celticgods: Review: Keith Richards Documentary on NetflixEve...

Every time Keef, in this recent nicely produced documentary, makes a joke that is not funny to any one but him, yet laughs his snuffly little laugh anyway, I want to punch him, very hard right in his face. Then there,s the times he,s bragging about stuff which isn,t true (like reviving blues for Americans, for being the king of R&R et cetera et cetera...), I want to punch him again, even harder. Then there,s Keef in the studio wiv ´is mates yeah, and well, they suck- they play badly and they sing even worse. Steve Jordan and Keef cant play reggae, and neither could the Stones, Waddy Wachtel seriously is Nosferatu with a Les Paul, and someone explain or enIighten me please, I could never understand the cult of Waddy or g. e. smith or Danny Kootch Kortchmar or any of those soft rock guitar slingers for that matter, and also embarrassing was Keefs gay man crush on the overrated graham Parsons as well as ANY authentic AMERICAN musician, black or white who gave him 5 minutes, who were the creators of a musical generation and not just pale imitators like he and Mick were.
I could feel recently deceased Gregory Isaacs spinning like a top in his grave as Keef warbled Isaacs hit Love is Overdue, and the borderline racist definitely condescending stupid jokes to the Jamaican horn section dragged in to lend some authenticity, and boy as a white man I was embarrassed.
I also lost respect for Tom Waits just for admitting he was Keefs pal.

Lastly I am so sick of overpaid pop stars and their ability to own VAST numbers of guitars that they A) never, ever played and B) forgotten they even own and C) They are able to afford a full time guitar concierge to change their strings and Pledge off the sweat, beer, and pizza sauce on their vast catalogue of HUNDREDS of guitars.

PS  Macgregor, remember the Clapton show you were nice enough to invite me along to @ Madison Sq garden?   It dawned on me that it was like Blues Beatlemania, a tribute act, the very best Cover Band ever, right down to EC having the proper guitar for each number and each artiste. Astounding but it had almost nothing to do with blues shows Id attended previously.
The English are the Japanese of Europe. They don,t create much but they study the excrement out of something and then reproduce it impressively, and of course claim they do it better.

Part Three

Antoinette had provided me with the entry into the world of Jamaicans - first in New York, then in Kingston Jamaica.


As I have mentioned before, my brother Brian had early-on hipped baby brother Patrick and I up to Jamaican rock steady and reggae which possessed a huge variety and vitality away from Bob Marley who was OK, but we were always a little sceptical of the acts the US musical establishment selected for us to worship after all, they were the same hack journos that had shoved the Eagles, Rush and Fleetwood Mac down our throats for the past 5 or 6 years. We preferred to take advice from people we could trust like Lester Bangs.

So while the hippies were digging One Love along with their Grateful Dead, we could see the  Jamaican link to US blues and R&B in Toots,and John Holt, Lynn Tait & the Jets, the Techniques, Skatellites, etc.
We were already well versed by the time the punks came along and busted reggae internationally, and the floodgates were opened. We knew the singers of songs and the players of instruments, likewise we knew the quality performers from those just making a joyful noise unto God.
And just like when I tried to play my original Elmore James, Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf records for my school friends, they didn't understand why it might be better to check the Wailers over Clapton, or Tosh over 10CC. They had been left behind.

So along with the music came for me an appreciation of other aspects of Jamaican culture -food, of course and clothes. Jamaican men all had immaculately tailored trousers, suits and waistcoats.  I found out that bespoke tailoring still existed, nay thrived, in Jamaica and in Jamaican communities abroad. Those who are of the belief that Rastas only wear jeans and t-shirts with sandals, have never been to a big reggae show in Kingston, London or New York.  Man those brothers really turn out! Antoinette lost no time in pointing out to me that sneakers or "booga" were not acceptable footwear if I was to accompany her out in public in New York City or anywhere nicer than the park for that matter.

