Borrowed & Blue - The Speedways (May 2021)

I have to confess to not having heard of London based band The Speedways before, even though they seem to have been around for a few years and have a couple albums and singles under their belts. One of my friends posted their cover of ABBA's 'S.O.S.' on a Facebook Group I'm in and so I went searching out more tunes.

The ABBA Cover is taken from a Limited Edition 10" EP on Snap!! Records/Hurrah! Música It was limited to 300 copies in black vinyl. The 5-track EP consists of five covers and what a diverse gathering of artists/bands to cover!...Hanoi Rocks, ABBA, Kirsty MacColl, Billy Ocean and Roky Erickson (though when I first saw the title I was secretly hoping that it would be a cover of one of the finest Power Pop tunes by The Records, but sadly it wasn't). It was released on 24th May 2021.

A1. 11th Street Kids (Hanoi Rocks Cover)

A2. S.O.S (ABBA Cover)

B1. They Don't Know (Kirsty MacColl Cover)

B2. Love Really Hurts Without You (Billy Ocean Cover)

B3. Starry Eyes (Roky Erickson)

I read an interview they did for Veglam where they were talking a bit about their history and what they are up to and loved that they have done shows with Lucy and The Rats (who I adore) but was surprised that there was no mention of Duncan Reid and The Big Heads as they are one of the prime exponents of Power Pop in the UK. Maybe those guys should check each other out as they would be a good fit together on a bill for some shows with each other. For music check out their Bandcamp Page.

Check out their latest album Radio Sounds. Here's one of the singles from it...'Kisses Are History'

Happy 70th Birthday Nils Lofgren

In 2018 PBS Newshour did a 10 minute slot on Nils Lofgren called Nils Lofgren: 50 years of ‘just being a guy in the band’. Three years on it could be called 53 Years of 'just being a guy in the band' as he continues to be a member of the famed E Street Band and occasionaly a member of Crazy Horse backing up two of the biggest names in Rock music, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young, on record and on Stage. Alongside that he also has a Solo career that has spanned over 46 years.

After seeing Jimi Hendrix play live and then scoring an off-the-cuff "audition" of sorts with Neil Young at the legendary Cellar Door in Washington, D.C., at the age of 18 the guitarist was up and running when he was invited to come and play and record for what would become the After The Gold Rush album, on which he would contribute backing vocals, guitar and piano.

He followed that by recording with Crazy Horse on their self-titled debut album released in 1971. He wrote two songs for it, 'Beggars Day' (on which he took lead vocals and the song would later be covered by Nazareth) and 'Nobody' as well as providing backing vocals and of course his guitars.

Nils was able to name drop his work with Neil Young & Crazy Horse as a means of securing a record deal for his band Grin who ended up releasing four albums between 1971-73.

After Grin disbanded in 1974 Lofgren launched out Solo. While not a massive seller, his albums charted. 'Cry Tough' (1976), 'I Came To Dance' (1977) and 'Flip' (1985) probably did the best both in UK and the first two mentioned penetrated the US Top 40.

Next up a break from his Solo Career came in the form of a opportunity to join Bruce Sringsteen & The E Street Band for the up and coming Born In The U.S.A. Tour following the news that Little Steven was departing to embark on his own music career. The Tour would begin in June 1984 and ended in October 1985.

Nils has recorded in the studio with Springsteen between 1989's 'Tunnel of Love' to the latest release 'Letter To You' and appearing on a couple of live albums.

More than a dozen albums by Nils (Solo or with a band, Live and Studio) have been released since 1985's 'Flip' album and he has continued to tour. While he doesn't flip so much these days due to hip replacement surgery, he does tap dance!

Happy Birthday Nils.

1971 50th Anniversary: Teenage Head - The Flamin' Groovies

Here's another album in the short series of albums that have reached their 50th Anniversary this year. This time round it's Teenage Head by The Flamin' Groovies, released in March 1971 by Kama Sutra Records in the USA and Buddah Records in France. It didn't get released in the UK until August 1971 but not as a stand alone album, rather it was packaged as a Double Album with their 1970 album 'Flamingo' (see picture below) with the title 'Flamin' Groovies'.

The Flamin' Groovies are one of those bands that never really fitted in because either their sound was too dated (Rock 'n' Roll), too rough (Garage Rock) or ahead of its time (Power Pop) and it's hard to put them in one particular bracket because they were the square pegs in the round holes and even managed to find themselves closely associated with the American Punk/New Wave scene from 1976. The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were also clearly part of their influences.

