A pair of Elvis Presley's stained underpants are set to go up for auction in Manchester next month.
The light blue briefs, which were worn by Presley underneath one of his jumpsuits during a performance in 1977, haven't been washed since Elvis took them off, and feature a suspicious yellow stain on the front of the crotch.
BBC News reports that the pants are expected to make around £10,000 when they go under the hammer on September 8 at the auction of Elvis memorabilia in Stockport.
The underwear came from the estate of Vernon Presley – Elvis' father. Also up for sale is Elvis' Bible, which has been annotated by the iconic performer. The Bible is expected to make £25,000. Priscilla Presley's home movies are up for grabs too. They feature footage of the couple's wedding, as well as of Christmas at Graceland, family holidays and of Elvis and Priscilla bringing their daughter Lisa-Marie home from hospital to Graceland.
The 35th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley was recently marked by a candlelit vigil at Graceland in Memphis. It was attended by an estimated 75,000 fans.
A pair of Elvis Presley‘s stained underpants are set to go up for auction in Manchester next month.
The light blue briefs, which were worn by Presley underneath one of his jumpsuits during a performance in 1977, haven’t been washed since Elvis took them off, and feature a suspicious yellow stain on the front of the crotch.
BBC News reports that the pants are expected to make around £10,000 when they go under the hammer on September 8 at the auction of Elvis memorabilia in Stockport.
The underwear came from the estate of Vernon Presley – Elvis’ father. Also up for sale is Elvis’ Bible, which has been annotated by the iconic performer. The Bible is expected to make £25,000. Priscilla Presley’s home movies are up for grabs too. They feature footage of the couple’s wedding, as well as of Christmas at Graceland, family holidays and of Elvis and Priscilla bringing their daughter Lisa-Marie home from hospital to Graceland.
The 35th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley was recently marked by a candlelit vigil at Graceland in Memphis. It was attended by an estimated 75,000 fans.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse are to release their second album of this year.
Following the covers LP 'Americana' – which came out in June - Young and his band will put out 'Psychedelic Pill' in October.
The record is Young's first album of all new material with Crazy Horse since 2003 and will fe...
Neil Young and Crazy Horse are to release their second album of this year.
Following the covers LP ‘Americana’ – which came out in June – Young and his band will put out ‘Psychedelic Pill’ in October.
The record is Young’s first album of all new material with Crazy Horse since 2003 and will feature the full Crazy Horse line-up of Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina and Frank Sampedro.
The Neil Young Times states that the album was recorded straight after the band finished their ‘Americana’ sessions at the Audio Casa Blanca studios.
The album will be available on double CD and triple vinyl and full length videos for each of the LP’s tracks will be previewed online.
After playing a number of Stateside shows earlier this month, Neil Young and Crazy Horse will head off on a full tour in the US and Canada in October and November, including an appearance at the Austin City Limits festival. As of yet, no plans for a UK or European tour have been announced.
Paul Weller has bemoaned the recent spate of band reunions.
Groups such as Blur, Pulp and Primal Scream have reformed this summer (2012) for comeback shows. Earlier this month (August 6), Weller attended a secret gig in London by the The Stone Roses, the band behind this year's most high-profile ...
Paul Weller has bemoaned the recent spate of band reunions.
Groups such as Blur, Pulp and Primal Scream have reformed this summer (2012) for comeback shows. Earlier this month (August 6), Weller attended a secret gig in London by the The Stone Roses, the band behind this year’s most high-profile reunion.
However, the singer insists that he has no plans to reform his own bands, The Jam and The Style Council, and poured scorn on the trend. He told The Mirror: “It drives me potty to be honest and I am sick of seeing it. It is big business at the moment and I find it really disappointing and I think all the time that is spent on bands reforming and nostalgia. What about the new bands, or young bands, coming in which don’t get a look in?”
He also suggested that band reunions reflect a lack of creative inspiration, adding: “I don’t know what the reason is. Why is it so prevalent? Is it because people stick to what they know or what they are comfortable or safe with? But I think I come from a time when all the artists I grew up with and I loved always used to try and push the boundaries and there doesn’t seem so much of that really. It is the same sort of thing, and I find it disappointing.”
Weller, 54, released his eleventh album as a solo artist in March (2012). Titled ‘Sonik Kicks’, it debuted at Number One on the UK charts. Earlier this month (August 1), he played an intimate gig at London’s 100 Club and he has dates lined up in the US and Japan this October (2012).
On www.allah-las.com, the Los Angeles band of the same name have posted a bunch of unusually excellent mixtapes. The latest, “Reverberation #25”, is pretty typical, taking in the likes of Jim Sullivan and Tim Hardin as well as the group’s backwards-facing contemporaries: White Fence, Sonny & The Sunsets and another bunch out of what always seems to be an unbelievably small and cliquey LA indie scene, The Beachwood
Sparks.
There’s a reasonable chance that the Allah-Las might have played a pivotal if discreet role in that scene, since it seems that the band were formed while they were all working at the excellent branch of Amoeba in Hollywood, presumably dealing rare records to their peers. As you’d perhaps imagine, then, the Allah-Las’ do not make notably gleaming and 2012-ready music. Even by the standards of other notionally retro bands, their self-titled debut album is uncannily and magnificently dated, down to every fuzzy chime of the guitars.
Beautifully produced by someone I’ve never heard of, described in the notes as “cult new wave R&B wunderkind Nick Waterhouse”, “Allah-Las” seems located right at the point in the mid-‘60s when American garage bands started processing and responding to the British invasion. Obviously, there’s a lot of “Nuggets” love here (“Busman’s Holiday” mixes the Stones with what first seems like a little Dylan, though it’s possibly more likely to be influenced by Mouse & The Traps), but the Allah-Las are more elegant than raucous, a suaver proposition than fellow travellers like The People’s Temple (I wrote about their fine “Sons Of Stone” here).
Sometimes, on lovely instrumentals like “Sacred Sands”, the ghostly, lonely surfer draw of The Ventures is stronger than that of The Animals. At other times, you’re lead to suspect that they believe the Stones peaked with “Stupid Girl” (exhibit A: “Tell Me (What’s On Your Mind)”) and that The Byrds were never quite as good as The Beefeaters. Oddly, the most advanced musical echo occurs on “Vis-à-Vis”, when after the jangling intro (cf “She Don’t Care About Time”) they hurtle forward in time to the mid-‘80s, and the kind of, well, Byrds-rich indie promulgated by The June Brides or, for a couple of singles, Primal Scream.
