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Rare U2 recordings go up for auction

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Rare U2 recordings go up for auction

A rare U2 live recording and audio from an interview are set to go up for auction. The recordings come from an early concert from the band, which took place at the Vera venue in Groningen, Holland on October 16, 1980. The live recording is made up of four songs, and the previously unheard interview audio is 15 minutes long and consists of Bono and The Edge discussing their plans for the band. Stockport's Omega Auctions have said that the interview includes quotes from the pair in which they say: "We don't like England". They also show their ambitions for the group, commenting: "U2 wanna be the biggest group in the world." In addition they add their thoughts on the United States, saying: "America is sick and wounded and has a lot of bad groups". The sale takes place on May 30 and the recordings are expected to sell for £1,000. The recordings also come with previously unpublished photos, shown above, which come complete with copyright, as does the interview audio. However, the live recording is being sold as an artefact and is therefore for personal use only. A spokesperson for U2 recently denied that the band have pushed back the release date of their 13th studio album to 2015. Investigations by Billboard suggested that the band would now be releasing their new LP next year. It reported that the band had booked further studio time with producers Paul Epworth and Ryan Tedder, who would join the project's main producer Danger Mouse. Speaking to The Guardian, a spokesperson for the band flatly denied the claims, saying: "U2's album is planned for this year (2014), is still on track and touring plans haven’t been confirmed yet."

A rare U2 live recording and audio from an interview are set to go up for auction.

The recordings come from an early concert from the band, which took place at the Vera venue in Groningen, Holland on October 16, 1980. The live recording is made up of four songs, and the previously unheard interview audio is 15 minutes long and consists of Bono and The Edge discussing their plans for the band.

Stockport’s Omega Auctions have said that the interview includes quotes from the pair in which they say: “We don’t like England”. They also show their ambitions for the group, commenting: “U2 wanna be the biggest group in the world.” In addition they add their thoughts on the United States, saying: “America is sick and wounded and has a lot of bad groups”.

The sale takes place on May 30 and the recordings are expected to sell for £1,000. The recordings also come with previously unpublished photos, shown above, which come complete with copyright, as does the interview audio. However, the live recording is being sold as an artefact and is therefore for personal use only.

A spokesperson for U2 recently denied that the band have pushed back the release date of their 13th studio album to 2015. Investigations by Billboard suggested that the band would now be releasing their new LP next year. It reported that the band had booked further studio time with producers Paul Epworth and Ryan Tedder, who would join the project’s main producer Danger Mouse.

Speaking to The Guardian, a spokesperson for the band flatly denied the claims, saying: “U2’s album is planned for this year (2014), is still on track and touring plans haven’t been confirmed yet.”

Roger Taylor forms Queen tribute band

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Roger Taylor forms Queen tribute band

Queen drummer Roger Taylor has discussed forming a Queen tribute band. Taylor auditioned for members of the band - called The Queen Extravaganza - online and they are fronted by a French Canadian singer called Marc Martel. Taylor does not perform in the band, but has previously acted as their musical producer. "I spent some weeks with them in Canada rehearsing but they've found out what works and what they're good at, they've got some brilliant arrangements of a lot of our old stuff and I've sort of let them get on with it now," he said in a new interview with The Express. "It's great - I just go and see them occasionally and they're wonderful." The Queen Extravaganza performed on the final episode of American Idol in 2012 and then toured North America. They will tour the UK later this year, playing 14 dates in September. Speaking about other Queen tribute acts, Taylor commented: "Of the Queen tributes, some of them are very funny and some of them are really not funny at all. The terrible ones are cheesy and panto-like, more about dressing up in a Brian May wig and a Freddie Mercury moustache and what they're missing out is the fact that the music is quite complicated and actually not easy to perform." Meanwhile, Queen musical We Will Rock You will retire from London's West End stage after 12 years. The hit stage production will close on May 31 having first opened in May 2002. We Will Rock You is one of the 10 longest running musicals ever and it is estimated that 16 million people around the world, 6.5 million of those in London, have seen the production in one of the 28 countries it has been performed in. Speaking about the decision to cease production, co-creators Brian May, Roger Taylor and Ben Elton issued a joint statement on the official Queen website: "We want to thank every one of the many hundreds of incredible musical theatre artists, musicians and crew with whom we've had the privilege of working at the Dominion since 2002. And of course the incredible audiences who have rewarded them with over four and a half thousand standing ovations!" Queen will tour the US later this year. Adam Lambert will once again step in to provide vocals.

Queen drummer Roger Taylor has discussed forming a Queen tribute band.

Taylor auditioned for members of the band – called The Queen Extravaganza – online and they are fronted by a French Canadian singer called Marc Martel. Taylor does not perform in the band, but has previously acted as their musical producer. “I spent some weeks with them in Canada rehearsing but they’ve found out what works and what they’re good at, they’ve got some brilliant arrangements of a lot of our old stuff and I’ve sort of let them get on with it now,” he said in a new interview with The Express. “It’s great – I just go and see them occasionally and they’re wonderful.”

The Queen Extravaganza performed on the final episode of American Idol in 2012 and then toured North America. They will tour the UK later this year, playing 14 dates in September. Speaking about other Queen tribute acts, Taylor commented: “Of the Queen tributes, some of them are very funny and some of them are really not funny at all. The terrible ones are cheesy and panto-like, more about dressing up in a Brian May wig and a Freddie Mercury moustache and what they’re missing out is the fact that the music is quite complicated and actually not easy to perform.”

Meanwhile, Queen musical We Will Rock You will retire from London’s West End stage after 12 years. The hit stage production will close on May 31 having first opened in May 2002. We Will Rock You is one of the 10 longest running musicals ever and it is estimated that 16 million people around the world, 6.5 million of those in London, have seen the production in one of the 28 countries it has been performed in.

Speaking about the decision to cease production, co-creators Brian May, Roger Taylor and Ben Elton issued a joint statement on the official Queen website: “We want to thank every one of the many hundreds of incredible musical theatre artists, musicians and crew with whom we’ve had the privilege of working at the Dominion since 2002. And of course the incredible audiences who have rewarded them with over four and a half thousand standing ovations!”

Queen will tour the US later this year. Adam Lambert will once again step in to provide vocals.

Watch video for new Morrissey single, “Istanbul”

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Watch video for new Morrissey single, “Istanbul”
Morrissey has released new single "Istanbul", and a spoken-word promo in which he recites the song's lyrics. "Istanbul" is the latest song to be taken from Morrissey's new album World Peace Is None Of Your Business. It's the third song from the album, following the title track and "The Bullfighter...