So, adjustments had to be made and were, besides it always felt unseemly for me to wear shorts in a city and even today I put on some sort of trousers when visiting Kingston except perhaps on a weekend.

At this time came the first ska revival which arrived on the back of the punks but wasn't driven from Haircut1000 punk-is-dying London but from the English Midlands where many West Indians had emigrated and now their sons (and daughters!) formed bands with their white English mates from places like Coventry and Birmingham
2-Tone was born and Walt Jabsco the iconic image in a pork-pie hat became our idol.

Jerry Dammers was the founder of the band the Specials and also 2 Tone the Record label which consolidated the whole movement. He was the chief songwriter arranger and keyboardist. Throughout the 80's Dammers and Shane MacGowan "the Toothless Twosome" were my heroes. I and countless others around the UK the USA and the world studied this album cover for fashion inspiration:

So off we went scouring the thrift shops and second-hand stores and the high street chancers who had sniffed a movement in the air and started selling cheap knock offs. Second-hand waistcoats, straight legged, flat-front trousers in wool, dacron, sharkskin, or silk, no cuffs. English-made tassel loafers with DM soles or if you had the cash, leather soled Loakes versions or perfed Brogues preferably in black or Oxblood . Stinge brims, narrow ties, narrow collars - anything 80's or even 70;s was out for us, especially if it said hippie, or LA or flash - there were 3 preferred colours: Black, white, or grey. Casual Fridays for me in my NY publishing offices were a Fred Perry, Levis 501s or thrift shop troosies, braces, tassled loafers and my dad,s harrington jacket, and I could do this because they were clueless. Canal Street and Lower Broadway as well as now-too-bridge-and-tunnelly St Marks Place. Nigel and I had our secret places like 99X which was on E7th down a steel staircase in an alley to a basement nirvana of Docs, and Freds and Bens and Harringtons.

Review:  Keith Richards Documentary on Netflix

Every time Keef, in this recent nicely produced documentary, makes a joke that is not funny but no one but him, yet laughs his snuffly little laugh anyway, I want to punch him, very hard right in his face. Then there,s the times he,s bragging about stuff which isn,t true (like reviving blues for Americans, for being the king of R&R et cetera et cetera...), I want to punch him again, even harder. Then there,s Keef in the studio wiv ´is mates yeah, and well, they suck- they play badly and they sing even worse. Steve Jordan and Keef cant play reggae, and neither could the Stones, Waddy Wachtel seriously is Nosferatu with a Les Paul, and someone explain or enIighten me please, I could never understand the cult of Waddy or g. e. smith or Danny Kootch Kortchmar or any of those soft rock guitar slingers for that matter, and also embarrassing was Keefs gay man crush on the overrated graham Parsons as well as ANY authentic AMERICAN musician, black or white who gave him 5 minutes, who were the creators of a musical generation and not just pale imitators like he and Mick were.
I could feel recently deceased Gregory Isaacs spinning like a top in his grave as Keef warbled Isaacs hit Love is Overdue, and the borderline racist definitely condescending stupid jokes to the Jamaican horn section dragged in to lend some authenticity, and boy as a white man I was embarrassed.
I also lost respect for Tom Waits just for admitting he was Keefs pal.

Lastly I am so sick of overpaid pop stars and their ability to own VAST numbers of guitars that they A) never, ever played and B) forgotten they even own and C) They are able to afford a full time guitar concierge to change their strings and Pledge off the sweat, beer, and pizza sauce on their vast catalogue of HUNDREDS of guitars.

PS  Macgregor, remember the Clapton show you were nice enough to invite me along to @ Madison Sq garden?   It dawned on me that it was like Blues Beatlemania, a tribute act, the very best Cover Band ever, right down to EC having the proper guitar for each number and each artiste. Astounding but it had almost nothing to do with blues shows Id attended previously.
The English are the Japanese of Europe. They don,t create much but they study the excrement out of something and then reproduce it impressively, and of course claim they do it better.

Now, I am sorely vexed!!!

