Sunday, 8 September 2013

Bob Dylan live in 1976 - A spirited 'Idiot Wind'

From the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour - the stadium tour rather than the small club tour featured in Scorsese's movie - this clip, while not of the greatest visual quality, packs a punch on the musical front.

The recording is from a TV special aired in September 1976 but dating from May 23 in Fort Collins, Colorado. It was the penultimate show of the Rolling Thunder tour. Reviews at the time noted how the initial charm of Dylan's travelling show had largely worn off. But this performance is a spirited delivery of the song, that captures the anger of the recorded version very well. It's great to see Dylan relishing the chance to deliver the song and really investing the lyrics with the requisite bite.

Idiot Wind is the centrepiece from side one on Bob's 1975 album 'Blood On The Tracks'; a tale of a man misunderstood, interwoven with bitterness and personal attacks on a former lover. With typical obtuseness, Dylan denies the lyrics are in any way autobiographical, but it is very hard to believe that, given the proximity to his first break up with wife Sara, and the sheer bile he invests in the lyrics.

This performance was also released as part of the Hard Rain live album. Apart from bassist and band leader Rob Stoner, the band at this late stage of the tour consisted of T-Bone Burnett, Steven Soles and David Mansfield on guitar, Scarlet Rivera on violin and Gary Burke on drums.



Someone's got it in for me
They're planting stories in the press
Whoever it is I wish they'd cut it out quick
But when they will I can only guess
They say I shot a man named Gray
And took his wife to Italy
She inherited a million bucks
And when she died it came to me
I can't help it if I'm lucky

People see me all the time
And they just can't remember how to act
Their minds are filled with big ideas
Images and distorted facts
Even you, yesterday
You had to ask me where it was at
I couldn't believe after all these years
You didn't know me better than that
Sweet lady

Idiot wind
Blowing every time you move your mouth
Blowing down the back roads headin' south
Idiot wind
Blowing every time you move your teeth
You're an idiot, babe
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe

I ran into the fortune-teller
Who said, "beware of lightning that might strike"
I haven't known peace and quiet
For so long I can't remember what it's like
There's a lone soldier on the cross
Smoke pourin' out of a boxcar door
You didn't know it, you didn't think it could be done
In the final end he won the wars
After losin' every battle

I woke up on the roadside
Daydreamin' 'bout the way things sometimes are
Visions of your chestnut mare
Shoot through my head and are makin' me see stars
You hurt the ones that I love best
And cover up the truth with lies
One day you'll be in the ditch
Flies buzzin' around your eyes
Blood on your saddle


Idiot wind
Blowing through the flowers on your tomb
Blowing through the curtains in your room
Idiot wind
Blowing every time you move your teeth
You're an idiot, babe
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe



It was gravity which pulled us down
And destiny which broke us apart
You tamed the lion in my cage
But it just wasn't enough to change my heart
Now everything's a little upside down
As a matter of fact the wheels have stopped
What's good is bad, what's bad is good
You'll find out when you reach the top
You're on the bottom

I noticed at the ceremony
Your corrupt ways had finally made you blind
I can't remember your face anymore
Your mouth has changed
Your eyes don't look into mine
The priest wore black on the seventh day
And sat stone-faced while the building burned
I waited for you on the running boards
Near the cypress trees, while the springtime turned
Slowly into autumn

Idiot wind
Blowing like a circle around my skull
From the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol
Idiot wind
Blowing every time you move your teeth
You're an idiot, babe
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe


I can't feel you anymore
I can't even touch the books you've read
Every time I crawl past your door
I been wishin' I was somebody else instead
Down the highway, down the tracks
Down the road to ecstasy
I followed you beneath the stars
Hounded by your memory
And all your ragin' glory

I been double-crossed now
For the very last time and now I'm finally free
I kissed goodbye the howling beast
On the borderline which separated you from me
You'll never know the hurt I suffered
Nor the pain I rise above
And I'll never know the same about you
Your holiness or your kind of love
And it makes me feel so sorry

Idiot wind
Blowing through the buttons of our coats
Blowing through the letters that we wrote
Idiot wind
Blowing through the dust upon our shelves
We're idiots, babe
It's a wonder we can even feed ourselves


- Bob Dylan
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Sunday, 4 August 2013

Ferry and Eno - 40 years on....