Morrissey has released new single “Istanbul”, and a spoken-word promo in which he recites the song’s lyrics.

“Istanbul” is the latest song to be taken from Morrissey’s new album World Peace Is None Of Your Business.

It’s the third song from the album, following the title track and “The Bullfighter Dies”, to have a special spoken-word version filmed. The song can be downloaded via iTunes now, and the video can be seen below.

The tracklisting for World Peace Is None of Your Business is:

‘World Peace Is None Of Your Business’

‘Neal Cassady Drops Dead’

‘Istanbul’

‘I’m Not A Man’

‘Earth Is The Loneliest Planet’

‘Staircase At The University’

‘The Bullfighter Dies’

‘Kiss Me A Lot’

‘Smiler With Knife’

‘Kick The Bride Down the Aisle’

‘Mountjoy’

‘Oboe Concerto’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7fOJZ68gc0

Revealed! Paul Weller, Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Jack White and Neil Young in the new Uncut

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Revealed! Paul Weller, Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Jack White and Neil Young in the new Uncut

There’s plenty to shout about in the new UNCUT, which goes on sale this Friday, May 23. First of all, we have an exclusive new interview with PAUL WELLER, as he prepares for the release of MORE MODERN CLASSICS, a compilation drawing on tracks from the last 15 years of his illustrious career, a period during which his music has become increasingly more adventurous and unpredictable. Most artists would probably have taken the release of such a retrospective as an opportunity to reflect nostalgically on past achievements. But Weller as he’s got older seems ever more restless and less inclined to look back when looking forward he currently has so much more to offer. Not long after he recently met Uncut and said what he had to say – about how the record business has changed and not always in good ways, the redundancy of box sets, politics, The Jam, the sci-fi memoir he may or may not be writing and his enduring love of making music – he was sitting in his car, giving us an exclusive preview of three new tracks he’s been working on. Next up, there’s BOB DYLAN. In the first of a major two-part look at what in many respects turned out to be the weirdest and most controversial decade in his career, many of his old collaborators reconsider Dylan’s 1980s, a time during which he embraced apocalyptic Christianity and otherwise saw his popularity and critical standing reduced to almost nothing, and discover a trove of neglected music. Elsewhere, let’s hear it for country legend DOLLY PARTON, who we meet in Nashville, and the great New Orleans pianist, arranger, songwriter and producer, ALLEN TOUSSAINT, who was interviewed by Richard Williams during a recent residency at Ronnie Scott’s. In particularly exciting news, CLIFF RICHARD was persuaded to contribute to this month’s issue and talks about the making of “Apache” by THE SHADOWS, whose guitarists HANK MARVIN and BRUCE WELCH are also on hand with their memories of recording this landmark track in British rock music. In our regular Album By Album feature, BLACK SABBATH - that is, OZZY OSBOURNE, TONY IOMMI and GEEZER BUTLER - talk us through their greatest albums, while Hollywood actor and general all round dude HARRY DEAN STANTON answers your questions in An Audience With and the redoubtable SHARON VAN ETTEN appears in My Life In Music. Across 40 pages of reviews, meanwhile, you can read about new albums from JACK WHITE, NEIL YOUNG, DAVE and PHIL ALVIN, FIRST AID KIT, THE FELICE BROTHERS,, BOB MOULD and CONOR OBERST, plus major reissues from LED ZEPPELIN, MOGWAI and MORISSEY. There’s also a report from THE GREAT ESCAPE FESTIVAL, where the Uncut stage hosted performances from THE HOLD STEADY, COURTNEY BARRETT, ETHAN JOHNS and TRANS. There’s quite a bit to yell about there, I think. Enjoy the issue. And if you’ve got anything you want to say about it, don’t forget to give me a shout. You can reach me at allan_jones@ipcmedia.com.

There’s plenty to shout about in the new UNCUT, which goes on sale this Friday, May 23. First of all, we have an exclusive new interview with PAUL WELLER, as he prepares for the release of MORE MODERN CLASSICS, a compilation drawing on tracks from the last 15 years of his illustrious career, a period during which his music has become increasingly more adventurous and unpredictable.

Most artists would probably have taken the release of such a retrospective as an opportunity to reflect nostalgically on past achievements. But Weller as he’s got older seems ever more restless and less inclined to look back when looking forward he currently has so much more to offer. Not long after he recently met Uncut and said what he had to say – about how the record business has changed and not always in good ways, the redundancy of box sets, politics, The Jam, the sci-fi memoir he may or may not be writing and his enduring love of making music – he was sitting in his car, giving us an exclusive preview of three new tracks he’s been working on.

Next up, there’s BOB DYLAN. In the first of a major two-part look at what in many respects turned out to be the weirdest and most controversial decade in his career, many of his old collaborators reconsider Dylan’s 1980s, a time during which he embraced apocalyptic Christianity and otherwise saw his popularity and critical standing reduced to almost nothing, and discover a trove of neglected music.

Elsewhere, let’s hear it for country legend DOLLY PARTON, who we meet in Nashville, and the great New Orleans pianist, arranger, songwriter and producer, ALLEN TOUSSAINT, who was interviewed by Richard Williams during a recent residency at Ronnie Scott’s.

In particularly exciting news, CLIFF RICHARD was persuaded to contribute to this month’s issue and talks about the making of “Apache” by THE SHADOWS, whose guitarists HANK MARVIN and BRUCE WELCH are also on hand with their memories of recording this landmark track in British rock music.

In our regular Album By Album feature, BLACK SABBATH – that is, OZZY OSBOURNE, TONY IOMMI and GEEZER BUTLER – talk us through their greatest albums, while Hollywood actor and general all round dude HARRY DEAN STANTON answers your questions in An Audience With and the redoubtable SHARON VAN ETTEN appears in My Life In Music.

Across 40 pages of reviews, meanwhile, you can read about new albums from JACK WHITE, NEIL YOUNG, DAVE and PHIL ALVIN, FIRST AID KIT, THE FELICE BROTHERS,, BOB MOULD and CONOR OBERST, plus major reissues from LED ZEPPELIN, MOGWAI and MORISSEY. There’s also a report from THE GREAT ESCAPE FESTIVAL, where the Uncut stage hosted performances from THE HOLD STEADY, COURTNEY BARRETT, ETHAN JOHNS and TRANS.

There’s quite a bit to yell about there, I think. Enjoy the issue. And if you’ve got anything you want to say about it, don’t forget to give me a shout. You can reach me at allan_jones@ipcmedia.com.