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/christian-extremists-steal-statue-of-celtic-sea-god-from-mountain-top-in-northern-ireland-30929777.html

Christian extremists steal statue of Celtic sea god from mountain top in Northern Ireland 

• The artwork in all its former glory 

By Donna Deeney – 23 January 2015

Christian fundamentalists are believed to be behind the theft of a statue of a Celtic sea god from a mountain top above Limavady. A 5ft cross emblazoned with 'Thou Shalt Not Have False Gods Before Me' was left behind after the thieves took an angle grinder to the steel frame of the statue of Manannán Mac Lir.
The statue was one of five scattered across the Roe Valley as part of a Sculpture Trail aimed at boosting tourism in 2013. The remaining four pieces of artwork were left unscathed. Former Limavady mayor Gerry Mullan said the theft was premeditated and was not a random act of vandalism. He said: "Local people are extremely angry that this statue has been taken. It really enhanced what is already a beautiful spot from which visitors and residents alike can sit and enjoy the view and I would appeal to whoever took the statue to give it back."
Police are hunting the thieves and have appealed for information.

After 25 years, Good Bye Black 47

Black 47 eh?
http://www.black47.com/
 I can't believe it's been 25 years but I remember when they started out playing bars on Avenue A in the East Village which was our neighbourhood. 

Sinead who was a publican's daughter from Cobh, and was Antoinette's pal when they were both employed at Saatchi & Saatchi the ad agency, which was located on the corner of Hudson & Houston. Sinead was a backup singer and used to bang the tambourine for them. Her friend from Cork, Mary,the other banshee backup, was engaged to Tom Hamlin the drummer. One Friday evening Sinead comes home with Antoinette after work and has dinner with us @ our flat on East 3rd Street and afterwards we were sitting around drinking beer and gabbing when Sinead stops suddenly and jumps up: 
"Damn we've got a gig tonight!"., says she. So I says "Calm down" and I asked where and when this gig was, and she says to us "Some bar on Avenue A!"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_A_%28Manhattan%29
 She didn't know the name of the venue but I had a slight idea and Antoinette has me walk her over to find the place and make sure she gets in. T'was between 10th & 11th on the west side of A and upon reaching tried to persuade the bouncer fellas that Sinead was in the band whilst Sinead is hopping up and down between them trying to, and eventually succeeding in, catching pal Mary's eye, who had been wondering where she was and what she had been up to and wisely stood near to the front entrance. My contribution to music history thereby accomplished, I buggered off home.

celticgods: Remembering Grant Green

celticgods: Remembering Grant Green: I was fortunate to see Grant Green in person when I visited my brother Jim in the Bay area back in 1974. It was amazing and though I...

Remembering Grant Green

I was fortunate to see Grant Green in person when I visited my brother Jim in the Bay area back in 1974. It was amazing and though I was already listening to George Benson and Kenny Burell seeing Green in a club setting was a mind-blowing experience for me.

Soulful, funky, rhythmic-he was all of these but was blue at the heart of it.  Died at the way too young age of 44 years old.

Biography

Grant Green (St. Louis, Missouri, June 6, 1935 – New York, January 31, 1979; some sources erroneously give the birth year as 1931) was a jazz guitarist and composer.

Recording prolifically and almost exclusively for Blue Note Records (as both leader and sideman) Green performed well in hard bop, soul jazz, bebop and Latin-tinged settings throughout his career. Critics Michael Erlewine and Ron Wynn write, “A severely underrated player during his lifetime, Grant Green is one of the great unsung heroes of jazz guitar … Green’s playing is immediately recognizable — perhaps more than any other guitarist.” Critic Dave Hunter described his sound as “lithe, loose, slightly bluesy and righteously groovy”. He often performed in an organ trio, a small group with an organ and drummer.

