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A Hipgnosis Oddity

Chances are that if you own records from the 1970s, you probably have an example of the graphic design team known as Hipgnosis.

Formed in the late ’60s with the team of Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell, they were later joined by Peter Christopherson. In 1968, they were approached by Pink Floyd to design the cover for their second LP – A Saucerful of Secrets. They continued designing covers for the band for several years as well as providing artwork for several other artists including Led Zeppelin, The Pretty Things, Humble Pie, The Nice, Wishbone Ash, Genesis and a host of others.

I probably have dozens of albums with covers designed by Hipgnosis as well as two large format books featuring their work. However, I recently discovered an oddity by sheer accident.

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I was perusing the selection of music books at Attic Books here in London, Ontario the other day and found a book that I had been wanting for some time. I am always on the lookout for books about British folk music and Folk Song in England by A.L. Lloyd was always on my wants list. Finally, there is was.

Originally published in 1967 by Lawrence and Wishart, this was a mass market paperback edition issued by Panther Arts in 1969. The cover illustration was created for this edition and did not copy the original release. It wasn’t until I got the book home that I noticed on the back the text, “Cover illustration by Hipgnosis“.

This seems to be a unique item in the history of Hipgnosis and I can find no mention of any other books that might feature their work on the cover.

An oddity, indeed.

Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany by Uwe Schütte

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The news that Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider had passed away at the beginning of May was one of those announcements that seemed to strike a particularly resonant note for me. I had first heard their music long before their breakthrough album Autobahn courtesy of a radio programme featuring import albums back in the early ’70s. They were one of my personal inspirations to start making electronic music.

It was certainly a much more pleasant experience to learn of a new biography of Kraftwerk was being published by Penguin Books earlier in the year.

Kraftwerk: Music of the Future by Uwe Schütte is a rather succinct volume which covers the careers of co-founders Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter. The pair met at school in the turbulent days of the late ’60s and immediately hit it off. In 1968, they formed a band called Organization who released a sole LP called Tone Float (only in the UK as German record companies had no interest in their work).

Keeping their base in their hometown of Düsseldorf, the pair then went on to create the concept of Kraftwerk (literally translated a Power Station). Their early work did include electronics but also guitar, flute and drums. Much of this work was based around improvisation and electronic sound manipulation.

Their first three releases were prime examples of their work at the time. It’s unfortunate that to this day these albums basically been written out of the band history and not been any part of a re-issue program for their recordings.

For Kraftwerk, it was their fourth album – Autobahn – that denoted the beginning of their recording career. It’s the album (and song) that brought the group to international attention (although, it was virtually ignored in their own country).

They subsequently built up their reputation with their next three releases of the ’70s – Radio-Activity, Trans Europe Express and The Man Machine. It was also at this point that their work started to reverberate into other forms of music. It became an influence in electronic dance music and what would develop into techno.

They brought in the ’80s with Computer World with it’s ubiquitous Pocket Calculator emanating from radios around the world.

After that, the space between album releases would become much greater. It was another five years before the release of Electric Cafe and another seventeen years until the Tour de France Soundtracks (with a stop-gap remix effort called The Mix in 1991).

But, that doesn’t mean that Kraftwerk were inactive during these long apparent silences. As the author points out, Kraftwerk were not really a “band”. They considered themselves to be a multi-media project. They spent a lot of time concentrating of visual elements to their work, as well. Stage presentations, museum exhibitions… you name it, they seemed to have their finger in it.

In the past twenty years, Kraftwerk were very active in the area of live performances. The miniaturisation of their music producing gear helped a great deal in this regard.

Throughout the book, Schütte puts the efforts of Kraftwerk in the context of the music, society and art of the times and also details how it affected the future of music. It is a good overview of their music and art helped to shape many things to come.

In the Court of King Crimson by Sid Smith

In the Court of King Crimson

Once upon a time there was a young boy named Robert who dreamed of one day making music that would be so unique that it would basically defy description. And he did.

Back in 2001, Sid Smith published a book entitled In the Court of King Crimson. It related the history of the first thirty years of the band King Crimson. With 2019 marking the fiftieth anniversary of the group, Sid decided to mark the occasion with an expanded edition covering that fifty year span. He didn’t, however, just tack on chapters covering the subsequent twenty years. He virtually started again from scratch.