It is hard, evidently, to write about the Allah-Las without acknowledging a certain ridiculousness: check the video for “Tell Me” for further proof…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiJYecS0vU0
Truth is, though, I’ve enjoyed “Allah-Las” these past few days more than any record in a while: not just for the diligence and love with which they approach this music, but also the quality of the songs underneath the vintage packaging (On “Ela Naveda”, they sound like ‘60s prep boys tentatively becoming bohemian through close study of half a dozen Bossa Nova sides). All very engaging, though it seems as if the band might be evolving towards the late ‘60s next, given that they’re currently in the studio with another noted moderniser, Jonathan Wilson. Promising…
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey
On www.allah-las.com, the Los Angeles band of the same name have posted a bunch of unusually excellent mixtapes. The latest, “Reverberation #25”, is pretty typical, taking in the likes of Jim Sullivan and Tim Hardin as well as the group’s backwards-facing contemporaries: White Fence, Sonny & The Sunsets and another bunch out of what always seems to be an unbelievably small and cliquey LA indie scene, The Beachwood
Sparks.
There’s a reasonable chance that the Allah-Las might have played a pivotal if discreet role in that scene, since it seems that the band were formed while they were all working at the excellent branch of Amoeba in Hollywood, presumably dealing rare records to their peers. As you’d perhaps imagine, then, the Allah-Las’ do not make notably gleaming and 2012-ready music. Even by the standards of other notionally retro bands, their self-titled debut album is uncannily and magnificently dated, down to every fuzzy chime of the guitars.
Beautifully produced by someone I’ve never heard of, described in the notes as “cult new wave R&B wunderkind Nick Waterhouse”, “Allah-Las” seems located right at the point in the mid-‘60s when American garage bands started processing and responding to the British invasion. Obviously, there’s a lot of “Nuggets” love here (“Busman’s Holiday” mixes the Stones with what first seems like a little Dylan, though it’s possibly more likely to be influenced by Mouse & The Traps), but the Allah-Las are more elegant than raucous, a suaver proposition than fellow travellers like The People’s Temple (I wrote about their fine “Sons Of Stone” here).
Sometimes, on lovely instrumentals like “Sacred Sands”, the ghostly, lonely surfer draw of The Ventures is stronger than that of The Animals. At other times, you’re lead to suspect that they believe the Stones peaked with “Stupid Girl” (exhibit A: “Tell Me (What’s On Your Mind)”) and that The Byrds were never quite as good as The Beefeaters. Oddly, the most advanced musical echo occurs on “Vis-à-Vis”, when after the jangling intro (cf “She Don’t Care About Time”) they hurtle forward in time to the mid-‘80s, and the kind of, well, Byrds-rich indie promulgated by The June Brides or, for a couple of singles, Primal Scream.
It is hard, evidently, to write about the Allah-Las without acknowledging a certain ridiculousness: check the video for “Tell Me” for further proof…
Truth is, though, I’ve enjoyed “Allah-Las” these past few days more than any record in a while: not just for the diligence and love with which they approach this music, but also the quality of the songs underneath the vintage packaging (On “Ela Naveda”, they sound like ‘60s prep boys tentatively becoming bohemian through close study of half a dozen Bossa Nova sides). All very engaging, though it seems as if the band might be evolving towards the late ‘60s next, given that they’re currently in the studio with another noted moderniser, Jonathan Wilson. Promising…
To be honest, I’ve not previously had much time for the music of Dan Deacon; for what struck me, perhaps erroneously, as an odd but not quite combustible mix of process, theory, audience participation, electronica and a certain imperishable indie tweeness.
Persistent exposure to “America” in my house has, however, provoked a bit of a rethink. “America” still has a writhing, fidgety aesthetic but, more than at least I’ve noticed in the past, there’s a dynamic coherence, too, a melodic force and clarity that emerges out of the glitchstorms as something approaching grandeur. The start might be akin to a 2012 upgrade of Kid 606, but soon enough “True Thrush” spins out, an impressively nagging surge of a song that’s part nursery rhyme and part psychedelic carnival stampede, a juggling of the tropes that have proved so appealing on Animal Collective records, but don’t (to my mind, anyhow) coalesce in quite such a satisfying way on “Centipede Hz”.
It’s on Track 4, though, that the greatest strengths of “America” start to emerge, with Deacon’s more formal compositional skills being knitted into an uncommonly exciting soundtrack for his majestic, confusing homeland. “Prettyboy” unveils a sort of vibrating, orchestrated sound that eventually accelerates into the pounding “Crash Jam”, acting as a prelude for the suite which takes up the second half of this increasingly striking record.
The first part “USA 1: Is A Monster” alone manages to incorporate symphonic heft, braindance glitch, tribal drumming, choirs and an overall vaulting ambition and nerve which ensures that the results are spectacular rather than an over-reaching mess. It’s the sort of music that, when you’re listening on the move, noticeably increases the length and confidence of your stride and, less viscerally, prompts a scree of potential reference points.
Deacon, then, can just about plausibly be recast as a millennial Aaron Copland, albeit one who’s listened to a fair bit of Squarepusher records like “Go Plastic” as well, maybe, as conceptual electronic pranksters like Dat Politics. There are passages towards the end of “USA II: The Great American Desert” which begin like gamelan and proceed, perhaps inevitably, into straight-up Glass systems when that track folds into “USA III: Rail”.
Mention of Glass reminds me, too, of Deacon’s similarities with Sufjan Stevens: another notionally indie figure with a passion for incorporating electronica, modern classical composition and an expansive evocation of the USA into his music. While “Rail”’s systems ebb and flow is a neat parallel to passages from “Illinois”, however, many of Deacon’s attempts to build digital noise into his constructs are much more successful than Stevens’ attempts to do something like that on “The Age Of Adz” (maybe closer, now I think of it, to the underrated “BQE” project).