Apart from Charlie Christian, Green’s primary influences were saxophonists, particularly Charlie Parker, and his approach was therefore almost exclusively linear rather than chordal. The simplicity and immediacy of Green’s playing, which tended to avoid chromaticism, derived from his early work playing rhythm and blues and, although at his best he achieved a synthesis of this style with bop, he was essentially a blues guitarist and returned almost exclusively to this style in his later career. Green used a Gibson ES-330, then a Gibson L7 with a Gibson McCarty pickguard/pick-up, an Epiphone Emperor (with the same pick-up) and finally had a custom built D’Aquisto. George Benson said he would turn all the bass and treble off the amp, and max the midrange. This way he could get his signature punchy, biting tone.

Green was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He first performed in a professional setting at the age of 12. His influences were Charlie Christian, Charlie Parker, Ike Quebec, Lester Young, Jimmy Raney, Jimmy Smith and Miles Davis, he first played boogie-woogie before moving on to jazz. His first recordings in St. Louis were with tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest for the Delmark label. The drummer in the band was Elvin Jones, later the powerhouse behind John Coltrane. Grant recorded with Elvin again in the early Sixties. Lou Donaldson discovered Grant playing in a bar in St. Louis. After touring together with Donaldson, Grant arrived in New York around 1959-60.

Lou Donaldson introduced Grant to Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records. Lion was so impressed with Grant that, rather than testing Grant as a sideman, as was the usual Blue Note practice, Lion arranged for him to record as a bandleader first. Green’s initial recording session went unreleased until 2001, however, owing to a lack of confidence on Green’s behalf.

Despite the shelving of his first session, Green’s recording relationship with Lion and Blue Note was to last, with a few exceptions, throughout the Sixties. From 1961 to 1965, Grant made more appearances on Blue Note LPs, as leader or sideman, than anyone else. Grant’s first issued album as a leader was Grant’s First Stand. This was followed in the same year by Green Street and Grantstand. Grant was named best new star in the Down Beat critics’ poll, 1962, and, as a result, his influence spread wider than New York. He often provided support to the other important musicians on Blue Note, including saxophonists Hank Mobley, Ike Quebec, Stanley Turrentine and Harold Vick, as well as organist Larry Young.

Sunday Mornin’ , The Latin Bit and Feelin’ the Spirit are all loose concept albums, each taking a musical theme or style: Gospel, Latin and spirituals respectively. Grant always carried off his more commercial dates with artistic success during this period. Idle Moments (1963), featuring Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson, and Solid (1964), featuring the Coltrane rhythm section, are acclaimed as two of Grant’s best recordings.

Many of Grant’s recordings were not released during his lifetime. These include Matador, in which Grant is once again in the heavyweight company of the Coltrane rhythm section, and a series of sessions with pianist Sonny Clark. In 1966 Grant left Blue Note and recorded for several other labels, including Verve. From 1967 to 1969 Grant was, for the most part, inactive due to personal problems and the effects of heroin addiction. In 1969 Grant returned with a new funk-influenced band. His recordings from this period include the commercially successful Green is Beautiful and the soundtrack to the film The Final Comedown. Grant was also a huge influence on guitarists, from George Benson to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Still to this day guitarists try to get his signature sound, Idle Moments is considered one of the top 100 jazz albums of all time.

Grant left Blue Note again in 1974 and the subsequent recordings he made with other labels divide opinion: some consider Green to have been the ‘Father of Acid Jazz’ (and his late recordings have been sampled by artists including US3, A Tribe Called Quest and Public Enemy), whilst others have dismissed them (Michael Cuscuna wrote in the sleeve notes for the album Matador that “During the 1970s he made some pretty lame records”).

Grant spent much of 1978 in hospital and, against the advice of doctors, went back on the road to earn some money. While in New York to play an engagement at George Benson’s Breezin’ Lounge, Grant collapsed in his car of a heart attack in New York City on January 31, 1979. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, and was survived by six children. Since Green’s demise, his reputation has grown to legendary status and many compilations of both his earlier (post-bop/straight ahead and soul jazz) and later (funkier/dancefloor jazz) periods, exist.