Far removed from the leopardskin and bacofoil beginnings of Roxy Music in 1972, Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno are now advertising luxury brands. It seems their rivalry stretches down the years in mysterious ways.
Viewed from a passing taxi in the Central district of Hong Kong this week, there, on giant billboards are the two Roxy rivals vying for our attention as they have done ever since Roxy's breakthrough. Across the road from the hotel itself, Ferry is one of the featured 'fans' in a billboard ad for the Mandarin Oriental, while a matter of yards further along, Eno is seen beseeching us to consume Dunhill's wares.
In 1972, Roxy were a publicist's dream, with their exotic costumes, slicked-back hair and distinctive musical hybrid. They played up to that other-worldliness to the extent I can vividly recall a Radio 1 'Newsbeat' report that the band's synth wizard Eno was actually from Mars. Although by his own admission he was only semi-literate in a musical sense, Eno's flamboyant costumes were the focal point for the band. Look at any photo of them in their early days and Eno is at the forefront. The picture here of them on stage in 1972 shows how the audience's attention was drawn towards Eno.
Bryan Ferry is a fan of the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
It worked to their advantage when they were trying to establish themselves, but ultimately, it threatened to steal the spotlight away from Ferry, the band's undeniable leader since he wrote and sang all the songs. In retrospect, given their phenomenal output, Eno's departure from Roxy was inevitable. It is arguable which of them has had the more lasting influence, and frankly it doesn't matter, they have both produced great work over a long and, certainly in Eno's case, varied career. Roxy Music couldn't hope to contain two such big musical egos, and over the years we have been fortunate to hear what each of them, unfettered by the other, has been able to produce. In spite of his musical limitations, Eno must have added something to the Roxy sound, because those first two albums on which he appears have a distinctive vibe. And he proved his worth in his subsequent solo career, right from the off with his first album Here Come The Warm Jets and the hit single Seven Deadly Fins. His early ambient records, the Berlin albums with David Bowie, the collaborations with Robert Fripp, David Byrne, Daniel Lanois and others are all major landmarks in recorded music. Ferry has the edge in terms of being a traditonal songwriter and live performer, as well as being the pioneer of a distinctive style with Roxy that was quite unique. He still tours and although I haven't seen him live since 2005, at that time he delivered a surprisingly rocking show, driven on by the ever-dependable Paul Thompson on drums (announced by Ferry in time-honoured fashion as 'the Great Paul Thompson') with a twin guitar line-up of Chris Spedding and Mick Green, Lucy Wilkins on violin playing the Eddie Jobson solo from Out Of The Blue note for note. It was a fantastic gig, but the most remarkable thing about it was that Mick Green, the veteran guitarist from The Pirates, having just played a blistering solo,
And a few yards along the road, Brian Eno endorses Dunhill
collapsed, just fell over, like a tall tree, guitar still strapped to him. At first we thought it must be a joke, but after a few moments road crew appeared and a couple of doctors from the audience ran down to the front. Green had suffered a heart attack, from which he recovered (he's since died). Green was dragged off-stage and Ferry gave the scene a quick glance but the show carried on without missing a beat. No mention was made of it. On with the show, eh?
So cast your mind back to that wonderful period in 1972 when Glam was the new sensation and Roxy appeared on Top Of The Pops. One of the most exciting TV music moments ever.