Teenage Head was their third studio album, though you would never really know that was the title of the album as neither the band name or album title appeared on the front cover or on the labels of the record. On the back cover it says, "Kama Sutra Records Presents The Flamin Groovies in Teenage Head".

All songs written by Cyril Jordan and Roy A. Loney except '32-20' (Robert Johnson, new lyrics by Roy A. Loney), Evil Hearted Ada (Loney) and 'Have You Seen My Baby?' (Randy Newman).

1. High Flyin' Baby

2. City Lights

3. Have You Seen My Baby? (this was released as a single)

4. Yesterdays Numbers

1. Teenage Head (This was released as a single in the UK when the Double Album, 'Flamin' Groovies' was relased in August 1971

2. 32-20

3. Evil Hearted Eva

4. Doctor Boogie

5. Whisky Woman

Teenage Head finally got a British release on Vinyl (with the original artwork) in 1988 on the Dojo label.

Teenage Head has been reprinted a few times on vinyl sice its 1971 release. In France it was released on CD for the first time and Big Beat Records in the UK Reissued it with five bonus tracks in 1990 (see picture above). Buddah Records Remastered the album in 1999 with an additional seven bonus tracks (see picture below).

The album might not have had the cultural impact or even the chart impact of other releases from 1971 but it's still a highly regarded album 50 years later.

1971 50th Anniversary: Dave Mason & Cass Elliot - Dave Mason & Cass Elliot (Blue Thumb Records)

I have been watching the Documentary Series 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything recently, well worth watching I think. I was only seven years old as the year began and hit my eighth birthday in May. I can't say that I really was aware of the place of music in the world at the time as I probably only knew about music from what I heard on the radio and what I saw on TV (back when there were only three TV stations - BBC1, BBC2 and ITV). It got me thinking about albums that were released that year, many of which I heard for the first time years later or because my Mum & Dad or my eldest sister might have had a particular album from the time.

Some of the albums that will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year are: Pearl - Janis Joplin, ZZ Top's First Album - ZZ Top, Tapestry - Carole King, Crazy Horse - Crazy Horse, Songs of Love and Hate - Leonard Cohen, Percy - The Kinks, L.A. Woman - The Doors, Thin Lizzy - Thin Lizzy, War - War, Ram - Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, What's Going On - Marvin Gaye, Every Picture Tells A Story - Rod Stewart, Man In Black - Johnny Cash, Tarkus - Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Blue - Joni Mitchell, At Fimore East - The Allman Brothers Band, Who's Next - The Who, New Riders of the Purple Sage - New Riders of the Purple Sage, Imagine - John Lennon, Electric Warrior - T.Rex, 200 Motels - Frank Zappa, Tupelo Honey - Van Morrison, Madman Across The Water - Elton John, Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin, Black Moses - Issac Hayes, People Like Us - The Mamas and The Papas, Hunky Dory - David Bowie, John Prine - John Prine, Soul Revolution – Bob Marley & The Wailers to name but a few.

I want to focus on a couple of albums in the coming days that maybe were not as widely known at the time and today's choice is one that I didn't even know existed until yesterday evening. It's by Dave Mason & Cass Elliot (pictured above) and was released in March 1971 (recorded in 1970) on Dave Mason's own label Blue Thumb Records in the States and Probe in the UK.

Cass Elliot had released two Solo records and Dave Mason had been a part of Traffic from 1967-69, releasing three albums with them. Following his 1970 debut album 'Alone Together' he teamed up with Cass Elliot to record this album.

While sharing equal billing on the title of the album and also on Production duties Cass is mainly restricted to backing vocals. Mason wrote five of the songs on the album, while Elliot co-wrote two: the single "Something to Make You Happy" and her only solo song on the album, "Here We Go Again". This was the first time that Elliot lent her hand in songwriting since her days with The Big 3 and The Mugwumps, and also the last.

1. Walk To The Point

2. On and On

3. To Be Free

4. Here We Go Again

5. Pleasing You

1. Sit and Wonder

2. Something To Make You Happy

3. Too Much Truth, Too Much Love

4. Next To You

5. Glittering Façade

As this is so new to my ears I'm going to spend some more time listening. I like what I've heard so far. Seeing as the CD and LP are both unavilable I purchased the MP3 Download from Amazon this morning.

Dolenz Sings Nesmith - Micky Dolenz (May 21st 2021)

Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith are no strangers to each other, both having been a part of The Monkees and friends for a long time. Dolenz toured with Nesmith as "The Mike and Micky Show" in 2018 and 2019. On May 4, 2021, Dolenz & Nesmith announced the "The Monkees Farewell Tour" which will be the last for the group. The tour will consist of 40 US dates from September to November. The final date will be November 14, 2021 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.

