HCQ STRUT (1939) by Django Reinhardt wilson mcphert 2026-09-21 | HCQ STRUT (1939) by Django Reinhardt
NAT KING COLE SHOW - ITS ONLY A PAPER MOON (July 1957) wilson mcphert 2022-12-25 | This is a good clip of Nat playing this song live on his TV show. Usually the Nelson Riddle Orchestra was behind the curtains unseen and Nat was a terrific live performer. The video is average, but the sound is good.
DEL SHANNON - RUNAWAY AND HATS OFF TO LARRY LIVE AND INTERVIEW 1989 wilson mcphert 2022-12-23 | In 1989, Del toured Australia on his Crime Story Tour. He appeared live on the Midday Show with Ray Martin, and played two songs, Runaway and Hats off to Larry, backed by the house band led by Geoff Harvey. There is an interview between both songs where Ray asks Del about individual songs. One highlight is Del talking about yodeling and at 8.42 he demonstrates it by singing one of my favourite Hank Williams songs, Long Gone Lonesome Blues, and perfectly. Del's single of Hey Little Girl was the first single I ever bought as a ten year old (and I didn't buy another one until into my teenage years). I have always loved Del, and saw him live playing in Orlando FA while travelling in the eighties. He played with a pick up band and was great. The video quality is not great but the sound is pretty good, and the performance and interview fairly historic IMHO.
I KNOW YOU RIDER - How to work out three part vocal harmonies using guitar triads. wilson mcphert 2022-12-16 | This video was for an acoustic guitar course I ran this year. It aims to show how you might work out three part vocal harmonies for a song using guitar triads based on the chords as a guide. The chords I use are slightly different from those used by the Grateful Dead in their version on Europe 72. I am using my 1989 Washburn DC-60 acoustic guitar recorded by the microphone in my Zoom Q4 camera. If you want to see how the harmonies sound together, see my video on this channel at youtube.com/watch?v=DQSXBmu2glA
HEY JOE - HOW TO WORK OUT BACKING VOCALS USING TRIADS ON GUITAR wilson mcphert 2022-12-16 | I did this video to demonstrate how to use guitar triads (on the G, B and E strings) to work out vocal harmonies. In this case, it is Hey Joe, using triads based on the chords of C, G, D, A and E. This is how I would develop a three part backing harmony for the song, which to my mind really makes it. This was part of a guitar course I was running this year. I am using my 1989 Washburn DC-60 acoustic guitar and it is recorded with the microphone in my Zoom Q4 camera.
EPILOGUE by Al Head (live) wilson mcphert 2018-12-30 | I presume this was recorded in the early seventies. It's a quirky song that goes for just over a minute, I've always loved it, and I thought I would share it here.
I KNOW YOU RIDER - trio vocal practice with Ray, Mike and Geoff wilson mcphert 2016-11-07 | This is a traditional tune, arranged in three part vocal harmony at our trio practice session. I Know You Rider has been covered by the Grateful Dead, the Byrds, and many others. Hope you like it.
HOLE IN MY SHOE by Traffic (live in Sweden 1967- rarely performed live track with slideshow video) wilson mcphert 2014-06-06 | This is a live version of 'Hole in My Shoe' sung by writer Dave Mason. The studio version of this song has been one of my most popular slideshow videos, so I thought I would upload this rarely performed live version. In fact it erks me that this song appears to have contributed to the alienation of writer Dave Mason from the rest of group and to his departure, as it is my favourite Traffic song. It would be a hard song to do live, and they have acquitted themselves nicely, particularly Dave's sitar work at the beginning, which takes up about half the running time. I bought the original studio single version when it came out (Smiling Phases was the 'B' side). This song was written and sung by Dave Mason, rather than Steve Winwood who did most of the singing for the band. Interestingly, Dave said it was the first song he wrote and that it was like a nursery rhyme. He said he had not tried LSD at the time he wrote the song (many thought it was influenced by that drug). Francine Heimann was the six year old girl who did the spoken part in the middle of the original song. She was the stepdaughter of Island Records boss Chris Blackwell.Winwood had success as a musician prior to joining Traffic, becoming the frontman of the Spencer Davis Group at age 15 in 1963. Winwood met drummer Jim Capaldi, guitarist Dave Mason, and multi-instrumentalist Chris Wood when they jammed together at The Elbow Room, a club in Aston, Birmingham. After Winwood left the Spencer Davis Group in April 1967, the quartet formed Traffic. Soon thereafter, they rented a cottage near the rural village of Aston Tirrold, Berkshire to write and rehearse new music.Traffic signed to Island Records label and their debut single "Paper Sun" became a UK hit in mid-1967. Their second single, Mason's psych-pop classic "Hole in My Shoe", was an even bigger hit, and it became one of their best-known tracks, but it set the stage for increasing friction between Winwood and Mason, the group's principal songwriters. The rest of their career involved various personnel comings and goings (Winwood joined Blind Faith for a year) and Dave Mason even rejoined again for a short period. They had varying success, although scoring with John Barleycorn Must Die and The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (Nov. 1971), which was a Top 10 American album athough did not chart in the UK. Sadly Chris Wood died in 1983 and Jim Capaldi in 2005. The above was adapted from Wikipedia. I have put together a slide show video for this song, hopefully matching up images to the music. Comments are welcome.My video of the studio version of this song is at:youtube.com/watch?v=a77yHpjdUtU&feature=kp
BEST DEAL IN TOWN by Scandal - single by seventies Australian band wilson mcphert 2013-02-02 | I saw Scandal when I lived in Melbourne in the seventies and they were great live. They did a fantastic version of Sparks' 'This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us'. They had obvious influences such as Queen, 10cc etc which was fine with me. I went out and bought this single and the album when it was released. They did a slower version of this song on the album, but I did not like it as much as this single (which I used for the audio of this slideshow video). The band based in Adelaide, Australia and was fronted by singer Stuart Kerrison and keyboard player Chris Harriott. Between them they wrote much of the material, including this song. Comments are welcome.
