WR

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :: :: - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - :: :: The Weekly Digest for Canterbury Music Addicts :: :: Issue # 147 :: :: Monday, January 17th, 2000 :: :: :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael King Subject: Victor Visit Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 21:05:21 -0600 - Mini thanks to Chris Cutler for his mini-assessment of the starburst that was The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown way back then. Returning to that record (yes side one) was a powerful revelation. It's curious how a private story to a friend, about a private meeting, could generate any reaction at all. I'd only thought it remarkable that someone (in this case Victor Schonfield), who was there to see and listen to the likes of Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, and in the case of Arthur Brown briefly held a position of responsibility, could so utterly and simply 'not get it'. Probably something to do with his carrying around thousands of hours of Jazz in his cranium.BTW- I've a masked violinist friend here in Toronto, one Nash The Slash, who snapped several gorgeous colour shots of Arthur's performance at The Rockpile back in 68. He has mounted six photographs of costume changes around the classic 'flaming head' centerpiece. What a sight! - Joon (as Robert & I would refer to it in letters) Japanese transcript was and is simply a joke (you didn't smile?). Having spent far too much time and effort over the years unraveling tedious trails of allsorts I now prefer apathy over ambition/amunition for such silly stuff. Whatever those lyrics are/were, may they RIP. Foward finally! BTW, the sound on the Japanese edition is comparable to the UK release, which is appox 15% clearer than the muddied US release, which still isn't saying/hearing much. If you (or anyone) want to hear how the Softs REALLY sounded during that general period get yourself 'Noisette' AND invest at least $5,000 in an deadly accurate Hi-End digital source/amp/monitors and turn it up! You'll cramp. Woolford's mics were set up 10 feet above and front of stage left and right, and what he caught has been cleaned and refined to get you as close as you can to there/then. Time has been good to it, and us! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: m.laplante@videotron.ca (m. laplante) Subject: Soft Machine videos Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2000 01:24:46 -0500 (EST) Hello to all The official video Andy mentionned was called Psychomania and includes two songs from a Dutch tv show with Kevin Ayers.(It does include Captain Beefheart as well, btw) The Beat Club German tv clip apparently was officially released in Japan on laser disc on a prog rock compilation called "Frontiers of progressive rock",with ELP and King Crimson among others. There is an Italia clip with Daevid Allen circulating too,as well as some Montreux 1974 footage. Martin, of Montreal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rick <rick.mealey@usa.net> Subject: Stewart/Gaskin Date: 7 Jan 00 07:00:18 MST >As an aside, I spotted a cheap copy of Stewart/Gaskin Up from the Dark (the>Rykodisc edition) at my local used record shop-- mis-filed in the >Eurythmics section. Anybody need this? No... but could someone tell me where the hell their new record is? It's almost like waiting for Steely Dan to come across with new material (but that wait is mercifully almost over)... maybe a better choice would be Peter Gabriel... Afters-- Rick [A recent submission from Dave Stewart on the Stewart/Gaskin website's guestbook mentions that the new album will be out "in the New Year" - AL] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Gudrun <v-dorje@ticnet.com> Subject: Canterbury memories Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2000 01:32:51 -0600 [In WR#146, Ross Field wrote:]>by the way, a question for your readership: has anyone else noticed>similarities between Hatfield/Health/Softs music and early Zappa/Mothers?