For King Crimson fans, this is excellent news.

The first part of the book focuses on band founder Robert Fripp and his early life and progress into the world of music. This would eventually lead to the formation of a trio along with the Giles brothers – Michael and Peter.

The trio of Giles, Giles and Fripp were signed to Decca Records and released a period piece entitled The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp. Its contents featuring jaunty pop tunes interspersed with spoken tales linking them seems a perfect period of the times – that being 1968. It’s not until the last track on the second side – Erudite Eyes – that the sounds of improvisation appear and actually seem to give a hit as to the direction in which Fripp would soon head.

Indeed, the following year, Fripp would join forces Michael Giles, Greg Lake and Ian McDonald (plus lyricist Peter Sinfield) to create the first incarnation of King Crimson in 1969.

Before they even released and LP, the band were blowing audiences away with their unique brand of music. This included a spot as one of the opening acts at Hyde Park where the Rolling Stones headlined the bill.

But, it was the release of their debut album – In the Court of the Crimson King – that would solidify their stature in the world of new music later in the year.

With a unique painting by artist Barry Godber of a visibly disturbed figure gracing the cover, the contents ranged from the all-out sonic attack of opener 21st Century Schizoid Man to the pastoral mellotron strains of the title track. This was a record that demanded repeated listening.

But, the intensity of the creation of such music would take its toll of many of the people involved in its creation. By 1970, their second album – In the Wake of Poseidon – would include Mel Collins and Gordon Haskell along with contributions by Peter Giles and Keith Tippett. Even more changes were in order for their third release – Lizard.

By the time of their 1971 LP – Islands – Ian Wallace was brought in on the drums and Boz Burrell (later of Bad Company) was on bass. Reaction to the music on this album was a mixed bag.

The raw sounding 1972 live album Earthbound gave a brief snapshot of what was happening with the band dynamics at the time. Culled from cassette recordings, the sound was so raw that their US record label (Atlantic) passed on its release.

But, by 1973, things were really starting to percolate with the release of Larks’ Tongue in Aspic. With Fripp’s often scorching guitar sounds accompanied by Bill Bruford (drums), John Wetton (bass), Jamie Muir (percussion) and David Cross (violin) the band seemed to once again be reaching for the stars.

The same band minus Jamie Muir continued with Starless and Bible Black which was followed by their final studio LP of the seventies – Red. After that, Fripp dissolved the group and begin work on other collaborations and solo endevours.

By 1981, Fripp began to feel that it was time to revive Crimson and joined forces with Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford. Initially performing live under the name Discipline, the band was re-christened as the latest incarnation of KC.

This line-up released a trio of fine albums – Discipline, Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair. And then it was over. Again.

Starting in the nineties, Crimson re-appeared in different configurations from a double trio to a double duo. In recent years, the line-up has once again expanded to the point of having a line of three drummers spread across the front of the stage. It’s this line-up that hit the road in 2019 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the group playing a wide cross-section of classic material interspersed with brand new works.

Throughout the first section of the book, Sid Smith paints a detailed and vivid picture of a band whose nature and music has managed to stay faithful to the vision of its leader Robert Fripp.

After the chapters relating the KC story, there are other sections which are of equal interest to fans. Firstly, there is a chapter which provides details on what the many past members of the band go up to after their departure from the group. Sadly, some people like Greg Lake and John Wetton are no longer with us.

Next up is a track by track analysis of every song appearing on the studio albums from The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp to 2003’s The Power to Believe.

If that was not enough, Smith then provides an Annotated Gigography spanning 1969 to 2003. This consists of notes that he wrote for the countless concerts available for download on the DGM website. The capsule reviews of these shows provide a vivid glimpse as to the ever changing nature of the performances of the band.

At over 600 pages, this book is a true labour of love that provides fans of the band with the most detailed view of one of the most unique bands of the past fifty years. It’s a book that you’ll grab when you are listening to their music in order to jog your memory about the details surrounding the songs.