SUMMER HOME (2010) by Peter Buzzelle, catchy power pop from Boston wilson mcphert 2012-08-05 | This was the first track I heard by Peter Buzzelle, and it is still my favourite of his. It is from his first album, 'To Telescope' and was produced by Chris Zerby. Peter is a singer/songwriter, power pop/indie rock recording artist from Boston, Massachusetts. I think he warrants to be heard more widely, hence this video. Peter's main influences include artists such as Elliott Smith, Morrissey and Band Of Horses. He is an original singer and songwriter whose lyrics and vocal melodies tell a story about his life and his experiences. Peter had the following things to say : "The ten songs on 'To Telescope' have their origins in my life over the past twelve years. After graduating from college in 98' I was filled musical ideas. But, without my band anymore, basically homeless living out of a van and broke, I had no chance of getting anything going on. I decided to move back to the East Coast, after living in the Northwest for close to twenty years. I have been writing this album for ten years. But, during that time I got married, bought a house, started a family and now have an established carpentry business in Boston. Now I finally got some capital to record an album!" Musicians on Summer Home:Peter Buzzelle : Vocals, Guitars, Synthesizer, Drums and Percussion Chris Zerby : Bass, added Guitars and Guitar Solo, Liz Costa : Vocals Peter cares about funding educational initiatives that are geared toward the arts and music programming in public schools. He has been involved with volunteering programs such as Boston Cares, where he has taken the lead of becoming a project manager who has gathered materials to repair homes for families in need. He is passionate about raising money for community based non-profit organizations that build and develop affordable housing. Peter Buzzelle is a musician with a genuine heart and the musical roots to present his passions. The above information is from Peter's website, which includes info about his new album, 'Museum Of'. http://peterbuzzelle.com I have done a slideshow video for this song as there is not an official video. I used mostly images from Peter's website. Included are photos from his CD covers, which Peter took himself. As ever, comments are invited.
DAYS OF PEARLY SPENCER by David McWilliams - extensive slideshow wilson mcphert 2012-07-10 | I first heard this on the radio in the sixties here in Australia, and I even remember seeing a clip of it on tv in an English rock show called Now Time. I loved the lyrics and the effect on the vocals during the chorus. When I got the song on a compilation CD, I revisited it again and appreciated it more. Like someone else online, I thought this was about a mythical criminal type called Pearly Spencer. However apparently it was written about a homeless person.David McWilliams was born in the Cregagh area of Belfast and moved to Ballymena at the age of three. He began playing guitar and writing songs in his early teens. He recorded a demo of some of his own songs, which was heard by music industry entrepreneur Phil Solomon, who had previously managed The Bachelors and Van Morrison's band Them and also had close business ties with Ronan O'Rahilly's pirate radio station Radio Caroline. Solomon won McWilliams a contract with CBS Records, which released his first unsuccessful single "God and My Country" in 1966, before signing McWilliams to his own new Major Minor label. McWilliams' first album, David McWilliams Singing Songs by David McWilliams, was produced and arranged by Mike Leander, and reached # 38 on the UK album chart.He quickly recorded a second album, David McWilliams, which reached # 23 in the album chart and featured the single "Days of Pearly Spencer". This was a song about a homeless man McWilliams had encountered in Ballymena, and featured a sweeping orchestral arrangement by Leander and a chorus sung as if through a megaphone. Massive exposure on Radio Caroline and through advertisements in the UK music press in the summer of 1967 helped generate interest and sales in continental Europe, and the record topped the charts in numerous countries including France and the Netherlands, selling a million copies worldwide. However, although it became well known in the UK, "Days of Pearly Spencer" failed to make the charts there, perhaps because the BBC refused to play it owing to Solomon's links with pirate radio, and through mismanagement McWilliams never profited from the song's success. McWiliams became popular in Germany and Italy, as well as in France and Holland, and re-recorded some songs in Italian. Reportedly, David Bowie once named McWilliams as his favourite songwriter. An album, Days Of Pearly Spencer, comprising tracks from his three albums, was issued by Kapp Records in the USA in 1968. He moved to London, and released further albums and singles on the Parlophone and Dawn labels in the 1970s, but these were unsuccessful. McWilliams moved back to Northern Ireland in 1978. He performed infrequently after that, mostly in local bars, although he also headlined a concert in aid of striking miners in 1984 and occasionally appeared at the Ballycastle Northern Lights Festival. McWilliams died of a heart attack at his home in Ballycastle, County Antrim in 2002, at the age of 56. He was married twice and had eight children. (Info was summarised from Wiki).I thought I would have a go at making one of my slideshow videos for the song. As ever, comments are invted.
LIFES WHAT YOU MAKE IT (1986) by Talk Talk featuring extensive slideshow wilson mcphert 2012-07-08 | This track is off 'The Colour of Spring', Talk Talk's third album and was released in 1986. It became the band's highest selling non-compilation studio album, reaching the Top 20 in numerous countries, including their homeland, the UK, where it reached No. 8 and stayed in the charts for 21 weeks. It did not quite match the sales of its predecessor in the United States, but was nonetheless their last album to enter the Billboard Top 200, reaching the Top 75. With its international hit "Life's What You Make It", Talk Talk expanded their fan base, and it earned the band the third of their three American hits, along with 1984's "It's My Life" and "Such a Shame". Musically, The Colour of Spring was a major step away from the synthesised pop of early Talk Talk, with the focus on such songs as "Life's What You Make It", "Living in Another World" and "Give It Up". It had a sound described by the band as much more "organic" than their earlier records, with the improvisation that was to dominate on their later works already apparent in the recording process.The core band comprised Mark Hollis (piano and vocals), Paul Webb (bass) and Lee Harris (drums). Tim Friese-Greene was an unofficial fourth member, although he did not tour. He produced, co-wrote with Hollis and played mellotron. After their final album, Laughing Stock, Talk Talk disbanded in 1992, as Hollis wished to focus on his children. An innovative musician with a truly distinctive voice. I normally don't do slideshow videos for songs which already have videos, and the official video is a beauty. However I thought that it would be good to focus on musicians in the band, including guest guitarist David Rhodes who played that ethereal guitar riff throughout the song. I also thought it would be good to include the incredible artwork on the album covers. The images span the very different periods of the group. Anyway this is what I came up with. Update: I read the news today (26 Feb 2019) that Mark Hollis had died. Condolences to family friends and fans. As ever, comments are invited.
LETTERS AND NUMBERS - Incredible Maths Calculation by Sam Gaffney wilson mcphert 2012-06-30 | Letters and Numbers is a great word and maths tv game show on the SBS network in Australia.Contestants pick 9 letters in turn and the person who gets the longest word wins the points. Equal points are awarded where words of equal length are produced. With the Maths game, contestants pick 6 numbers from small ( numbers 1-10) or large (25, 50,75 or 100). They then have to use those numbers to reach a randomly generated number up to a 1000, and have 30 seconds to write their answer down. Whoever gets closest to the number gets the points. If both get the number correct, both get the same score. In this case, both contestants got to the target with the numbers selected. Daniel's solution was excellent. However Sam Gaffney got there with an amazing calculation, one which he wrote down after only 20 seconds. Sam went on to win the fourth series of the show and also the Masters series comprising of the winner and runners up from the first four series of the show. He is just as amazing with words as he is mathematics. Letters and Numbers is one of my favourite shows and I regret to say that SBS has decided to 'rest' the series. This is terrible news for fans of the show like me. It must be one of the few shows on TV that provides a challenge for its audience to play along with the contestants, which I love to do. Those wishing to voice their support for the continuation of the show, can do so at the following website:http://www.lanfans.org/petition/vote.phpYou can watch episodes of the program on the SBS website. (I've just found out that this has been already uploaded. I didn't find it when I did a search a few weeks ago. I'll leave it up as I hope it might encourage people to vote for keeping the show).Update: Sam gives some insight into his method at the following link:http://playinglettersandnumbers.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/time-for-some-activism.htmlComments are invited.
