Author Archive: dereksmusicblog
LITTLE FEAT-THE LOWELL GEORGE YEARS.
LITTLE FEAT-THE LOWELL GEORGE YEARS. Before founding Little Feat in 1969, Lowell George was a member of Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention. Then in 1969, Lowell met Bill Payne who previously, had auditioned for The Mothers Of Invention. Bill however, never joined The Mothers Of Invention. No. In 1969 pianist Bill Payne and guitarist Lowell …
THE WILD OATS-THE WILD OATS.
THE WILD OATS-THE WILD OATS. Way before The Beatles burst onto the scene with Love Me Do in 1962, bands were being formed up and down Britain. Bands literally sprung up from John O’ Groats to Land’s End. This included in Leiston, a small, rural town in sleepy Suffolk. It was an unlikely place for …
THE AROCK, SEROCK, SYLVIA SOUL STORY CONTINUED.
THE AROCK, SEROCK, SYLVIA SOUL STORY CONTINUED. Al Sears’ career began in the 1928, when he replaced Johnny Hodges in Chic Webbs’ band. This was the start of a long and successful career. In 1931, Al Sears joined Elmer Snowden’s band. He was the tenor saxophonist right through until 1932. Then in 1933, Al Sears …
SOME KINDA MAGIC-THE SONGS OF JERRY ROSS.
SOME KINDA MAGIC-THE SONGS OF JERRY ROSS. Growing up in Philadelphia, Jerry Ross dreamt of becoming a trumpeter and singer. While this dreams never came quite true, Jerry went on to live the dream musically. Jerry Ross became a hugely successful songwriter and producer. He also worked in A&R and owned his own record companies. Jerry …
GORDON LIGHTFOOT-DREAM SWEET ROSE, SHADOWS AND SALUTE.
GORDON LIGHTFOOT-DREAM SWEET ROSE, SHADOWS AND SALUTE. By 1980, the man dubbed “Canada’s greatest songwriter” was about to release the fourteenth album of his career, Dream Sweet Rose. It was the first album Gordon Lightfoot had released since Endless Wire in January 1978. Endless Wire had reached number two in Canada, and number twenty-two in …
HEDVIG MOLLESTAD TRIO-EVIL IN OSLO.
HEDVIG MOLLESTAD TRIO-EVIL IN OSLO. Most groups choose to release just one new album at a time. That’s most groups. However, the Hedvig Mollestad Trio aren’t most groups. Instead, they’re musical trailblazers, who push musical boundaries, and in the process, create inventive and innovative genre-melting music. That’s been the case since the Hedvig Mollestad Trio were …
LINDA PERHACS-A TALE OF TWO ALBUMS.
LINDA PERHACS-A TALE OF TWO ALBUMS. It was in 1970, that twenty-seven year old dental hygienist Linda Perhacs released Parallelograms, her debut album. Some people wondered why it had taken Linda so long? After all, she was a musical prodigy. Linda Long was born in Mill Valley, which lies just north of San Francisco’s Golden …
JIMI HENDRIX THE MAN WHO CHANGED MUSIC.
JIMI HENDRIX THE MAN WHO CHANGED MUSIC. On the 4th of July 1970, Jimi Hendrix journeyed 100 miles south of Atlanta. His destination was the second Atlanta International Pop Festival, which was being billed as the second Woodstock. That was where The Jimi Hendrix Experience were about play a starring role. When The Jimi Hendrix Experience …
TEENAGE FANCLUB-BANDWAGONESQUE-VINYL LIMITED EDITION.
TEENAGE FANCLUB-BANDWAGONESQUE-VINYL LIMITED EDITION. Hardly ever does commercial success and critical acclaim come overnight for a band. Instead, it often takes a couple of albums before a band hits their stride. That was the case with the Teenage Fanclub. It wasn’t until the Teenage Fanclub released their third album Bandwagonesque in November 1991 that commercial …
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND-LOADED-LIMITED VINYL EDITION.
