These photos here were taken by our own very esteemed Magic Fingers on the Reading concert during 1975 (OMG!! WTF!!!8888 There he is…! Awesome!!!) :-)
I’m very fond of this sort of pictures, and given the fact that the core of this website is the fans, and their experience as such, we could have a gallery potraying such an experience. It doesn’t have to be pictures with the *Artist* necessarily, but those who show the general athmosphere of the concerts you’ve ever attended… This could be a new feature updated periodically and with time it could be interesting to see the results.
So, if you like the idea, I’d like to ask you for your old/recent pictures, with or without you or the artist of the concerts you attended. Doesn’t have to be related with The Man himself, this is about you as A FAN. And, also, memorabilia, signatures anything that you think might be interesting. Got the Valley Girl colouring book? A lighter or a pin? An old ticket? Send me your pictures: sharleena@gmail.com, why dontcha?
“Thank you very much for coming to the concert. Hope you liked it. Goodnight!”
Mahavishnu Orchestra and Soft Machine. If only I was quite a bit more aged :|. I’ve seen Soft Machine Legacy in Groningen some months ago though.
‘sup bitches? hahaha
good photos– waking up w/that godwaful hillary and her sense-of-entitlement-to power tone back on her voice is bad enough. So i checked that captain’s dead treasure trove, and once again, in lieu of the banished friday boots, how about some Wednesday Doc Martens boots?
http://www.captainsdead.com/2008/01/08/sup-baby-sup-sluts/
Captain Corazón de Churrasco for y’all, you all.
“Underminer”, I don’t know if you’re aware of this fan site ( Robert Wyatt / Soft Machine), made by a frenchman:
http://www.disco-robertwyatt.com/
Excellent idea, Dr Sharleena. Now if I can just find a couple of those truly embarrassing photos…
I DENY IT ALL!
Actually, it’s all true. If anyone is interested, this was the full festival line-up that year:
ALBERTO Y LOS TRIOS PARANIOS
JOAN ARMATRADING
BABE RUTH
CARAVAN
CLIMAX BLUES BAND
DR FEELGOOD
HAWKWIND
HEAVY METAL KIDS
JUDAS PRIEST
KOKOMO
KURSAAL FLYERS
MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA
ALAN STIVELL
WALLY
OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS
LOU REED (didn’t turn up!)
SNAFU
SOFT MACHINE
STELLA
STRING DRIVEN THING
SUPERTRAMP
THIN LIZZY
ROBIN TROWER
U.F.O.
WALLY
WISHBONE ASH
YES
ZZEBRA
Now how many of those bands, if they all still existed, would I bother to go and see today…….?
that’s alright, honey. you can come out of the closet now. very scary…it’s a wonder any of us are still here to write about it. if the ZFT had anything to do with it…oh, shut the fuck up , Bob!
[quote comment=”17348″]
Now how many of those bands, if they all still existed, would I bother to go and see today…….?[/quote]
A quick glance at my iTunes file gives me the answer of exactly who I would go and see today, Magic Fingers…
JOAN ARMATRADING
CARAVAN
MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA
OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS
LOU REED
SOFT MACHINE
SUPERTRAMP
THIN LIZZY
YES
BTW, Supertramp was very big in Canada in the 1970s (long before they broke into the US market with Breakfast In America).
BTW, urbangr, Supertramp didn’t break [quote post=”3823″]into the US market with Breakfast In America[/quote], they [quote post=”3823″]broke into the US market[/quote] with their 1st album available here entitled ‘Supertramp’ – featuring the hit “Bloody Well Right” (I preferred “School” myself).
I vividly remember giving it the first listen in my neighbor’s basement, after we had dropped some acid and were playing ping-pong by strobe light. 3 weeks later, “Bloody Well Right” was in heavy rotation on every respectable FM station around…
And if ‘breaking’ it in America means getting AM Top 40 play, then they ‘broke’ with the “Crisis? What Crisis?” album; “Dreamer” got a LOT of airplay in the US, and made the Top 20.