JET JACKSON, THE FLYING COMMANDO re-recording of show theme and remastered images wilson mcphert 2012-06-26 | Opening narrative: "It's Jet Jackson, the flying commando! On a mountaintop high above a large city stands the headquarters of a man devoted to the cause of freedom and justice, a war hero who has never stopped fighting against his country's enemies, a private citizen who is dedicating his life to the struggle against evil men everywhere --Jet Jackson!" Captain Midnight, or Jet Jackson as it was known in syndication, was a fifties tv show starring Richard Webb. This is a re-recording of the show's theme, which was composed by Don A Ferris and Irving Friedman, who also wrote the music for the Father Knows Best TV show. Growing up in Australiia, I only knew this show as Jet Jackson, It was produced by Screen Gems and starring Richard Webb, began September 9, 1954, on CBS, continuing for 39 episodes until January 21, 1956. It was about a World War II veteran who, along with his sidekick, Ichabod Mudd (played by Sid Melton), fought evil-doers all around the world. It was the perfect series for the time as the "cold war" conflict between capitalist, communist and solialist countries provided lots of fodder for the scripts. Also, the "advanced" scientific knowledge that they got from scientist Aristotle "Tut" Jones (Olan Soule) also fit well into the time period which encompassed the beginnings of nuclear, electronic, computer and rocketry research and development. Captain Midnight even had one of those new-fangled airplanes called a "jet". This jet which featured in the series is the Douglas Skyrocket, named the Silver Dart, and was based on using both models and occasionally stock footage. The series filmed at the Ray Corrigan Ranch in Simi Valley, California. When the series went into syndication in 1958, Ovaltine was no longer the sponsor. However, The Wander Company owned the rights to the character's name "Captain Midnight", forcing a title change by Screen Gems from Captain Midnight to Jet Jackson, Flying Commando, and all references in the episodes to Captain Midnight were redubbed (rather poorly) "Jet Jackson"Richard Webb (9 September 1915 -- 10 June 1993) was a film, television and radio actor. He was born in Bloomington, Illinois. He appeared in more than fifty films, including many westerns and films noir including Out of the Past (1947), Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948), I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951) and Carson City (1952). Captain Midnight or Jet Jackson is probably the role he is best remembered for. In the 1970s, Webb became a writer and published four books on psychic phenomena. Sadly, Webb died by his own hand in Van Nuys, California and left a suicide note explaining that he could no longer go on living with the severe respiratory problems which had caused him much suffering for years. On a much happier note, Richard Webb was awarded a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California. It's located at 7065 Hollywood Boulevard.The above is summarised from Wiki and other sources on the net.I have put together a widescreen slideshow of screen captures from the show, which I have digitally enhanced. Pity the series has not been restored on DVD. This is dedicated to the memory of Richard Webb and the other actors on the show. Comments are invited.
MORNING DEW (1968) by the Jeff Beck Group (extensive slideshow video) wilson mcphert 2012-06-13 | Morning Dew was off the 1968 'Truth' album by the Jeff Beck Group featuring Jeff Beck (guitars), Rod Stewart (vocals), Ron Wood (bass) and Mickey Waller (drums). Nicky Hopkins played piano on this track and also Blues Deluxe from the same album. Morning Dew is a post-apocalyptic folk-rock song written by Canadian singer Bonnie Dobson in 1962. According to Dobson in a 1993 interview, Morning Dew was inspired by the film On the Beach. Fred Neil heard Dobson's song and re-arranged it to suit his own style. Tim Rose heard Neil's version and then recorded his own in 1966, adding himself as co-writer. Through a loophole in US copyright law, Rose was able to claim royalties. Dobson has consistently questioned Rose's right to a co-writing credit. (Summarised from Wiki).I have put together the most complete slideshow video I could of the Jeff Beck group, including some photos with Aynsley Dunbar on drums, although he did not play on this track.See also my slideshow videos of Beck's Bolero and Rock My Plimsoul also from the Truth album. Comments are invited.
LITTLE WING - by michael backhouse (aka wilson mcphert or mcphert1) wilson mcphert 2012-06-08 | This is an instrumental version featuring some soloing against the changes of Little Wing.I was visiting a friend's place to look at his computer recording system. He demonstrated it by putting on a backing track he did of Little Wing, gave me his (very nice) Fender strat guitar, selected an overdrive sound, and then I improvised along with it with lots of unsubtle whammy bar and pentatonic noodling (it was the first time I had played electric guitar for a few years- I play mainly acoustic now). This is the first and only take, warts and all (except for a few seconds I took out when I made a mistake!). The slideshow used to be on my former mcphert1 channel, and I thought I would dust it off and put it up on my current channel). The slideshow has some aerial shots (which I have also used for my recent Ride of the Valkyries video by Chris Goulstone). Comments are invited. (For videos of my original songs, see my michaelbackhouse youtube channel).
RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES by Chris Goulstone on electric guitar wilson mcphert 2012-06-08 | This was a demo featured in a 1996 Total Guitar (UK guitar magazine) CD by guitarist Chris Goulstone. Unfortunately the magazine spelt it 'Coulston' which I put at the beginning of my video, until Chris advised me of the correct spelling. I love Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries and think that Chris has done a great job adapting it for a full-on guitar workout. Sort of what you might imagine someone like Joe Satriani doing. (If you are interested in sixties guitar workouts of classical music, see my videos of Love Sculpture doing Sabre Dance, Farandole and Mars). The magazine noted it 'is demo of the month..because the arrangement is so strong and well thought out. Subtle it is not, but what it loses in grace and mystique, it makes up for in humour and confidence.....Chris gets his sound by putting his 1981 Squier Strat through a 1972 watt Marshall head, whch in turn is processed by a Palmer speaker simulator, but instead of going to direct to tape, he used a 4x12" speaker cabinet with Celestion G12s'. Chris said that he could run the Marshall flat out and control the overall volume without affecting the tone.The line up for the track is:Chris Goulstone - guitars and programming Paul Martinez - bass Dave Charles - drum overdubsI put the track on a compilation CD and have listened to it over the years and love it. I thought it deserved to be heard and have made this slideshow video. I only had a thumbnail photo of Chris to make the video so have added some aerial shots of various planes which I hope fit in (an Apocalypse Now type vibe!). I would love to see a video of Chris performing it live! Just google Chris Goulstone to find his website and youtube channel. He has played with artists such as Goldfrapp and Hugh Cornwell of the Stranglers. He also does soundtracks for TV and films. Comments are invited.