Pink Floyd announce 20th anniversary box set of The Division Bell

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Pink Floyd announce 20th anniversary box set of The Division Bell
Pink Floyd are releasing a 20th anniversary box set of The Division Bell. The box set features six discs, including three replica coloured or clear vinyl discs, 5 collectors’ prints, a Blu-ray disc and for the first time Andy Jackson’s 5.1 audio mix of The Division Bell. The box set will be re...

Pink Floyd are releasing a 20th anniversary box set of The Division Bell.

The box set features six discs, including three replica coloured or clear vinyl discs, 5 collectors’ prints, a Blu-ray disc and for the first time Andy Jackson’s 5.1 audio mix of The Division Bell.

The box set will be released on June 30.

Released in 1994, The Division Bell was the last studio album to be released by the band, who consisted of David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright

The Division Bell 20th anniversary box set tracklisting:

Disc 1 – LP

Original album, remastered for vinyl in 2014 from the original analogue masters. Includes full-length tracks across 2-LP’s for the first time.

Disc 2 – Blu-Ray (all previously unreleased)

– 2014 Marooned video – directed by Aubrey Powell with stereo and 5.1 audio soundtracks

– 5.1 audio mix of The Division Bell by Andy Jackson in 96khz/ 24-bit

– HD audio stereo mix of The Division Bell by James Guthrie 96khz/ 24-bit

Disc 3

Red vinyl 7” single Take It Back (edit) / Astronomy Domine (live)

Replica 7” red vinyl in picture sleeve

Disc 4

Clear vinyl 7” single High Hopes (edit) / Keep Talking (edit)

Replica 7” clear vinyl in picture sleeve plus poster bag

Disc 5

Blue Vinyl 12” single High Hopes / Keep Talking / One Of These Days (live)

Replica 12” blue vinyl, laser etched design on reverse, picture sleeve. Includes 7 collectible film cards in a wallet

Disc 6 – CD Album

2011 Discovery version of The Division Bell in a new dedicated wallet

The box set will also contain 5, 26cm x 26 cm art prints designed by Hipgnosis/StormStudios.

Chuck E Weiss – Red Beans And Weiss

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Chuck E Weiss – Red Beans And Weiss

SoCal boho's "alternative jungle music" finds its groove... First hoving into the wider rock consciousness via his titular appearance in Rickie Lee Jones's hit "Chuck E's In Love", Chuck E. Weiss is a longtime SoCal bohemian stalwart whose varied CV includes drumming for Lightnin' Hopkins and Willie Dixon, deejaying on station KFML, hanging out with Marshall McLuhan, and establishing Hollywood's legendary Viper Room back in 1993 with his chum Johnny Depp. His own music draws heavily on the kind of louche Americana Weiss covered in the History Of American Music class he used to teach at the University Of Colorado, enticingly titled "Flipsters, Hipsters, & Finger-Poppin' Daddies": a blend of R&B, jazz, cajun, jump blues, rumba, Tex-Mex and rockabilly that he dubbed "alternative jungle music". The belated follow-up to 2006's splendid 23rd & Stout, Red Beans And Weiss was executive-produced by Depp and another of Chuck's old chums, Tom Waits, though the latter's influence is slightly less evident here than on previous albums. It features a more condensed approach, still eclectic but less eccentric - an engaging distillation of Weiss's rumbustious style that locks the listener into a groove and doesn't let go. "Tupelo Joe" opens the album with bathtub-amphetamine grace, a blast of raucous rockabilly R&B with a berserker edge that recalls The Cramps. A bastard child of Bo Diddley and Hank Mizell, it features dizbuster guitar licks of twangsome mien over simple, driving drums, while Chuck sings of how "Tupelo Joe went to the show, Tupelo Joe ain't no shmoe," and suchlike jive, the lyric eventually breaking down into staccato-stutter syllabic nonsense, like he's talking in tongues.   In stark contrast, "Shushie" shifts into a 3am lounge-bar groove of loping double bass jazz guitar and sultry sax, Chuck's intimate croon deriving as much sensual promise from the name as he murmurs his affection for the coolest of feline companions: "Shushie, Shushie, she's hiding under the house/She'll be in labour soon, without a spouse". It's the most relaxed thing here, the majority of the tracks cleaving to a more earthy groove, as exemplified by the lumpy, rolling funk-blues of "The Knucklehead Stuff", or the low-slung rumba-rock R&B of "Bomb The Tracks", which finds Weiss in unusually political mood - albeit filtered through a boho sensibility - as he chides Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt for not trying harder to stop the Holocaust death-camp deliveries: "Why didn't you bomb the tracks, Jack? Why didn't you stop the trains, James?...Hey, you know I'm a devout coward, and I would have bombed them tracks". Elsewhere, "Hey Pendejo" is a Doug Sahm-style Tex-Mex two-step, while Weiss gets to indulge both his scat-singing fancy in the jazzy "Oo Poo Pa Do In The Rebop", and his Little Richard wail on the swinging boogie "Dead Man's Shoes". The raw, gritty R&B of "Boston Blackie", meanwhile, brings to mind Tom Waits's Heartattack & Vine with its scarified slide-guitar stomp. Emulating the eponymous pulp-fiction gumshoe's claim to be "friend to those who have no friends", it's an opportunity for Chuck to extemporise a lengthy litany of names that gets more ludicrously amusing the longer it extends: "Freddie, Eddie, Mary, Sarah...", and so on, and on. Chuck's time playing with Dr John pays dividends on "The Hink-A-Dink", a distinctly un-PC portrait of dancing jungle natives led by "a cool native chieftain with a bone through his nose" that perhaps best conveys his notion of "alternative jungle music". With violin slithering snake-like through an undergrowth of low, sinister humming and wordless female backing wails, it sounds like nothing so much as an outtake from Gris-Gris. Another satisfying encapsulation of the Weiss aesthetic comes on a great version of the Stones' outtake fragment "Exile On Main Street Blues", which starts out as a basic Memphis piano blues, Chuck's voice strained and distant, as if heard through an antique speaker, before the drums and riffing horns roll in after the first verse and drive it up to Chicago in a sleek sedan: a brilliant musical allegory of the northward drift of black Americans seeking liberation from Southern poverty and prejudice, evoked with a proud, empathic swagger.  Andy Gill

SoCal boho’s “alternative jungle music” finds its groove…

First hoving into the wider rock consciousness via his titular appearance in Rickie Lee Jones’s hit “Chuck E’s In Love”, Chuck E. Weiss is a longtime SoCal bohemian stalwart whose varied CV includes drumming for Lightnin’ Hopkins and Willie Dixon, deejaying on station KFML, hanging out with Marshall McLuhan, and establishing Hollywood’s legendary Viper Room back in 1993 with his chum Johnny Depp. His own music draws heavily on the kind of louche Americana Weiss covered in the History Of American Music class he used to teach at the University Of Colorado, enticingly titled “Flipsters, Hipsters, & Finger-Poppin’ Daddies”: a blend of R&B, jazz, cajun, jump blues, rumba, Tex-Mex and rockabilly that he dubbed “alternative jungle music”.