What else? A weird echo of Donna Summer’s “State Of Independence” on “USA IV: Manifest”, and a lot that makes me think of a long-forgotten classical/techno hybrid I came across and liked very much in the ‘90s: Todd Levin’s “Deluxe” (I should check out what happened to him, I guess). Finally, plenty of it reminds me of one of the best things I’ve seen and heard this summer, the Olympics Opening Ceremony: specifically the way Underworld and Danny Boyle grasped that electronic music could invoke nobility and epic feats much more effectively than the Coldplay-style anthemic rock that you’d imagine would have been most directors’ default choice as soundtrack.
There are endless massed drums, then, elegantly-wrought bombast, and a load of music that could have fitted pretty neatly onto the last album by those unlikely soundtrackers of the athletes’ parade, Fuck Buttons. I should say that The Guardian have a stream of “America” here, and a lot of commenters that seem more preoccupied with Deacon’s facial hair than the excellence of his work. Maybe I’m missing something…
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey
To be honest, I’ve not previously had much time for the music of Dan Deacon; for what struck me, perhaps erroneously, as an odd but not quite combustible mix of process, theory, audience participation, electronica and a certain imperishable indie tweeness.
Persistent exposure to “America” in my house has, however, provoked a bit of a rethink. “America” still has a writhing, fidgety aesthetic but, more than at least I’ve noticed in the past, there’s a dynamic coherence, too, a melodic force and clarity that emerges out of the glitchstorms as something approaching grandeur. The start might be akin to a 2012 upgrade of Kid 606, but soon enough “True Thrush” spins out, an impressively nagging surge of a song that’s part nursery rhyme and part psychedelic carnival stampede, a juggling of the tropes that have proved so appealing on Animal Collective records, but don’t (to my mind, anyhow) coalesce in quite such a satisfying way on “Centipede Hz”.
It’s on Track 4, though, that the greatest strengths of “America” start to emerge, with Deacon’s more formal compositional skills being knitted into an uncommonly exciting soundtrack for his majestic, confusing homeland. “Prettyboy” unveils a sort of vibrating, orchestrated sound that eventually accelerates into the pounding “Crash Jam”, acting as a prelude for the suite which takes up the second half of this increasingly striking record.
The first part “USA 1: Is A Monster” alone manages to incorporate symphonic heft, braindance glitch, tribal drumming, choirs and an overall vaulting ambition and nerve which ensures that the results are spectacular rather than an over-reaching mess. It’s the sort of music that, when you’re listening on the move, noticeably increases the length and confidence of your stride and, less viscerally, prompts a scree of potential reference points.
Deacon, then, can just about plausibly be recast as a millennial Aaron Copland, albeit one who’s listened to a fair bit of Squarepusher records like “Go Plastic” as well, maybe, as conceptual electronic pranksters like Dat Politics. There are passages towards the end of “USA II: The Great American Desert” which begin like gamelan and proceed, perhaps inevitably, into straight-up Glass systems when that track folds into “USA III: Rail”.
Mention of Glass reminds me, too, of Deacon’s similarities with Sufjan Stevens: another notionally indie figure with a passion for incorporating electronica, modern classical composition and an expansive evocation of the USA into his music. While “Rail”’s systems ebb and flow is a neat parallel to passages from “Illinois”, however, many of Deacon’s attempts to build digital noise into his constructs are much more successful than Stevens’ attempts to do something like that on “The Age Of Adz” (maybe closer, now I think of it, to the underrated “BQE” project).
What else? A weird echo of Donna Summer’s “State Of Independence” on “USA IV: Manifest”, and a lot that makes me think of a long-forgotten classical/techno hybrid I came across and liked very much in the ‘90s: Todd Levin’s “Deluxe” (I should check out what happened to him, I guess). Finally, plenty of it reminds me of one of the best things I’ve seen and heard this summer, the Olympics Opening Ceremony: specifically the way Underworld and Danny Boyle grasped that electronic music could invoke nobility and epic feats much more effectively than the Coldplay-style anthemic rock that you’d imagine would have been most directors’ default choice as soundtrack.
There are endless massed drums, then, elegantly-wrought bombast, and a load of music that could have fitted pretty neatly onto the last album by those unlikely soundtrackers of the athletes’ parade, Fuck Buttons. I should say that The Guardian have a stream of “America” here, and a lot of commenters that seem more preoccupied with Deacon’s facial hair than the excellence of his work. Maybe I’m missing something…
As she releases her new album, The Devil You Know, singular LA singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones is set to answer your questions in Uncut as part of our regular Audience With… feature.
So is there anything you’ve always wanted to ask her?
What was it like working with musicians as diverse as Dr John and Mike Watt?
Just how hard was the protracted writing and recording of Pirates?
What happened to all those berets and spandex suits?
Send your questions to us by noon, Wednesday August 29 to uncutaudiencewith@ipcmedia.com.
The best questions, and Rickie's answers, will be published in a future edition of Uncut magazine.
Please include your name and location with your question.
As she releases her new album, The Devil You Know, singular LA singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones is set to answer your questions in Uncut as part of our regular Audience With… feature.
So is there anything you’ve always wanted to ask her?
What was it like working with musicians as diverse as Dr John and Mike Watt?
Just how hard was the protracted writing and recording of Pirates?
What happened to all those berets and spandex suits?
Send your questions to us by noon, Wednesday August 29 to uncutaudiencewith@ipcmedia.com.
The best questions, and Rickie’s answers, will be published in a future edition of Uncut magazine.
Please include your name and location with your question.
Afrika Bambaataa has stated that he plans to open a museum dedicated to hip-hop.
The musical legend has said that he wants the museum to open in the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx borough of New York City.
Vintage Vinyl News reports that Bambaataa has signed a letter-of-intent to help create the ...
Afrika Bambaataa has stated that he plans to open a museum dedicated to hip-hop.
The musical legend has said that he wants the museum to open in the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx borough of New York City.
Vintage Vinyl News reports that Bambaataa has signed a letter-of-intent to help create the National Museum Of Hip-Hop – however, the museum’s future rests on the redevelopment of the former military site with a winning bid from the Youngwood and Associates developers.
Bambaataa is apparently seeking support from fellow hip-hop kingpins and is planning to meet Ruben Diaz, Jr, the Bronx borough President, in order to push the project onwards.