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA by Neil Norman and his Cosmic Orchestra in Stereo wilson mcphert 2012-06-07 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was the theme written by Paul Sawtell for the sixties television program of the same. This is a 1980 stereo version performed by Neil Norman and his Cosmic Orchestra. This is my second slideshow video by Neil Norman, the first being the Adventures of Superman. I loved this show as a kid, particularly the Seaview submarine. I even had a go at fashioning a Seaview out of wood and aluminium for the bit at the front. I was no carpenter, but I guess it was fun having a go at making something you liked.Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a 1960s American science fiction television series based on the 1961 film of the same name. Both were created by Irwin Allen, which enabled the movie's sets, costumes, props, special effects models, and sometimes footage, to be used in the production of the television series. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was the first of Irwin Allen's four science fiction television series as well as the longest running. The show's main theme was underwater adventure. Voyage was broadcast on ABC from September 14, 1964 to March 31, 1968, and was the decade's longest-running American science fiction television series with continuing characters. The 110 episodes produced included 32 shot in black and white (1964--65), and 78 filmed in color (1965--68). The first two seasons took place in the then future of the 1970s. The final two seasons took place in the 1980s. The show starred Richard Basehart and David Hedison.Neil Norman is a musician and producer with numerous albums to his credit, including several Star Trek Albums. This track is off a 1980 album of mine entitled Greatest Science Fiction Hits. Neil played guitars, synthesizers and Theremin with a range of musicians playing the other instruments.Paul Sawtell (3 February 1906 -- 1 August 1971) was a Polish-born film score composer in the United States. He began his career with RKO, and eventually joined Universal Pictures. Sawtell worked on many western and horror films, and also scored the Sherlock Holmes films The Pearl of Death and The Scarlet Claw. In the late 1940s, Sawtell returned to RKO. He also worked for various independent producers, including Eagle-Lion Films' production of T-Men (1947). His also composed and arranged the uncredited music for the Venice, Italy sequences in This is Cinerama (1952). In the late 1950s, Sawtell struck up an alliance with fellow film composer Bert Shefter and they produced many film scores together. Most notably they provided the music to classic science fiction and horror films including Kronos, The Fly, Curse of the Fly, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (in cooperation with producer Irwin Allen), and It! The Terror from Beyond Space in 1958. In 1965 they composed some scores for the director Russ Meyer, such as the cult classic Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Motorpsycho. The last score they provided was for the Mexican film Emiliano Zapata in 1970 shortly before Sawtell's death. Perhaps Sawtell's best known composition is the main theme for the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV series, adapted from Allen's 1961 feature film, for which Sawtell had written a different theme. (Summarised from Wikipedia).I have done a slideshow video for this theme and have included mainly images of the Seaview which I have digitally enhanced!Comments are invited.
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN by Neil Norman and his Cosmic Orchestra (in Stereo) wilson mcphert 2012-06-04 | This is a re-recording of the opening theme to the fifties TV show, the Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves as Clark Kent/Superman. The theme (sometimes called 'the Superman March') was written by Leon Klatzkin and was re-recorded by Neil Norman and his Cosmic Orchestra. It is the only cover of this theme that I know of, and it is in stereo.Leon Klatzkin was a prolific film and television composer, orchestra conductor, soundtrack orchestrator and arranger. Coming to Hollywood, he worked in the music department of the Hal Roach Studios for eight years, and thereafter moved on to other film companies as well, especially 20th Century-Fox. He joined the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 1952, and his list of compositions there number well over 600, nearly all of them themes for film and television, including Rawhide and the Wild Wild West.Neil Norman is a musician and producer with numerous albums to his credit, including several Star Trek Albums. This track is off a 1980 album of mine entitled Greatest Science Fiction Hits. Neil played guitars, synthesizers and Theremin with a range of musicians playing the other instruments.Adventures of Superman is an American television series being the first television series to feature Superman, and began filming in 1951 in California. The syndicated show's first, and last, air dates are generally accepted as September 19, 1952 and April 28, 1958. The show's first two seasons (episodes 1--52, 26 titles per season) were filmed in black-and-white; seasons three through six (episodes 53--104, 13 titles per season) were filmed in color but originally telecast monochromatically both on the ABC network and in first-run syndication. Television viewers would not see Superman in color until the series was syndicated to local stations in 1965.In the 104 episodes, George Reeves showed gentlemanly behavior to his fellow actors. Jack Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen, recalled that Reeves enjoyed playing practical jokes on the crew and cast, as depicted during a scene in the film Hollywoodland. Reeves insisted his original Lois Lane, Phyllis Coates, be given equal billing in the credits. He also stood by Robert Shayne (who played Police Inspector William "Bill" Henderson) when Shayne was subpoenaed by FBI agents on the set of Superman. (Shayne's political activism in the Screen Actors Guild in the 1940s was used by his embittered ex-wife as an excuse to label him a Communist, although Shayne had never been a Communist Party member. When Coates was replaced by Noel Neill (who had played Lois Lane in the Kirk Alyn serials), Reeves defended her nervousness on her first day when he felt that the director was being too harsh with her. On the other hand, he liked to stand outside camera range, mugging at the other cast members to see if he could break them up. According to Larson, Reeves took on-set photos with his Minox and handed out prints. By all accounts, there was strong camaraderie among the show's actors. (Summarised from Wikipedia).I loved the TV show as a kid, and this slideshow video is dedicated to the memory of George Reeves. Comments are invited.
FLOWERS IN THE RAIN (acoustic demo) by the Move featuring Carl Wayne and Roy Wood wilson mcphert 2012-05-01 | Flowers in the Rain is a song by the sixties UK rock band The Move. The song was released as a single and reached number 2 in 1967 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 4 in Ireland. It was written by Roy Wood. This acoustic demo features just vocals by singer Carl Wayne and acoustic guitar by Roy Wood (who sings the middle eight). The sound they get with such a stripped back production is fantastic and is indicative of what a great song it is. It is available on their Anthology 1966-1972.I have put together a slideshow for this song featuring mainly images of Carl Wayne and Roy Wood. . Comments are invited.