Dolenz got the idea for the album a long time ago. As Micky says “I think I first mentioned it to Nez years ago, I don’t know where the idea came from, maybe from my friend Harry Nilsson and his Nilsson Sings Newman album. I thought to myself, ‘Wow, Dolenz Sings Nesmith’”. The new album, which was recorded between September 2020 and February 2021, features songs written throughout Nesmith’s long career, including many from the critically acclaimed Michael Nesmith & The First National Band albums, as well as a few Monkees deep cuts. Michael Nesmith's eldest son Christian Nesmith produced the record.

Micky Dolenz (Picture above by Paul Undersinger)has released the album on 7A Records who had originally approached him about releasing a Solo album and he jumped at the opportunity of putting this idea forward and they in turn agreed.

So to the album. Here's Side 1

1. Carlisle Wheeling

2. Different Drum

3. Don't Wait For Me

4. Keep On

5. Marie's Theme

6. Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care)

And Side 2

1. Nine Time Blue

2. Little Red Rider

3. Tomorrow and Me

4. Circle Sky

5. Tapioca Tundra

6. Only Bound

7. You Are My One

There's also a Bonus Track on the CD, Grand Ennui, but I can't find a link for it yet. The album is available on Vinyl. CD and as a Download.

Happy 77th Birthday Mr Boz Scaggs

William Royce Scaggs was born on this day in 1944 in Canton, Ohio. He's better known to the world as Boz Scaggs. Boz had learned to play the guitar by the age of 12 and by the age of 15 he had met Steve Miller at school in Texas and was the lead vocalist for Miller's band The Marksmen. Both Boz and Steve Miller attended University together and continued playing in Blues bands together. After finishing University they both went their separate ways, Scaggs to London and Miller to Chicago to immerse himself in the Blues. That wouldn't be their last meeting though.

After a spell in London he found himself in Sweden where in 1965 he recorded his debut album for Polydor Records, simply called 'Boz'. It didn't sell well and is very hard to find these days as only 300 copies were pressed and released in a wraparound picture cover. It contains two traditional songs that Scaggs arranged himself and the other ten songs are all cover songs.

In 1967 he returned to the States and hooked up once again with Steve Miller and would play on 'Children of the Future' and 'Sailor', the first two studio albums by the Steve Miller Band released in 1968. The picture below is of the Steve Miller Band.

In 1968 Scaggs secured a record deal with Atlantic Records, releasing his second album, 'Boz Scaggs', featuring the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and session guitarist Duane Allman, in 1969. The album failed to chart despite a number of good reviews.

A further four albums between 1971-1974 brought a little attention though only 'Slow Dancer' (1974) broke into the Top 100, peaking at #81.

In 1976 he released 'Silk Degrees', which would become the most successful album of his career. It stayed on the US chart for 115 weeks peaking at #2 and spawned four hit singles: It's Over (#38 in the US), Lowdown (#3 in the US, #28 in the UK), What Can I Say (#42 in the US, #10 in the UK) and Lido Shuffle (#11 in the US, #13 in the UK).

Since those heady days of the 70s Boz Scaggs continued to release albums that charted but never again like the success of 'Silk Degrees'. In the last decade he has returned to the Blues with three fantastic albums, 'Memphis' (2013), 'A Fool To Care' (2015) and his latest release 'Out of the Blues' (2018). He still plays live, but like many has been prevented from doing so due to the pandemic. To finish off here's a track from each of those:

The Howlin' Wolf Album - Howlin' Wolf (1969)

This is an album I don't actually have in my collection but I think I am going to track it down. I stumbled on it thanks to Patrick Carney of The Black Keys in a recent interview with Andrew Perry for Mojo (#332). He mentioned it as one of his favourites and I was quite taken with the album cover, which I thought was a hilarious way to market a new album.

Apparently Howlin' Wolf didn't like this album of Psychedelic Blues too much and for bizzare reasons Cadet Concept (a subsidiary of Chess Records), the label it was released on 1969 decided to use the album cover to convey that with the words 'This Is Howlin' Wolf's New Album. He Doesn't Like It. He Didn't Like His Electric Guitar At First Either.' in very bold lettering on the front cover! According to Chess, the album's cover hurt its sales. Chess states that "I used negativity in the title, and it was a big lesson: You can't say on the cover that the artist didn't like the album. It didn't really sell that well. But it was just an attempt. They were just experiments." Howlin' Wolf stated that the album was "dog shit", which again wouldn't have drummed up sales for it!