In the long run, Sid Smith is to King Crimson what Mark Lewisohn is to The Beatles. End of.

Giles, Giles & Fripp

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The Hard Stuff by Wayne Kramer

Wayne Kramer – The Hard Stuff (Da Capo, 2018)

Growing up across the river from Detroit in Windsor, Ontario, it was hard not to be exposed to the wealth of music emerging from the Motor City. The sounds of Motown and beyond were ever-present on the radio airwaves.

The advent of so-called “underground” and “progressive” FM radio beginning in 1968 with WABX gave previously unheard sounds from AM radio a whole new venue for rock music. So, bands like the MC5 and Stooges would suddenly have an outlet for their sounds on the airwaves.

In this book, the MC5 founder and guitarist details the ups and downs of the band and music scene of the time from an insiders point of view.

Like most music bios, his begins with his childhood in and around the Detroit area. It follows his interest in music and particularly his attraction to the guitar which ultimately lead to the formation of one of the most highly regarded rock bands of the era.

The band encapsulated the raw energy behind the revolutionary talk and actions of the late ’60s. They dove in head-first and eventually came to the attention of Elektra Records who would release their debut album.

Kick Out the Jams was a raucous live recording which presented the group in their element at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom.  It was a warts-and-all presentation which Kramer was really not pleased. What could have been a hot national release was soon to have some major problems. Copies of the unedited album were rushed to promotional outlets and the major industry broadsheets which were incredibly influential at the time reacted negatively. They sited the obscene introduction of the title track (“Kick out the jams, motherfuckers!”)  and the inflammatory revolutionary rhetoric of the liner note as a reason to suppress its mass distribution.
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So, no sooner had they started as a new hot commodity, their plans were dashed. It eventually lead to the band being dumped by the label.

This was only the start of their ongoing challenges as Kramer details the world that surrounded the band during those times. The White Panther movement. the incredible Detroit riots in the summer of 1967, the harassment from the police, the drug busts etc…

Kramer continues to spin the tale through the challenges of creating music, dealing with drug addiction and eventually to his own incarceration. It is often a harrowing read which eventually ends in redemption.

In recent times, Wayne Kramer has been back on the road celebrating his former band by currently using the banner MC50.

Over the years, the legacy of the MC5 has only been on the upswing. So, it seems quite appropriate that one of its founders tells its tale some fifty years from its beginnings. If you are a fan, this will help to shed some light on the full story behind the band.

 

Going for a Song by Garth Cartwright

Garth Cartwright – Going for a Song (Flood Gallery Publishing, 2018)

If you are a music fan of a certain vintage, you probably have many fond memories of cruising the bins of your local record shops. Before the days of internet “add to cart” methods of purchasing music and downloading, this is what people did.

In his 2009 book Last Shop Standing, author Graham Jones wrote about some of the remaining record shops across Britain. As the founder of Proper Music Distribution, his job took him across the land to provide stock to numerous stores. In the process, he was able to get to know the people behind the scenes and tell their tales of the trials and tribulations of music retail.

Writer and music fan Garth Cartwright arrived in the UK from New Zealand some time after the explosion of the record industry in the sixties and seventies. With this book, he has attempted to put together the puzzle pieces of the British music retail industry from its very beginnings up to its current state.

As someone who has been a music fan since the sixties and worked in music retail myself (initially at the Windsor, Ontario Sam the Record Man store in the seventies), these type of stories attract my interest. Not least because of my interest in British music.

The story begins with the longest last shop in the UK which is Spillers in Cardiff, Wales. An institution since 1894, it is still in operation today.

Throughout the book, Cartwright covers the story from the inception of wax cylinders to shellac 78s, to vinyl and eventually to CDs. It’s a story which includes the large chains such as HMV to the myriad of small independent shops serving the local community.

Much of the focus is on the once ever-expanding music market of London. Of course, this place was a melting-pot of cultures from around the world. Stores opened to often feed the musical needs of specific ethnic communities. These could range from Jamaican reggae to African sounds to those of European countries.

By combing many print archives as well as interviewing several of the people involved in the industry over the years, Cartwright has been able to assemble the stories behind countless shops which have come and gone over the years.