The belated follow-up to 2006’s splendid 23rd & Stout, Red Beans And Weiss was executive-produced by Depp and another of Chuck’s old chums, Tom Waits, though the latter’s influence is slightly less evident here than on previous albums. It features a more condensed approach, still eclectic but less eccentric – an engaging distillation of Weiss’s rumbustious style that locks the listener into a groove and doesn’t let go. “Tupelo Joe” opens the album with bathtub-amphetamine grace, a blast of raucous rockabilly R&B with a berserker edge that recalls The Cramps. A bastard child of Bo Diddley and Hank Mizell, it features dizbuster guitar licks of twangsome mien over simple, driving drums, while Chuck sings of how “Tupelo Joe went to the show, Tupelo Joe ain’t no shmoe,” and suchlike jive, the lyric eventually breaking down into staccato-stutter syllabic nonsense, like he’s talking in tongues.

 

In stark contrast, “Shushie” shifts into a 3am lounge-bar groove of loping double bass jazz guitar and sultry sax, Chuck’s intimate croon deriving as much sensual promise from the name as he murmurs his affection for the coolest of feline companions: “Shushie, Shushie, she’s hiding under the house/She’ll be in labour soon, without a spouse”. It’s the most relaxed thing here, the majority of the tracks cleaving to a more earthy groove, as exemplified by the lumpy, rolling funk-blues of “The Knucklehead Stuff”, or the low-slung rumba-rock R&B of “Bomb The Tracks”, which finds Weiss in unusually political mood – albeit filtered through a boho sensibility – as he chides Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt for not trying harder to stop the Holocaust death-camp deliveries: “Why didn’t you bomb the tracks, Jack? Why didn’t you stop the trains, James?…Hey, you know I’m a devout coward, and I would have bombed them tracks”.

Elsewhere, “Hey Pendejo” is a Doug Sahm-style Tex-Mex two-step, while Weiss gets to indulge both his scat-singing fancy in the jazzy “Oo Poo Pa Do In The Rebop”, and his Little Richard wail on the swinging boogie “Dead Man’s Shoes”. The raw, gritty R&B of “Boston Blackie”, meanwhile, brings to mind Tom Waits’s Heartattack & Vine with its scarified slide-guitar stomp. Emulating the eponymous pulp-fiction gumshoe’s claim to be “friend to those who have no friends”, it’s an opportunity for Chuck to extemporise a lengthy litany of names that gets more ludicrously amusing the longer it extends: “Freddie, Eddie, Mary, Sarah…”, and so on, and on.

Chuck’s time playing with Dr John pays dividends on “The Hink-A-Dink”, a distinctly un-PC portrait of dancing jungle natives led by “a cool native chieftain with a bone through his nose” that perhaps best conveys his notion of “alternative jungle music”. With violin slithering snake-like through an undergrowth of low, sinister humming and wordless female backing wails, it sounds like nothing so much as an outtake from Gris-Gris. Another satisfying encapsulation of the Weiss aesthetic comes on a great version of the Stones’ outtake fragment “Exile On Main Street Blues”, which starts out as a basic Memphis piano blues, Chuck’s voice strained and distant, as if heard through an antique speaker, before the drums and riffing horns roll in after the first verse and drive it up to Chicago in a sleek sedan: a brilliant musical allegory of the northward drift of black Americans seeking liberation from Southern poverty and prejudice, evoked with a proud, empathic swagger. 

Andy Gill

Paul Weller: “For all my love of the ’60s, I still wouldn’t want to be living in any other time but now”

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Paul Weller: “For all my love of the ’60s, I still wouldn’t want to be living in any other time but now”
Paul Weller looks back on his days with The Jam and forward to his adventurous new music in the latest issue of Uncut, out on Friday (May 23). As he prepares to release his latest greatest hits collection, More Modern Classics, Weller rails against politicians and boxsets, plots sci-fi memoirs an...

Paul Weller looks back on his days with The Jam and forward to his adventurous new music in the latest issue of Uncut, out on Friday (May 23).

As he prepares to release his latest greatest hits collection, More Modern Classics, Weller rails against politicians and boxsets, plots sci-fi memoirs and some unlikely collaborations, and finds new ways to celebrate the enduring, evolving power of music.

“I’m not scared of the new,” he explains. “For all of my love of the ’60s, be it clothes or music, I still wouldn’t want to be living in any other time but now.

“If I had a time machine, maybe I might go back to 1964 to the Flamingo and see Stevie Wonder, but I wouldn’t want to stay there. I like the modern.”

The new issue of Uncut, dated July 2014, is out on Friday (May 23).

July 2014

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July 2014
Dolly Parton and Harry Dean Stanton are both in this month's Uncut, a bit of a dream come true. I was scheduled to interview Dolly once myself, at a rodeo in Spokane, which seemed too good to be true. This was September 1978 and there was only one catch. As part of a junket put together by RCA, I'd...

Dolly Parton and Harry Dean Stanton are both in this month’s Uncut, a bit of a dream come true. I was scheduled to interview Dolly once myself, at a rodeo in Spokane, which seemed too good to be true.

This was September 1978 and there was only one catch. As part of a junket put together by RCA, I’d have to go to Los Angeles first to also interview Al Stewart, the British songwriter who’d moved to California a few years earlier and has since had worldwide success with a number of hits including “Year Of The Cat”.

What I don’t mention to RCA is that I’ve played a small part in Al’s exile. A few years earlier during a very stoned interview with Roy Harper we end up making a list of all the wimpy singer-songwriters we mutually abhor, the kinds who write really wet songs, that a passing BP Fallon then christens ‘Drip Rock’. I then pen an article for Melody Maker taking the piss out of these strumming confessional troubadours, with Al coming in for some fierce treatment. He apparently reads the article and is so upset he packs his bags and heads for California, possibly without leaving a note for his mum.