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND-LOADED-LIMITED VINYL EDITION. With the continued resurgence in interest of all things vinyl, many retailers and record companies are joining forces to release limited edition of what they refer to as classic albums. That description is stretching things for some of the albums that have been conferred classic status. Indeed, sometimes, the word classic is something more …
HEDVIG MOLLESTAD TRIO-BLACK STABAT MATER.
HEDVIG MOLLESTAD TRIO-BLACK STABAT MATER. Just over two years ago, the Hedvig Mollestad Trio released their critically acclaimed and career defining third album Enfant Terrible. It was hailed as the finest album of the band’s five year career. That however, is until now. Currently, the Hedvig Mollestad Trio are currently preparing to release their much …
GARY BURTON-SOMETHING’S COMING!, THE GROOVY SOUND OF MUSIC AND THE TIME MACHINE.
GARY BURTON-SOMETHING’S COMING!, THE GROOVY SOUND OF MUSIC AND THE TIME MACHINE. Growing up in Anderson, Indiana, Gary Burton was regarded as a child prodigy. He became interested in music when he was just six. That was when Gary Burton first began to play the vibraphone and marimba. Mostly, Gary was self taught, and eventually …
KLAUS SCHULZE-CYBORG.
KLAUS SCHULZE-CYBORG. By the time Klaus Schulze released his debut solo album Irrlicht in 1972, he had already been in what would prove to be two of the most important, innovative and influential Krautrock bands, Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel. Both groups would write their names into the history books. However, being in a …
THE BLUE NILE-THEY COULD AND SHOULD’VE BEEN GIANTS.
THE BLUE NILE-THEY COULD AND SHOULD’VE BEEN GIANTS. Enigmatic, reluctant and contrarian are words that best of describe The Blue Nile. They’re the complete opposite of most bands. The Blue Nile have been described as publicity shy. That’ is an understatement. Ever since Paul Buchanan, Robert Bell and Paul Joseph Moore formed the Blue Nile, …
DAMON- SONG OF A GYPSY.
DAMON- SONG OF A GYPSY. For any collector of psychedelia whose fortunate enough to find a copy of Damon’s Song Of A Gypsy, it quickly becomes one of their most prized possessions. Sadly, finding an original copy of Song Of A Gypsy is another thing. It’s one of the rarest psychedelic albums, and copies have changed hands for …
DAN FOGELBERG-HIGH COUNTRY SNOW AND EXILES.
DAN FOGELBERG-HIGH COUNTRY SNOW AND EXILES. Music was in Dan Fogelberg’s blood. His mother was a classically trained pianist, while his father was a high school band director. So it was no surprise that after Dan Fogelberg graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign that he embarked upon a career as a musician. Initially, Dan …
LESLEY GORE-BOYS, BOYS, BOYS.
LESLEY GORE-BOYS, BOYS, BOYS. In 1963, Lesley Gore was the all-American girl, who was being heralded as the future of music. That wasn’t surprising. When Lesley Gore released her debut single It’s My Party in 1963, it reached number one in the US Billboard 100 and US R&B charts. This resulted in It’s My Party being certified …
BLACK MOON CIRCLE-SEA OF CLOUDS.
BLACK MOON CIRCLE-SEA OF CLOUDS. Last year, I described Norwegian space rock pioneers, Black Moon Circle as one of the rising stars of the Norwegian music scene. Since then, Black Moon Circle’s star has been in the ascendancy. Their third album, The Studio Jams Volume I: Yellow Nebula In The Sky was released to widespread …
MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY-SATELLITE.
MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY-SATELLITE. You shouldn’t judge a book by its covers. These are wise words. Especially when it comes to Mull Historical Society. The name doesn’t sound particularly rock ’n’ roll. Far from it. Instead, it conjures up dusty relics in a far flung museum on the remote, but beautiful Isle Of Mull. However, that’s …
JIGMASTAS-RESURGENCE.
JIGMASTAS-RESURGENCE. When DJ Spinna and Kriminul met, and founded Jigmastas in Brooklyn in 1991, little did they realise that their musical partnership would last twenty-five years. To celebrate this anniversary, Jigmastas have released an album of previously unreleased material Resurgence. It’s just been released by BBE Records, which has been home to Jigmastas for several …
dereksmusicblog
dereksmusicblog 