Bronx native Afrika Bambaataa was one of the pioneers of hip-hop and is often credited with naming the genre. A DJ and producer, his 1982 track ‘Planet Rock’ – made with the Soulsonic Force – was instrumental in founding the roots of hip-hop as well as electro.
In 2007 Bambaataa was nominated for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Clinic will release their brand new album, Free Reign, on November 12.
Free Reign is the band's seventh album and has been produced in the group's hometown of Liverpool, by the band themselves alongside Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never).
The album follows their last LP, 2010's Bubblegum and w...
Clinic will release their brand new album, Free Reign, on November 12.
Free Reign is the band’s seventh album and has been produced in the group’s hometown of Liverpool, by the band themselves alongside Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never).
The album follows their last LP, 2010’s Bubblegum and will be put out by Domino on CD, LP and digital download, as well as on a limited edition UFO format, which is a glow-in-the-dark, “cosmic flying disc” which comes along with a download code for the record.
Clinic – who released their debut album, Internal Wrangler, in 2000 – are set to announce a run of UK live dates soon.
John Lennon's killer Mark Chapman has been denied parole for a seventh time.
The 57-year-old, who shot Lennon in New York in December 1980, had applied for parole again this year, but was denied following a meeting of the New York State Board Of Parole, reports BBC News.
Sally Thompson, the New Yo...
John Lennon‘s killer Mark Chapman has been denied parole for a seventh time.
The 57-year-old, who shot Lennon in New York in December 1980, had applied for parole again this year, but was denied following a meeting of the New York State Board Of Parole, reports BBC News.
Sally Thompson, the New York State Board Of Parole’s ‘deciding board member’, wrote to Chapman to tell him of their decision and said that they had decided not to release him as they believed it would “undermine respect for the law and tend to trivialise the tragic loss of life”.
The New York State Board Of Parole said in its decision: “Despite your positive efforts while incarcerated, your release at this time would greatly undermine respect for the law and tend to trivialise the tragic loss of life which you caused as a result of this heinous, unprovoked, violent, cold and calculated crime.”
Chapman, a former security guard, was transferred to the maximum security Wende Correctional Facility in western New York state earlier this year.
He is next eligible for a parole hearing in August 2014.
The new issue of Uncut, which hits shelves today (August 24), features Nick Cave, David Byrne, Bob Dylan and Viv Stanshall.
Cave is on the cover, and inside there’s an exclusive, extended interview with the songwriter about the screenplay and soundtrack for new film Lawless, the future of the Bad Seeds and his exceedingly short-lived acting career.
David Byrne and St Vincent talk about their hyperactive collaborative album, Love This Giant, out September 10, Bob Dylan’s new album Tempest is reviewed by Uncut editor Allan Jones, and Viv Stanshall’s wilderness years of drunkenness, japes and genius are examined.
Elsewhere, we look at the making of John Cooper Clarke’s “Beasley Street”, the Grateful Dead’s cosmic journey is chronicled through their live albums, and the revolutionary tale of The Dubliners is told.
The news section includes chats with John Paul Jones, Grandaddy and First Aid Kit.
As well as Dylan, the huge 38-page reviews section dissects albums from Grizzly Bear, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Calexico, The xx, Animal Collective, Frank Zappa and the Sex Pistols.
Films including Lawless and Looper, DVDs such as The Monk and Produced By George Martin, and books including Mike Scott’s Adventures Of A Waterboy, are also reviewed.
The live section features Elizabeth Fraser, the Ty Segall Band and Robert Plant, and the issue’s free CD boasts some stunning songs from the likes of Calexico, Patterson Hood, Dinosaur Jr and Mark Eitzel.
The new issue is out now.
The new issue of Uncut, which hits shelves today (August 24), features Nick Cave, David Byrne, Bob Dylan and Viv Stanshall.
Cave is on the cover, and inside there’s an exclusive, extended interview with the songwriter about the screenplay and soundtrack for new film Lawless, the future of the Bad Seeds and his exceedingly short-lived acting career.
David Byrne and St Vincent talk about their hyperactive collaborative album, Love This Giant, out September 10, Bob Dylan’s new album Tempest is reviewed by Uncut editor Allan Jones, and Viv Stanshall’s wilderness years of drunkenness, japes and genius are examined.
Elsewhere, we look at the making of John Cooper Clarke’s “Beasley Street”, the Grateful Dead’s cosmic journey is chronicled through their live albums, and the revolutionary tale of The Dubliners is told.
The news section includes chats with John Paul Jones, Grandaddy and First Aid Kit.
As well as Dylan, the huge 38-page reviews section dissects albums from Grizzly Bear, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Calexico, The xx, Animal Collective, Frank Zappa and the Sex Pistols.
Films including Lawless and Looper, DVDs such as The Monk and Produced By George Martin, and books including Mike Scott’s Adventures Of A Waterboy, are also reviewed.
The live section features Elizabeth Fraser, the Ty Segall Band and Robert Plant, and the issue’s free CD boasts some stunning songs from the likes of Calexico, Patterson Hood, Dinosaur Jr and Mark Eitzel.
In this archive feature from the May 2006 (Take 108) issue of Uncut, the whole story of the ill-fated Southern rockers is told – from their days “acting crazy” and losing teeth, to their devastating, fatal plane crash. Words: Rob Hughes
______________________
Lord knows, Lynyrd Skynyrd had s...
Van Zant was the undisputed leader of the band. But there was a dark side to his presidency. “Ronnie would give the shirt off his back for anyone,” recalls Powell. “But he could also get pretty damn mean when he was drinking – the Jekyll & Hyde syndrome. I remember arguing with him once, after a few whiskeys, about Allen Collins’ volume and tuning up onstage. Next thing I know, I got my teeth knocked out. That’s how he led the band. But at the same time, if there was trouble from outside, he’d fight for us. He went to jail for us a few times. And when it came down to business, he was always right. We could always trust him.”
Rossington learnt to roll with the punches, too. Touring Hamburg’s notorious Reeperbahn, they got drunk on Schnapps. “Somehow, a bottle got broke and I ended up with slashes across my hands and wrists. But the next day, we were the best of friends again. That’s how it was, like a family.”