Anyway, we’re no sooner booked into the swanky Beverly Hills Hotel – the Hotel California of Eagles legend – when I begin to feel very ill, spending the night before we’re due to drive up to Al’s place in Laurel Canyon wracked by heavy-duty coughing, sweats and chills. The next morning I’m coughing blood to boot. Suave RCA press officer Robin Eggar wonders if I’m actually well enough to interview Al. He doesn’t believe me when I tell him I’m fine, but off we go, the UK press posse soon agog at the vertiginous beauty of Laurel Canyon, where Al lives in some splendour.

I’m the first one to Al’s front door, a big oak thing with wrought-iron inlays. It’s the kind of door you want to rap robustly, but all I can muster is a feeble tap. The door opens, however, and there’s Al, looking tanned and wealthy. “Hi, I’m Al,” he beams, holding out a hand. I reach out to take it and am vaguely aware of the look of surprise on Al’s face when I pitch forward, falling with a crash through his front door. I’m aware of footsteps running up the wooden stairs behind me, people leaning over me and then a terrible hush, a graveyard quiet, the keen anticipation of people somewhat regrettably preparing to deal with an unexpected tragedy, a colleague snatched from them by whim or feckless fate. I then pass out. The next thing I hear is birdsong and lapping water. Am I in some benevolent ante-room of heaven, surrounded by fountains, seraphim and much cooing in the afterlife’s verdant foliage? No, actually I’m in Al’s garden, stretched out on a recliner by the side of his pool, sunlight coming through overhanging trees.

Al arranges for me to see his own doctor, who tells me I have viral pneumonia. This means I’m pretty seriously fucked, can’t travel, will miss the interview with Dolly and must take to my bed at the hotel.

After four or five days, I’m going out of my fucking mind and stroll down Sunset Strip to the Rainbow Bar & Grill, where I have my first drink in what seems a lifetime, following it with several more. By the time I leave I’m a little drunk. Out in the parking lot, there’s dust in the air, headlights sweeping through the night and someone I immediately recognise standing there looking baffled and possibly tipsy.

Before I know it, I’m walking towards him, hand outstretched.
“Harry Dean Stanton!” I shout in a bizarre hail-fellow-well-met bellow, startling myself.
“Harry Dean Stanton?” he says, giving me a squinty little look. “Hell of a coincidence, kid,” he says. “That’s my name, too.”
And with that, a car pulls up beside him, he fall backwards into the passenger seat and roars off into the night, one arm waving out the window as the car disappears around a corner and he’s gone, baby, gone.

Uncut is now available as a digital edition, download it now

UK’s largest loudspeaker unveiled

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UK’s largest loudspeaker unveiled
The Science Museum in London have unveiled the centrepiece of a new installation by Aleksander Kolkowski, their Sound Artist in Residence in 2012. The item in question is the full-size reconstruction of the giant 27ft long 'Denman horn', designed in 1929 by the Museum’s then Curator of Communicat...

The Science Museum in London have unveiled the centrepiece of a new installation by Aleksander Kolkowski, their Sound Artist in Residence in 2012.

The item in question is the full-size reconstruction of the giant 27ft long ‘Denman horn‘, designed in 1929 by the Museum’s then Curator of Communications, Roderick Denman, to produce the widest possible frequency range.

A popular highlight of the Museum’s daily tours in the 1930s, the horn has been rebuilt by the Museum’s Workshops team.

Kolkowski said of the horn: “This audio leviathan, seemingly primed and ready to blast through the museum walls, instead offers up a uniquely immersive aural experience, one in which sounds and voices from the past and present converge.”

The Exponential Horn: In Search of Perfect Sound runs at the Science Museum from May 20 – July 27. You can find more details here.

Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy to release solo album

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Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy to release solo album

Wilco's Jeff Tweedy is set to release a solo album. Details of the album are still to be announced, but, Pitchfork reports, Tweedy will be playing songs from the album on a solo North American tour, set to start at Detroit's Masonic Temple on June 5 and finishing up at the Newport Folk Festival in July. Tweedy will be backed by a new band on the tour, with son Spencer Tweedy on drums, Jim Elkington on guitar, Darin Gray on bass and Liam Cunningham on keys. Tweedy recently made a guest appearance in US TV series Parks And Recreation. Tweedy appeared as the frontman of a fictional band called Land Ho!, who was lobbied by Amy Poehler's character, government worker Leslie Knope. Wilco released their latest album The Whole Love in 2011. It followed their 2009 self-titled release.

Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy is set to release a solo album.

Details of the album are still to be announced, but, Pitchfork reports, Tweedy will be playing songs from the album on a solo North American tour, set to start at Detroit’s Masonic Temple on June 5 and finishing up at the Newport Folk Festival in July.

Tweedy will be backed by a new band on the tour, with son Spencer Tweedy on drums, Jim Elkington on guitar, Darin Gray on bass and Liam Cunningham on keys.

Tweedy recently made a guest appearance in US TV series Parks And Recreation. Tweedy appeared as the frontman of a fictional band called Land Ho!, who was lobbied by Amy Poehler’s character, government worker Leslie Knope.

Wilco released their latest album The Whole Love in 2011. It followed their 2009 self-titled release.

Led Zeppelin face plagiarism claims

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Led Zeppelin face plagiarism claims
Led Zeppelin look set to face legal action over claims that their 1971 song "Stairway To Heaven" is copied a 1968 track by Spirit. Lawyer Francis Alexander Molofiy is attempting to block the forthcoming re-release of Led Zeppelin IV, stating that his client - late Spirit guitarist, Randy Alexander...

Led Zeppelin look set to face legal action over claims that their 1971 song “Stairway To Heaven” is copied a 1968 track by Spirit.

Lawyer Francis Alexander Molofiy is attempting to block the forthcoming re-release of Led Zeppelin IV, stating that his client – late Spirit guitarist, Randy Alexander – should be given a writing credit on the track, as it resembles Spirit’s 1968 song “Taurus”, reports Rolling Stone. He has said he will be seeking a copyright infringement lawsuit.

“The idea behind this is to make sure that Randy California is given a writing credit on ‘Stairway To Heaven’,” said Malofiy to Bloomberg Businessweek. “Its been a long time coming.”

Mark Andes of Spirit says Led Zeppelin would have heard “Taurus” when the two bands were on tour together in the late 1960s. “…it would typically come after a big forceful number and always got a good response. They would have seen it in that context,” he said. Speaking about the time lapse between the alleged plagiarism and legal action, he added: “The clarity seems to be a present-day clarity, not at the time of infringement. I can’t explain it. It is fairly blatant, and note for note. It would just be nice if the Led Zeppelin guys gave Randy a little nod. That would be lovely.” California’s family stated that they waited so long to take legal action as they could not previously afford it.

