

Sam Hinton ~ 1960's folk singer, illustrator and marine biologist and author ~ 92

Dan Honaker ~ Bassist w/ Bob Seger's 1960's band, played on "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" ~ 57

Freeman Hover ~ 1950's Rock n' Roll dj ~ 79

Lux Interior ~ Legendary frontman for the Cramps ~ 62

Reg Isadore ~ Drummer for Peter Green & Robin Trower ~ 59

Marcel Jacob ~ Bassist w/ Swedish metal bands Euroope and Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force ~ 45

Micheal Jackson ~ The King of Pop ~ 50

Maurice Jarre ~ French film composer (Dr. Zivago, Lawrence of Arabia) ~ 84

Ted Jarrett ~ Songwriter "You Can Make It If You Try" covered by the Rolling Stones other songs by Fats Domino, Pat Boone, Jerry Butler, Johnnie Ray ~ 82

Claude Jeter ~ Gospel singer with the Swan Silvertones and the Dixie Hummingbirds ~ 94

Greg Johnson ~ AKA Greg Gory, singer/guitarist w/ Vancouver garage punks The Fiends

Jan Jones ~ Guitarist w/ German metal band Blitz ~ 49

Johnny Jones ~ Guitarist w/ 1960's Memphis R&B band Johnny Jones & the King Casuals w/ Jimi Hendrix and Billy Cox ~ 73

Mickie Jones ~ Bassist w/ 1970's Glam rock band Angel

Uriel Jones ~ Motown session drummer w/ The Funk Brothers, played on most Motown hits ~ 74

Genevieve Joy ~ French modernist/classical pianist ~ 90

Kazuhiku Kato ~ Guitarist w/ Japanese glam band The Sadistic Mika Band ~ 62

George Kaufman ~ Bassist w/ New Wave band The Nails "88 Lines about 44 women" ~ 58

Bob Keane ~ Founder of Del-Fi Records, label for Richie Valens, Chan Romero, Bobby Fuller & The Surfaris ~ 87

Charlie Kennedy ~ Swing Sax player w/ Louis Prima & Gene Krupa ~ 83

Willie King ~ Blues singer/guitarist ~ 76

Yvonne King ~ Singer w/ Big Band vocal group The King Sisters, ("In the mood") also sang w/ Artie Shaw ~ 89

Robert Kirby ~ English orchestral folk-pop arranger w/ Nick Drake, also Nick Lowe, Elton John, Paul Weller, Chris DeBugh, The Strawbs ~ 61

Alan Klein ~ Manager for The Rolling Stones, Beatles and Sam Cooke and all around weasel ~ 77

Larry Knetchel ~ Session piano w/ The Beach Boys "Smile" & "Pet Sounds" and Simon & Garfunkel ","Bridge over troubled water", later in 70's soft rock band Bread ~ 69

Marie Knight ~ Gospel and R&B singer "Cry me a river" ~ 84

Pim Koopman ~ Dutch progrock drummer w/ Kayak ~ 56

Tim Krekel ~ Country/Rock songwriter w/ songs done by Petty Loveless, Crystal Gayle, Bo Diddly, Rick Nelson, Canned Heat, Jerry Reed, Dr. Feelgood, Delbert McClinton, B.J. Thomas, Delbert McClinton, Billy Swan, Pam Tillis
and Jason And The Scorchers ~ 59

Malcom Laycock ~ Jazz & Big Band radio DJ w/ the BBC ~71

Drake Levin ~ Guitarist w/ Paul Revere and the Raiders ~ 62

Vic Lewis ~ British jazz guitarist and band leader w/ George Shearing ~ 89

Big Bill Lister ~ 1950's honky tonk singer w/ Hank Williams later had solo hit with "There's a tear in my beer" which Williams gave him. Hank's demo version was lost and wasn't released until 40 years later ~ 86

Hank Locklin ~ American country singer; "Please help me I'm falling", "Send me the pillow that you dream on" ~ 91

Bess Lomax-Hawes ~ Folklorist/singer/mandolinsit member of The Almanac Singers, sister of Alan Lomax ~ 88

Huey Long ~ Singer/guitarist w/ 1930's & 40's pre-Doo-Wop group The Ink Spots ("I don't want to set the world on fire") ~ 105

Lawrence Lucie ~ Jazz guitar, banjo & mandolin w/ Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Billie Holliday, Big Joe Turner, Jelly Roll Morton, Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, Red Allen, The Mills Bros. ~ 92

Joe McKamey ~ Drummer w/ 1960's Northwest garage band the Squires

Liam Maher ~ Singer w/ Britpop band Flowered Up ~ 41

Dewey Martin ~ Drummer for The Buffalo Springfield, Standells ~ 68

Al Martino ~ 1950's pop singer and actor "The Godfather" ~ 82

John Martyn ~ English folk singer/songwriter/guitarist ~ 60

Aubrey Mayhew ~ Country producer w/ Johnny Paycheck, Stonewall Jackson & Lightnin' Hopkins in the 1960's, founded Little Darlin' Records ~ 81

John Mayhew ~ Early Genesis drummer ~ 61

Dirty Danny McBride ~ Sha Na Na singer ~ 42

Fred Mills ~ Big Band trumpet player w/ the Canadian Brass ~ 74

Taylor Mitchell ~ Toronto based folk singer/songwiter ~ 19

Whitey Mitchell ~ Big Band sax player w/ Gene Krupa & Benny Goodman ~ 76

Vic Mizzy ~ Film & TV composer; wrote and sang theme to "The Addams Family" and also "Green Acres" ~ 93

Sonny Monroe ~ Doo-Wop singer w/ The Falcons ~ 71

Buddy Montgomery ~ Jazz vibes player w/ Big Joe Turner & Miles Davis and w/ his brothers Wes and Monk Mongomery ~ 78

Pee Wee Moore ~Jazz & R&B sax player w/ Dizzy Gillespie, Lucky Millinder, Wynonie Harris, Mary Lou Williams, Bill Doggett ~ 81

Brendon Mullen ~ Owner of Los Angeles punk club The Masque ~ 80

Hayden Neale ~ Singer w/ Toronto soul band Jacksoul ~ 39

David "Fathead" Newman ~ Jazz / R&B sax player w/ Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, BB King ~ 75

Gates Nichols ~ Keyboards, Pedal Steel and horn player w/ country rock band Confederate Railroad ~ 65