>Zappa's "King Kong" (particularly the version on "Ahead of Their Time")>sounds like it could have been the Soft Machine on stage instead of the >Mothers. Mutual admiration? Not me, & I'm a HUGE Softs & FZ/Mothers fan. Actually, it mentions (in Mike King's boook on Robert Wyatt, "Wrong Movements"), that Mark Boyle stated, "We were supposed to open for the Mothers at the Concertgebouw, but Frank Zappa wouldn`t let us, saying 'Anyone can open for The Mothers... except The Soft Machine'." - (Sept 23 & 24,1967 entry) BTW, the fantastic AHEAD OF THEIR TIME was recorded live @ Royal Festival Hall on Oct. 28, '68, & is an important Mothers album, (if you haven't heard it yet, by all means do so...........! Alot of people have missed this one. .......doesn`t exactly sound like any mutual admiration to me. Anyone know the story behind this? My conjecture is that after Frank saw Softs w/ Hendrix, he felt they were *too* good to be opening for him. (Pete Townsend never wanted Hendrix before The Who, either :^) Nobody likes being up-staged. Zappa's "King Kong" has never reminded me of Softs,(what Softs era you referring to here?) but will go back & re-evaluate this version w/ that in mind. Craig Shropshire ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Stephen Yarwood" <stephen@syjy.freeserve.co.uk> Subject: Simon Ainley Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 23:28:55 -0000 Subscribers to What's Rattlin' will have seen the communication from Simon Ainley (ex 801, ex Random Hold) in Issue 146. In it Simon kindly refers to my having rediscovered him after many years out of the business. If anybody out there is interested in reading my interview with him, or indeed my other in depth interviews with Bill MacCormick, Elton Dean or Mont (Dirk) Campbell, check out http://www.btinternet.com/~stephen.yarwood/sy_music.htm Regards Stephen Yarwood Sharnbrook Bedford UK ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Voci" <david_voci@tcibr.com> Subject: Crazy World Date: 12 Jan 00 09:50:25 -0800 Hello, A note on Arthur Brown as the recent posts have been interesting. In addition to the exceptional first album (that I have commented on before here inasmuch as similarities to the first Egg album) there are some very intriguing works that AB did with Klaus Schulze and others in the late seventies/early eighties. Namely, a project entitled Wahnfried(a Klaus pseudonym)that also featured Michael Shrieve/Vincent Crane. Arthur's performance on this and the other Klaus works (Live, Dune, and the 4 or 5 live tracks on the limited Jubilee Edition) are, IMO, simply amazing and beyond. Arthur has an obsession with time and our existence as humans(don't we all?)and the guy pretty much carries the listener along into those dark, questionable areas of human thought. I think it's strange that a man who had the moniker of 'The Crazy World' basically ends up in this year o' 2000 to be a pretty lucid and articulate individual and Vincent Crane, the Keyboarder extraordinaire, ends up committing the big S (Suicide). On the CD, 'Devil's Answer' by Atomic Rooster(mostly unissued stuff), Arthur writes a compelling little story in the CD booklet in homage to Vincent Crane and the band so it's kind of ironic how that all worked out. I would certainly classify Arthur, and Atomic Rooster for that matter, in the honorary Canterbury members club. dv ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Gudrun <v-dorje@ticnet.com> Subject: Mr. Arthur Brown Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2000 01:59:35 -0600 [In WR#146, Chris Cutler wrote:]>As far as I'm concerned Arthur Brown was one of the great originals.>A stunning performer and a hair-raising singer. Side 1 of his first LP is a >monument still... YES INDEED! I couldn`t agree more there. I like "Galactic Zoo Dossier" an awful lot, too. Arthur moved here (to Texas), quite some time ago & got involved w/ ex-Mothers drummer Jimmy Carl Black. (They even had a house-painting business together called Black & Brown, or visa versa)! Their musical collaboration at this time was ignorable at best, but AB`s Crazy World AND his Kingdom Come were both milestones, setting the stage, (literally w/ his theatrical presentation), for all kinds of groups to follow. He is certainly owed a deep bow for his contributions. I recall reading an Audion review of a fairly recent (2 years ago?) performance by The Even Crazier World of Arthur Brown (they had opened for Amon Duul II!) After AD II`s set he was invited onstage to sing w/ Renate Knaup! That must have been *something*!!! Is AB still at it? What`s up with