Rolling Stone says that a representative for the band has refused to comment on the case. The band will reissue their first three albums next month.

George Harrison guitar sells for over £390,000 at auction

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George Harrison guitar sells for over £390,000 at auction

A guitar previously owned and played by George Harrison has sold for £390,653 at auction. The black-and-white 1962 Rickenbacker 425 was bought in Mount Vernon, Illinois in 1963 and was used by Harrison during performances that same year on shows Ready Steady Go! and Thank Your Lucky Stars. It was also played in the studio during the sessions which resulted in the recordings of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "This Boy" in October 1963. The guitar was sold by Julien's Auctions in New York on May 17, reports Reuters. The auction also saw the sale of a placard covered in doodles and signed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, from their "bed-in" protest, which sold for £111,190, and a Hofner bass rented by Paul McCartney, which sold for £74,325. Meanwhile, Richard Lester's film A Hard Day's Night is to be re-released in cinemas and on DVD. The 1964 film has been fully restored and will be in cinemas and available to download on July 4. A limited edition DVD and Blu-ray release will follow on July 21.

A guitar previously owned and played by George Harrison has sold for £390,653 at auction.

The black-and-white 1962 Rickenbacker 425 was bought in Mount Vernon, Illinois in 1963 and was used by Harrison during performances that same year on shows Ready Steady Go! and Thank Your Lucky Stars. It was also played in the studio during the sessions which resulted in the recordings of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “This Boy” in October 1963.

The guitar was sold by Julien’s Auctions in New York on May 17, reports Reuters. The auction also saw the sale of a placard covered in doodles and signed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, from their “bed-in” protest, which sold for £111,190, and a Hofner bass rented by Paul McCartney, which sold for £74,325.

Meanwhile, Richard Lester’s film A Hard Day’s Night is to be re-released in cinemas and on DVD. The 1964 film has been fully restored and will be in cinemas and available to download on July 4. A limited edition DVD and Blu-ray release will follow on July 21.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s long-awaited live 1974 boxset appears on Amazon

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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s long-awaited live 1974 boxset appears on Amazon
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's long-awaited 1974 boxset now has a listing on Amazon.co.uk. Though no official announcement of the release has yet been made, the four-disc live set is, according to Amazon, released on July 7 on Rhino. In 2013, David Crosby told Uncut: "It’s pretty much all ...

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young‘s long-awaited 1974 boxset now has a listing on Amazon.co.uk.

Though no official announcement of the release has yet been made, the four-disc live set is, according to Amazon, released on July 7 on Rhino.

In 2013, David Crosby told Uncut: “It’s pretty much all complete now. Y’know, I don’t know what to tell you, man. It’s ridiculously good!… At that point The Beatles were gone and there was only really us and the Stones doing that level of work… We were peaking.”

Amazon lists a full tracklisting, below, but as of now it remains speculative.

Disc: 1

1. Love The One You’re With

2. Wooden Ships

3. Immigration Man

4. Helpless

5. Carry Me

6. Johnny’s Garden

7. Traces

8. Grave Concern

9. On The Beach

10. Black Queen

11. Almost Cut My Hair

Disc: 2

1. Change Partners

2. The Lee Shore

3. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

4. Our House

5. Fieldworker

6. Guinevere

7. Time After Time

8. Prison Song

9. Long May You Run

10. Goodbye Dick

11. Mellow My Mind

12. Old Man

13. Word Game

14. Myth Of Sisyphus

15. Blackbird

16. Love Art Blues

17. Hawaiian Sunrise

18. Teach Your Children

19. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes

Disc: 3

1. Deja Vu

2. My Angel

3. Pre-Road Downs

4. Don’t Be Denied

5. Revolution Blues

6. Military Madness

7. Long Time Gone

8. Pushed It Over The End

9. Chicago

10. Ohio

Disc: 4

1. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

2. Almost Cut My Hair

3. Grave Concern

4. Old Man

5. Johnny’s Garden

6. Our House

7. Deja Vu

8. Pushed It Over The End

This month in Uncut

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This month in Uncut
Paul Weller, Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath and Dolly Parton all feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated July 2014 and out now. As he prepares to release his second greatest hits collection, More Modern Classics, Weller rails against politicians and boxsets, plots sci-fi memoirs and some unlikely coll...

Paul Weller, Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath and Dolly Parton all feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated July 2014 and out now.

As he prepares to release his second greatest hits collection, More Modern Classics, Weller rails against politicians and boxsets, plots sci-fi memoirs and some unlikely collaborations, and finds new ways to celebrate the enduring, evolving power of music.

“I’m not scared of the new,” he explains. “For all of my love of the ’60s, be it clothes or music, I still wouldn’t want to be living in any other time but now.”

Allan Jones examines Bob Dylan’s ‘lost decade’, the 1980s, with help from a host of the singer-songwriter’s collaborators, including Arthur Baker, Chuck Plotkin, Neil Dorfman and Fred Tackett, who discuss Dylan’s unusual working practices and their experiences working with him.

Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler talk about drugs, Top Of The Pops, ‘Satan’s Christmas’ and drowning out the Eagles, as they recall the making of Black Sabbath‘s albums, from 1970’s self-titled debut to 2013’s 13.

Dolly Parton opens up to Uncut in Nashville, discussing her new album Blue Smoke, her routine for writing songs (it involves a mountain cabin, fasting and praying) and her attempts to keep grounded despite her huge success.

Harry Dean Stanton answers your questions about Buddhism, Dylan, Peckinpah, Nicholson, Hitchcock, Brando and chocolate bunnies, while The Shadows recall the making of “Apache”, and Sharon Van Etten charts her life in music.

Elsewhere, Allen Toussaint looks back over his stellar career, and reveals what it was like working with Ernie K-Doe, Irma Thomas, Lee Dorsey, The Meters, Frankie Miller, The Band, Little Feat and Labelle.

In our opening Instant Karma section, Uncut meets Jesse Hector, Mike Cooper, Dylan Howe and the artists recreating Gene Clark’s No Other album on the road, including Beach House, Daniel Rossen and Robin Pecknold.

In our 40-page reviews section, we examine new releases from Jack White, Neil Young, Ethan Johns, First Aid Kit, the Felice Brothers, Bob Mould, Santana and Conor Oberst, and reissues from Led Zeppelin (with a great, new Jimmy Page interview), Mogwai, Dead Moon, The Doors, Wilko Johnson and LCD Soundsystem.

We review new films including Pulp (A Film About Life, Death And Supermarkets), Jimmy’s Hall and The Two Faces Of January, DVD releases from Bruce Springsteen and Peter Gabriel, and the first series of True Detective.