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It’s an intriguing tale of ups and downs, devoted music fans, local heroes, scammers, gangsters and more. It manages to successfully tell the story of an industry that was virtually limitless in its expansion that eventually imploded at the dawn of the current century. The advent of internet downloading and CD burners put an end to that was once an important community of retail music . Suddenly, the experience of running to the shop to pick up the latest release from your favourite band was rendered almost obsolete.

Of course, not all of the shops have disappeared (thankfully) and the book also serves to shed light on the people who are still out there serving the community of music fans.

It’s an interesting story for those of us whose interest includes the history of the music industry. The book is exhaustively researched and presented in a very engaging and readable manner.

On a personal note… My first trip to the UK was in 1986. On that occasion, I had the good fortune to visit the fabulous Rock On in Camden Town and the original Virgin Megastore in London (as well as other smaller shops in Bath, Coventry, Stafford etc…).

I have been over a dozen more times since the late nineties and have had the pleasure to visit many more shops. I’ve been to a number of stores mentioned in the book as well as a few which were not. They include Probe Records (Liverpool), Record Collector (Sheffield), Crash Records, Jumbo and Relics (Leeds), Piccadilly Records, Vinyl Exchange, King Bee (Manchester), The Record Album (Brighton) and many, many others.

So, reading this book helped me to gain a perspective on the history of record shops across the UK.

 

Keith Rowe: The Room Extended

Keith Rowe: The Room Extended by Brian Olewnick (powerHouse Books)

The first time that I saw a reference to the British improvising ensemble AMM was probably in Op magazine in the late ’70s or early ’80s. I’m sure that their name popped up again in issues of Option and The Wire, too. But, it really wasn’t until into the 1990s that I was able to access CDs and finally discover their music for myself.

At that time, I had already been involved with creating improvised electroacoustic soundscapes and their sounds appealed to me in much the same way as Cage, Stockhausen or Feldman. It also helped to reinforce my own sonic ideas and provided added inspiration.

In this extremely well researched book, Brian Olewnick traces the path of one of the original members of the group and succeeds in connecting many dots within their historical picture.

After covering Keith Rowe’s earliest years growing up and subsequently becoming a member of Mike Westbrook’s ensemble, the real meat of the story begins to unfold.

Rowe eventually connected with percussionist Eddie Prevost and the ideas for a new form of group improvisation started to develop. Into the picture, Lou Gare (a saxophonist Rowe had worked with in Westbrook’s group) joined the duo. Bassist Lawrence Sheaff was also recruited, as well. And in 1965 a group with no name began to create unique sounds. Around this time, composer and pianist Cornelius Cardew also began to get involved, too.

For Rowe’s part, he envisioned the guitar as a tool with which he could produce raw sound. He was not interested in notes or riffs. He put the guitar on a table and proceeded to shove objects between the strings in an effort to create a new sonic vocabulary for the instrument.

It wasn’t until 1966 that the moniker AMM was stamped upon the ensemble. At this point, the group was invited to make their debut recording for the Elektra record label. Subsequent recordings from the 1960s (like the The Crypt, 1968) would not wind up  seeing release until the end of the 1980s with the formation of the Matchless record label.

While the members of the group continued to work together, some of them got involved with other musical projects including the Scratch Orchestra. Over the years, the lineup of the group was somewhat fluid with Sheaff leaving and others such as Christopher Hobbs joining.
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As time passed, there were many states of flux and upheaval. Rowe and Cardew became well entrenched in their political ventures and friction was caused amongst others. This lead to an eventual split of the group and various iterations of the group starting to appear.

The story of AMM is one that has been going on for over fifty years. In this book, Olewnick manages to search every available dark and dusty corner to present a thorough and cohesive picture of the events which lead to the various stages of that lengthy career.

Of course, Keith Rowe is the main focus of this tome although it could just as easily been labeled as a history of AMM. But, the concentration on Rowe’s later solo and collaborative works does in fact make it more of his story.

In the long run, this is a long and winding tale which involves artistic ideas, disagreements, outright battles and eventual reunions. It is a fascinating story which was long overdue in its telling.

