Sunday 5 February 2012

Headlines and charts from Melody Maker, May 1971

It's May 1971, Andy Williams is top of the album charts and the front page of the MM announces that the legendary Fillmore rock venues in San Francisco and New York are to close.

Promoter Bill Graham says he refuses to pay the increasingly high prices being charged by the top groups for what he sees as a decline in the quality of the music.

The front page on May 8 1971 also has details of a European tour by Rod Stewart & The Faces, including an appearance at the Crystal Palace Garden Party in August.

In the 'Pop 30', Double Barrel by Dave and Ansil Collins retains the top spot but Tony Orlando and Dawn are knocking at the door (or is it the ceiling?).

The Stones are at 3 with Brown Sugar, while T. Rex's first big hit has peaked. There's some classic singles in there, and this being the singles chart, some odd ones too. The album chart is quite impressive for the sheer number of classic rock albums in the list.

American soul artists did very well in the singles charts throughout the late 60s and early 70s, including these gems from this week in 1971.



The Fantastics – SomethingOld, Something New

What's interesting at this time is how different the British albums charts are from the US charts. Bands like Three Dog Night, Grand Funk, Chicago, Brewer & Shipley didn't make any impression in the UK.


Good to see The Yes Album, my favourite of theirs, riding high in the UK album charts, alongside Jethro Tull's Aqualung.  

Elton John was making his first breakthrough in the UK at this time (on the back of Your Song) with three albums in the British charts.

Interesting, then, that on page 8 (below) in MM's news from America, it says that Elton is struggling to sell tickets. "Elton is dead in New York," says an unnamed observer.

Page 8 of Melody Maker starts by noting the popularity of the all-girl band Fanny and the news that a film about Jimi Hendrix, called Rainbow Bridge is about to be released. Further down the page , there's a report about The Doors having abandoned all future plans to tour. The report says, "Jim Morrison can be reached right now somewhere in France."  And sadly for Jim, he died there two months later.

Here's a couple of gig reviews from this week


In the letters page, the jury is still out on whether Led Zeppelin's new acoustic direction (on LZ III) is going down well with the fans. "Please leave the gentle songs to people like The Strawbs," says one. Further down, Stevie Wonder is referred to as an "abominable popcorn merchant". On the left of the page, John Peel gets a kicking for his criticism of Deep Purple. The letter says, "By dismissing groups like Deep Purple, ELP and more recently CSN&Y and at the same time applauding musical dullards like Medicine Head, Bridget St. John, Ron Geesin, Brinsley Schwartz etc, John Peel is influencing the hard-core of his non-musical followers with his worthless opinions."

Friday 3 February 2012

A Night With John Lennon - The Fab Faux at Radio City Music Hall

In 2010, while on a business trip to New York, I witnessed a unique show in celebration of John Lennon's life and music. It was billed as ‘The Fab Faux present A Night In The Life’. If you have heard them at all, you will know the Fab Faux, led by bassist Will Lee, recreate the Beatles songs extremely faithfully.

I had seen the show advertised on the web, when I did my usual pre-trip check of what's on. This is the same trip where I saw the open-air show by Zappa Plays Zappa at the unveiling of an FZ statue In Baltimore. 

For the Lennon show, the added attraction was the venue, Radio City Music Hall, a marvellous art deco theatre in midtown Manhattan.

The show started boldly with the song that signalled a new psychedelic direction for The Beatles - the last track on Revolver, 'Tomorrow Never Knows'. The Fab Faux successfully recreated the tape effects and vocal distortions (using a megaphone) of the original. 
 
Their attention to detail is legendary. The resonating guitar intro to 'I Feel Fine' was perfectly executed. Flutes were present and correct at the end of 'You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away'.

Equally impressive was their ability to convey an intensity to match Lennon’s original performances. In particular, drummer Rich Pagano did a convincing job on the ‘Mama don’t go, Daddy come home’ section of 'Mother'.
Augmented by the Hogshead Horns and the Crème Tangerine strings, the Fabs got the measure of the psychedelic (trippy strings on 'I Am The Walrus') and the abstract (Happiness Is A Warm Gun). 
 
The Nutopia Choir added gorgeous backing to 'Across The Universe' and an immaculate 'Instant Karma'. The show reached a final crescendo with 'Revolution' followed by A 'Day In The Life'.

It was a remarkable tribute, capturing the spirit of each distinctive period of Lennon's musical life. Everyone knows this music intimately, so it's a brave group that will try to recreate it. The Fab Faux do a fantastic job. If you ever get the chance, go and see them perform. 

Had he lived it's quite possible John may not have attained such musical heights as he did in the 1960s and 70s. But I think he would have been a force for positive change in other ways. In any case, it was emotional, to see these classic songs brought to life and to be reminded that their creator was such an amazing and unique talent. 

Here is the complete set list:

Tomorrow Never Knows  /   Whatever gets you through the night  /  Nowhere Man
Across The Universe  /   I’m A Loser  /  Come Together  /  Norwegian Wood  / I Feel Fine
You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away  /  Watching The Wheels   /   Strawberry Fields Forever  /   
No Reply  /  Happiness Is A Warm Gun  /  Rain  /  Cold Turkey  / I Want You (She’s So Heavy)

Interlude: The (original) Quarrymen: Maggie Mae

Working Class Hero   /  Mother /  Power To The People   /   Instant Karma   /   Because
Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite  /  Help!  /   Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds   /  Jealous Guy   /    
Mind Games  /  I Am The Walrus  / Yer Blues /   In My Life  /  Imagine  / Revolution  /   A Day In The Life

Encore: All You Need Is Love  /  Give Peace A Chance
 



 In Central Park West, across the road from the Dakota Building, is a small area dedicated to John, Strawberry Fields.
Also on this blog:

LIFE magazine reports on 'The New Far-out Beatles', 1967
https://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2021/01/life-reports-on-new-far-out-beatles.html

At Home With the Lennons, 1967
https://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2014/08/at-home-with-lennons-1967.html