I THOUGHT YOU WERE A SPY (2006) by World Party featuring Karl Wallinger wilson mcphert 2012-04-26 | For the most part, World Party is ex Waterboys' Karl Wallinger, who invariably would record most of the tracks for his albums by himself and tour with additional musicians. He also plays guitar left handed without changing the strings around, which very few people do. Wallinger is a great singer and songwriter, having written songs such as Ship of Fools and She's The One. This is my favourite song off the 2006 US release of 'Dumbing Up'. It was not on the original 2000 UK release. Recorded at Wallinger's home in 1986, his debut album Private Revolution yielded the hit "Ship Of Fools", reaching no. 4 in Australia, no. 21 in New Zealand, and no. 27 in the US, in the process becoming the act's only major international hit. Goodbye Jumbo, World Party's second album, contained the minor UK hit singles "Way Down Now" and "Put the Message in the Box". Wallinger collaborated with fellow songwriter Guy Chambers on some of the tracks. Goodbye Jumbo was voted "album of the year" by Q magazine and was nominated for a Grammy Award for "best alternative music performance" in the US. After the 1991 EP Thank You World, Wallinger recruited guitarist David Catlin-Birch and ex-Icicle Works drummer Chris Sharrock as fully-fledged members for 1993's hit album Bang. Their fourth album, Egyptology (1997), written following the death of Wallinger's mother, was commercially disastrous, although "She's the One" won an Ivor Novello Award and was subsequently recorded by Robbie Williams. Wallinger took a three-year break from World Party, before the release of Dumbing Up in 2000. However, in February 2001 he was struck down by an aneurysm that left him unable to speak. After a long, five-year rehabilitation, in 2006 Wallinger re-emerged onto the scene. With his back catalogue reclaimed from EMI, a distribution deal was struck (via his own Seaview label) with Universal, and he played his first live show in a decade at the Austin, Texas-based South by Southwest festival. He played additional US dates in 2006. Big Blue Ball, a joint project with Peter Gabriel . In September 2007, World Party supported Steely Dan in their first tour of Australia and I was lucky enough to see them (what a double act!). In 2012 World Party released a new five CD collection of new songs, live recordings and cover versions. Titled "Arkeology". Much of the above is summarised from Wikipedia. There is no video for this album track, so I have made my own slideshow video. Comments are invited.
HI HELLO HOME (1971) by Grin featuring Nils Lofgren and Graham Nash wilson mcphert 2012-04-23 | I lived in Virginia 1969-71 and Grin played locally in Washington DC (unfortunately I did not see them live). There was a great radio station WHFS Bethesda which would feature them often, particularly songs off their 1+1 album such as this one. This song features the unmistakable harmonies of Graham Nash during the chorus. My sister had the album and I really got into it, with one side being the rocky side and the other being the dreamy side. This song is from the latter, although I loved the rocky side, with its classics like Slippery Fingers and White Lies. Personnel Nils Lofgren -- Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals Bob Berberich -- Drums, Vocals Bob Gordon -- Bass, VocalsGrin never went on to the stardom I think they deserved, although Nils played with established artists such as Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen as well as carving out a respectable solo career. Comments are invited.
BLUE MOON OF KENTUCKY (2003) by the Department of Bluegrass (Canberra, Australia) wilson mcphert 2012-04-06 | I only caught the last two performances of Canberra bluegrass band 'The Department of Bluegrass'. One of these was at a local Canberra folk club called 'the Merry Muse' and they had the place moving and shaking like they were a rockabilly band. I was very impressed, particularly with singer and guitarist Chris Jacobs, but unfortunately for the band he was moving south to Melbourne to join another bluesgrass band. He currently plays with Melbourne band, Bluestone Junction along with fiddle player Donal Baylor also from the Department of Bluegrass. I also loved that they played live around one microphone and took turns getting up close to it, depending who was singing or doing a solo. The band consisted of: Donal Baylor - FiddleChris Jacobs - Lead vocals and guitarTony Hunter - Mandolin and vocalsJohn Taylor - Banjo and vocalsSam Martin - Double bassThis was a recording of the band playing live in a local radio station studio. I have made a slideshow video using as many photos as I could find of the band. Comments are invited.
BROTHERS GATHER ROUND/THE GUN ISNT LOADED (2000) by the Cosmic Rough Riders wilson mcphert 2012-01-02 | The Cosmic Rough Riders are a pop/rock band from Glasgow, United Kingdom. They were originally formed in 1998 by Daniel Wylie and Stephen Fleming, and later they were joined by Mark Brown and James Clifford. To date they have recorded five albums, and had four singles in the UK Top 40. They self-released the albums Deliverance (1999) and Panorama (2000), both having been recorded in a community funded recording studio located in Glasgow's Castlemilk housing scheme. The band's third album, Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine containing the above two songs was released in November 2000, actually a compilation of songs from Panorama and Deliverance. By the end of 2001, the album Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine had achieved silver status (sales of 60,000) in the UK and it was named by Q magazine as one of the 50 best albums of the year. In March 2002, founder member of Cosmic Rough Riders, Stephen Fleming added lead vocals to his duties when original singer, Daniel Wylie, left to pursue a solo career. The release in September 2002 of the rarities and b-sides album, Pure Escapism, was the closing of one chapter in the band's story. (Summarised from Wikipedia). Comments are invited.
LIGHT MY WAY (2006) by Al Harding wilson mcphert 2011-08-25 | This was a song used by Australian television (ABC) to promote its 2006 program line up. Unfortunately this is only an excerpt of the song (other sections of it were used for different promotions although i don't have those). I loved this song when I heard it, and found it was done by Al Harding, who composes music for film, TV and other mediums. His company Ultrasound6 is based in Melbourne. Unfortunately this song was not released commercially. Comments are invited. , a
ILL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS by the George Washingmachine Quartet with Ian Date on guitar wilson mcphert 2011-07-13 | This is the George Washingmachine Quartet playing live featuring Ian Date on guitar and George playing the violin solo. On rhythm guitar is Tony Burkeys, and the bassist is Natalie Morrison (thanks Oasisbill for this info). At a guess, I'd say this was around the eighties. Known for his delightful sense of humour and superb musicality, George Washingmachine is an Australian multi-instrumentalist, usually as a violinist and vocalist yet also proficient on the double bass, guitar or anything with strings. George has had a vast and varied career in the entertainment business. As a child he trained for 7 years as a classical violinist, leaving that behind to form a rhythm and blues band as guitarist, until he moved to Sydney in 1984 and started playing jazz fiddle with The Conway Brothers Hiccup Orchestra. Since that time, George has performed in countless bands and productions as a musician, actor and comedian both on stage and on screen. Ian Date's playing has been informed and influenced by a strong love of the jazz tradition. Such guitar greats such as Django Reinhardt, Barney Kessell and Wes Montgomery have inspired his guitar playing. Ian first started playing gypsy jazz as a teenager and ran several successful Hot Club style bands in Australia. He recorded several albums in this style and toured extensively. Since 2002 he has lived in County Cork, Ireland. Ian performs regularly throughout the Emerald Isle and Europe and tours in Australia every year to continue making a contribution to Australian Jazz. The video picture is not great, but the sound shows off the soloists to good effect. Comments are invited.