The inclusion of a well-detailed discography at the end of the book is icing on the cake. Collectors of their music (like yours truly) will likely wind up cursing the investment in future purchases as their wallets get progressively lighter. But, it’s the price that one pays to get exposed to such wonderfully creative sounds.

In the meantime, anybody who has an interest in AMM or creative sounds in general would be well advised to read this essential volume.

 

 

All Gates Open by Rob Young & Irmin Schmidt

Rob Young & Irmin Schmidt – All Gates Open (Faber & Faber, 2018)

When the FM airwaves started to emit the sounds of “underground radio” in the late 1960s, a whole new world of music began to open. WABX was the first such station to enter this area in Detroit in 1968. A short while later, CJOM hit the airwaves on my side of the border in Windsor, Ontario.

One of the most interesting things to appear were programmes which features “import” records. Suddenly, people were able to hear music which was not even available on domestic labels. These LPs often never got released in North America.

It was on one episode of these broadcasts that I first experienced the music of Can. It was 1970 and Monster Movie had just been issued in Germany (and the UK). The disc jockey talked about the band and even before he started playing the record, you knew that you were in for something special. I vividly recall his playing Father Cannot Yell and Outside My Door followed by the side-long epic Yoo Doo Right. From that moment, I knew that I would be a fan of this band.

Unfortunately, import records were few and far between at my local shops and it would be a while before I had my own copy of this record. My first purchase was their album Ege Bamyasi which was closely followed by Future Days. At that point, import LPs were starting to become easier to obtain and I was able to get copies of Monster Movie, Soundtracks and Tago Mago.

I kept following their work through articles in magazines like Melody Maker and  was able to keep up with their LP releases from that point.

Over the years, there have been a couple of books published about the band. The Can Book by Pacal Bussy and Andy Hall was an essential purchase for any self -respecting Can fan. There was also another book which was available as part of the Can Box (book, VHS video and 2 CD set of live recordings). Those, however, were mainly a mild warm-for this new volume.

All Gates Open is actually two books in one. The first two thirds feature Rob Young’s details of the individual members’ lives and their subsequent collaboration in one of Germany’s most revered and respected bands.

The final portion of the book belongs to found member Irmin Schmidt. This section is decidedly different to Rob Young’s writings.

From Young, we get a flavour of the times in Europe when the various members of the band were growing up. The four core members of the group all came from quite diverse backgrounds. Irmin Schmidt was making his name as an orchestra conductor. Holger Czukay was fascinated with all things electric including radios. Jaki Leibeziet was a jazz drummer who had worked his way into free jazz with Manfred Schoof. Michael Karoli was some ten years younger than the others with a more rock vision in his guitar playing.

The only things that any of the members really had in common was that both Schmidt and Czukay had both studied with the legendary German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.
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It’s this diversity of talent and vision which was soon to give Can its unique approach to producing inventive and original sounds.

Vocalists also made an appearance in the group. This started with Malcolm Mooney and continued with a Japanese busker in the form of Damo Suzuki.

Throughout his portion of the book, Young paints a vivid picture of the environment in which Can existed. His presents details about their recording process, live performances and track by track analysis of their albums. This is the kind of material that any hardcore fan of the band will relish as they make their way through the pages of the book.

Irmin Schmidt’s portion of the book is a totally different affair. He edits together conversations with a host of interesting people from music, art and film.

Featured in the conversations are Mark E. Smith (The Fall), Geoff Barrow (Portishead), Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream), Hans-Joachim Irmler (Faust), Peter Saville, Wim Wenders, Duncan Fallowell, Nick Kent, John Maokovich and many others.

These vignettes open up the conversation to many aspects of music and all types of artistic communication. It’s a fascinating glimpse into creativity.

Schmidt also relates many entries from his diary which also give a look into his creative life.

Overall, this is probably the book that all fans of Can have been waiting for over the years. It’s a detailed look at the band from the inside and the outside. A compelling read for those who have listened to the intriguing and original sounds of one of the most compelling bands to ever put sound onto recording tape.