So let's have a listen to the album track by track. It's mainly Willie Dixon songs but it includes three songs by Chester Burnett (AKA as Howlin' Wolf). Enjoy.

1. Spoonful - written by Willie Dixon

2. Tail Dragger - written by Willie Dixon

3. Smokestack Lightning - written by Chester Burnett

4. Moanin' At Midnight - written by Chester Burnett

5. Built For Comfort - written by Willie Dixon

1. The Red Rooster - written by Willie Dixon

2. Evil - written by Chester Burnett

3. Down In The Bottom - written by Willie Dixon

4. Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy - written by Willie Dixon

5. Back Door Man - written by Willie Dixon

The Problem Of Leisure - A Celebration Of Andy Gill & The Gang Of Four - Various

A new Compilation celebrating Andy Gill & The Gang of Four was released on Friday 4th June 2021. All the Artwork has been done by Damien Hirst, who is a longtime fan of the band. All the Artwork is © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd.

After Andy Gill’s death in February 2020, his widow, Catherine Mayer assembled a small team to complete 'The Problem of Leisure'. The record had originally been conceived by Andy Gill himself not as a post-mortem tribute, but to mark the 40th anniversary in 2019 of Gang Of Four’s extraordinary 1979 debut long player 'Entertainment!' an album widely heralded as a classic (“the fifth best punk album of all time” according to Rolling Stone magazine). Personally speaking I would have loved to hear that as a couple of songs I thought might be on this are not...'I Found The Essence Rare' and 'At Home (He's A Tourist)'.

Andy Gill had already revised that vision in the months before his death, after some artists chose tracks from different albums and periods. Every musician who committed to the project was given the freedom to create new versions of whichever Gang of Four songs they wanted to cover, with Andy overseeing some of the earlier productions but largely leaving artists to create their own interpretations.

This leaving "the artists to their own interpretations" means that we end up with two versions of 'Damaged Goods', 'I Love A Man In A Uniform', and 'Natural's Not It' and three versions of 'Not Great Men'. Yes they are all different but it feels like they could have had other songs rather than being repetitive with choices.

It is released on a number of different formats: Limited Edition 2CD packaged like a hardback book with a 12 page booklet of Artwork by Damien Hirst. Includes googly eye attachment on the front sleeve. A Standard one CD version. Dogluxe Limited Edition double vinyl pressed on Red Vinyl (Individually numbered - edition of 650). Standard black double vinyl with a gatefold sleeve. Pink Cassette version and also a Download version.

Let's have some music. The album opens with probably the strongest song, 'Damaged Goods' by IDLES

IDLES say: “IDLES does not exist without Gang of Four. ‘Damaged Goods’ still sounds new and exciting after the millionth listen. We jumped at the chance to just play it, let alone record it. It was an honour, a joy and a privilege”

Another song that featured on the debut 'Damaged Goods EP' also appears on the album, 'Love Like Anthrax' by Gary Numan & Ade Fenton, though I have to confess to barely recognising it!

A number of Digital Download Singles were released leading up to the album's release. Here's a few starting with 'Paralysed' by Warpaint.

'Where The Nightingale Sings (Redux)' by 3D x Gang Of Four featuring Nova Twins

Page Hamilton from Helmet says, “My old pal Henry Rollins reissued Entertainment! and Solid Gold back in the 90’s and asked me to do liner notes for Solid Gold. I don’t remember what I wrote but I know it was glowing, corny and fanboy. Their songs, feel, energy, inventiveness made an indelible imprint on my musical soul. All of our peers that formed bands in the late 80’s were influenced by Go4. I chose ‘In the Ditch’ for this tribute cause it’s a great song even though it was challenging (thank you to my band!). It feels improvised and random at times but holds together as a composition. The guitar part feels like spontaneous scratchy funk, the angular bass and drum groove grooves hard but sounds like there’s a spoke missing. The vocal is somehow beautiful but scary, urgent and dangerous. There’s no room for limp dick, mail-it-in, non-musical moments in any of these songs. How the hell did they put this together? We could only try to capture the intensity of the original. This band changed me. Thank you Andy, Dave, Hugo & Jon.”

'I Love A Man In A Uniform' by Herbert Grönemeyer featuring Alex Silva

'Natural’s Not In It' by Tom Morello & Serj Tankian

Tom Morello: “Andy Gill was one of a handful of artists in history who changed the way guitars are played. His band Gang of Four were just incendiary and completely groundbreaking with Andy’s confrontational, unnerving and sublime playing at the forefront. His jagged plague-disco raptor-attack industrial-funk deconstructed guitar anti-hero sonics and fierce poetic radical intellect were hugely influential to me.”