Live reviews include The Hold Steady, Trans and Courtney Barnett at The Great Escape festival, and Ginger Baker and Rosanne Cash.

The free CD, Brand New Noise, features new tracks from Dave & Phil Alvin, the Felice Brothers, Sharon Van Etten, Ethan Johns and more.

The new issue of Uncut, dated July 2014, is out today (May 23).

Jimmy Page is ‘fed up’ with Robert Plant delaying Led Zeppelin reunion plans

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Jimmy Page is ‘fed up’ with Robert Plant delaying Led Zeppelin reunion plans

Jimmy Page has said that he is 'fed up' with Robert Plant for delaying Led Zeppelin reunion plans. The band last played together in December 2007 at London's 02 Arena, but singer Robert Plant has ruled out the possibility of a follow-up concert any time soon. In a recent interview with the BBC about the forthcoming reissue of the band's first three albums, guitarist Jimmy Page said he was sure fans would be keen on another reunion show, but Plant has since said the chances of it happening are "zero". Now, Page has told The New York Times that he is "fed up" with Plant's refusual to play. Page said: "I was told last year that Robert Plant said he is doing nothing in 2014, and what do the other two guys think? Well, he knows what the other guys think. Everyone would love to play more concerts for the band. He's just playing games, and I'm fed up with it, to be honest with you. I don't sing, so I can't do much about it." He emphasised how keen he was to play with Led Zeppelin again, commenting: "I definitely want to play live. Because, you know, I've still got a twinkle in my eye. I can still play. So, yeah, I'll just get myself into musical shape, just concentrating on the guitar."

Jimmy Page has said that he is ‘fed up’ with Robert Plant for delaying Led Zeppelin reunion plans.

The band last played together in December 2007 at London’s 02 Arena, but singer Robert Plant has ruled out the possibility of a follow-up concert any time soon.

In a recent interview with the BBC about the forthcoming reissue of the band’s first three albums, guitarist Jimmy Page said he was sure fans would be keen on another reunion show, but Plant has since said the chances of it happening are “zero”.

Now, Page has told The New York Times that he is “fed up” with Plant’s refusual to play.

Page said: “I was told last year that Robert Plant said he is doing nothing in 2014, and what do the other two guys think? Well, he knows what the other guys think. Everyone would love to play more concerts for the band. He’s just playing games, and I’m fed up with it, to be honest with you. I don’t sing, so I can’t do much about it.”

He emphasised how keen he was to play with Led Zeppelin again, commenting: “I definitely want to play live. Because, you know, I’ve still got a twinkle in my eye. I can still play. So, yeah, I’ll just get myself into musical shape, just concentrating on the guitar.”

Paul McCartney cancels second Tokyo gig due to illness

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Paul McCartney cancels second Tokyo gig due to illness
Paul McCartney has postponed a second gig in Tokyo. The former Beatles man pulled his first show due to illness, breaking the news to fans via his Facebook page, explaining that he had come down with a virus and was told by doctors not to perform on the evening of May 17. He added that the show a...

Paul McCartney has postponed a second gig in Tokyo.

The former Beatles man pulled his first show due to illness, breaking the news to fans via his Facebook page, explaining that he had come down with a virus and was told by doctors not to perform on the evening of May 17. He added that the show at the city’s National Stadium would be postponed until today (May 19).

Yesterday a further message was posted on Facebook, stating that his planned show for that night was also set to be pulled as he had not recovered and that the May 19 show would also be cancelled as doctors had ordered “complete rest”.

“Paul has only ever had to reschedule a handful of shows in his entire career,” the message reads, “and is so upset about this situation, he hates to let people down. This morning he told his staff he was going to try and perform tonight against doctors orders, but his team, along with the doctors, wouldn’t allow it. He has been very moved by the fan’s reactions and messages of love and support he has received in Japan.”

McCartney’s team are reportedly looking into rescheduling the shows and a message from McCartney himself reads: “Thank you so much for your kind messages of support. I’m so very touched. Unfortunately my condition has not improved overnight. I was really hoping that I’d be feeling better today. I’m so disappointed and sorry to be letting my fans down. Love, Paul”.

New Twin Peaks Blu-ray to feature 90 minutes of unseen material

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New Twin Peaks Blu-ray to feature 90 minutes of unseen material

A new Blu-ray Twin Peaks boxset, Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery, will feature 90 minutes of previously unseen material. As well as the complete series and 1992 movie prequel, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, it will also include an hour and a half of previously unseen deleted scenes and alternate takes from the movie, which explained the dark and supernatural events leading to the death of high school homecoming queen Laura Palmer. Her murder is the focal point of the TV show. Director David Lynch, Twin Peaks' creator, has personally supervised the boxset's production and said in a statement: "During the last days in the life of Laura Palmer many things happened, which have never been seen before. They're here now alongside the new transfer of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and Twin Peaks, the television series." Lynch recently made an appearance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where he talked about his love of one of Twin Peaks' main settings: the diner. "There's a beautiful thing about a diner," he said. "Your mind can go into dark places, but you can always return to the warmth and comfort of a well-lit diner. It's a nice place to think." Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery is scheduled for release on July 29.

A new Blu-ray Twin Peaks boxset, Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery, will feature 90 minutes of previously unseen material.

As well as the complete series and 1992 movie prequel, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, it will also include an hour and a half of previously unseen deleted scenes and alternate takes from the movie, which explained the dark and supernatural events leading to the death of high school homecoming queen Laura Palmer. Her murder is the focal point of the TV show.

Director David Lynch, Twin Peaks’ creator, has personally supervised the boxset’s production and said in a statement: “During the last days in the life of Laura Palmer many things happened, which have never been seen before. They’re here now alongside the new transfer of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and Twin Peaks, the television series.”

Lynch recently made an appearance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where he talked about his love of one of Twin Peaks’ main settings: the diner. “There’s a beautiful thing about a diner,” he said. “Your mind can go into dark places, but you can always return to the warmth and comfort of a well-lit diner. It’s a nice place to think.”

Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery is scheduled for release on July 29.