him? >And the band - for my money >Drachen Theaker was a truly great drummer ........... Once again, *so* true! No one ever seems to mention him, but his skills are self-evident. Think I`ll also go pull that "Strange Lands" LP out for a fresh listen......... Craig Shropshire PS: BTW,....... The Science Group CD is wonderful, Chris. I`m a big fan of Amy & Bob, too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Nick Loebner <loebner@synopsys.com> Subject: Hazard Profile & Psychomania Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2000 11:43:01 +0000 Hi all, Greg (SPACETUNES@aol.com) asked in WR#146 about a Soft Machine illegitimate release called Hazrd Profile:- I found a copy of this CD at CD Warehouse in Sunnyvale, CA (in their rather good Progressive section). I gave this disc a listen - it's a very poor audience recording of the Bundles material offering nothing of any further insight into the material. You'd have to be a fundamentalist completist. Very poor. 1/10! Further to what Andy G said, the Australian video compilation with two early Softs tracks (Soon Soon Soon and another I can't recall) was actually called "Psychomania - Twenty Golden Greats" - I kid you not. The Softs footage (also sccreened on European TV during the eighties) appears here with subtitles showing some pretty irritating text (as is all the enclosed footage). There is definitely a guitar (12-string electric) on "Soon Soon Soon" - if memory serves, Kevin is playing the guitar here. I think that the bass parts are definitely guitar (not organ), therefore if overdubs weren't used (it's unlikely that theywere), then was it Daevid?... Incidentally these recordings are the exact same versions as also included on the Spanish(?) (semi-legit) CD release called simply "Soft Machine" (MOVIE PLAY MPG 74033). The other material on this CD is the Paradiso set - it was released in 1995, just before Voiceprint legitmately released the Paradiso CD. This video has the distinction of including a truly terrible rendition of Bowie's "Space Oddity".... There is other material floating around including some excellent c1971 stuff with, again if memory serves, features robert drumming with his bare hands! Wonderful stuff - if nth generation. - Nick. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: MirrorTime@aol.com Subject: Gong Question Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 01:59:12 EST Hello, I am sorry to bother you but I cannot find any information on a Gong album that I see at a web site for sale... Do you know anything about (like when it came out, is it live?) the album "Other side of the sky". I don't own any Gong albums yet and want to get a good best of CD. Thank you so much for the wonderful web site too. I live in Oregon in the US and it is so hard to find any information, but now I can look at your web site. Thanks again, Dean ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JohnWylam@aol.com Subject: Michael Bloom's submission Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2000 22:42:51 EST Hi, Folks E-mail difficulties, etc., have kept me away from here for too long. I wanted to second Michael's submission re: Carla Bley; Michael, from where I sit, your ears are in perfect tune! I was in Toronto not too long ago, and happened across a CD store on Yonge St. called Sam the Record Man. There were multiple copies of EOTH, CDs, mind, for $10 Canadian! And yes, the arrangements, the treatment of text (Paul Haines' exotic poetry), and cosmology in general, are quite Canterburyan. I also wanted to mention finding the Softs' BBC I not too long ago. I was thoroughly knocked out by the closing medley; having lucked into finding BBC II not long before was a doubled joy. I recall Ronnie Scott saying of the former session that he wished the band would play something simpler, and yet the entire set crackles with energy. It's one of my favorite discs. As for the latter, it has the sound of a band trying to understand itself; that, too, has its own allure. Folks, after so long away, I want you to know I missed you -- Much Cheer! John Wylam ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jed Levin <j.levin@inetmail.att.net> Subject: Birdsongs of the Mezozoic / The Muffins Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2000 23:54:28 -0500 I was just reading a recent