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Tina

Saw her twice in this period. I made chums with Tina’s back up singer from Georgia whom I met in London 1986 (via his girlfriend who’d I met at Chemical Bank in the Strand) and who’d come over with the I+TB supporting the Stones in ’69. (He introduced me to James Brown). I saw Tina front…

California Dreamin’

Here are two very different superb interpretations — the first by Baby Huey; the second by Bobby Womack. These guys so easily and classily rework a classic song squeezing out new nuances. Isaac Hayes and Rod Stewart also had this ability, something that most covers these days fail to do. Both BW and IH reinterpret Bacharach &…

The Killer and Rodders

From the album of duets entitled Last Man Standing. Strictly speaking Jerry is not alone – “Fats” is still with us and had a hit well before the others. Song List: Rock and Roll (with Jimmy Page) Before the Night is Over (with B.B. King) Pink Cadillac (with Bruce Springsteen) Evening Gown (with Mick Jagger…

Bowie’s back

The Economist pretty much captures the bind that Bowie has faced over his career. The man who retains the longest stretch of creativity in rock music (1971-1980) blew it by trying to keep cutting edge. With his genuinely great crooning voice he could have out done Rod Stewart’s American Songbook by a mile, but instead…

Bryan Ferry’s “The Jazz Age”

Brian Ferry has a new album out. Ferry is of course not new to exploring his parents’ and grandparents’ music: he has dabbling quite convincingly long before it became a fashionable late-career move by some (i.e. Rod Stewart). Ferry, I think, did a damn fine job of  playing the crooner on his first two solo…

Books of Interest on Amazon

I notice that Rodders’ autobiography is released today, not surprisingly, already #113 on Amazon. I hope it’s as cracking a read as Keef’s book released two years ago. I also notice that A Companion to Michael Oakeshott is doing exceedingly well (#115,780) which for a purely academic book is pretty darn amazing (assuming of course…