Dennis Noda ~ Bassist w/ 60's garage band Cannibal & The Head Hunters "Land of 1000 dances" ~

Pat O'Brien ~ Guitarist w/ Maryland hardcore band Cobra Clutch ~ 25

Nancy Overton ~ R&B singer w/The Chordettes ("Mr. Sandman", "Lollipop") ~ 83

Andy Parle ~ Drummer w/ Britpop band Space ~ 42

Les Paul ~ Pioneer guitar player and inventer ~ 94

Dickie Peterson ~ Bassist/Vocals w/ 1960's Psyche/Metal/Blues band Blue Cheer ~ 61

Fayette Pinkey ~ Singer w/ 1970s soul/disco group The Three Degrees ~ 61

Nick Plumb ~ Guitarist w/ Pop-Punk band the Deloreans ~ 26

Billy Powel ~ keyboard player for Lynnard Skynard ~ 56

Paul Premiger ~ Drummer w/ Vancouver garage/pop/punks The Smugglers

Eddie Preston ~ Jazz saxman w/ @!$%# Basie, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Louis Jordan, Charles Mingus, Sonny Stitt, Archie Shepp ~ 80

Brian Redman ~ Bassist w/ Vancouver metal band 3 Inches of Blood ~ 31

Ron Richards ~ Pianist, and producer on The Beatles "Love me do", The Hollies "He ain't heavy", Gerry & The Pacemaker "You'll never walk alone", Spencer Davis, P.J. Proby, Ella Fitzgerald ~ 80

Billy Lee Riley ~ 1950's Sun Records rockabilly singer/giutarist ("Flying Saucers Rock & Roll", "Red Hot") ~75

Beverly Roberts ~ 1940's Big Band singer w/ The Dorsey Brothers ~ 95

Freddie Robinson ~ A.K.A. Abu Talib, blues guitarist w/ Ray Charles, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, John Mayall, Jimmy Rogers, Bobby "Blue" Bland and Mighty Joe Young ~ 70

Paulie Rocco ~ Guitarist w/ The Chesterfield Kings, Johnny Thunders, Gilby Clarke ~ 48

Jack Rose ~ Guitarist for Noise/drone band Pelt also respected for his accoustic work ~ 38

George Russell ~ Bop and Post Bop Jazz Drummer/Pianist and Composer/Arranger w/ Dizzy Gillespie, Artie Shaw, Benny Carter & Buddy DeFranco ~ 86

Dan Seals ~ 1970's pop/country singer songwiter ~ 61

Sky Saxon ~ Singer/Bassist for 60's garage icons The Seeds ("Pushing too hard", "No Escape") ~ 63

Allen Schellenberger ~ Drummer for American pop-punk band Lit ~ 39

Aaron Schroeder ~ Composer of over 1500 songs including Elvis Presley's hits "I got stung", "Big hunk a love", "It's now or never", later producer for most of Gene Pitney's hits and the first album from Blood Sweat & Tears ~ 83

Mike Seeger ~ Folk singer/guitarist/banjo player and historian, half bother to Pete Seeger ~ 75

Allen Shelton ~ Bluegrass banjo player w/ Jim and Jesse & the Virginia Boys and Mac Wiseman ~ 73

Mashira Shimura ~ Singer/guitarist w/ Japanese New Wave/Power Pop band Fujifabric ~ 29

Shelby Singleton ~ Producer w/ Brook Benton, Leroy Van Dyke, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich, Roger Miller, Dave Dudley, Jeannie C. Riley, Paul & Paula, later bought Sun Records from Sam Phillips in 1969 ~ 77

Sirone ~ Free Jazz bassist w/ The Revolutionary Ensemble also w/ Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Archie Shepp, Sonny Sharrock, James Blood Ulmer Also worked with Smokey Robinson & Sam Cooke ~ 69

Eugene Smith ~ American gospel singer w/ The Roberta Martin Singers ~ 88

Mark Smith ~ Bassist for Scottish band The Waterboys, also producer w/ 49

Jeff Spencer ~ Rockabilly singer/guitarist w/ The Memphis Rockabilly Band ~ 63

Spider (AKA Warren Hastings) ~ Founder of Punkfest ~ 63

Andy Starr ~ 1950's rockabilly singer ~ 80

Sable Starr ~ Notorious groupie of the CBGB's New York punk scene ~ 52

Norm Stephens ~ Country guitarist w/ Merle Haggard, Lefty Frizzell and Hank Thompson ~ 77

Martin Streek ~ CFNY DJ ~ 45

Jim Stradler ~ Country rock bassist w/ The Tractors ~ 54

Koko Taylor ~ 1950's Blues singer ("Wang Dang Doodle") ~ 80

Rev. Leroy Taylor ~ Gospel singer w/ The Soul Stirrers ~ 89

Sammy Taylor ~ Blues / R&B guitarist/songwriter w/ Joey Dee & the Starlighters ("Peppermint Twist"), Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Isley Brothers, mentor to Jimi Hendrix, Leslie West & The Rascals ~ 74

Jay Dean Telfer ~ Guitarist w/ Canadian 60's garage bands A Passing Fancy & The Dimensions ~ 61

Miika Tenkula ~ Guitarist/Vocalist for Finnish Metal Band Sentenced ~ 34

Mary Travers ~ 1960's folk singer w/ Peter, Paul & Mary ~ 72

Uli Trepte ~ Bassist w/ Kraut Rock bands Faust & Neu ~ 58

Scott Turner ~ Canadian born country songwiter w/ Tennessee Ernie Ford, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Slim Whitman, Del Reeves, Guy Mitchell, Jimmy Clanton ~ 78

Beau Velasco ~ Drummer w/ Australian Techno-Punk band The Death Set

Gordon Waller ~ Vocalist with 1960's folk-pop duo Peter & Gordon ("A world without love") ~ 64

Donald Washington ~ Jazz and soul sax player w/ Nat King Cole, Jerry Butler, Donald Bird, BB King, Diana Ross, Horace Silver, Neil Sedaka, Sammy Davis jr. & Grover Washington jr. (to whom he was unrelated) ~ 79

Jackie Washington ~ Canadian folk blues singer/guitarist ~ 84

Teddy Washington ~ Trumpet player w/ James Brown & BB King ~ 78

Harry Wells ~ Big band drummer w/ Cab Calloway ~ 80

Kitty White ~ Singer, dueted w/ Elvis on "Crawfish" in the movie "King Creole" ~ 86