Kin or not, by ’75 the touring was too much for some. Ed King slipped away in the dead of a Pittsburgh night. “It became violent,” he admits. “Pretty much every day was traumatic. But I just had a bad premonition and felt I should obey the urge to get out when I did.”
By ’77, though, with four studio albums and a live double under their belts, Skynyrd had hooked up with young guitarist Steve Gaines and recorded the blistering Street Survivors. “Steve brought a whole new style of guitar playing,” says Powell. “And he was an extremely gifted songwriter, who brought a multitude of new ideas. But just as he was getting started, he had the rug pulled from under him in the rudest way imaginable.”
And so to October 20, 1977. A fatal miscalculation of fuel, allied to an already spasmodic right engine, led to Skynyrd’s Convair 240 plummeting into a wooded Mississippi swamp. Van Zant, Gaines, road manager Dean Kilpatrick and Gaines’ sister Cassie were all killed instantly, as were both pilots. The horror was graphic. Terrified drummer Artimus Pyle, clambering through the shredded roof, recalled seeing the co-pilot decapitated in a tree and Kilpatrick face down with the fuselage wedged in his back.
“I remember coming round and hearing people screaming,” recalls Rossington today. “There were helicopters up there with searchlights and I was hurting real bad, screaming. I had a lot of broken bones. Then, of course, it broke our hearts and freaked us all out when we found out some of us were dead.”
“We were approaching the peak of our career,” says Powell. “Then all of a sudden, due to gross negligence and pilot error, we were down to nothing. We were very bitter about what happened. I dove into a bottle for a while. I didn’t find any answers, but it numbed the pain. It had a major psychological effect on all of us.”
Indeed, the disaster has haunted the survivors down the decades. In January 1986, Allen Collins crashed his car in Jacksonville, killing his girlfriend and paralysing himself from the waist down. He pled no contest to a drink-drive manslaughter charge. Four years later, after prolonged alcohol abuse, he died of pneumonia. Bassist Leon Wilkeson was jailed for beating up his girlfriend in 1993. He died in a Florida hotel room in 2001, after years of toxic indulgence. In 1992, Pyle was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl, although he was later cleared. The following year, however, he was given eight years’ probation for molesting two sisters after pleading guilty to attempted capital battery and lewd and lascivious assault. In September ’96, Powell was charged with domestic violence after allegedly attacking his wife at their Jacksonville home. He, too, was cleared.
With death, illness, lawsuits and disagreements stalking their post-crash history, some have suggested Lynyrd Skynyrd are hexed. But the band – reformed in 1987 after much soul-searching, with Rossington, Powell and Van Zant’s brother Johnny at its heart – seem imbued with an indomitable spirit. And in March 2006, Skynyrd were finally inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in New York.
“It would have been a sin not to carry the music on,” says Powell. “We’re gonna go as long as we can.”
Rossington is in no doubt, either: “After all we’ve been through, we’ve gotten stronger over the years. To have Johnny there now is like having part of Ronnie there. You feel his spirit is onstage with us every night.”
The Beatles are set to reissue their 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour.
Released in the wake of the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour was The Beatles' third film and documents a psychedelic coach trip to the seaside.
Previously out of print, a fully restored editi...
The Beatles are set to reissue their 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour.
Released in the wake of the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour was The Beatles’ third film and documents a psychedelic coach trip to the seaside.
Previously out of print, a fully restored edition of the film will be released on October 9 with a remixed soundtrack and special features, including scenes that were cut from the original, as well as interviews with the band and cast.
A special boxed deluxe edition will also include both the DVD and Blu-ray version of the film, as well as a 60-page book and 7″ vinyl EP of the film’s six new Beatles songs, which were originally issued in the UK to complement the film’s 1967 release.
The film features a supporting cast including Ivor Cutler, comedy actors Victor Spinetti, Jessie Robins, Nat Jackley, Derek Royle and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
Magical Mystery Tour will also be released for the big screen, showing in cinemas from September 27. The British Film Institute have also announced a special screening at London’s BFI Southbank on October 2.
With the new Uncut out tomorrow, it just occurred to me that I'd forgotten to post this review from the last issue. I did at least put up the full transcript of my email exchange with Ben Chasny, which you can check out by following this link. "Ascent" is on sale now, by the way.
It isn’t, in all honesty, the most canonical and secure of musical judgments. Nevertheless, there is a small cabal of rock fans who will argue all day that a Santa Cruz five-piece called Comets On Fire were one of the great bands of the early 21st Century. Between 2001 and 2006, and over four albums of incrementally rising fidelity, the Comets mastered a hybrid of West Coast psychedelia, hardcore, white noise, classic rock and fever dream sci-fi. “Forward-thinking motherfuckers,” noted an admiring Julian Cope, transfixed by their savagery around the time of 2002’s second album, Field Recordings From The Sun.
Around that time, too, Comets On Fire fell in with a guitarist called Ben Chasny, who was making brackish, witchy psych-folk on his own as Six Organs Of Admittance. Initially, Comets were engaged as the backing band for a putative Six Organs release. Soon enough, though, the sessions were aborted. Chasny would continue to release Six Organs records, but his relationship with Comets On Fire had changed: he had also become one of them.
Perpetually distracted by their other projects, Comets dissolved sometime after 2006’s Avatar, with frontman Ethan Miller focusing on the brawny orthodoxies of his other band, Howlin Rain. Since then, Chasny has persisted with an adventurous career on the margins, as both an inveterate collaborator (notably with a fractious leftfield power trio, Rangda) and as the meditative Six Organs. It now seems he has decided to tie up some loose ends, too. The supporting players on Ascent, the 13th album released by Chasny under the Six Organs brand, are his old comrades from Comets On Fire: more experienced, steered by Chasny’s vision rather than their collective mania, but no less potent and exciting.
Chasny is predominantly known as an acoustic player, with a style that is rooted in the folk ragas of Robbie Basho and Peter Walker, but privileges fervour and caprice, an unruly imagination, over doughty virtuosity. When he switches to electric, his songs often lock into swirling patterns and spiritual drones, orbiting around songforms that take the form of distant muttered incantations. Those frail melodies remain, but Ascent plays down the cyclical scrabbling. “A Thousand Birds” and “Close To The Sky” were both essayed during the doomed 2002 sessions (which Ethan Miller has made available at his blog, www.silvercurrant.blogspot.co.uk) before turning up in acoustic form on Six Organs’ Dark Noontide (2002) and Compathia (2003). Here, though, Utrillo Kushner (drums) and Ben Flashman (bass) wander into dogged Crazy Horse grooves, leaving Miller (a reverbed constant in the right channel) and Noel Von Harmonson to provide simmering guitar backup, and Chasny to fly untethered over the top.