Aside from that point, I completely agree with your list – personally, I’d add Hawkwind, Robin Trower, and Wishbone Ash, but that’s just me…
It never ceases to amaze me that Magic and I have led the same lives on 2 different continents.
these groups NEVER came here behind the Iron Curtain (when there was an Iron Curtain).
I remember though seeing Hazel O’Connor in 1986, backed by (for some reason) a Hungarian band. And Iron Maiden came in 1985… Wow!!!! :-)
But as far as I know Alvin Lee was here in the sevnties, Manfred Mann made a fine live album here in ’86 ( I like it), etc.
And: Jethro Tull made a big concert here, maybe also in 86. That was great, thousands of people, in a big football stadium. Anderson still had his voice.
BUT: my VERY FIRST impression of FZ (still did not know ANYTHING about him) was in 1988, when he was touring in Vienna. A Hungarian reporter made an interview with him (Bolero in the background), finally asking: “do you also plan to sometimes visit Hungary?” You know, the question that is usually followed by the polite answer “oh yes, all I’ve ever dreamed about is visiting Your beautiful country!”
But FZ was different. His answer was short: “No.”
“Geeeeee!!!” – I said… “Who is that man????” :-)
Of course, I base this statement
[quote comment=”17352″]BTW, Supertramp was very big in Canada in the 1970s (long before they broke into the US market with Breakfast In America).[/quote]
on album sales, SOFA, not airplay. I recall them constantly touring Canada in the seventies, and the shows were always sold old (at least where I lived).
Regardless of album sales though, Supertramp was one of the greatest progressive rock groups that I still listen to to this day. “Crisis? What Crisis?†is very much an unacknowledged masterpiece that is far too often delegated to the bargain bins in record stores.
[quote post=”3823″]It never ceases to amaze me that Magic and I have led the same lives on 2 different continents.[/quote]
So true. One life, two different continents.
Talking of Supertramp, I remember a few years ago (my gig notes tell me it was 2000! Jeez, where does the time go?) that Rodger Hodgson turned up at Fairport Convention’s annual Cropredy festival and performed four Supertramp songs backed by Fairport (Take A Look At My Girlfriend, Logical, Open The Door & Give A Little Bit). The crowd went wild! Wishbone Ash actually performed there just last year (first time I’d seen them since Reading ’75). And a friend of mine, a long-term Hawkwind fanatic, saw Hawkwind in London just before Christmas. Said they were very good and very old.
Anybody remembers “Gruppo Sportivo” from Holland? In the 70/80ties I managed to see them 5 times live. Once, in a small club I even managed to talk to Hans Vandenburg and he was very funny. On their album “Back To ´78” there is a song called “The single” which is a musical reference to “Take your clotes off when you dance”. You can imagine, how pleased I was, that a band I enjoyed so much, did a reference to FZ. Unfortunately no concert tickets in my vault.
Another surprise. There’s the new & good http://www.jazz.com/.
This jazz site is just one month old. And what do those people publish? Yes:
http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-the-jazzy-side-of-frank-zappa
” Jazz is the music of unemployment,†Frank Zappa once quipped. But don’t let these cynical words mis-lead you. Zappa had a soft spot in his heart for jazz music, and every once in a while he demonstrated his affinity for the music on a memorable recording.”
” In fact, for several years – from 1968 to 1972 – Zappa played the jazz-fusion game almost as well as anybody. Few in the jazz world were noticing, because they already had this iconoclastic musician pegged as a long-haired hippie freak. But the records tell no lies, and with the passage of time we can look back with admiration at the jazz work of this wide-ranging and immensely talented musician . . . and perhaps even fantasize about what might have happened if Miles had given FZ the call for the Bitches Brew sessions.”
Again on the same line: refuse to be nostalgic, focus on exploring new things while keeing the past in mind ( atavistic).
Here’s a quote :
” Zappa was a very special person. He was really articulate; he really cared about politics. He had a lot of things going for him. I can’t step in Zappa’s shoes. I’m not politically aware. I don’t read newspaÂpers; I don’t read magazines; I don’t watch television. So I have no idea. Zappa was on top of everything, man. He was really amazing. I’m not really an articulate, politÂically minded, forward thinking person with goals that wants the world to be this way or that way. I’m not an interesting inÂterview in that regard. I wish I was.”