DEADLY ANIMALS and CLEANIN OUT MY TUCKERBAG by the Scared Weird Little Guys live 2005 wilson mcphert 2011-06-16 | Scared Weird Little Guys (also referred to as SWLG or The Scaredies) are an Australian comedy music duo formed in July 1990, comprising John Chaplin-Fleming (vocals, guitar, mandolin) and Rusty Berther (vocals, guitar, banjo). These are two of my favourite songs performed at the Australia Day Concert in Canberra 2005. The duo has had much success touring Australia, as well as more than 20 tours of festivals and college campuses in North America, and three tours of the UK in 1997, 1998 and 2001.The name "Scared Weird Little Guys" comes from a line in the Al Pacino movie 'Cruising'.Sadly they have recently broken up. Comments are welcome.
TEA FOR TWO (1957) by Nat King Cole - two different versions wilson mcphert 2011-06-15 | This is a video of Nat King Cole doing two different piano versions of 'Tea for Two' in 1957 on his ground breaking television show. People forget that as well as a great singer, Nat was a pretty hot piano player. There is also some rare footage around the 1 minute mark of Nat's playing filmed from above so you can see exactly what he is playing. While both treatments are similar, the solos in the middle appear to be different . Nat being a jazz musician, I guess they were probably improvisations played differently each time. I would be interested in hearing any views from jazz pianists or others comparing the two. We are lucky there is so much of Nat's trio stuff around, as well as his more popular crooning material. It really allows him to shine along with the bass and guitar. While some tunes are instrumentals, there are many vocals. It's all good, so you can't go wrong. See also my slideshow videos for 'When I Take My Sugar To Tea' by the King Cole Trio and for 'Somebody Loves Me' by Nat King Cole, Lester Young and Buddy Rich. Comments are invited.
CHAIRS (1987)- fantastic avant garde chairs with their designers wilson mcphert 2011-06-14 | A program by Jane Thorburn and Mark Lucas on avant guarde chair design, which highlights a wide variety of chairs constructed from different materials, presented with the designers. This is from a 1987 program called Alter Image, focussing on the arts. While video and sound quality is fairly average, I thought it too good not to be seen. I love all the chairs, particularly the Skeletal Chair, Neptune's Chair, the unnamed art deco chair and the Reclining Chair (just try reclining in it). Comments are invited.
SPRING ROSE AND MARIGOLDS HAVE COME INTO BLOOM by Mr P. Nut - from 1992 Australian talent show wilson mcphert 2011-06-14 | This is an original song by Mr P Nut, performing in the 1992 grand final of Aussie talent show, New Faces, compered by Bert Newton. This was no Australian or American Idol, production wise, but it used to have some quirky and unusual acts. Perhaps more akin to Australia's Got Talent these days. I do not know Mr P Nut's real name, but I saved this song for nearly 20 years on video, as there was something about it that appealed to me. My channel so far is all slideshow video, and this is my first attempt at doing a real video clip. UPDATE : (As of Jan 2023) First saw this act in 1992 and posted my slideshow video some twenty years later. It's always intrigued me, so recently I tried googling his name to determine what sort of presence he had online given the passage of time. Could not find anything. But I did find a CD by him on ebay (Plane Sailing), and noticed it seemed to be aimed at kids. Purchased it and while the songs could be for kids, they also had a kind of Syd Barrett innocence. Strangely SPRING ROSE etc was not on it. But I found several other songs that I liked very much. Also deduced from the CD that his real name is Leo Kelly from Melbourne (unbelievably Mr P Nut is not his real name!). Used this to do more online searching and discovered he was lead singer with a punkish sixties influenced Melbourne band called The Arctic Circles in the eighties, with music completely different to Mr P Nut. Here is a song called 'Angel' by them which I like very much : youtube.com/watch?v=YobdvhSPEkE&t=152s Comments are invited.
ISLE OF CAPRI (1934) by Al Bowlly and Monia Liter wilson mcphert 2011-03-11 | This is Al Bowlly singing and playing guitar with piano accompaniment by Monia Liter. I like Al Bowlly singing with this spare accompaniment, as there is more focus on his voice than with the various bands he played with. Many of the 78's he played on did not mention his name on the label and he often only sang half way into the tune. The version featuring Bowlly that he is best known for is that by Ray Noble and his Orchestra I first heard Bowlly referenced in Richard Thompson's terrific song, "Al Bowlly's in Heaven". Albert Allick "Al" Bowlly (7 January 1898 -- 17 April 1941) was a popular Jazz guitarist, singer, and crooner in the UK and later in the US during the 1930s, making more than 1,000 recordings between 1927 and 1941. Bowlly showcased a diverse range of material unsurpassed by any contemporary other than perhaps Bing Crosby. He was also a truly international recording artist. He was killed by the explosion of a parachute mine outside his flat in Jermyn Street, London during the Blitz. It was Al's technique, sincerity, diction and his personality that distinguish him from many other singers of the 30s era. As well as singing, Bowlly played both the guitar and the ukulele, with Joyce Stone, widow of Lew Stone saying "You only had to play anything once to Al and he'd got it." Bowlly remains one of the most highly regarded singers of his era because of his extraordinary range, his command of pitch and rhythm, and, above all, the sincerity with which he could deliver a lyric. Ray Noble is often quoted as saying that Al often stepped away from the microphone with tears in his eyes; "never mind him making you cry, he could make himself cry!" The music for 'Isle of Capri' was written by Wilhelm Grosz (aka Hugh Williams), and the lyrics were by Jimmy Kennedy. The song was published in 1934. Much of the above was summarised from Wikipedia. I have done a slideshow for this song and comments are invited,
THE GLORY OF LOVE (1957) by Big Bill Broonzy - solo acoustic wilson mcphert 2011-02-16 | I love this version of 'The Glory of Love' by Big Bill Broonzy, especially that bent note at .58 sec, and also later. It was recorded solo, July 1957, around a year before he died. . Big Bill Broonzy (26 June 1898 -- 15 August 1958) was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played country blues to mostly black audiences. Through the '30s and '40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound popular with white audiences. In the 1950s a return to his traditional folk-blues roots made him one of the leading figures of the emerging American folk music revival and an international star. His long and varied career marks him as one of the key figures in the development of blues music in the 20th century. Broonzy copyrighted more than 300 songs during his lifetime, including both adaptations of traditional folk songs and original blues songs. As a blues composer, he was unique in that his compositions reflected the many vantage points of his rural-to-urban experiences. (The above is adapted from Wikipedia). There is no video of BBB playing this tune, so I have put together a slideshow of this solo performance. Comments are invited.