His solos may spit, writhe and yank the songs into new shapes, but Chasny is an unusually egoless player. For all the extensive fireworks, his style feels more punkish and exploratory than mere showboating: witness the doubled-up shredding that cuts a swathe through “Even If You Knew” (another tune retrieved from the 2002 batch), its fuzzy pulse related to the Doors’ “Five To One”.
The strongest echo of Comets On Fire’s old work comes on the opening “Waswasa”, an overdriven belt-buckle boogie (in which Kushner, as Cope once put it, “is sometimes two drummers [who] both think they are Keith Moon.”) that recalls one of their more streamlined tracks, “Sour Smoke” (2006). Mostly, though, Ascent sounds like Chasny channelling a great band’s alchemical powers to his own ends, in the process making what may turn out to be a highpoint in his already rich and complex career.
It adds, too, a pleasing new chapter to one of rock’s less celebrated cult stories, even if we should be wary of overplaying the sentimentality. In “Close To The Sky”, Chasny’s mammoth and elaborate solo is eventually tamed by a beautifully jangling acoustic line, which you’d initially assume to be an intuitive contribution by Miller. The idea of a mythical jam is a romantic one but, ultimately, Ascent is a Six Organs record. The acoustic guitar, it transpires, is an overdub added by Chasny himself, finessing his masterpiece long after the reunion sessions are over.
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With the new Uncut out tomorrow, it just occurred to me that I’d forgotten to post this review from the last issue. I did at least put up the full transcript of my email exchange with Ben Chasny, which you can check out by following this link. “Ascent” is on sale now, by the way.
It isn’t, in all honesty, the most canonical and secure of musical judgments. Nevertheless, there is a small cabal of rock fans who will argue all day that a Santa Cruz five-piece called Comets On Fire were one of the great bands of the early 21st Century. Between 2001 and 2006, and over four albums of incrementally rising fidelity, the Comets mastered a hybrid of West Coast psychedelia, hardcore, white noise, classic rock and fever dream sci-fi. “Forward-thinking motherfuckers,” noted an admiring Julian Cope, transfixed by their savagery around the time of 2002’s second album, Field Recordings From The Sun.
Around that time, too, Comets On Fire fell in with a guitarist called Ben Chasny, who was making brackish, witchy psych-folk on his own as Six Organs Of Admittance. Initially, Comets were engaged as the backing band for a putative Six Organs release. Soon enough, though, the sessions were aborted. Chasny would continue to release Six Organs records, but his relationship with Comets On Fire had changed: he had also become one of them.
Perpetually distracted by their other projects, Comets dissolved sometime after 2006’s Avatar, with frontman Ethan Miller focusing on the brawny orthodoxies of his other band, Howlin Rain. Since then, Chasny has persisted with an adventurous career on the margins, as both an inveterate collaborator (notably with a fractious leftfield power trio, Rangda) and as the meditative Six Organs. It now seems he has decided to tie up some loose ends, too. The supporting players on Ascent, the 13th album released by Chasny under the Six Organs brand, are his old comrades from Comets On Fire: more experienced, steered by Chasny’s vision rather than their collective mania, but no less potent and exciting.
Chasny is predominantly known as an acoustic player, with a style that is rooted in the folk ragas of Robbie Basho and Peter Walker, but privileges fervour and caprice, an unruly imagination, over doughty virtuosity. When he switches to electric, his songs often lock into swirling patterns and spiritual drones, orbiting around songforms that take the form of distant muttered incantations. Those frail melodies remain, but Ascent plays down the cyclical scrabbling. “A Thousand Birds” and “Close To The Sky” were both essayed during the doomed 2002 sessions (which Ethan Miller has made available at his blog, www.silvercurrant.blogspot.co.uk) before turning up in acoustic form on Six Organs’ Dark Noontide (2002) and Compathia (2003). Here, though, Utrillo Kushner (drums) and Ben Flashman (bass) wander into dogged Crazy Horse grooves, leaving Miller (a reverbed constant in the right channel) and Noel Von Harmonson to provide simmering guitar backup, and Chasny to fly untethered over the top.
His solos may spit, writhe and yank the songs into new shapes, but Chasny is an unusually egoless player. For all the extensive fireworks, his style feels more punkish and exploratory than mere showboating: witness the doubled-up shredding that cuts a swathe through “Even If You Knew” (another tune retrieved from the 2002 batch), its fuzzy pulse related to the Doors’ “Five To One”.
The strongest echo of Comets On Fire’s old work comes on the opening “Waswasa”, an overdriven belt-buckle boogie (in which Kushner, as Cope once put it, “is sometimes two drummers [who] both think they are Keith Moon.”) that recalls one of their more streamlined tracks, “Sour Smoke” (2006). Mostly, though, Ascent sounds like Chasny channelling a great band’s alchemical powers to his own ends, in the process making what may turn out to be a highpoint in his already rich and complex career.
It adds, too, a pleasing new chapter to one of rock’s less celebrated cult stories, even if we should be wary of overplaying the sentimentality. In “Close To The Sky”, Chasny’s mammoth and elaborate solo is eventually tamed by a beautifully jangling acoustic line, which you’d initially assume to be an intuitive contribution by Miller. The idea of a mythical jam is a romantic one but, ultimately, Ascent is a Six Organs record. The acoustic guitar, it transpires, is an overdub added by Chasny himself, finessing his masterpiece long after the reunion sessions are over.
The first time Melody Maker feels confident enough to send me abroad without fearing an international incident as a consequence, I'm dispatched to interview Frank Zappa in Paris, where The Mothers Of Invention are celebrating their 10th anniversary.
This is September, 1974, a trip I was reminded of...
The first time Melody Maker feels confident enough to send me abroad without fearing an international incident as a consequence, I’m dispatched to interview Frank Zappa in Paris, where The Mothers Of Invention are celebrating their 10th anniversary.
