Intrepid TNOP UK Music Correspondent Miles Gallagher reports that the long in the works documentary on noted English indie label Creation Records will actually be released soon after some aborted debut dates. Although the official Creation site last commented on the project back in November of last year, a new, extended trailer of the film, titled Upside Down, has now hit the internet (view it by clicking here).
For the uninitiated, Creation (with the memorable motto "Doing It For The Kids") was founded in London in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green and Joe Foster. It introduced the music listening public to such seminal bands as Primal Scream, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, and -- most notably -- Oasis. The former managing agent of Creation, Tim Abbot, revealed to The Guardian the label's unusual method of making sure new bands came on board: "We often used to drink and drug the bands into submission." In the most famous example of Oasis, after the initial bond formed, Abbot said, Noel Gallagher was frog-marched to the pub where, unsurprisingly, all involved got "stuck into a session." 1994's Definitely Maybe became a critical and commercial success, followed by (What's The Story) Morning Glory? which was the biggest selling British album of the '90s.
Despite the success of its prize band as well as others mentioned above, and even though half of the company was sold to Sony in 1992, Creation still lurched financially from one crisis to another. "We were always skint," said Abbot. "It was like spinning plates, we were always trying to dodge the bailiffs. It couldn't go on like that." Creation Records dissolved in 1999.
No word on whether a soundtrack will be released in conjunction with the documentary.
Here's a great way to start the new week: revisiting a Tom Waits appearance in 1977 on Fernwood 2Night. The TV show is a lost cult classic. Produced by Norman Lear, it was a summer replacement show that ran for three months. Martin Mull played fictional talk show host Barth Gimble and Fred Willard was his sidekick Jerry Hubbard. The memorable house band was Happy Kyne & The Mirth Makers.
In this episode, Waits plays his classic "The Piano Has Been Drinking" and then goes to the couch for an entertaining interview.
Nanci Griffith "Boots of Spanish Leather" Original Dylan version found on The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964)
This selection is a bookend to last week's choice (The Clancy Brothers' cover of "When The Ship Comes In") in that "Boots of Spanish Leather" is another track taken from Bob Dylan's 1964 album The Times They Are A-Changin'. In addition, the version by Texas singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith also had its roots in the 30th Anniversary Concert back on 12 October 1992.
In and around that time, Nanci Caroline Griffith was recording her tenth full-length record, to be titled Other Voices, Other Rooms. It was her first album of cover songs, and she had lined up an impressive array of musicians to play on songs written by indivduals who had most shaped her career and craft: Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Arlo Guthrie, Iris DeMent, Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, Allison Krauss, John Hartford, Leo Kottke - and Bob Dylan.
The version of "Boots of Spanish Leather" presented here is quite close to the original. But what makes it unique is Griffith's voice - not only its beauty and lilt, rambling down the road with a natural story-teller's ease, but also listening to the last three verses sung from a woman's perspective. Dylan's gentle background harmonica adds a subtle touch of grace to this intensely personal song between two lovers.
The resumption of the U2 360 Tour, which was to begin again on 3 June in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been indefinitely postponed. Lead singer Bono underwent emergency back surgery in Munich, Germany earlier today due to an injury sustained while rehearsing with the band.
Check out the official U2 site for an announcement by long-time band manager Paul McGuinness and further updates, including ticket information.
Could this be the hit song of the upcoming summer months? Already?
TNOP might put some money down at the window betting on Janelle Monae's single "Tightrope" to win, place and show.
A Kansas City native, the 25 year old Monae (born Janelle Monae Robinson) trained in musical theater in New York City. Forsaking the formal stage, she moved to Atlanta and was discovered by Outkast's Big Boi (he's featured briefly on the recording of "Tightrope").
And, man, is this young woman a dynamite performer. With James Brown dance moves, powerhouse pipes and a natural ease allowing her to improvise on stage like a seasoned pro, Monae commands rapt attention from the listener/viewer.
Do yourself a BIG favor and click above to watch Janelle Monae tear it up on The Late Show with David Letterman last night.
It also helps that Monae has the marketing muscle of Bad Boy/Atlantic Records behind her. The debut album, The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III of IV), dropped yesterday. The official video to "Tightrope" is a kick too; watch it here.
Happy Birthday to the Maximum R&B front man of The Who, Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend, born on this date in 1945 in Cheswick, London. The extensive use of feedback; the advent of the "Marshall stack;" the legendary windmill chord and on-stage leaps; arguable creation of the rock opera concept; and - oh, yeah - vanguard singer-songwriter: where's rock 'n roll without any of those? Well, that's Pete Townshend. Glad he didn't die before he got old.
Tighten Up (Part 1) b/w "Dog Eat Dog" Archie Bell & The Drells Written by Archie Bell & Billy Butler Ovide Records (later distributed by Atlantic Records) Released 1968
This story is about a regional group that had an "overnight" hit record with some strange twists along the way. Like the fact that the lead singer singing about a dance craze was shot in the leg while serving in Vietnam. And while recovering from his wounds, kept making calls overseas pleading with DJs to stop playing the "wrong side" of his group's record - the "A" side.
But let's allow the lead singer to begin the story, as he does on the "B" side that became a smash.
Hi everybody I'm Archie Bell of The Drells From Houston, Texas We don't only sing but we dance Just as good as we walk In Houston we just started a new dance Called the Tighten Up This is the music We tighten up with
Archie Bell formed a group with four friends from high school in 1966. They called themselves "The Drells," a derivative of Archie's family name. Having won some local talent shows, The Drells' first champion was local DJ Skipper Lee Frazier. In 1967, the five young men recorded "Dog Eat Dog" for Frazier's Ovide Records. The flip side was a dance number called "Tighten Up."
