Steven Roby and and Brad Schreiber‘s new book, entitled Becoming Jimi Hendrix, sheds new light on Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards. During the spring and summer of July 1965, Richards’ girlfriend, British model Linda Keith, found herself in Greenwich Village, making frequent visits to Cafe Wha ?, where she first saw Jimi Hendrix perform. After frequent visits, Hendrix became romantically involved with Keith (Linda, that is). When Richards found out about the affair, he called Linda Keith’s parents and warned them that she had become involved with a “black junkie.” Keith’s (Linda’s, that is) well-to-do father immediately flew to New York and dragged her home.
Simply put, Richards’ reputation as Bad Ass Mother No. 1 is at stake. RTH is asking that Richards come forth to tell his side of the story.Continue reading »
Despite certain folks’ reservations regarding the status of Beggars Banquet in the Stones’ canon, none would dispute the archetypal nature of its lead-off track, “Sympathy for the Devil.” After coming across a number of songs with a knowing wink back to the Stone’s original, I’ve been thinking of putting together a mix of nuggets that mine this particular seam of classic rock gold: the descending chord sequence, the mutated Bo-Diddley/Rhumba backbeat, the Jack Daniels fueled “oo-ooos”, or anything else that constitutes an unambiguous reference to the original. I’m certain that in the collective mind of the RTH cognoscenti, we could locate dozens, certainly enough to fill an 80 minute CD. Let’s start with “Way Down Now,” by World Party.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/02-Way-Down-Now.mp3|titles=World Party, “Way Down Now”]
In this week’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In Mr. Moderator can’t stop thinking about a recent act of heroism. Then, as the evening progresses, he drifts off into bagism, as he considers taking the episode through the wee hours. Unfortunately this week’s planned hockey talk segment has been postponed, but join us, won’t you?
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-25.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 25]
[Note: The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player. In fact, you can even set your iTunes to search for an automatic download of each week’s podcast.]
In a recent Dugout Chatter question regarding The Rolling Stones‘ “Emotional Rescue” and “Start Me Up,” Townsman bostonhistorian countered a cop-out charge by quickly cementing his place as Mr. Moderator’s Newest Hero. Although Mr. Mod is well aware that this is may not be a title to which many Townspeople aspire, he felt the rock ‘n roll record needed to acknowledge bostonhistorian’s complete dismissal of the Stones’ post 1970 career with a posting of his full opinion on The Main Stage. This dramatic turn of events can be traced beginning here. The astounding final blow of bostonhistorian’s defense follows:
For real. They should have packed it up after Altamont and the release of Let It Bleed, which both happened in December of 1969. Think about this: what if the last thing anyone ever heard out of the Rolling Stones was “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, and then think about the self-parody which follows. Does anything after Let It Bleed add to their reputation, or diminish it? There’s nothing on Exile as good as the best songs off Let It Bleed, and Let It Bleed also had a tiny bit of cultural relevance. After that, it’s a haze of drugs and navel gazing. I’ve gone on the record as characterizing Mick’s vocals on Exile as Amos and Andy-like, and I find the whole album turgid. Of course Mick and Keith could still write songs, but to what end?
“I admire not only the panache of bostonhistorian’s definitive stance on the subject,” said Mr. Moderator, while departing his colonial home for a drive into the office this morning, “but its moral underpinnings.”
Mr. Moderator went on to add that although he feels the Stones produced another half dozen highly worthy songs following Altamont, including a few from the band’s years matched up against prime Rod Stewart and perhaps his second-favorite Rolling Stones song, “Beast of Burden,” he fully backs the spirit of bostonhistorian’s opinion and is “admittedly deeply envious” of his staking out this position first.
I’ve got a theory about why so many Beatles fans despise “She’s Leaving Home”: more than anything I think it’s in defense of George Martin, whose feelings were hurt when he was shut out of arranging the strings. That’s sweet of you, but really, the song’s not that bad! The way I hear my fellow Beatles fans talking about it I have to stop and check that they’re not actually talking about “Fool on the Hill” or one of Paul’s “Auntie” songs.
I think I’m onto something: your hatred of “She’s Leaving Home” is rooted in your desire to defend the honor of Sir George Martin.
As for substitute arranger Mike Leander, what is so bad about his work on that song? What might tasteful George Martin have done differently? I was surprised to learn that Leander had his hand in all sorts of records, most notably serving as Gary Glitter‘s partner in (musical) crime (eg, co-writing his hits, including “Rock ‘n Roll, pt 2”). I think he also did the saccharine string arrangements for The Rolling Stones‘ “As Tears Go By.” So there!
I’ve never seen this clip of Elvis Costello & The Attractions playing “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down” before. It’s from a 1980 appearance on England’s Kenny Everett Show. I’ve never heard this version before. Is it an outtake or recording they made especially for lip-synching on the show?
We ran the following clip, also from the Kenny Everett Show, some time ago. If memory serves it was another video-only mix. I’d love to find a straight audio clip of this version of Nick Lowe‘s “So It Goes”:Continue reading »