This is September, 1974, a trip I was reminded of after reading the review in this issue of Zappa’s first 12 albums, re-mastered as part of a campaign that sees 60 of his recordings re-released in batches of a dozen per month until the end of the year. At the time, I was thrilled enough to be going to Paris, since I’d never been there and was looking forward to finding some dark bar on the Left Bank where I might drink cognac, smoke ostentatiously and perhaps fall in love with a beatnik girl, that kind of thing. I was less excited about the bits of the trip involving Zappa and his music, and this was entirely due to the month I spent when I first went to art school sharing a room in digs with a couple of fellow students. Bill was a garrulous Scouser with a taste for good weed and Blue Cheer. Graham by contrast was worryingly eccentric with some peculiar habits, such as sleeping with a large stuffed rabbit with which, from the grunts of ecstasy that nightly came from his side of the room, he seemed to enjoy a disconcerting carnal familiarity.
Among Graham’s other passions was Mahler, whose depressing symphonies he listened to standing in front of a wardrobe mirror, waving a conductor’s baton and wearing only a top hat, underpants and spats, a no doubt stylish look I was nevertheless not tempted to emulate. Other than Mahler, Graham played only Frank Zappa albums, mainly Uncle Meat, his favourite, which we were forced to endure at startling volume, repeatedly, while Graham cuddled his rabbit, amorously. I had not really been able to listen to Zappa since. But, hey, there’s at least a party to look forward to in Paris. It’s at swish nightspot The Alcazar, where I end up sitting next to a spectacularly fucked-up Stephen Stills, who may not if asked have been able to tell you where he was. The cabaret that follows a lavish banquet is amazing. Trapeze artists, 30 or 40 of them in various states of undress, swing across the stage, dangle from ropes, descend from great heights on escalators. Naked women frolic in bubble baths, making Stills whoop loudly. For the show’s climax, the stage is transformed into the legendary Moulin Rouge dance hall, can-can dancers kicking up a storm, a riot of skirts and frilly underwear. The trapeze gals are back in action, too, a blur of tits and tassels. Crescent moons and gondolas descend from above, each festooned with yet another naked beauty as still more Gallic stunners are delivered onto the stage via escalators. The stage is so crowded, there’s barely room for Zappa, who makes a short speech before being borne aloft on one of the moons, waving daintily.
The next day, Zappa cancels all his interviews, overcome by a mood so foul he carries it into a surly show at the Palais des Sports. He does, however, extend an invitation to join him for dinner at some swanky restaurant where even the cheapest meal on the menu costs at least twice as much as I earn a month on MM. Zappa’s mood continues to be for whatever reason completely sour, unsettling everyone around him and making him unapproachable. Charles Shaar Murray, here for the NME, is confident however of impressing Zappa with his wit and erudition, telling Frank he’s currently compiling what Charlie floridly describes as an analysis of Zappa’s “output macrostructure”, which I take to mean Zappa’s albums to date. Frank looks at Charlie as he might at a dog who’s just shit on his shoe, Charlie in his leathers, afro and mirror shades. “Do you know you look like Mike Bloomfield?” Frank asks Charlie, who with a swagger says he does. “He was a fucking idiot, too,” Frank says, ignoring Charlie for the rest of the meal, which no-one really has the appetite for.
Franz Ferdinand's Nick McCarthy has unveiled his new side-project – The Nice Nice Boys.
The guitarist has teamed up with Johnny Marr And The Healers' Andy Knowles and you can hear their new single 'Round Town', featuring rapper Marvellous Macc Mello, by scrolling down below. Recorded in McCarthy...
Franz Ferdinand‘s Nick McCarthy has unveiled his new side-project – The Nice Nice Boys.
The guitarist has teamed up with Johnny Marr And The Healers’ Andy Knowles and you can hear their new single ‘Round Town’, featuring rapper Marvellous Macc Mello, by scrolling down below. Recorded in McCarthy’s Sausage Studios and mixed at Abbey Road, the single is set to be released on McCarthy and Knowles’ label Meat Records.
The pair met at Glasgow School of Art in 2001 and hit the road together in Franz Ferdinand, with Knowles acting as an extra touring musician. Macc Mello’s debut single ‘Drop That Beat’, meanwhile, recently featured on E4’s Skins and the film Eden Lake.
Franz Ferdinand meanwhile, recently debuted four new songs – ‘Right Thoughts’, ‘Brief Encounters’, ‘Fresh Strawberries’ and ‘Trees And Animals’ – at various festivals including London’s Field Day.
They are currently working on a new album which is the follow-up to their 2009 LP ‘Tonight: Franz Ferdinand’. The band have a series of European dates lined up in the coming months but no further UK shows confirmed for the rest of the year.
Noel Gallagher has declared himself "the best dressed roadie in rock n'roll history" and says he believes he'd still be setting up bands' gear now if he hadn't made it with Oasis.
The guitarist, who released his debut solo album 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' late last year, told The Sun that...
Noel Gallagher has declared himself “the best dressed roadie in rock n’roll history” and says he believes he’d still be setting up bands’ gear now if he hadn’t made it with Oasis.
The guitarist, who released his debut solo album ‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ late last year, told The Sun that he was convinced he’d still be touring with bands now as part of the backline crew as he did with Inspiral Carpets if Oasis had not gone on to become a successful band.
Asked what he reckoned he’d be doing if Oasis hadn’t made it, Gallagher said: “I would have been out there now, probably in an ill-fitting black T-shirt with a tattoo and some scruffy Converse trainers. Because that is what they all wear.”
He continued: “But I was maybe the best-dressed roadie in the history of music. I used to wear white jeans and never got them dirty. I was too quick for the dirt.”
Meanwhile, Gallagher has confirmed the release of his first solo live DVD on October 15. International Magic Live At The O2 will feature the full gig from his February 26 show plus a second disc which will include footage of his performance from the NME Awards, where he was crowned this year’s Godlike Genius, plus an acoustic set at The Mod Club in Toronto and three music videos from his recent singles.
Gallagher and his High Flying Birds will also play the iTunes Festival on September 12 at London’s Roundhouse. See itunesfestival.com for full details on how to get tickets.