Viola Wills ~ American soul singer ("Both sides now") ~ 69

John Wilson ~ Singer w/ 1950's Doo-Wop group the Silhouetes "Get a job" ~ 72

David Winnans ~ American Gospel singer ~ 74

Eric Wolfson ~ Scottish singer and keyboardist w/ The Alan Parsons Project ~ 64

Timothy Wright ~ Gospel singer ~ 61

Zeke Zarchy ~ American Jazz trumpeter w/ Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Ella Fitzgerald, Tommy Dorsey ~ 94

Tuesday 6 October 2009

Niut Blanche 2009 review

I finally got around to doing the whole Niut Blanche thing. For those who don't know, it's a whole night of various art pieces throughout the city from dusk to dawn, and it's free. It's been around for a few years but I was always busy or whatever and I wasn't real clear on what it was. But Alisa does the whole experience every year and invited me so we stocked up on water, munchies, comfortable shoes and an umbrella and made a night of it.

7pm ~ Nuit Blanche officially starts, I haven't left home yet but CIUT is playing an electronic soundtrack while the lights on the CN Tower change and pulsate to the beat. It's not dark enough yet to get the full effect though.

8pm ~ Meet up at The R.O.M. where they are showing an exhibit of photos and covers from "Vanity Fair" going back to 1913. This isn't really an actual Nuit exhibit but rather an ongoing one that they are including in for free. Fairly crowded but the line up moves quickly. Not surprisingly we prefer the old black and white photos, Louise Brooks and her shining black do, James Joyce and his eyepatch, Cary Grant, Albert Einstien, Sergi Eisenstien, H.G.Wells, Picasso, Jean Harlow, Kate Hepburn. Someone wonders aloud if Kate is related to Audrey and if Jean Harlow copped her look from Marylin Monroe. Time to move on. By the time we get outside the line is winding around the corner.

9:15pm ~ The Royal Conservatory; Now we're talking, a sound college made up of musicians on three floors playing sustained notes with plenty of echo and coloured lights. In the auditorium there are eight singers exchanging more sustained notes. Eerie. Sounds like the soundtrack from Kubricks "2001". I would have turned the lights down for more atmosphere though. The Royal also has a collection of cool antique instruments behind glass. Outside a large group of buskers have shown up to take advantage of the crowds provided by the now long lineups. The usual jugglers, giant unicycle rider and a troop of Morris Dancers. For those who don't know Morris Dances are English folk dancers who wear baby blue hats, vests, kneepants and bells on their legs and shoes while dancing in circles while waving sticks and hankies. They look like the Tetley Tree Folk from the old commercial. Why the English who had the worlds greatest empire and body of literature also produced the world's silliest folk dance I'm sure I don't know. Afterwards we stop off at Subway to polish off a quick hogie. I mention this because it's almost the only money I had to spend all night.

11:30 ~ Hart House; Heading south we reach U of T where CIUT's new digs are, they're not actually home since they are broadcasting from the CN Tower. However in the courtyard the Foodjammers have a giant wheel offering coffee snowcones, which we pass on thanks, seems somewhat less than hygenic. There's also a blasting techno soundtrack which we also pass on. Inside there are several photo exhibits which are rather dull and we pass through quickly. However there are also some more interesting video art pieces which we spend more time on. There's one of a mirror image of a woman banging her head against a wall (with sound), and another of a guy hyperventilating loudly. There are also some silent ones from 1970 with some guy standing in a barn and dropping stuff and another guy walking down the side of a building, those look they belong in the creepy video from "The Ring". Speaking of creepy some group called Cry School Yearbook are taking photos of people done up in zombie goth make up for an imaginary school yearbook. There's a bit of a wait so we make an appointment for 5:30am, which is quite a commitment and decide to come back. Outside The CFS is protesting tuition fees by showing "V for Vendetta" on the side of a building and giving out free popcorn, cotton candy and hot chocolate. I'm no fan of CFS grandstanding but we'll take their free munchies though.

12:30am ~ The Polish Veteran's Hall; Outside is some kind of rickety stick canopy while inside another dull photo exhibit along with a short film about a guy who graphically kills his plumber so he can take his job. I assume this is supposed to be some kind of comment on the economic meltdown but it's mostly just gratuitous violence. There is also a photocopied zine handout which conjures up fond memories of the 1980's art zines. They also have some kind of interactive piece but we judge the lineup as being too long. All in all fairly dull stop so why does the Polish Art exhibit have a good size crowd? Because they have the best food (Yay! perogies and cabbage rolls) and they have beer (Yay! Polish beer) that's why. A few doors over is Steelworker's Hall on Cecil street which has a Caribana related display of large dayglo dolls made up like Caribana parade dolls looking like a lightbrite game. They loudly ban cameras from this one but Alisa sneaks a pic anyway before we make a beeline out of there.

1:00am ~ The AGO; They have a display out front of discarded computer consoles covered with flower stickons. Don't know what's inside since they also have another long line up so we head down to OCAD where they have giant stuffed white Casper looking toys scattered about while smoke machines belch away. Around the corner is the inevitable impromptu rave. Down at the Music Gallery they have...no music. But they do have a ten foot wedding cake with a trampoline on top that you, yes you, can jump on with a bouncing bride while more annoying techno music plays. Yet another line up for that one of course.

2:30am ~ City Hall; At the Armory st. entrance there is a "12 Hour interpretive dance piece" about dead philosophers or whatever. Yeah, OK, whatever you say. Moving right along to Nathan Phillips Square they have giant flashing lights spelling out random four letter words while white noise blares. It's ok but we wonder if better use could have been made of such a large central place. On the other hand back in the nineteen sixties when Mayor Phill Givens bought the Henry Moore sculpture and put in on display some people were so outraged that he lost the next election, now city hall is being used to blast out Throbbing Gristle while people wait to see if an obscene word will inadvertently pop up. Toronto certainly has come a long way baby.

3:00am ~ The Royal Bank on Bay st. in the financial district; Midway rides on Bay St! I know this is supposed to symbolize the stockmarket rollercoaster and all, but more importantly; Midway rides on Bay St! Actually there's just two; a giant slide and the Avalanche ride ( it's kind of like the Pirate ship at Wonderland), and there's the usual linups, but thank God for artful butting in line at least at the Avalanche ride which wakes me up nicely thanks.