And another one: ” Musicians don’t think in terms of boxes.”
Who said that?
See: http://www.rowan.edu/philosop/clowney/Aesthetics/Zorn.htm
Ian Anderson once answered to an interviewer´s question, if he listens to popular music in any way – “no”, but to the music of Frank Zappa occasionally.
Well and here´s something for the old folks again: I still own a mint copy of “Thick As A Brick” – the cover made up like a real newspaper. Anybody remembers that one?
Oh yes Roland, I remember it very well; one of only two Tull albums (the other being This Was) that I don’t own on vinyl.
Do I happen to be a bore pretending that FZ will happen – unlike most of the people active in ” rock” from his era- to have a long shadow over the years?
New musicians will now start decoding his music and innovate on that basis. Something worth exploring: how does the new FZ Way look like? What did they learn from it and how did they develop things further? I don’t know.
Let’s turn the reasoning again upside down, starting from FZ.
He was a very talented musician, ” present day composer currently active in rock business”. Talented musicians hear music from other musicians and start decoding. They use the things they’ve heard / noticed and put them together again in an innovative way. That’s what FZ did.
So what did FZ hear on the classical music side? Most of it was 20th century music. He builded further on that. Students & scholars will start investigating that, be sure. ( sorry for disturbing the fun amongst fans, FZ was about more than just fun). As a starting point of this investigation, this is not bad ( sorry in dutch / flemish only ):
http://www.littleumbrellas.nl/dawerdz/yellow%20shark.htm
And yes, Roland & Magic F., on a nostalgic note. I still have +/- 7 Jethro Tull records. And the entire Caravan catalogue, Hatfield & The North included. And, believe ot or not, I like Mitch Ryder ( The Detroit Wheels – MC 5 ) much more than Pink Floyd.
My guess is that FZ music – just like for instance jazz or contemporary classic – is something for complicated minds ( or self complicating minds). And the cure is not be found in the nearest pharmacy. The only remedy / placebo is to be found in music. Further listening , overlooking genres. No pigeon holing, no boxes.
FZ = a puzzling guy. That’s his legacy.
” … something for complicated minds or self complicating minds …”
To me you´ve never been a bore, since I found KUR, bernard! I like the saying above. And I agree with your saying below!
“And the cure is not be found in the nearest pharmacy.”
There are many weird bridges in the world. In architecture for instance : http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/01/worlds-most-interesting-bridges-part-2.html
The new thing in music, partly introduced by FZ , was to build bridges, connecting – no :overlooking – genres ( the US way).
Do you endeavor to pigeonhole FZ? Record stores, the commercial people, do it, they say that it is ” rock”. OK, it is.
And it’s much more as well. For instance Civilazation Phase III is basically about taking Conlon Nancarrow music further. As there was much better than piano player technology ( CN s thing) available, the synclavier. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mirzM22nK-I. For sure ZFT dind’t invited the Austrians / swedish to remove that link on You Tube since no FZ regular consuler actually happens to be interesrted in it.
Thus right now we have just started exploring that sort of new wasteland.
That’s about Civilazation.
(Excatly the opposite of that sort of ZFT letters)
“… opposite of that sort of ZFT letters …”
Amen, brother.
[quote comment=”17361″]
” Jazz is the music of unemployment,†Frank Zappa once quipped. But don’t let these cynical words mis-lead you. Zappa had a soft spot in his heart for jazz music, and every once in a while he demonstrated his affinity for the music on a memorable recording.”
” In fact, for several years – from 1968 to 1972 – Zappa played the jazz-fusion game almost as well as anybody. Few in the jazz world were noticing, because they already had this iconoclastic musician pegged as a long-haired hippie freak.[/quote]
I think the term you are looking for, bernard, is third stream:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_stream
Yes & No, Urbangr.