digest, and someone made a reference to the bands Birdsongs of the Mezozoic and the Muffins as being Canterbury related. I've not heard either of these bands, and hadn't realized somehow that they were related at all. Can someone describe their sounds? Are they Canterbury-like? Or, are their any Canterbury musicians on them? Any opinions of their sounds would be interesting to read. Also, how about the US band However? Do they have a Canterbury sound? Thanks! Jed ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Mark Hewins" <hewins@musart.co.uk> Subject: Lady June Nonsense Poems Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 14:15:50 -0000 Hi A Available for the New year are two downloadable files of Lady June's'Present poems' a collection of Nonsense Poems sent to friends. PC FORMAT http://www.musart.org/rebela/media/poems.exe MAC FORMAT http://www.musart.org/rebela/media/poems.hqx or its available on the web at; http://musart.co.uk/ladyju1.htm M ------------------------------------------------------------------------- MICHAEL MANTLER news... (including items of interest for Robert Wyatt fans) from http://www.mantlermusic.com * NEW RELEASE SONGS AND ONE SYMPHONY "Songs" (with words by Ernst Meister) Recorded October 11, 1993, at the Danish Radio, Copenhagen "One Symphony" Recorded November 13/14, 1998, at Hessischer Rundfunk, Frankfurt * RE-RELEASES (PREVIOUSLY UNAVAILABLE ON CD) NO ANSWER (WATT/2) AND SILENCE (WATT/5) (DOUBLE CD SET) MOVIES (WATT/7) AND MORE MOVIES (WATT/10) (SINGLE CD) * RE-RELEASES (PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE ON CD, BUT OUT-OF-PRINT) SOMETHING THERE (WATT/13) (original cover / re-designed booklet) ALIEN (WATT/15) (original cover / re-designed booklet) * FUTURE PROJECTS Currently writing new music for production at Danish Radio during Spring 2000 (broadcast and CD recording, to be released by ECM Records) Working title: "Hide and Seek" Instrumental chamber music integrated with songs texts by American author Paul Auster (from the play "Hide and Seek", published in "Hand To Mouth") Instrumentation: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon french horn, 2 trumpets, trombone harp, piano vibraphone/marimba, percussion 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, bass 2 voices (Robert Wyatt and Susi Hyldgaard) solo guitar (Bjarne Roupé) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Biffyshrew@aol.com Subject: Canterburied Sounds Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 18:38:18 EST This comes a bit late, but I've only just bought the first two volumes of _Canterburied Sounds_, and I don't recall this having been mentioned before. The Zobe track "If I Ever Leave You" on Volume One, described by Brian Hopper as a "standard blues number" and not attributed to any composer, is really "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know," written by Al Kooper, from the first Blood Sweat & Tears album. (Not strictly Canterbury related, but in a similar vein: some readers might own the _America_ CD of BBC sessions by the Nice, which similarly gives inaccurate titles and no writer's credits for the band's covers of "Get To You" by the Byrds and "Sombrero Sam" by Charles Lloyd.) Your pal, Biffy the Elephant Shrew ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeza <jeza@jezaland.demon.co.uk>Subject: JEZA and Friends at the '12 Bar Club' LIVE WEBCAST Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2000 18:23:02 +0000 JEZA and Friends Live at the '12 Bar Club' 22-23 Denmark Street. London WC2H 8NL Sunday, 6th February 200040 minute set Onstage at 10pm with support from John & Caroline of The Haunting AD. Playing songs from the CD 'jeza wined up'CDs for sale at the gig - £5.00 entry. £1.00 off with this email, or printed flyer The more of you come, the more we get paid... Please lend your support for this show if you can. And bring your friends..... or watch live on-line ... Jeza ---------- The Twelve Bar ClubCentrally located close to Tottenham Court Road tube. 