Virginia Plain - Top Of The Pops, 1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gJIH6cOMPs

Re-Make Re-Model - Royal College of Art, 1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWhzG9cQGgc

Ladytron - Old Grey Whistle Test, 1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44VEfWgbLSE&list=PL6C0142F66F552D65

Do The Strand - OGWT, 1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YzB70L5g-4

Editions of You - Montreux, 1973
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgHv9NCgyy0&list=PL6C0142F66F552D65

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Saturday, 3 August 2013

Robin Trower - crossing the Bridge of Sighs

The rock trio format produced many great bands in the 1960s and 70s, from Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience through Rory Gallagher’s bands, the early Thin Lizzy with Eric Bell and - one of my personal favourites - the Robin Trower Band.

Trower had been a member of Procol Harum, demonstrating a versatile blues guitar style on albums including Home and Broken Barricades.  

His first post-Procol band, Jude evolved into the three-piece Robin Trower Band. Their first album Twice Removed from Yesterday established the blues rock blueprint they refined through the 1970s.
Early days of the RT band, with Reg Isidore (right)


Trower's guitar playing drew instant attention because of the similarities in tone and intensity with Jimi Hendrix. The early comparisons with Jimi were valid to some extent.

The RT sound did borrow from the master. Perhaps the most obvious early example was the Procol Harum track Song For A Dreamer, which carries much of the same feel and atmosphere as Jimi's songs like 1983... and Are You Experienced. But Trower was soon able to demonstrate that he had his own individual style. He was genuinely trying to forge a new direction for the rock trio and, as Charles Shaar Murray’s review of their second album Bridge of Sighs indicates, Trower was able to win people over with the sheer force of his playing.

CSM's review states: "Trower and his sidemen seem to give the evoking of an atmosphere very high priority, which means that unless you’re prepared to sit down and listen hard, you’re going to miss the point completely. By pursuing a direction totally unlike that of any other three-piece guitar-led band, Trower may well be cutting himself off from a large number of potential listeners who are only interested in guitar pyrotechnics of the kind he is quite capable of playing if he so desires. However, what he is doing here is ultimately far more valuable."
The NME review of  'Bridge of Sighs' from 1973




























"It's just a bit of a yawn," said Robin at the time, with regard to the Hendrix comparisons: "I guess it gives people something to talk about. People like to put you in a pigeonhole if they're uncertain. Maybe it makes it easier for people to accept what I'm doing, the Hendrix thing gives them something to hold on to."

Of course, the Trower sound had another key ingredient – the smooth soulful voice of bass player Jimmy Dewar who, along with drummer Reg Isidore provided the dynamic backing on the first two RT band albums. Dewar was undoubtedly one of the great British vocalists and his contribution was crucial in making their albums and live shows so memorable.

This video clip shows what a silky smooth voice can really add in a rock context. It's an early version of Day Of The Eagle (from Bridge of Sighs) filmed in France and with different lyrics.
Isidore was muscular and frenetic - a key part of the band in the early days. But he was maybe a little too loose for Trower’s liking. Robin said at the time of the third album For Earth Below, when Bill Lordan joined, “'Reggie just started to drift a bit. I run a very tight ship”. And so in came the tall blond American Lordon, who had previously played with Sly Stone and had jammed with Hendrix.

Trower said they all knew when they got together that he was the right choice: “It was classic! He knew he was right for us before we did. He'd been into us from the time the first album came out and he's been trying to get hold of me ever since, cause he knew he was The Drummer. He phoned me up and said, 'I'm the guy you want. Don't listen to anybody else.' And he was right. He was absolutely perfect.”
My vantage point for Robin Trower at the Reading Festival in August 1975

The RTB were one of the best live bands I ever saw. And that run of albums, from Twice Removed… through Bridge of Sighs, For Earth Below and Long Misty Days were constants on my record deck at the time. I saw them live a few times, notably at the Reading Festival in 1975, when they provided the high point of the Sunday afternoon.