Fate intervened (for good and for bad, it turns out). The Vietnam War was raging in the South Pacific. Bell was drafted and immediately inducted into the army. According to one version that has been passed around (and perhaps perpetuated by the singer himself), when he was sworn in, Bell raised his right hand in a black power salute and was answered with a one-way ticket to the platoon facing the worst of the fighting at the time.
Wounded in the leg by gunfire in Vietnam, Bell was sent to recover in Germany. While convalescing, he was advised by other members of the group that "Dog Eat Dog" was getting some significant airplay in Houston, and, of all places, New York City. He took to the long distance lines, calling DJs and telling them that they were playing the "wrong side" of the 45, even though "Dog Eat Dog" was - per custom in the days of the two-sided single - designated as the "A" side for promotional play.
The badgering of radio jocks worked. "Tighten Up" sold 800,000 copies in the New York metropolitan area alone, and over 3 million copies in the US. It hit Number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B singles charts the week of May 18, 1968, only to be knocked off its perch by Simon & Garfunkel ("Mrs. Robinson") and Stevie Wonder ("Shoo-Be-Doo-Da-Day"), respectively.
Bell's explanation for how "Tighten Up" was written is a fairly direct one, not uncommon to many records of the time: a simple suggestion or observation. In this case, group member Billy Butler was dancing around backstage before a show. Bell told him that he didn't recognize the dance steps. Butler replied, "It's a brand new dance called the 'Tighten Up'." Bell took it from there, creating a unique call and response between the vocalist and the drums, bass and organ, no doubt influenced by the great James Brown's dominance of the soul charts during the '60s. From there he upped the ante: Bell recruited some horn players from Texas Southern University ("the Tornadoes") to pop the melody together with syncopated hand claps.
The result is a stone cold classic that instinctively makes you turn up the car radio as soon as you hear the first guitar chord. Or get up off your feet in the living room, because "everybody can do it" - The Tighten Up.
Why should we go out when the internet's always on? TNOP brings you news from the music world outside . . .
Claudia Roth Pierpont reviews Harvey G. Cohen's new work Duke Ellington's America, which tackles the elusive link of the American master's compositions with the omnipresent subject of race in the US.
For those who dig Everything But The Girl and her vocal guest spots with Massive Attack, you'll be pleased that vocalist Tracey Thorn has returned with a fine solo effort, released this past week. Thorn talks with The Alternate Side about the new CD, Love And Its Opposite. You also get some live performance from her home with the bonus of checking out her kids' art work. And NPR is streaming all of Love And Its Oppositefor your sampling pleasure.
Unless you've been away from all things media, the re-release of The Rolling Stones' Exile On Main St. has been everywhere. TNOP has waded through alot of media hype and recommends the three pieces that Greg Kot contributed to his Turn It Up blog: separate interviews with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, as well as a retrospective review of the classic double LP itself.
Jim Carroll of The Irish Times catches up with James Murphy in Spain. But he;s supposed to be in Dublin playing some shows. Seems volcanic ash got in the way. Is Murphy grumpy or is This Is Happening really the last LCD Soundsystem album?
The Black Cab Sessions recently shipped their well-travelled vehicle overseas to pick up some notables at SXSW. Laura Marling was among them, and she provided a fine version of her "Rambling Man" from the new CD I Speak Because I Can. And her show in Boston the other night also earned a rave review.
Devastated recently by flood waters, The Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville is cleaning up building damage and trying to salvage priceless artifacts.
Psyched for the upcoming summer festival season? The Times of London offers its "definitive guide to the top 100 music festivals" large and small, not only in the UK but Europe and the US as well.
The Clancy Brothers & Robbie O'Connell with Tommy Makem "When The Ship Comes In" Original Dylan version found on The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964)
The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration in honor of Bob Dylan's 30 years in the music business was held on 16 October 1992 at New York's Madison Square Garden. Famously dubbed "BobFest" by Neil Young, the star-studded affair featured artists performing exclusively Dylan compositions, including Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, Lou Reed, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and George Harrison.
But amongst the musical firepower, an unassuming - and probably to the majority in the audience, unknown - group of middle-aged men almost stole the show.
The Irish folk singers Liam Clancy (tenor) and Tommy Makem (baritone) had been admired by Dylan since his early days in Greenwich Village. On this occasion, the two singers trade initial verses on "When The Ship Comes In," and then are joined in harmony by Liam's brothers Bobby and Paddy as well as nephew Robbie O'Connell. The choice is apt, as both the melody and lyrics fit the classic mold of an Irish rebel song.
After the lights were dimmed at the Garden, the after-party was held at Tommy Makem's Irish Pavilion on West 57th. Makem was coaxed onto the stage near the bar and sang songs he had recorded with The Clancy Brothers that were favorites of Dylan's.
All the Clancy Brothers have since passed away. Tommy Makem, too. Their cover of "When The Ship Comes In" is an important and historical recording, enhanced because it was captured on video as well.
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The appreciation of this anthem was late in coming for me. "When The Ship Comes In" is not a song to be found on any of the Dylan Greatest Hits or Biograph. I had seen snippets of newsreel footage from The March On Washington taken in August 1963 with Dylan singing at the podium with Joan Baez. Later I found out that this was the song they were performing; the tune had supposedly been written a few weeks earlier. According to both Baez and once girlfriend Suze Rotolo, Dylan had written the song inspired by a hotel incident and then fit the words to a melody influenced by Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht.
Intrepid TNOP UK Music Correspondent Miles Gallagher reports that the long in the works documentary on noted English indie label Creation Records will actually be released soon after some aborted debut dates. Although the official Creation site last commented on the project back in November of last year, a new, extended trailer of the film, titled Upside Down, has now hit the internet (view it by clicking here).
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