David Byrne has revealed how smoothly his recent collaboration with St Vincent went, in the new issue of Uncut, out on Friday (August 24).
The two are set to release their joint album Love This Giant on September 10, and Byrne reckons the success of their team-up was partly down to the gender of ...
David Byrne has revealed how smoothly his recent collaboration with St Vincent went, in the new issue of Uncut, out on Friday (August 24).
The two are set to release their joint album Love This Giant on September 10, and Byrne reckons the success of their team-up was partly down to the gender of St Vincent, aka Annie Clark.
“Annie’s voice is in a range pretty close to mine,” the former Talking Heads frontman says. “That worked out pretty well. [When you’re working with women] there’s a little less – well, a lot less – macho swagger to deal with. You can be just dealing with the music, which is sometimes nice.”
For the rest of the interview with Byrne and Clark, check out the new issue of Uncut (October 2012, Take 185), which is out on Friday, August 24.
Jack White has announced a full UK and Ireland tour for later this year.
The guitarist, singer and producer, who released his debut solo album, Blunderbuss, earlier this year, will play six shows on the trek in late October and early November.
The run of dates begins at Dublin's O2 Arena on Octobe...
Jack White has announced a full UK and Ireland tour for later this year.
The guitarist, singer and producer, who released his debut solo album, Blunderbuss, earlier this year, will play six shows on the trek in late October and early November.
The run of dates begins at Dublin’s O2 Arena on October 31 and runs until November 8 when White headlines Edinburgh’s Usher Hall.
The tour also includes shows in London, Birmingham, Bridlington and Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom, the venue where The White Stripes recorded their first live DVD ‘Under Blackpool Lights’.
Yesterday, Tom Jones told NME that he “would love” to do a full album with Jack White.
The Welsh crooner collaborated with White for a one-off release on his Third Man Records label earlier this year, recording a version of Frankie Lane’s track ‘Jezebel’ and a cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Evil’ for the release.
Asked about working with White, the singer said: “Jack White had an idea for two songs, ‘Evil’ and ‘Jezabel’, which is an old Frankie Lane song and he had a new arrangement for it. So he said to me ‘Do you know these songs?’ and I said, ‘Yes, I know both of them.'”
He continued: “I was in Nashville at the time so we got together and we did the two songs. I’d love to do an album with Jack White in the future.”
David Gray has angered residents in London's Crouch Hill after he announced that he is planning to turn historic recording studio The Church Studios into a block of flats and offices.
The studio, which has hosted sessions by the likes of Bob Dylan, My Bloody Valentine, Radiohead, Kaiser Chiefs and...
David Gray has angered residents in London’s Crouch Hill after he announced that he is planning to turn historic recording studio The Church Studios into a block of flats and offices.
The studio, which has hosted sessions by the likes of Bob Dylan, My Bloody Valentine, Radiohead, Kaiser Chiefs and Bombay Bicycle Club, is a converted church and was originally owned by Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart before he sold it to Gray in 2003.
Local residents have expressed their disgust at the plans, with Sue Hessel, who chairman of Haslemere Road Residents’ Association, telling the Ham & High: “This is so sad. Crouch End has enough flats. Crouch End’s music heritage is what makes it such a special place to live. Turning such a culturally rich building into flats is not in the spirit of Crouch End.”
Gray’s architect, Mark Ruthven, has said that the studios are now “obsolete” and completely out of date, saying: “It is completely obsolete, it doesn’t get used. This is a way of the building being used. The heritage is preserved. The important thing is to find a re-use and that it is done in a sensitive way.”
Gray himself has issued a statement about the plans, with his representative blaming “the current upheaval in the music business” for his decision to try and convert the studios into flats.
The representative said: “Having owned and enjoyed the church for nearly 10 years, it is time to move on. David would be delighted to sell The Church Studios but given the current upheaval in the music business and the repercussions on commercial recording stuios, it is only prudent to explore other avenues, including redevelopment.”
Before Gray can procede with his plans, he will require planning permission from Haringey Council, who will rule on the bid at a later date.
David Gray released his ninth studio album ‘Foundling’ in 2010.
Romy Madley Croft of The xx has said that the band's forthcoming second album, 'Coexist' – which is due for release on September 10 – isn't a "world away" from their eponymous 2010 debut.
Speaking in Rolling Stone, she said that the new record "carries on" what they were doing on xx. She said: "It just sort of carries it on. It's developed, but it doesn't seem like completely a world away. I hope people will just enjoy it as a development of where we were before."
Meanwhile, her bandmate and producer, Jamie Smith, has said the production on their second album is "just better" than his work on their first LP.
The London band play a trio of intimate UK shows next month. They will take to the stage at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on September 10, followed by gigs at The Coal Exchange in Cardiff on September 11 and Edinburgh's Usher Hall on September 12. They will also play Bestival on the Isle Of Wight on September 7.
The xx will also team up with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra for a special concert in the town of Bridlington on September 19, where they will play brand new orchestral material as well as tracks from their two albums.
The new material has been written by composer Alex Baranowski, who has most recently worked on the National Theatre's productions of Hamlet and Frankenstein. For more information, visit BBC.co.uk/orchestras/philharmonic.
Romy Madley Croft of The xx has said that the band’s forthcoming second album, ‘Coexist’ – which is due for release on September 10 – isn’t a “world away” from their eponymous 2010 debut.
Speaking in Rolling Stone, she said that the new record “carries on” what they were doing on xx. She said: “It just sort of carries it on. It’s developed, but it doesn’t seem like completely a world away. I hope people will just enjoy it as a development of where we were before.”
Meanwhile, her bandmate and producer, Jamie Smith, has said the production on their second album is “just better” than his work on their first LP.
The London band play a trio of intimate UK shows next month. They will take to the stage at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on September 10, followed by gigs at The Coal Exchange in Cardiff on September 11 and Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on September 12. They will also play Bestival on the Isle Of Wight on September 7.
The xx will also team up with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra for a special concert in the town of Bridlington on September 19, where they will play brand new orchestral material as well as tracks from their two albums.
The new material has been written by composer Alex Baranowski, who has most recently worked on the National Theatre’s productions of Hamlet and Frankenstein. For more information, visit BBC.co.uk/orchestras/philharmonic.