3:45am ~ Old City Hall has another lineup? At 3:45am? Go home already people. Trinity Spadina Church (where the Cowboy Junkies recorded) has an even longer one. I'd like to see the interactive music experience at Massey Hall but I'm told that the lineup there is even worse. So heading back west we pass through that tiny park behind City Hall where there's supposed to be a ghost walk. Actually it's a group of people in white sheets reading some sort of chant. The photo in the guide shows them glowing green but it's just guys in sheets. Alisa likes it but I think it could have used some dry ice.

4:15am ~ The AGO is now closed but the Cinemateque is still open. They're showing the 1903-04 silent films of George Melies including the classic "Voyage to the Moon" accompanied by live piano to a full house. I love silent films but I don't usually get to see them on a big screen. It's good chance to take off our shows, polish off some chocolate and take a load off for a bit. It's 5am and the theatre is still packed when we leave.

5:15am ~ Passing through King's College Circle on our way back to our Hart House appointment (remember?) we run into some die-hards passing out sparklers. Much spinning and twirling about while snapping blurry photos ensues.

5:30am ~ Back at Hart House; Exactly on time to the second with the afore mentioned diehards in tow to get our gothy pictures taken. No more lineups, no more wheel of coffee snowcones, no more free cotton candy and popcorn. But we do get our photos done and leave with goth makeup intact after hanging out and making shadow puppets on the video screens. We have officially been up too long.

6:40am ~ St. Thomas Anglican Church on Huron St.; There was supposed to be a hologram display with music, but by the time we get there they are packing up equipment and the music is done. There are still a few holograms though and a strange collection of portraits of famous people burned into pieces of toast. I guess the message is that Charles Darwin and Karl Marx are toast. But then why is Tim Allen here praytell? Anyhow there's also lots of free cookies and tea to stock up on for the trek home.

7:00am ~ Bloor St.; Walking back to the car and wondering if anything is still open. Nope, The Bata Museum is dark as a tomb and the ROM and Conservatory are locking up. However turn on the car radio and CIUT is still playing an electronic drone while the lights still pulse on the CN Tower.

7:30am ~ Home; And so to bed. Over and out.

Saturday 3 October 2009

The unspoken legacy of Much Music

2009 marks the 25th anniversary of Much Music, Canada's answer to MTV and oddly nobody seems to have noticed, including Much itself which has chosen to downplay this event for some unknown reason. Perhaps they fear their core audience of fifteen year-olds will be creeped out by old footage of Terry David Mulligan or Kim Clark Champnis interviewing Bryan Adams in 1985, I know I am. Perhaps they know that anyone who was a fan back in the day (as I was) stopped watching Much over a decade ago and could not possibly care less if the station was there or not anymore.

Let's not take up time stating the obvious, Much is manifestly superior to MTV in every conceivable way. Actually let's take some time on this because Much in fact played an important role (along with some other factors) in the way that the Canadian music scene evolved in the 1980's and 90's in ways that Canadians barely notice.

EXHIBIT A: THE SHADOWY MEN;




We all should know by now about the role that CanCon played in fostering a serious domestic music industry in the 1970's by literally forcing radio to play Canadian music, which in turn made homegrown record labels a viable concern. Positive as these steps were this was only a step (or two) in the journey. In spite of what the CBC's various worship-full documentaries say, and with all due respect to some notable exceptions, much of the music put out by Canadians in the 1970's were bland, derivative versions of American AM radio fare. What was still lacking was the kind of variety that would require a nationwide underground, eclectic, alternative scene that could go in a dozen directions at once while still holding the center in a country that is fiendishly difficult to tour in ways that British or even Americans can hardly understand. This would also require an openness to the new sounds coming out of England and the USA.

It is with this last point that Much Music proved it's worth from the start, inheriting the tradition already set by "The New Music", a groundbreaking music news show also owned by City TV (who owned Much) which had been going for a few years already, and who would share many hosts and VJ's in the early years, Much started out with a very different mindset than the American MTV.

EXHIBIT B: THE GRUESOMES;



MTV was built on the vomit-inducing model of American top forty radio, "All the hits, all the time", with vapid VJ's bantering meaninglessly in between short sets of video clips which came from a limited playlist. Nothing surprising, nothing off-center, nothing new, nothing that might offend the folks in Utah. And in the beginning, absolutely nothing black, at all, literally, until Micheal Jackson's clout forced them to open up ever so slightly.

"The New Music" was the first attempt at creating a music magazine like Rolling Stone for T.V. And it happened in Canada. America had MTV and before that, lip-synched performance shows like "Solid Gold" and "Midnight Special" along with Casey Kassem's "America's Top 40". Britain had their own performance shows like "Top of The Pops" and "The Old Grey Whistle Test". These all were just variations on the templates laid down by Dick Clark in the fifties, and by the punk and post punk era they were dangerously out of touch and as credible as the "Muppet Show", and not nearly as funny. But we had "The New Music" which did serious and semi-serious interviews with artists and entire genres that would never be heard elsewhere; New Wave, Post-Punk and Metal bands from England, Roots Rock, Hardcore and Thrash bands from America, Euro-techno and Industrial from Germany, Reggae, World Beat and later Hip-Hop as well.

EXHIBIT C: SLOW;





Both "The New Music" and "Much Music" were owned by CITY TV/CHUM Radio and therefore Much could build on the foundations laid down by New Music. So right from the start Much was far more eclectic than MTV ever would be, playing the whole variety of musics that New Music had already blazed a path for. Much also followed the same CanCon regs that radio had to follow, but unlike commercial radio they were not satisfied to simply play the token top forty CanCon hits, Much even had the "Indie Street" show to focus on low budget indie videos by unsigned Canadian bands. The cause of indie and alternative CanCon was helped by the support of Video Fact grants that help fund the making of low budget videos that could actually have a chance to get played thanks to Much and New Music. There was simply no equivalence to this on MTV or BBC, still isn't actually. This meant that bands like Deja Voodoo, The Gruesomes, Slow, Ray Condo, Blue Rodeo, The Razorbacks, 54-40, The Grapes of Wrath, Skinny Puppy, Change of Heart, The Shadowy Men, Martha & The Muffins, Breeding Ground, The Payolas, Sturm Group, Death Sentence and Voivod could get their videos, which ranged from the fairly cheap to the laughably cheap played as if they were almost as important as top 40 fare. And clearly way more cool.