Bob Dylan “was a saboteur if things were going too well in the studio”

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Bob Dylan “was a saboteur if things were going too well in the studio”

Uncut tells the story of Bob Dylan’s controversial ‘lost decade’, the 1980s, with help from a host of his collaborators, in the new issue, out on Friday (May 23). Dylan’s producers and musicians, including Arthur Baker, Chuck Plotkin, Neil Dorfman and Fred Tackett discuss the songwriter’s unusual working practices and their experiences recording and performing with him. “I don’t want to use the wrong word here, but Bob was a little bit of an agent provocateur, or he even had a little saboteur in him,” explains Neil Dorfman. “If things were going maybe too well, in somebody else’s definition, he would consciously make an effort to make that stop. “Whether it was walking away from the piano and vocal mic while he’s doing a take, or, I remember him taking the tinfoil from a sandwich, and standing opening and closing it like an accordion into a vocal mic during a take. “And, of course, everybody stops playing, thinking there was something wrong technically, but it was just his way of saying, ‘I’m bored with this, I don’t want to do this particular song anymore.’” The new issue of Uncut, dated July 2014, is out on Friday (May 23).

Uncut tells the story of Bob Dylan’s controversial ‘lost decade’, the 1980s, with help from a host of his collaborators, in the new issue, out on Friday (May 23).

Dylan’s producers and musicians, including Arthur Baker, Chuck Plotkin, Neil Dorfman and Fred Tackett discuss the songwriter’s unusual working practices and their experiences recording and performing with him.

“I don’t want to use the wrong word here, but Bob was a little bit of an agent provocateur, or he even had a little saboteur in him,” explains Neil Dorfman. “If things were going maybe too well, in somebody else’s definition, he would consciously make an effort to make that stop.

“Whether it was walking away from the piano and vocal mic while he’s doing a take, or, I remember him taking the tinfoil from a sandwich, and standing opening and closing it like an accordion into a vocal mic during a take.

“And, of course, everybody stops playing, thinking there was something wrong technically, but it was just his way of saying, ‘I’m bored with this, I don’t want to do this particular song anymore.’”

The new issue of Uncut, dated July 2014, is out on Friday (May 23).

Bobby Bare – Darker Than Light

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Bobby Bare – Darker Than Light

Seasoned campaigner yanks up his roots... Save for a 2005 solo album and an unlikely recent collaboration with Petter Øien at the Norwegian heats of Eurovision, Bobby Bare has been pretty low key since the early ‘80s. So where better to mount a comeback than Plowboy Records, the new label set up by Eddy Arnold’s grandson to restore the profile of once-thriving country players? There is something satisfyingly cyclical about Darker Than Light. Not only has the Nashville veteran returned to RCA’s famed Studio B, scene of 1962’s debut hit “Shame On Me”, but he’s also reached back into the folk-rooted songs that first inspired him. One of them is “Tennessee Stud”, which uses Arnold’s ‘50s version as a template from which Bare canters off at a fair old clip, gut-twanging guitar in tow. It’s one of the standouts of a highly engaging set, mostly covers, that finds him joined by ace guitarists Buddy Miller and Randy Scruggs, as well as Robert Plant’s rhythm section from Band Of Joy. In truth, we could easily do without “House Of the Rising Sun” or his revival of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. But the rest of it tips fresh blood into some of America’s more picked-at traditional songs. Largely it’s to do with Bare’s sonorous voice, still a thing of sturdy authority at the age of 78, which gives the likes of “Shenandoah” and “Boll Weevil” the full weight they deserve. Conversely, the band often bring a lightness of touch, zipping through “John Hardy” and Merle Travis’s “Dark As A Dungeon” with an immediacy that suggests these are songs still warm from the presses. Not everything is antique. Alejandro Escovedo is at hand for harmony vocals on his own “I Was Drunk”, a tune that the weathered Bare admits he can relate to more than most. And of the two originals, “I Was A Young Man Once” (co-written with producer Don Cusic) is as elegantly poignant as it is wistful and nostalgic. Let’s hope he’s here to stay this time. Rob Hughes

Seasoned campaigner yanks up his roots…

Save for a 2005 solo album and an unlikely recent collaboration with Petter Øien at the Norwegian heats of Eurovision, Bobby Bare has been pretty low key since the early ‘80s. So where better to mount a comeback than Plowboy Records, the new label set up by Eddy Arnold’s grandson to restore the profile of once-thriving country players?

There is something satisfyingly cyclical about Darker Than Light. Not only has the Nashville veteran returned to RCA’s famed Studio B, scene of 1962’s debut hit “Shame On Me”, but he’s also reached back into the folk-rooted songs that first inspired him. One of them is “Tennessee Stud”, which uses Arnold’s ‘50s version as a template from which Bare canters off at a fair old clip, gut-twanging guitar in tow. It’s one of the standouts of a highly engaging set, mostly covers, that finds him joined by ace guitarists Buddy Miller and Randy Scruggs, as well as Robert Plant’s rhythm section from Band Of Joy.

In truth, we could easily do without “House Of the Rising Sun” or his revival of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. But the rest of it tips fresh blood into some of America’s more picked-at traditional songs. Largely it’s to do with Bare’s sonorous voice, still a thing of sturdy authority at the age of 78, which gives the likes of “Shenandoah” and “Boll Weevil” the full weight they deserve. Conversely, the band often bring a lightness of touch, zipping through “John Hardy” and Merle Travis’s “Dark As A Dungeon” with an immediacy that suggests these are songs still warm from the presses.

Not everything is antique. Alejandro Escovedo is at hand for harmony vocals on his own “I Was Drunk”, a tune that the weathered Bare admits he can relate to more than most. And of the two originals, “I Was A Young Man Once” (co-written with producer Don Cusic) is as elegantly poignant as it is wistful and nostalgic. Let’s hope he’s here to stay this time.

Rob Hughes

Morrissey is ‘fascinated’ by offer to appear on The Archers

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Morrissey is ‘fascinated’ by offer to appear on The Archers
Morrissey has been invited to appear on the long-running Radio 4 soap opera The Archers. A post on Morrissey news outlet True To You says Morrissey is said to be "fascinated" by the offer. The Archers documents life in the fictional farming community of Ambridge. Morrissey is a committed vegetar...

Morrissey has been invited to appear on the long-running Radio 4 soap opera The Archers.

A post on Morrissey news outlet True To You says Morrissey is said to be “fascinated” by the offer.

The Archers documents life in the fictional farming community of Ambridge. Morrissey is a committed vegetarian and an opponent of the livestock industry. Previous guest appearances on The Archers include cyclist Bradley Wiggins, the Duchess Of Cornwall and Princess Margaret.

A spokesperson for Radio 4 declined to confirm whether Morrissey had been approached or what role he may take, stating that the BBC never reveals details of forthcoming plot points on The Archers.

Morrissey appeared as himself in Brookside spin-off South in 1988. In his appearance, he was recognised by character Tracey Corkhill who said: “I know who you are.” He replied: “So do I.”

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