I have this memory of the crowd getting in such a frenzy – it was a sunny afternoon at the end of what had been a typically sodden weekend (it poured down during the headline set by Yes on the Saturday night) and a kind of delirium came over the crowd during Trower’s set. At the climax of one of the songs, a great wave of cheering could be heard as a (good-natured) rubbish fight broke out across a no-man’s land puddle of mud in the middle of the crowd. I just remember this cloud of paper and empty bottles suspended in the air, the crowd seemingly spurred on by the excitement of the music.

The BBC recorded the band for an In Concert show in early 1975, but then ruined the recording by releasing it on CD in the mid-1990s with fake crowd noise. I have the original, recorded off the radio in 1975, and Trower is incredible.

It’s an old-fashioned ‘wireless’ recording, from the radio onto a Phillips portable cassette recorder, complete with Pete Drummond’s between song announcements. I've never heard a better version of Daydream. It’s a must for any fans of the classic era Trower band. The band are at the top of their game, Trower's tone and fluid soloing have rarely been captured so consistently in one show.

Apart from the version of Daydream, highlights for me are the new song Gonna Be More Suspicious which really jumps out of the speakers on the BBC version. Lady Love crackles with intensity. Too Rolling Stoned was an instant classic. Below is my recording of Daydream, and here is a version of the In Concert program from a more recent CD release of Trower's BBC sessions. The January '75 show starts at 1hr:25mins.

I saw the RTB again at the Hammersmith Odeon on the tour promoting Long Misty Days. Trower provided a jaw-dropping volume on the title track with its wall-of-guitar intro. Although he has continued to make records to this day, his reputation rests on that golden period in the mid 70s and the trio format with Jimmy Dewar on vocals.

Dewar sadly died in 2002, but Robin Trower can still be seen on the gig circuit playing the classic material. In 2005, when I saw him playing at the Mean Fiddler in London, the volume knob was still way up at 11. He began the set with a terrific rendition of Too Rolling Stoned. What amazes me about this clip is that my camera was able to process the sound so well. It really was very loud.   

 
Robin Trower Band - Reading Festival, 23rd August 1975
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAoVe9CvCHM

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Saturday, 27 July 2013

From Pinner to LA - Elton's big breakthrough, 1970

As a depiction of how you can go from being a pop fan to a pop idol in the blink of an eye, the story of how Elton John and Bernie Taupin went from sitting in the crowd at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival watching Bob Dylan, to being ushered into Dylan’s presence at an LA club a few months later, is hard to beat.

In 1970, Elton was living at his mother’s house in Pinner, a suburb west of London. with his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. He was frustrated at their lack of success and had considered giving it all up and becoming a session pianist.

His recent album Elton John, had failed to capture the British public’s imagination, but it had gained a measure of recognition in America, where Elton was considered a new talent to match the singer songwriters of LA’s Laurel Canyon.

Russ Regan, an LA-based A&R man, picked up on the airplay the Elton John album was getting and wanted to bring Elton, drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray out to LA. Troubadour club owner Doug Weston agreed to give them a six night residency.

Having never been to America, but having worshipped its music from afar, Elton and Bernie went from the obscurity of a suburban living room in Pinner to the very centre of the music business in one move.
Elton and Bernie Taupin in 1970

Their opening night at the Troubadour, with Quincy Jones, Mike Love and Henry Mancini in the crowd, was the moment that changed Elton and Bernie’s lives forever.

The audience had come to hear the new British balladeer. Before the show Neil Diamond took the stage and introduced Elton: “Folks, I’ve never done this before, so please be kind to me. I’m like the rest of you; I’m here because of having listened to Elton John’s album. So I’m going to take my seat with you now and enjoy the show.”

Elton himself recalled: “It was very hot and smoky and a great vibe. We came on; I was in flying boots and hotpants and did (a heavy version of) Sixty Years On. They weren’t expecting it. They thought it was going to be a low-key thing, because the music on the Elton John album was very orchestral. But with a three-piece band, we went out and did the songs completely differently and just blew everyone away. We knew halfway through the show that we were on fire.”