CHANGE OF HEART ~ "TEN MILES AWAY";


Remember the cheapo videos like The Shadowy Men's puppet shows? Or Ray Condo's cartoons? Or Sturm Group running around the Scarborough bluffs waving swords looking like a pasty Conan The Barbarian? Or Skinny Puppy's morbid super 8 performance art bloodfests? They must have cost all of two hundred dollars to make, not counting the pizzas and beer. Then there was the ultimate in clueless Canadiana; April Wine's video for "I like to rock" in which our boys take time out from a busy day in the studio to play some tabletop hockey and brew some coffee. Only in Canada you say? Pity. God how I miss them all.

EXHIBIT D: APRIL WINE;




They were also helped by the fact that the established acts like Rush, Triumph,Trooper, not to mention earlier dinosaurs like Burton Cummings and Gino Vanelli at first refused to make videos at all, and later only grudgingly and poorly. The same thing was happening in the USA with the likes of Journey and Boston sulking on the sidelines as New Wave and New Romantics bands breezed by them. Some American critics are still bitter about this. It is a fact that relatively fewer American bands of the early eighties bothered to make videos at all, they were too expensive to make if they weren't going to get played on MTV anyway. And there were no Videofact grants for them. The lack of videos from this era is actually a real loss American music, although there were a few exceptions. The Ramones, Fleshtones, Blondie, Cramps, Lords of The New Church, Long Ryders, Iggy Pop, Motels, Talking Heads, Joan Jett and a few others did make some videos as did the Stray Cats after they moved to England, which doesn't count. However for the most part they were ignored by MTV and only got played on Much anyway. The lack of videos of the likes of The Gun Club, Jason and the Scorchers, Mission of Burma, Replacements, Rank and File, Blasters and even early REM is inexcusable and it's MTV's fault. If it weren't for "The Decline of Western Civilization" and "Suburbia" we wouldn't have X, TSOL, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, The Germs and D.I. footage either. In Canada or even Britain and Australia they all would have made videos as a matter of course, and they would have been played too.

EXHIBIT E: RAY CONDO;





Of course Much was hardly alone here. CBC joined in with "Brave New Waves" and a network of campus and community radio stations would grow up including CKLN and CIUT (both of which I worked at) in Toronto. Ironically even though the Chum/City group also owned the most powerful radio stations in Toronto (and a number of other cities), they kept those operations separate from Much and New Music which left an opening for upstart CFNY to fill. There would also be a network of magazines like Nerve, Reargarde (which I wrote for), What Wave and Graffitti and weekly papers like Now Magazine (in Toronto) and in most other Canadian cities. But Much was in the unique position to act as a nationwide unifier and by and large they did.

VITAL SINES ~ "COLLAGE";


This openness to music beyond the mainstream meant that most of the Post Punk and New Wave sounds coming out of Britain now actually came to Toronto first to break into North America where they would have once treated Canada as a backwater of the USA. This meant that British bands like U2, Simple Minds, The Cult, The Cure, OMD, the Banshees, Jesus and Mary Chain and virtually every other contemporary hit here first, Aussies like Midnight Oil and INXS would follow as would reggae and world beat. You could even occasionally see the likes of serious weirdos like Cabaret Voltaire, the Severed Heads, The Virgin Prunes, Laurie Anderson and SPK who probably couldn't even spell MTV. It actually got to the point where even some American bands were actually more popular here than they were at home, including REM and Steve Earle.

EXHIBIT F: SKINNY PUPPY;



The spinoffs this had for enriching the scene in Canada are impossible to measure. Once upon a time Canada was a backwater known for crappy cover bands where anyone with real talent and ambition had to go to New York or L.A. to get signed. And where international bands largely ignored or treated as a stopover on their way to New York. That is no longer true at all. Much played a big role in this evolution, they weren't the only player, but they were vital in pulling local scenes together and one shouldn't forget that.

EXHIBIT G: BLUE PETER;




It's true that in the past decade or more Much has become bland, glitzy, commercial and predictable, so has CFNY. Graffiti, Nerve and Reargarde magazines are long dead and were replaced by Exclaim and Chart which in turn also became more commercial and bland. "Indie Street" is long gone and when New Music finally gave up the ghost a couple of years ago few noticed or cared. But it also true that MTV has declined even more to the extent that even the mention of MTV as playing videos at all is considered a punchline. Much branched off into various specialty channels for punk & metal, hip hop, retro 80's, country, latin and french which segregated the audiences and diluted the variety and unpredictability of the original. While Much may be a pale shadow of it's former greatness one shouldn't totally forget that greatness once existed, even if Much seams not to care. Those who grew up with Much can take a minute to reflect on memories that go beyond mere misty eyed nostalgia. Sometimes the old days really were better. So thank you Much Music, glitzy warts and all.

EXHIBIT H: THE NILS;



P.S. I planned on including the videos for Sturm Group's "Twenty" but it's not on youtube damn it. However by way of bonus we have this Indie Street segment from 1983;

Saturday 22 August 2009

Cumbrians lobby for Celtic Nationhood via the internet

It's known as the Celtic fringe; the six regions on the fringe of Europe which have maintained enough of their ancient Celtic languages and culture to be recognizable today. They are split into two groups; the Gaelic (Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Mann) and the Brythonic (Wales, Brittany and Cornwall), some also include the Celtic diaspora that remain in areas of Canada, Australia and Argentina. There is a Celtic League (est. in 1961) and a Celtic Congress (since 1917) which exist to promote and preserve Celtic culture through publications, festivals, sports and government lobbying. The main criteria the two groups have set for membership is the existence of a Celtic language still in use today which separates these regions from ancient Celtic and Gaulish regions in France, England, Switzerland and Spain which long ago lost any trace of Celtic language other than some music, place names and ancient monuments. There is also another group that could be included, the famed Irish Travellers who speak their own language, Shelta, a combination of Irish Gaelic, English, Latin and enough of their own words to make it next to impossible for outsiders to understand. However the Shelta are notoriously secretive and aloof and have preferred to remain apart.