GOD SAID NO by Dan Bern, solo acoustic performance in Solingen, Germany 11 March 2007 (slideshow) wilson mcphert 2011-02-16 | This is a live solo acoustic performance in Germany of 'God Said No' by Dan Bern. I like the ability of Dan to tell a story with just an acoustic guitar and voice. He's a fantastic songwriter who deserves to be better known. I hope this video might help in this regard. Dan Bern (also known as Bernstein); born 27 July 1965) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, novelist and painter. His music is often compared to that of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Phil Ochs and Elvis Costello. He is a prolific composer, having written over 600 songs. He also wrote the novel 'Quitting Science' (2004) under the pen name 'Cunliffe Merriwether' and wrote the preface under his own name. You can find his CDs, downloads etc on his web page at http://www.danbern.com There are also numerous audience recordings of complete concerts on the site 'Internet Archive' (where this song came from). There is no film of this performance, so I have put together this slideshow. Comments are welcome.
HUMAN BEINGS (2002) by Lorien, UK three piece band wilson mcphert 2011-01-07 | This is a song I first heard on a Q Magazine sampler CD and I was immediately drawn to it out of all the songs for some reason. Probably the unusual vocals. One review compared them to Radiohead and Coldplay, but to me they have their own sound. The UK band Lorien was a cosmopolitan three piece, comprising Fabio Ciarcelluti (Italy) on vocals, Einar Tonsberg (Iceland) on guitar and Carlo Polli (UK) on drums. This song is from their album, 'Under The Waves'. I don't know a lot about them, and there doesn't appear to be much written about them online. However after uploading this video, by accident I found that Fabio is still making music under the name 'Orlando Ef', and can be found on MySpace, Facebook and his own web site. It indicates that Lorien recorded a second album but it was not considered commercial enough by the record company and was not released. In view of this the band went their own ways. Einar is also making music and has a Myspace page but I could not find anything for Carlo. I have made a slideshow video using the available images of Lorien I could find. Comments are invited.
BRYANTS BOUNCE (1953) by Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West wilson mcphert 2010-12-29 | This is one of many tracks recorded during the fifties by country jazz guitarist Jimmy Bryant and pedal steel guitarist Speedy West. Jimmy was quite an innovative electric guitarist and has influenced many guitarists such as Albert Lee, Danny Gatton and numerous others. This song mainly features Jimmy, although Speedy does a short solo in the middle. It also features Billy Strange on rhythm guitar and Cliffie Stone on bass.The following background was obtained from Wikipedia. Ivy J. Bryant, Jr. was born in Moultrie, Georgia, the oldest of 12 children. During the Great Depression he played the fiddle on street corners to help the family buy food, pushed to do so by his father. After being wounded in World War II, he began working seriously on his guitar playing, influenced heavily by Django Reinhardt. After the war, he returned to Moultrie then moved to Los Angeles county where he worked in Western films and played music in bars around L.A.'s Skid Row, where he met pioneering pedal steel guitarist Speedy West. West, who joined Cliffie Stone's popular Hometown Jamboree local radio and TV show, suggested Bryant be hired when the show's original guitarist departed. That gave Bryant access to Capitol Records since Stone was a Capitol artist and talent scout.In 1950 Tex Williams heard Bryant's dizzying jazz/country style and used him on his recording of "Wild Card". In addition, Bryant and West played on the Tennessee Ernie Ford-Kay Starr hit "I'll Never Be Free", leading to both men being signed to Capitol as instrumentalists. Bryant and West became a team, working extensively with each other. Bryant's Bounce was one of Jimmy's jazz influenced instrumentals and was recorded on November 25, 1952.Bryant was a difficult musician to work with. By 1955 he left Hometown Jamboree (retaining his friendship with West) and after various clashes with his Capitol producer Ken Nelson, the label dropped him in 1956. He continued working in Los Angeles and in the early 1960s he and his trio made an appearance in the Coleman Francis film The Skydivers.During the 1960s he shifted into music production. Waylon Jennings made a hit of his song "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line". He can also be heard playing fiddle on the Monkees' "Sweet Young Thing" In the early 1970s Bryant ran a recording studio in Las Vegas, but finally relocated to Georgia before settling in Nashville in 1975, the same year he reunited with Speedy West for a reunion album produced by Nashville steel guitarist Pete Drake. Bryant played in Nashville bars and did some recording work but his personality did not mesh well with Nashville's highly political music and recording industry. In 1978, in declining health, Bryant learned that his heavy smoking had resulted in lung cancer. He died in Moultrie in September 1980 at the age of 55.I have done a slideshow video for this tune using as many images as I could find of Jimmy and Speedy. Comments are invited.
HERE WE COME - original Australian Rules Football promo song wilson mcphert 2010-11-30 | This is a slideshow video I did for an original song promoting Australian Rules Football. It is performed by the Robertson Brothers and was written by Shon Walker and Terry Manly. (Copyright Walker/Manly 2010). The song could also be used for any team based sporting code such as soccer, rugby or even American Football. I believe it could be the basis for an effective media campaign for such sports. Enquiries can be directed to me by personal message and I will pass on to the songwriters. Comments are invited.