 

 

Psychedelia and Other Colours by Rob Chapman

Rob Chapman – Psychedelia and Other Colours (Faber)

From the appearance of the cover, one might think that this is going to be a fab book with all kinds of wonderfully groovy colourful photos of bands performing with a backdrop of psychedelic lights projected behind them. Well, you know the old expression about a book and its cover. In fact, there is not one single photo contained in the over 600 pages of this tome.

What you do get in this book is a hefty amount of information relating to the progress of the drug culture and its impact on the music scene in the latter half of the 1960s. It’s a book that fits in right between two other recent volumes – 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded by Jon Savage and Never a Dull Moment: 1971 – The Year That Rock Exploded by David Hepworth.

No mention of things exploding in the sub-title of this book but, the text inside certainly does relate a lot of heads exploding as psychedelic drugs (more specifically LSD) began to make inroads into the counterculture movement of the sixties.

Jon Savage’s book goes into great detail about the social and cultural times leading up to the year 1966. There’s a bit of a sense of deja vu when reading Chapman’s book but, that is what I was expecting. So, not much of a disappointment there.

After a general introduction, Chapman divides his time towards firstly concentrating on the scene in the USA and then on the UK. This shows both the parallels and differences in the way in which psychedelia took shape in the midst of both (counter)cultural situations.

While you’ll see familiar names from this era appear – such as Timothy Leary – there are also many more people discussed who may not have been as vibrant on the radar (at the time or since).
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Throughout the book, Chapman does an enviable job of connecting the dots which relate to musical events in both the live performance realm and the release of specific recordings. Of course, a fair amount of time is spent on such artists as The Beatles and their turning (on) into the direction of pot and LSD and Pink Floyd’s areas of cerebral and sonic explorations.

But, as you’d expect in such and exhaustive cultural and musical survey, it’s the efforts of the countless minor figures that accounts for a great deal of the story. Some of the here today, gone tomorrow artists mentioned include The Drivin’ Stupid, Fe-Fi-Four Plus Two, The Factory, Jason Crest, Tintern Abbey etc… Of course, there are a lot of the more familiar bands like, Love, Moby Grape, The Incredible String Band, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead and other usual suspects.

To conclude the volume, the final section – Afterglow (Which Dreamed It?) – attempts to tie up some loose ends and reflects on the aftereffects.

For anyone with a keen interest in this era and specifically psychedelic music, this book stands as a well-researched and extremely detailed survey. It sent me scrambling to my music collection to find out if I had recordings of many of the songs mentioned on my various psych LP and CD collections. That’s usually the sign of a good book for me.

 

Hawkwind: Sonic Assassins by Ian Abrahams

I recently posted the following brief review of this book on Goodreads:

Quite a well researched book that would be enjoyed by any hardcore Hawkwind fan. I’m sort of glad that I waited to buy this one as the 2017 updated version brings the story up to date.

There are a couple of things that would have made the book a bit better. There are a number of black and white photos scattered throughout the book. They seem to be out of place. It may have been better to include them in their own section in the middle of the book. It’s also strange that Stacia who was an integral part of the band’s performance visuals is not pictured at all!

Although album releases are detailed during the normal course of the story, it would have been nice to have a thoroughly annotated discography at the end of the book. Sure, people can look up that stuff online. But, why not have it right there in your hands while you are reading the book?
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After posting the review, author Ian Abrahams dropped me a message with a useful link:

Thanks for the review, really appreciate it! For an annotated discography, have a look at the blog that’s associated with the book: http://sonicassassins-book.blogspot.c… as I’ll be continuing to post bits and pieces there that didn’t make it into the book itself.

 

Patti Smith – M Train

PattiSmith-book-MTrain

I think that I probably heard about Patti Smith around a year before she released here debut LP – Horses. It wasn’t long after that point that I saw her in concert at the Ford Auditorium in Detroit. It inspired me to track down a copy of her limited run single which was released some time before – Hey Joe / Piss Factory (Mer Records, 1,500 copies) – which also featured Television guitarist Tom Verlaine. I also bought her poetry books like Babel.

Her last book – Just Kids – was about her life with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe (who photographed Patti for the cover of Horses). M Train is a different animal to that tome.