Recently there has been an attempt to add another group to the Fringe. Cumbria, a rural region on the borders of Western Scotland and England was formerly a independent Kingdom also known as Strathclyde in the early middle ages which spoke a Brythonic language separate from Gaelic or English. Surrounded and under pressure from their more numerous neighbors as well as the raiding vikings Cumbria was absorbed by the Scots by the end of the eleventh century and would later be annexed by England. It can be assumed that the Cumbrian language survived for sometime afterwards especially in rural areas but most historians agree that the Cumbrian tongue had disappeared by the 1300's leaving few written traces behind.

Cumbria however retained much of it's separateness through the seventeenth century as a remote and lawless area known for it's Border Reivers and Highwaymen. Even today it's still an isolated sparsely populated rural area with only one proper city, Carlisle, and a highly homogeneous population with little immigration. By the 1900's and the revival of Celtic culture and a romantic Pan-Celtic movement a few scholars were poking around Cumbria looking for remaining evidence of the pre-English, pre-viking era. They found Celtic place and family names, grave stones and artifacts, and a few traces of Brythonic words still in use, especially in the counting numbers used by sheppards and women doing their knitting and washing which were similar to Welsh or Cornish but different enough to point to a another source. Visitors from other parts of England have long noted (and mocked) the existence of numerous "Welsh" words which along with a thick accent made the locals virtually unintelligible. There is a funny scene in the 2006 movie "Hot Fuzz" in which the London police require an interpreter when questioning the crusty old farmers who speak in subtitles.

More recently a new generation of enthusiasts led by researcher Anthony Ap Anthony O Rheged have insisted that after searching through a number of historical documents and records enough evidence exists of a separate language and culture as well as a past political independence to qualify Cumbria as a separate Celtic Nation, which they refer to as Cwmbria and they have set to work reconstructing and promoting a workable Cumbrian Language. In the past such efforts would have carried out by a few poets and scholars writing densely reasoned articles and obscure poems for little-read journals, holding quaint festivals, and teaching language courses. Today's Cumbric Revival Network has used all of these tools with a magazine and a publishing house which has one title to it's credit ("The Dragon's voice") with more planned but has also added a distinctly modern tool, social networking websites. Beside making use of the usual Myspace, Facebook and Twitter sites, this summer Rheged started up the Cumbric Revival Network, a Myspace or Facebook style social networking site for the purpose of promoting his vision of a Cumbric nationhood connected to the recognized nations of the Celtic Fringe, especially the Brythonic ones. The site ( www.cumbricrevival.com ) functions as other social networking sites does, with profile pages, friend requests, blogs, photo albums and so forth. As a new movement the group is thus far quite small and a long way off from receiving the kind of recognition that is given to the Cornish or Manx but they are off to an enthusiastic and inovative start.

Even without the use of unorthodox tactics the whole concept of a separate Cumbrian language is controversial. Many linguists insist that there is simply not enough evidence to reconstruct a long dead language. Welsh historians in particular insist that Cumbrian was never a real language at all, but rather a dialect of Welsh. Cumbrians retort that that Cumbian had a separate existence from Welsh for several centuries, long enough to have evolved separately as Cornish did, especially when one factors in the influences from Saxon, Gaelic and Norse neighbours that would have been added over the years. As for the claim that one can not revive a dead language Cumbrians point to the example of a some of their Celtic kin. Cornish was a dead language which was resurrected by a small but dedicated group of enthusiasts in the late Victorian era and is now fully recognized by the governments of Britain and Europe and taught in Cornish schools.

However the Cornish deny that the language was truely dead at all. The Cornish language had been in steady decline for centuries with the last aged speaker, one Dolly Penreath dying in 1777, with her last words; "Me ne vidn kewsel Sowsnek!", or "I will not speak English!". However during the nineteenth century's Celtic revival researchers found a half dozen more elderly Cornish speakers the last of whom died in 1906 by which time the work of scholars was well underway. A similar case can be made for Manx which had been reduced to a single native speaker who died in 1974, again by that time much research and even recordings had been done. Since then language activists saw to it that proper dictionaries were created along with newspapers and journals and eventually language courses in schools.

The task faced by Rheged and his allies is much more uphill, there are few surviving documents with less than one hundred separate words and these are quite old and have the idiosyncratic spellings of the medieval era. Therefore there is no real way of figuring out pronouncements and accents since there have clearly not been any actual speakers around since before the industrial era notwithstanding some vague stories of isolated Cumbraic speakers in the misty hills into the Victorian era which are dismissed by most historians as unlikely. Rheged is working on a dictionary and maps with old place names, exactly the kind of scholarly base that will be needed for serious acceptance.

It's worth noting that the Cornish and Manx revivals were spearheaded by a tiny number of scholars and took many years of work before fruition, and the appetite for Celtic cultural identity is always strong. Even the English are no longer hostile to such cultural and language movements seeing them as adding to their own sense of a greater British culture that predates Saxon and Norman England, the English have always been aware of their status as latecomers to the Isles and since Victorian times have sought to add Celtic culture to their own. Besides it's good for tourism. The always practical English appreciate that sort sort of thing.

At any rate the Cumbrian revival is off to an interesting start, if successful other attempts to revive long lost languages in the internet age will no doubt follow. In Scotland itself the is Norn, the Orcadian Norse language of The Northern Islands which died out in the nineteen hundreds, or there is the little known Manx English. The possibilities of reviving some of the lost aboriginal languages of the North America also come to mind, there is in fact the case of Bungee, the Gaelic/English language of the Scotch/Metis in Manitoba which has only a few surviving speakers left.

In the meantime no word on when the hackers promoting crappy bands and "check out my hot sexxy pics" will appear as they have on Myspace and Twitter, but when they do the site will have truly arrived.
Sites @;
http://www.cumbricrevival.com

http://www.myspace.com/CumbricRevival
http://Twitter.com/CumbricRevival
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1370008611

Tuesday 18 August 2009

RIPs to more Rock n Roll heros

Les Paul was not only one of the first electric guitar heroes, he also made all subsequent guitar heroes possible. He invented or perfected a number of inventions including the iconic Les Paul Guitar, as well as pioneering such modern recording practices as multi-tracking, overdubbing, phase delay effects, echo effects, and feedback, in some cases inventing sound tools to make use of these techniques. He also scored a series of hits as a duo with his wife Mary Ford in the early 1950's which, while not exactly rockin' did feature some spectacular guitar work that would influence future generations of Rock, Jazz and Country guitarists. He also hosted (again with Mary Ford) hit radio and TV shows in the mid-to-late 50's. He was inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an "architect" and has a stand alone exhibit, an honour given as well only so far to Sam Phillips and Alan Freed. He was 94.

