FONTANA, Calif. (AP) — Al Wilson, the soul singer and songwriter who had a number of 1970s hits including “Show and Tell,” has died. He was 68. More.
What an outstanding song from my childhood! And we shared a birthday…
Apr 242008
Apr 152008
This Saturday, April 19, is Record Store Day. What better way to cure iPod fatigue than to take a trip to your local indie record store and buy some stuff you can get your hands on? Although Rock Town Hall supports the mighty iTunes empire, eMusic, and the practice of occasionally downloading tunes posted on blogs run by fellow music lovers, nothing beats getting to fondle a new record, be it on beloved vinyl or even that cold fish of a format, CD. It’s YOUR music. This Saturday, support YOUR local record store. Chat up a clerk. Steal a glance at the one woman browsing the racks. Bring home a bundle of new music, and report back to us over the weekend with your new conquests!
Cameron Crowe: “The record store. Where true fandom begins. It’s the soul of discovery, and the place where you can always return for that mighty buzz. The posters. The imports. The magazines. The discerning clerks, paid in vinyl, professors of the groove. Long live that first step inside, when the music envelopes you and you can’t help it. You walk up to the counter and ask the question that begins the journey–“what is that you’re playing?” Long live the record store, and the guys and girls who turn the key, and unlock those dreams, every day.”
Apr 022008
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Four founding members of the rock band Velvet Revolver said on Tuesday they were splitting with the group’s troubled singer, Scott Weiland, citing his “increasingly erratic” behavior.
Mar 142008
Sheryl Crow plans to collaborate with Fleetwood Mac, giving Stevie Nicks someone to accompany her to the bathroom when she’s out on tour with her ex-boyfriends again. Click on title of this post if you’re jonesin’ for details.
Bee sting?
Mar 052008
I’ve yet to see a news link, but we were tipped off to news of the death of Norman “Hurricane” Smith by an RTH Basement Dweller. I’ve found the Beatles’ fanboy discussion topic linked in the title of this thread to back it up.
Following his fantastic work with The Beatles, early Pink Floyd, and psychedelically psavvy The Pretty Things, he experienced some solo performer success as Hurricane Smith. “Oh Babe What Would You Say?” was one of my early childhood singles.
Dig that Look!
NEW: Here’s a cool Mojo piece on the man.
Feb 282008
Rock Town Hall surely hopes that readers do not rely on us for the latest in rock news items, especially rock deaths. I’d hate to think anyone Townsperson’s missed a rock viewing while I miss a link that’s been buried somewhere in the RTH Basement. My thanks to the “basement dwellers” for passing along this link to a nice write up on Pere Ubu guitarist Jim Jones, who died recently. You may also be interested in this nice piece, written by the leader of Cobra Verde, if my rock nerd powers are fully functioning.
Jones joined Pere Ubu in 1987, for the recording of and touring in support of the strong comeback album, The Tenement Year. Shortly thereafter, the band’s recordings would lose the spark that I’d come to love, but they stayed strong as a live act over the next half dozen tours that I’d caught. Beside his snakey guitar parts, Jones added an enthusiastic, open, friendly vibe to the band that did not seem to be part of their overall band vibe. Judging by these pieces on him, it sounds like these qualities were part of his everyday personality. He sounds like a guy who would have been at ease around our virtual turntable.
I don’t have The Tenement Year handy in digital form, but here are two tracks with Jones from the last Pere Ubu album I’ve liked in too many years to date, Raygun Suitcase. This album saw the band coming out of a stretch of relatively poppy, overproduced albums and returning to their special blend of black-humored, disjointed garage rock. The next couple of albums I bought just seemed to lack any interesting form. Stuff happens.
Pere Ubu, “Electricity”
Pere Ubu, “Don’t Worry”
I’m no expert on the ’70s Cleveland/Akron scene, but because of my love for Pere Ubu I’ve done my share of reading and record buying around the extended Ubu family of musicians. In the early- to mid-70s, Jones played bass for The Mirrors, a “rival” band of Ubu predecessors Rocket From the Tombs. Here are a couple of tracks by The Mirrors, from a cool compilation of bands “left behind” from that fertile, mid-70s Cleveland/Akron scene, Those Were Different Times: Cleveland 1972-1976. (Both this album and Raygun Suitcase are available on eMusic.)
The Mirrors, “You Me Love”
The Mirrors, “Annie”
Finally, if you haven’t done so already, I suggest your read a lot more about the Cleveland/Akron proto-punk scene (as well as proto-punk scenes in Detroit and NYC), in Clinton Heylin‘s excellent From the Velvets to the Voidoids.
In other news of the dead…
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Feb 252008
We’re a little late on this new item, but I’d forgotten all about this story. In light of Scott Halpin‘s passing, why not take a few moments to reflect on just about any young rock musician’s dream? Here’s a link to an NPR interview with Halpin, who was recruited from the audience at a 1973 San Francisco show to sub in for a wasted Keith Moon. Following is a clip of the young man’s trial by fire!
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