'Very Cozy'Established as one of London's Top Acoustic Venues. Split level seating, with Nightly Live TV Webcast from 8.30pm courtesy of OnlineTVUK: http://www.12barclub.com. Confirmed.Advance Booking: 0207 209 2248 email:twelvebarclub@bt.internet ---------- CD ReviewPrinted in GAS (Gong Appreciation Society) SAMHAIN '99 magazine, Oct. 1999 'WINED UP' - Perfect Blues for a summers afternoon spent relaxing by the riverbank. A lazy, relaxed, warm and funky album. Fine and fluid guitar playing complemented by Jeza's soulful, golden syrup smooth vocals (reminiscent of John Martyn/JJ Cale). His songwriting is both intellegent and amusing. Jeza has assembled a strong cast of supporting actors for this album (too numerous to mention), there's some particularly lovely flute and fiddle, while Caroline Hoare provides sublime backing vocals. I thoroughly enjoyed this album - and I hope you do too. Wined Up is available on CD for £10 direct from Jeza or from various good music websites.Our Price Records North Finchley, the Spires Barnet & FAB Records N3 and Barnet & Enfield Libraries ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ JEZA WINED UP the CD Produced by Basil Brooks in UK 1999 (c) JLevy ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^JEZALAND 2000 >>>> http://www.jezaland.demon.co.ukMajor Y2K Upgrade includes Autoplay Interactive Quicktime Audio ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** FORTHCOMING CANTERBURY-RELATED CONCERTS ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [for more info : check out the 'Concerts' page of CALYX] http://www.alpes-net.fr/~bigbang/concerts.html ==> GONG <=============================================================== [D.Allen-G.Smyth-M.Howlett-T.Travis-C.Taylor] Mid April UK Tour 8-10 dates...being booked now. May/June-European Festival dates...being booked now. ==> DIDIER MALHERBE / HADOUK TRIO <====================================== [D.Malherbe-L.Ehrlich-S.Shehan] Mar 22 - Paris, Le Glaz' Art [info: 01.40.36.55.65] / Mar 23 - Nilvanges, Le Gueulard [info: 03.82.85.50.71] / Mar 24 - Metz, Les Trinitaires [info: 03.87.75.04.96] / Mar 25 - Charleville Mézières, Action Jazz [info: 03.24.32.78.22] Official website: http://www.multimania.com/malherbedidier/ ========================================================================= * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** AND OTHER GOOD GIGS... ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ==> MAGMA <============================================================== Feb 07 - London, Queen Elizabeth Hall / May 12/13/14 - Paris, Theatre du Trianon [30th Anniversary] ==> THEO TRAVIS <======================================================== Jan 18-22 - London, Ronnie Scott's Club (Frith St) (plus Jose Neto Band) [info: 0171 439 0747] / Jan 27 - St Austel, Cliff Head Hotel (Carlyon Bay) [info: 01726 68532] / Jan 28 - Launceton, Kensey Vale Bowling Club [info: 01566 772117] / Jan 29 - Somerset, venue tbc / Jan 30 - Bristol, The Albert Inn (1 West St) [info: 0117 9661968] / Feb 10 - Dorking, The Watermill (Reigate Rd) [info: 01372 275293] / Feb 12 - Bracknell, South Hill Park Arts Centre [info: 01344 484123] / Feb 18 - Brighton, The Lift (12 Queen's Rd) [info: 01273 330933] / Mar 12 - Lichfield, The Guildhall (City Centre) [info: 01543 262223] ================================================================================================================================================== END OF ISSUE 147 _________________________________________________________________________ WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? - WHAT'S RATTLIN' ?_________________________________________________________________________ CALYX - The Canterbury Website http://www.alpes-net.fr/~bigbang/calyx.html THE ULTIMATE ONLINE CANTERBURY DISCOGRAPHY http://www.alpes-net.fr/~bigbang/cantdisco.html WHAT'S RATTLIN' ? BACK ISSUES - ONLINE ARCHIVE http://musart.co.uk/watrat/watrat.htm + search engine : http://musart.co.uk/ssearch.htm * To subscribe, send me an e-mail with 'WR sub' in the subject line.* To send a message for inclusion in the next issue, send it with 'WR: [subject]' in the subject line.* If your e-mail address changes, please notify me and mention both your old and new addresses so I can remove the former and add the latter.* If you can no longer receive WR or don't want to anymore, don't forget to unsubscribe! (i.e. send me a message)* PLEASE SEND ME PHOTOCOPIES OF MAGAZINE ARTICLES, LYRICS TRANSCRIPTIONS etc.!!!(Contact me beforehand at my usual e-mail address <bigbang@alpes-net.fr>)_________________________________________________________________________