Les Paul Trio ~ "Dark eyes"



Mike Seeger was less well known than his famous older half-brother Pete but he was still an important fonder of the folk revival of the late 1950's & early 1960's. He played virtually every stringed insturment used in North American folk and blues music including guitar, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, autoharp, and fiddle as well as harmonica. Since 1959 he played on or produced at least a hundred recordings, mostly for Smithsonian/Folkways Records first with his band The New Lost City Ramblers or solo and with artists such as; Pop Stoneman, Hazel Dickens, Kilby Snow and Cousin Emmy. He was also an important historian, song collector and folklorist. Still active as of last year, he died of cancer at 75.

James Luther Dickenson Dickenson was a behind-the-scenes producer and songwriter from Memphis who started as a session musician playing guitar and piano for the likes of Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones (on "Wild Horses"), and The Flaming Groovies ("Teenage Head") then producing albums for Big Star, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Willy DeVille, Tav Falco, The Replacements, Green on Red, Mojo Nixon and Mudhoney. He also worked with Bob Dylan and Ry Cooder as well as recording some solo albums.

One of Dickenson's collaborators, Willy DeVille also died this month. Deville was the founder of Mink DeVille a fixture CBGB' era scene that also spawned The Ramones, Blondie, Suicide, Talking Heads, Richard Hell, Television and Robert Gordon. Like Gordon, DeVille's sound was closer to traditional Rock and Roll than punk and he later moved to New Orleans where he continued his career scoring an academy award nomination in 1987. Sometime after that I saw him do a drunken gig at the Diamond Club in Toronto where I stole one of his harmonicas after he fell off stage, which I still have.

Willy Deville ~ "Hey Joe"



Ellie Greenwhich never actually sang or played on a hit record but the Brill Building songwriter was responsible for more than her quota; "Be My Baby","River Deep Mountain High","Da Doo Ron Ron","The Leader of The Pack", dies at 68

The Shangri Las ~ "The Leader of the pack";



Sun Records Rockabilly great Billy Lee Riley who recorded the classic versions of "Red Hot" and "Flying Saucers Rock and Roll" dies at 75.

Billy Lee Riley ~ "Flying saucers rock and roll";




Deake Levin; Guitarist with Classic 1960's Seattle garage rockers Paul Revere and the Raiders, played on classics "Kicks", "Steppin Stone"," Just like me" dies at 62.

Paul Revere and the Raiders ~ "Kicks";



Doo Wop singer Johnny Carter, co-founder of 1950's The Flamingos ("I only have eyes for you"), later in the Dells after 1960 ("Oh what a night" & "There is") dies at 75.

The Flamingos (w/Alan Freed intro) ~ "Would I be crying";



Huey Long (not to be confused with the Kingfish), the last remaining member of the Ink Spots, a hugely influencial vocal pre-doo wop group of the 1930's & 40's died recently at age 104. Seriously.

The Ink Spots ~ "If I didn't care";



Jazz drummer Rashied Ali who played on the final recordings of John Cotrane as well as Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and James Blood Ullmer dies at 75.

Monday 10 August 2009

Found; The grave of Blind Willie Johnson

Jazz, Blues, Ragtime and Country are full of Holy Grail artifacts which believers have spent years and in some cases decades in search of in the apparent hopes that finding them will open the discoverer to some sort of link to a mystical and misty musical past. Some of these icons have actually been found (photos of Robert Johnson) others have not (Edison cylinders by Buddy Bolden, recordings by ragtime pianist/composer James Scott), and then there are the lost graves of those who died in hopeless but romantic obscurity. Oddly three of the most sought after have been from Texas; namely bluesman Henry Thomas (no photos of him either by the way) and gospel bluesmen Washington Phillips and Blind Willie Johnson. The circumstances behind the death and burial of Phillips were cleared up a few years back, and now it's the turn of Blind Willie Johnson.
Blind Willie Johnson is legendary for his harsh fire and brimstone howling and scorching slide playing backed by the plaintive keening of his wife in a series of recordings made in the 1920's. Although all of his recordings are religious in subject matter and therefore not technically blues, stylistically they are amongst the most powerful blues recordings of his, or any other era and would be covered by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Fairport Convention, Mississippi Fred MacDowell, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, The Greatfull Dead, Nina Sinome, Rev. Gary Davis, Nick Cave, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Paul & Mary, Bruce Cockburn, Ben Harper, Beck and the White Stripes. So unique and otherworldly were his recordings that Carl Sagan insisted on including a copy in the Voyager Explorer Spacecraft disk of earth sounds along with Chuck Berry, Louis Armstrong, Glen Gould, Stravinsky, Bach and Beethoven and a whole lot of world and folk music, to introduce earth culture to any possible alien explorer that may yet find it. Like most other rural performers of his era his recording career was wiped out by the great depression and he died in abject poverty in 1945 in Beaumont Texas after his house burned down and he was forced to live in the burned out ruins as he had no other place to go. He caught pnemonia and died shortly thereafter and he was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave.
Starting with the 1960's blues revival there were attempts to locate his grave and give him a proper marker as had already been done for Robert Johnson and Bessie Smith however nobody had been able to find it until now. Blues researcher and fellow Texan Charles Ortman following on the previous searches by blues researchers Samuel Charters who had started his search in the 1950's and more recently Micheal Corcoran who had found a death certificate but gave up the search for a grave in 2003. Ortman decided that the previous failures to find a gravestone must mean that Johnson was buried in an unmarked and segregated potter's field and after a careful search of the burial records he is now convinced that he has located the grave in the "coloured" section of The Blanchette Cometary in Beaumont which is actually still separated from the "white" section by a chain link fence. In his exhaustive search Ortman made use of old industrial maps and satellite photos as well as other old documents and records.




Ortman has submitted an application to the Texas State Historical Commission (THC) which must okay any monument to built on public land. The THC is expected to give it's answer this fall and then a monument will be unveiled soon thereafter, an unknown benefactor has already pledged $1500 to erect a marker. Now Ortman can get to work finding a photo for Henry Thomas if not his grave, unless he turns out to be still alive of course.