In her latest book, Patti relates stories from various  moments in her life. She jumps around from event to event not taking any chronological approach. During the course of the many chapters, Mapplethorpe does not get a single mention… although Gumby does (really!).

Here, Patti talks about hanging around her favourite haunt – Cafe Ino – where she ponders life and jots down notes. During the course of the book, she travels around the globe both on her own and with others including her late husband Fred “Sonic” Smith (of MC5 fame). She talks of her life with Fred in Detroit and her travels with him.

Much of the time, Patti is fascinated with the lives and deaths of numerous writers. This brings her on journeys around the world including Japan.
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She also speaks of being involved with a rather secret society called the Continental Drift Club. It seems to be fine to reveal its secret nature since it is now defunct.

She talks about finding and purchasing a rather dilapidated property on Rockaway Beach. This event turns out to be rather bittersweet since it was one of the few properties in the area to survive a strike by Hurricane Sandy.

Patti relates all of her stories in a breezy manner which draws the reader into her often fascinating life adventures. Another excellent read, indeed.

PattiSmith-HeyJoe-Mer-US

 

Sandy Denny: Remembered Again

SandyDenny-book-IveAlwaysKeptaUnicorn

Sandy Denny was one of the richest voices to come out of the British music scene during the 1960s and ’70s. She was a person who was much admired and respected within her area of folk and folk-rock music. Unfortunately, at the time of her death in 1978 at the age of 31, the promise of her hard work seemed to never be fully realized.

Mick Houghton’s new book about the late British singer brings together impressive amounts of information which help to gain an insight into the events which shaped her path through her musical career.

Many surviving members of her inner circle of friends and fellow performers have been interviewed to provide an insight into her rise and fall. These include people like Richard and Linda Thompson, Al Stewart, Ralph McTell, John Renbourn and members of Fairport Convention. Archival interviews with many other people including her late parents are also mined for extra depth into her character.

Denny began singing in folk clubs when just barely into her mid-teens. She sang what were called floor spots. These were performances by young hopefuls whereby they could sing and play a few songs without having yet achieved the status of being a credited performer on the main stage. Eventually, she did move onto that stage where she succeeded in attracting the attention of the audience and other folk musicians.

The story traces her first recordings with other musicians such as Alex Campbell and Johnny Silvo to her move to join the Strawbs with Dave Cousins. Of course, the thing that may be of most interest to many people was her joining Fairport Convention as a replacement for singer Judy Dyble.

The pH less than 6.6 indicates whole body acidity and presumes that your pancreatic juice and bile become aggressive and best viagra pill irritated. This happens because of an absence of you can try this out price of viagra pills trust This occurs when team members are reluctant to be vulnerable with one another, and are thus unwilling to admit their mistakes, acknowledge their weaknesses or ask for help. As any health spehttp://amerikabulteni.com/2011/09/16/10-u-s-colleges-that-produce-the-best-husbands/ cheap viagrat will let you know, you can prevent premature ejaculation. buy viagra india Reports state that many people lack energy level or they suffer from low stamina or from fatigue. Her days in and out of Fairport are covered in lengthy detail and bring the experience to vivid life. This includes such events as the horrific van crash which took the life of drummer Martin Lamble and Richard Thompson’s then girlfriend Jeannie Franklyn. Fortunately, Denny was travelling in another van with Trevor Lucas and his bandmates from the group Eclection. However, that did not prevent her from feeling the scars of the tragic event.

Houghton artfully weaves the story dealing with Denny’s involvement with Fairport Convention, her departure to start her group Fotheringay and her time as a solo recording artist.

Her personal life and relationships are also covered in great detail. Both that personal life and her musical life were often victims to her own emotional ups and downs. Bouts of insecurity often seemed to derail her attempts to keep things both musical and personal on a steady track. The addition of heavy drinking and cocaine use also served to keep things off a productive path.

I’ve Always Kept a Unicorn (a line from Denny’s song entitled Solo) is a well documented and well paced book which helps to put Sandy Denny’s life and career into perspective nearly forty years after her death from a fall down the stairs.

This is essential reading for any fan of British folk music from that era.

(I’ve Always Kept a Unicorn by Mick Houghton is published by Faber & Faber, London)