I have discovered some rare footage from 1971 of the trio playing Sixty Years On, which shows perfectly how they beefed-up the songs; Elton pounding the piano, Nigel using mallets with gusto on the drums while Dee uses his bass like a lead guitar.

On the second night at the Troubadour, Elton had looked up to see another hero, Leon Russell staring straight at him: “I nearly shat myself”. Then, one night at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, Elton and Bernie were led to a booth for an audience with Bob Dylan himself.

Elton told Mojo magazine: "Dylan said he loved the song My Father’s Gun, from Tumbleweed Connection. Bernie and I were petrified. Dylan has an aura about him. It’s not frightening, it’s just - foo, blimey."
Melody Maker Sept 5th 1970 notes Elton's success in LA
Having seen the Troubadour show, Robert Hilburn, music critic for the Los Angeles Times, wrote: “Tuesday night at the Troubadour was just the beginning. He’s going to be one of rock’s biggest and most important stars.”

But much like the Stax artists who toured Britain in the 60s as major stars, only to return to the US as nobodies, back in London, Elton's career moved slowly forward.

Record sales remained sluggish, but that all changed in February 1971, when his label DJM released Your Song from Elton John as a single. A whole different phenomenon was about to begin – the era of Elton as a pop star in the UK.

With a run of hit singles in 1971 and '72 - Honky Cat, Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, Daniel etc, Elton found himself increasingly part of the developing Glam Rock scene, along with T. Rex, David Bowie and Roxy Music. This played well with his natural flamboyance on stage, and the costumes became more outrageous.
Front page of Melody Maker 1973

In contrast, his reputation in the US grew on the strength of his albums, particularly the ersatz Americana of Tumbleweed Connection and the Laurel Canyon songwriter vibe of Madman Across The Water.

In the UK, his albums from 1972’s Don’t’ Shoot Me, I’m Only The Piano Player onwards sold well, but his earlier albums such as Tumbleweed and Madman, both full of great songs, did not get the attention they deserved at the time, nor probably even today from record buyers in the UK.
The elaborate lyric books that came with Elton's early 70s LPs

For more insight into how good those early shows were, the album 17-11-70 captures a live radio broadcast in New York that year. Also worth checking out, for the sheer power of their performance, is the Cleveland Music Hall show on 26th November 1970, available at the Concert Vault website - http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/elton-john/concerts/music-hall-cleveland-november-26-1970.html

It's easy to see why he created such a buzz in America. He demanded your attention and rightly so - these are powerful performances.
With his mother and stepfather in Pinner, 1971

Pinner happens to be my hometown too, though Elton is significantly older than me and our paths have never crossed. When he was making the journey to LA for his big breakthrough, I was about to enter my second year of high school. One of the first singles I bought was Rocket Man.

To conclude this piece, here's another example of how Elton's life changed so dramatically in 1970. Every year, Pinner has its May Fair. In his diary for May 1969, Elton wrote, “Went to Pinner Fair with Mick and Pat. I won a coconut and two goldfish!" He called them John and Yoko.

Wind forward five years and Elton played a key role in reuniting the real John and Yoko after their brief separation. During this period, Elton collaborated with Lennon on the song Whatever Gets You Through The Night.

“My life has been incredible,” he says now.

Here are a few additional links:
An early performance of 'Amoreena' from the US tour in 1970
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnzuL-xCX0U

Elton talks about songwriting with Bernie and the breakthrough gigs at The Troubadour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=javNC9znQQA

Elton rehearsing with Nigel and Dee, 1970
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-bnX1d1s7Y

Full performance of Sixty Years On in 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEgE0ojgRi4

Elton in the throes of writing 'Tiny Dancer', 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbZmPdu8Vko

Performance of 'Levon' for BBC TV, 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mire1WJKdR8

Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters, 1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrOu0oc9aB4

See also on this blog, Elton John and Rod Stewart at Watford FC, 1974
https://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2012/10/elton-and-rod-at-watford-fc-1974.html

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