Monday 29 June 2009

The King is dead?

I come to bury The King not to praise him. Some of the weeping over Jacko's sudden passing is simply the first explosion 80's nostalgia for for people who are old enough to have sat through the orgy of self-referencial mass mourning over Elvis and John Lennon but who haven't before had the chance to indulge in it themselves, and they never could relate to that Cobain guy and that whole grunge thing. I remember resenting that at the time; the pompous "The Golden Age has passed and there isn't any good music anymore, you kids with your punk rock, new wave and metal noise don't know shit about real music" from those snooty boomers. It was years before I could listen to Elvis or The Beatles without sneering, but eventually I got over it and had to admit they really were pretty good after all. This time out I'm pretty sure I can be more detatched about the whole thing, so I think I'm on pretty solid ground when I say; knock it off with all the "greatest musical treasure of all time, a pop Shakespere no less" drivel. I'm not denying his cultural importance, he is the obvious and direct godfather to much of what we take for granted as pop culture products today, the slickly produced pop records with their even more slick videos with their vaguely totalitarian dancersize routines are so all pervasive that we don't even pay attention anymore, they actually have become as omnipotent as tv commercials after all. From Madonna to Mariah, from Nelly to Kelly, from The Spice Girls to Boy Bands, they are all his offspring for better or worse. He did not invent MTV but he might as well have. I can still remember the days B.J. (before Jacko) when videos were low budget slapdash affairs, badly shot, poorly lit, improvised student films like Iggy's "I'm Bored", The Pretenders "Message of Love" or the collected works of Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Banshees, The Fixx or Cabaret Voltaire, God how I miss them. Now no major label band would even dream of putting out a video that cost less than a small townhouse since it would never get seen. That is Jacko's legacy as well.
The stunning success of "Thriller" also is one of the few truly global phenomenons. From the far east to the mid east to africa Jacko is still a genuine superstar, there is simply no denying it. There is also no denying that "Thriller" is still the biggest selling album of all time, and will probably never be overtaken. Unlike previous pop culture icons like Elvis and the Beatles however Jacko's formula for stardom is impossible to really pin down or recreate, even by himself.
Elvis and the Beatles were so clearly head and shoulders above any of the competition both in terms of talent and charisma as well as clearly being in the right time and place that it almost seems like they couln't possibly have failed, and they were able to build on their initial smash hits with a logical progression of follow ups. Jacko was never really able to do this. His initial hit with "Thriller" was such a shock that even now nobody can really figure out quite how it happened, including the King himself, especially him. Writers have wasted whole forrests of paper trying to explain his success in terms of his being a non-threatening black man-child, of being the first truly video star of the MTV age, of having management who knew what to do with what they had and who had the clout to force MTV to play him. All of this is true and it's also true that "Thriller" is in fact an excellent pop album that still holds up well. But it's also true that neither he nor any of his army of handlers could quite figure out what to do next. The sheer momentum of the media juggernaut, along with his own work ethic pretty much guaranteed that the follow ups would do well and they did, although notably less so. But it's also true that most of his post "Thriller" work would become progressively bloated and formulaic until he became a self-charicature even before his actual life became the grotesque circus that stopped even being funny some time ago. Even "Bad", the immidiate follow up to "Thriller", showed signs of egotistical rot and creative laziness. Those vocal exclamations quickly went from being annoying tics to really annoying crutches that could not help but draw attention to themselves. The dance moves became even worse, with all the crotch grabbing becoming laughable. which is never a good sign, and the once gracefull spins and turns looking robotic and spastic, which is even worse. In fact his whole persona quickly changed from the charmingly vulnerable and wholesome to the jaw droppingly pompous even before he started building imperial statues to himself, dressing in those weird Nazi toreador uniforms and pretending he was really "bad" after all. And we won't even dwell on the sleazy pedophile trials that we are now expected to gloss over. I'm not willing to gloss over the grotesque tabloid circus his life became, but I don't want to dwell on it here if only because I want to limit myself on the music, which we are also supposed to forget or not notice has been perfunctory for years.
Elvis is usually given as the perfect example and cautionary tale of pop decadance and decline but his decline was actually more gradual than that. He made a number of classic records before he went into the army and several more after he came out. And at least some of his early movies were reasonably good, driven by his sheer charisima and even a certain amount of light acting talent. It wasn't really until the mid 60's that Elvis got overtaken by the Beatles that he started phoning it in, and another decade until he became a bloated, sequened, giant collared jumpsuit wearing, drug addled buffoon. Jacko melted down much faster and even more grotesquely, both mentaly and physically. And as for his creative output; "Off the wall' and "Thriller" are considered classics, "Bad" is not, and the Jackson reunions and various followups and "best ofs" are the very definition of phoning it in. He even had to get his little sister to drag a couple of half decent songs out of him. It's no coincidence that the endless soundtrack of Jackson tunes that has been blaring out of windows and radios in tribute this week have all been songs off of those two albums and a few older Jackson 5 songs with virtually nothing newer. Let's be honest (which is asking alot from the cult of Micheal); most of his post "Thriller" work has been perfunctory at best and accidentally self parodying at worst for over a decade and he has been a hasbeen, albeit a fabulously famous one, coasting on the worlds biggest laurels while going in an endless plunge downward. There is no conceivable way the series of extended European gigs could have pulled him out of his self inflicted death spiral no matter how fast they sold out.
Like Elvis, Truman Capote, Oscar Wilde, Marlon Brando, Billie Holliday and Brian Jones, Micheal Jackson had ceased to be a serious artist a long time ago and had become a miserably helpless prisoner of his own persona. I remember seeing t-shirts a long time ago with the slogan "Brian Jones died for your sins", I wouldn't go that far of course but that doesn't mean there's not a good point in there somewhere, which most will of course ignore. Still; even during this usual orgy of worshipfull mass grief someone should still jot that down somewhere.

Saturday 27 June 2009

RIP's to Sky Saxon and Bob Bogle

While everybody's getting all 80's nostalgic over Jacko and Farrah lets take a minute for 1960's garage and surf heros Sky Saxon (of the Seeds) and Bob Bogle (of the Ventures) as well as 1950's blues diva Koko Taylor (of "Wang Dang Doodle" fame). So there.

The Seeds ~ Pushing too hard (worst lip-synching ever, with the possible exception of the Monkees);



The Ventures ~ Wipeout;