Ballads, Blues & Bluegrass

Here's a link to an interesting piece in the new Oxford American magazine about the Alan Lomax documentary - Ballads, Blues & Bluegrass that has just been released for the first time on DVD.

http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2013/may/14/issue-80-snacks-snacks-snacks/

The Music Book Reader Bulletin at Caught By The River

And here's a link to my latest review for The Music Book Reader Bulletin.....

http://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2013/03/the-music-book-reader-bulletin-10/

Harold Battiste Jr & Ernie K-Doe

Believe it or not there are still a good many books about music that originate in the U.S. and are never published here in the UK. Wherever possible I will try and draw attention to these books that deserve a wider audience. Here's a review, by Joe Nick Patoski in the new issue of the Oxford American magazine, of two books that will be of great interest to devotees of New Orleans music......

http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2013/mar/22/book-review-unfinished-blues-and-ernie-k-doe/

Wild Geese That Fly With The Moon On Their Wings

1. Slim Chance at the Square & Compass, Ashill, Somerset.
   This is normally the kind of gig I would steer well clear of. Slim Chance without Ronnie Lane? But I really do love his records, not just for the songs and his delivery, but also for the musicians he had backing him and the wonderful collective spirit they brought to the music. When I learned that this version of Slim Chance includes Steve Simpson, Charlie Hart, Steve Bingham, Alun Davies and Colin Davey I decided it was worth a look and a listen. One of the most enjoyable gigs I've been to in years. Their rendition of Ooh La La brought a lump to my throat.
2. The Passing Show – film about Ronnie Lane.
   Affectionate and moving tribute.
3. The Island Review - “an online magazine dedicated to great writing and visual art that comes from, is inspired by, celebrates or seeks to understand the extraordinary appeal of islands, as places and as metaphors.” www.theislandreview.com.
4. An Antidote To Indifference No.5.
   Caught By The River's printed 'fanzine' although this stylish issue is a proper magazine, beautifully produced, and is a collection of people's favourite posts from the past year. The quality of the writing is impeccable.
5. Landfill Harmonic. An orchestra of young people in Paraguay playing instruments made from rubbish. Inspired and inspiring. See the video here : http://vimeo.com/52711779
6. Books, Baguettes & Bedbugs by Jeremy Mercer.
   Amusing and poignant reminiscences of Mercer's time living and working at the renowned Paris book store Shakespeare & Company. He weaves the history of this eccentric establishment into his narrative and had me researching for more information. And at a time when independent book stores everywhere are in danger of extinction this book is as compelling an argument for their continued support as I can think of.
7. The Paris Magazine.
   I discovered this via the Shakespeare & Company web-site. It started in 1967, there have been just four issues, and the latest one was published in June 2010! Looks really good though.
8. Harry Dean Stanton – Partly Fiction
   A documentary film about the great actor from last year which has had very limited release. Not available on DVD here yet. Here's the official trailer to whet your appetite – www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2-QZ35P_yY.
   I once saw Harry Dean Stanton singing a couple of Mexican songs from his Paris, Texas period with Ry Cooder's band.
9. Sid Griffin & The Dreaming Spires perform the music of David Crosby.
   For anyone, like me, who considers Crosby's first solo album, If I Could Only Remember My Name, a masterpiece this is irresistible. Griffin has played only one date so far, at The Lexington in London in early February, but he would love to play more. This clip gives you a good idea of what you could expect. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nus6m0vAsJ0
10. New issue of The Blizzard.
    Issue eight is out now and has the usual mix of in-depth features on world football the likes of which you won't find anywhere else. So far I've read Philippe Auclair's interview with Brian Glanville and Roy Henderson's article on Mourinho's Cult of Personality. As The Blizzard is a quarterly I have to ration myself.

STONE FREE

Stone Free by Andrew Loog Oldham (Escargot Books)
This is the third volume of Loog Oldham’s memoirs and it focuses on the impressive line-up of hustlers or “pimpressarios” with whom it has been (mostly) his good fortune to have had dealings with. As an infamous hustler himself he is well qualified to expound on the lives of these rogues (nearly all of them artist managers) and almost manages to elevate their frequently suspect behaviour into an art form. If you’ve read and enjoyed Stoned and 2Stoned you’ll recognize here the barbed wit and hilarious turn of phrase that made those books so noteworthy. Loog Oldham is a born raconteur and he writes like a dream. His fondness and respect for these characters (we’re talking Larry Parnes, Albert Grossman, Brian Epstein, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, Malcolm McLaren, Don Arden) is matched only by his disdain for the modern music business – “what the industry really needs is a Schindler’s List before everyone is marched to a kind of death”. Of course charlatans of all species still proliferate the music industry but as Loog Oldham so divertingly demonstrates they are all hustling on the shoulders of giants, so to speak.

Some interesting forthcoming titles....

Even while I am still getting to grips with some of the outstanding music titles that appeared last year we have several forthcoming titles that whet the appetite. Here are just four :

Mary Wells : The Tumultuous Life of Motown's First Superstar by Peter Benjaminson (Zephyr Press Feb 2013)

I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp by Richard Hell (Ecco Press Mar 2013)

Midnight At The Barrelhouse : The Johnny Otis Story by George Lipsitz (University of Minnesota Press reprint Apr 2013)

Nilsson : The Life of a Singer-Songwriter by Alyn Shipton (OUP USA Aug 2013)

And looking much further into the future I can report that Marcus Odair's much-anticipated authorised biography of Robert Wyatt, titled Different Every Time is scheduled for publication by Serpent's Tail in April 2014.

WILD GEESE THAT FLY WITH THE MOON ON THEIR WINGS

These are a few of my favourite things. This week.

1. The first chapter of Joseph Mitchell's unfinished memoir that appears in this week's New Yorker. Ian Preece wrote a lovely piece for Caught By The River on Mitchell back in November and anyone who has a soft spot for the Big Apple and its literary tradition will love Mitchell's writing. And I am thinking of starting a campaign to get the film of Joe Gould's Secret, starring Ian Holm, released here on DVD.
2. The cover art for the obscure magazine Brooklynite also featured in this week's New Yorker. I wish there were magazines around today that looked like this.
3. Kingsbridge Books' catalogue – specialists in Polar Exploration books. I collect books about the Antarctic and after buying a second-hand book about Herbert Ponting's photographs from a stall in Wells market I found a Kingsbridge Book compliment slip tucked in the back. On contacting them they sent me their catalogue which now threatens to bankrupt me.
4. The forthcoming documentary A Death in the Life of Joe Meek. I don't know when and where we'll be able to see this but it's sure to be better than Telstar : The Joe Meek Story. More details at http://joemeekdoc.com/
5. My old Troggs LPs – played in memorium for Reg Presley who sadly died this week. To me The Troggs represented everything that was likeable about rock'n'roll. I have fond memories of The Troggs playing at Biba's!
6. Kevin Avery's book on the life and writings of Paul Nelson : Everything Is An Afterthought which I am currently reading for review in my Music Book Reader Bulletin at Caught By The River. Nelson was an idiosyncratic writer and a tragic figure. His story is a salutory one for all rock writers!
7. Django Unchained. A hugely enjoyable film that left me feeling ever so slightly guilty that I found it so.
8. Richard Mabey's essays on the weather. Heard on Radio 3 at 10.45pm every day this week.
9. Matthew E White's Big Inner album just released on Domino Records. Sublime, seductive modern take on Southern soul. http://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2013/01/matthew-e-white-big-inner/.
10. Richard Williams' new music blog thebluemoment.com. Williams has just left The Guardian where he was chief sports writer. I hope that means he'll be devoting even more time to writing about music.