That’s about pigeon holing, foreseeing categories, boxes. My favorite public music resource, the http://www.lamediatheque.be/ tried – many years ago to solve the problem. They offered +/- 2/3000 CDs for rent , labeled as The New Thing. That was a wall with shelves, full of adventorous music.
Right now youngsters took it over. Simple Minds. They reinvented categories, pigeon holing. Now you have to look for that music all over the place in La Médiathèque.
Simple Minds! Sanctify Yourself!
[quote comment=”17374″]Yes & No, Urbangr.
That’s about pigeon holing, foreseeing categories, boxes.[/quote]
If you think about it, Third Stream isn’t so much about *pigeonholing* but crossing musical boundaries hitherto considered the realm of only particularly learned musicians (classical) and those who were currently the vanguard (jazz). Perhaps that’s why FZ had such an affinity for the playing and compositions of Eric Dolphy: both were rejected by many of their contemporary peers for their unique musical vision.
Excellent. The Rotters’ Club…..now you’re talking, Bernard.
Getting back on topic (sort of)… Canada wasn’t always too well known for it’s outdoor music festivals (besides, say, genre specific blues, folk and country festivals held during the short summer months). Edmonton, itself, was quite the musical wasteland until the 1970s (I recall the first big open air concert called *Rock Circus* being held in 1978 — the same year the first big outdoor stadium was built). For most of my childhood, the only two AM radio stations were a country station (god I hate country music) and an easy listening station (catering to the Perry Como crowd). FM radio didn’t arrive until 1977. Before then, the one big event in Canadian concert history was The Festival Express in 1970 where Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, and The Band (among others) took a train across Canada to play different venues. Of course, everyone in Edmonton had to go to Calgary’s McMahon Stadium (July 4, 1970) to catch the show. But what’s 300 miles…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_Express#Concert_dates
Wishbone Ash! Crikey, I saw them in about 1970 at Newcastle City Hall (England) when they supported Rory Gallagher who was then in a band called ‘Taste’. Best thing about the gig was Rory’s beat up old Stratocaster which he played through an old Vox AC30 amp cranked up really loud. Great sound! Wishbone Ash were OK, but a bit nervous…
[quote comment=”17379″]Wishbone Ash! Crikey, I saw them in about 1970 at Newcastle City Hall (England) when they supported Rory Gallagher who was then in a band called ‘Taste’. Best thing about the gig was Rory’s beat up old Stratocaster which he played through an old Vox AC30 amp cranked up really loud. Great sound! Wishbone Ash were OK, but a bit nervous…[/quote] One of my friends roadied for Wishbone Ash when they played in the UK recently, but i’ve never heard their music. What’s it like?
I liked Wishbone Ash very much. Andy Powell & co.
They invented ( two lead guitarists) the art of the electric guitar duet. I’ve never seen them on stage. I have been told that they weren’t that good on stage. Howver : min three excellent albums ( Wishbone Ash, Pelgrimage and Argus).
Btw, seeing Bernard failed to take the opportunity to explain ;o), The Rotter’s Club was an album by Hatfield and the North that is absolute essential listening for all you progressive (personally I hate any terminology that pigeonholes music, but I have no doubt that this would be termed prog rock) fans out there. Well worth a listen, I assure you.
[quote comment=”17389″]Btw, seeing Bernard failed to take the opportunity to explain ;o), The Rotter’s Club was an album by Hatfield and the North that is absolute essential listening for all you progressive (personally I hate any terminology that pigeonholes music, but I have no doubt that this would be termed prog rock) fans out there. Well worth a listen, I assure you.[/quote]
Yes. Any terminology that pigeonholes music is just an intellectual exercise: either you like it (the music) or you do not. Myself, I have always used the following to describe my taste in music:
I used to fiddle with my back feet music for a black onyx.
My entire room absorbed every echo.
The music was . . . thud like.
The music was . . . thud like.
I usually played such things as rough-neck and thug.
Opaque melodies that would bug most people.
Music from the other side of the fence.
–Don Van Vliet
“Sam With The Showing Scalp Flat Top”