FOXY LADY (1970) by Jimi Hendrix live at the Baltimore Civic Center (I was there!) wilson mcphert 2010-11-21 | I went from Australia to the USA in 1969 for a few years with my parents. My dad, who passed away this year (2010) at age 83 took me and two Australian friends to this Baltimore concert (13 June 1970), as we were teenagers and did not drive. Our fathers would take it in turns to drive us to rock concerts in the Washington DC region where we lived. When we got back to Australia, over the years that followed, if Jimi Hendrix's name came up in conversation, Dad would casually mention that he had seen him live, which would be met with disbelief. He loved doing that although he was not into Jimi's music like I was. I taped the concert except for the first two songs with a Panasonic portable reel to reel recorder (RQ-1565 or similar model with 3 inch tape spools). It had a proprietary microphone with an off on recording switch, but unfortunately the cord was faulty and it would sometimes turn off and back on again when recording.(Although it did not do that in this song except for one bit, I used another source for this video as the quality was slightly better). Update: I have only provided my recording to one trader about 10 years ago and I just found out that it has been shared on line (Crosstown Torrents), and it is described as 'third audio source' out of five for this concert. I don't mind that it was shared, as I love hearing bootlegs as much as the next person. It was interesting that the site commented that other than the problems mentioned (start stops) it was probably the best sounding mono source available! I see it has also been used in a merge of four different sources, atlhough I have not heard that. I have four ektachrome colour slides taken on the night (by Michael Spicer, a friend of one of the guys I went with) which I have made into a slide show (not easy to do with just 4 images!). Included in the video is an original ad from the Washington Post for that concert, which I still have. Check out the ticket prices starting at $4.50! My recollection was that album prices were about $5 at that time (at least from the PX Store where I bought my records).The following is an excerpt from a review of the concert by James Dilts in the Baltimore Sun, June 21, 1970: "Jimi Hendrix appears, resplendent in a purple ruffled shirt, green bell-bottoms, a silver spangled vest that ended at the shoulder blades, a multi-coloured headband that trailed down his neck, a bright silk scarf tied to his left arm, and a fringe belt that hung down his right leg. Hendrix seems to have given up the sideshow antics, except for a brief few bars near the end of the concert when he played the guitar with his teeth....It's just that music is now at the center of the group's presentation which is, of course, where it should be". I was a real Hendrix fan back then (still am) and the first album I ever bought here in Australia was the English version of Are You Experienced. Foxy Lady was the first song on that album and is the song from this concert that I have selected for this video. Seeing him live was a dream come true. I was also lucky seeing what has been described as one of his best concerts from 1970. Comments are invited.
MAMA, DID JESUS WEAR MAKE UP? (1972) by Spectrum featuring Mike Rudd wilson mcphert 2010-10-04 | This song was the second last track on Milesago, the first double album in Australia. The band was Spectrum, comprising of Mike Rudd (vocals, guitar), Bill Putt (bass), Ray Arnott (drums, vocals) and Lee Neale (keyboards, vocals). This song featured Mike Rudd solo on vocals and acoustic guitar. It is also completely different to the rest of the music on the album. The title is the only lyric in the song and for some reason it resonated with me at the time. January 1972 was a high point in Spectrum's career, with the release of their landmark second album -- Milesago, the very first true Australian 'rock' double-album and only the second 'popular double album ever released in this country (the first was Doug Ashdown's Age of Mouse in 1970). Milesago is, quite simply, a masterpiece. The luxury of being able to spread the music across four sides allowed for much greater scope and diversity in the songs and arrangements, but they did not sacrifice the organic, improvisational feel of their live performances, and the result is by no means self-indulgent. Even at their most expansive, economy was always a watchword in Spectrum's music -- unlike so many "prog" Albums of the era, there's no "filler" material here, and nary a wasted note throughout. Milesago is chock-full of great moments, with several superb new extended tracks including the title track, the brilliantly ironic "What The World Need's Now (Is A New Pair Of Socks)" -- a dig at the peace-and-love schtick of the Bacharach-David hit -- the sombre "Fly Without Its Wings", the epic four-part suite "The Sideways Saga", and a new, six-minute version of Ray Arnott's "Trust Me". Once again, the production is fairly dry and warm, capturing the essential Spectrum sound but this time the 16-track facilities allow far greater fidelity and permitted the addition of extra layers to the arrangements, and it has to be said that Milesago is still a superb-sounding record. It's also the only Spectrum album to feature outside players -- a brass section arranged and led by sax player Jeremy Noone (Vegetals, Co. Caine, Daddy Cool) with Simon Wettenhall on tuba and Steve Miller on trombone. The music press was full of praise, and it even received a highly favourable review from English music bible NME on its release in England. It reached #16 on the LP charts in January 1972. It was originally released in a textured cover, but later pressings were issued in a gloss-laminated flat cover. Its distinctive hallucinogenic collage was one of the first major album covers created by Go-Set staff artist Ian McCausland, who rapidly became the leading Australian cover and poster artist of the period. (Excerpt from Milesago, the great site on early Oz music, which also took its name from this album). A remastered Milesago can be obtained from Aztec Music worldwide. There is no film of this track so I have made a slideshow video attempting to simulate what it might have been like to see Mike Rudd perform this solo. Comments are invited.
LADY WITH THE BRAID (1971) - Dory Previn wilson mcphert 2010-09-26 | I heard this song in the seventies and was taken by the lyrics and the music, particularly at the ethereal 'when you sleep do you have dreams?' bit. It just seemed different to everything else around at that time, and to me, even had a hint of creepiness.Dory Previn is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet. During the late 1950s and 1960s she was a lyricist for motion picture songs, and with her first husband André Previn received several Academy Award nominations. In the 1970s, after their divorce, she released six albums of original songs and a live album. Dory Previn's lyrics from this period are characterised by their originality, their irony, and their honesty in dealing with her troubled personal life, as well as more generally about relationships, sexuality, religion and psychology. She has continued to work since then as a writer of song lyrics and prose. 'Lady with the Braid' was from one of her most acclaimed albums, 'Mythical Kings and Iguanas'. Update - Dory died on 14 Feb 2012 at the age of 86. (Summarised from Wikipedia).I have done a video using images of Dory and the Don Draper character from Mad Men, one of my favourite shows. I could imagine Don making his way through Dory's various scenarios. Comments are invited.
LIME STREET BLUES (1967) by Procol Harum - B side to Whiter Shade of Pale single wilson mcphert 2010-09-04 | Lime Street Blues was the 'b' side to the single of 'Whiter Shade of Pale' by Procol Harum. It was one of the first singles or records I ever bought. Even though the 'a' side was the big hit, I liked the flip side which was completely different, being more uptemp and rhythm and blues. It was also the first and only time I had heard the lyric 'running around in my underpants'!I have put together a slideshow for this tune. I have used mainly images of the early incarnation of the band, although only a few of the members played on that first single.
JIGSAW PUZZLE BLUES (1933) by the Joe Venuti/Eddie Lang Blue Five wilson mcphert 2010-09-03 | This tune done by Fleetwood Mac was originally performed by the Venuti/Lang Blue Five 35 years earlier and clearly infuenced it (see also my video of Fleetwood Mac's version on my channel). As well as Joe Venuti on violin and Eddie Lang on acoustic guitar, the Blue Five comprised of Jimmy Dorsey (trumpet, clarinet and alto sax), Adrian Rollini (bass sax and vibes) and Phil Wall (piano). The tune was written by Venuti and Rollini and was recorded in New York City on 28 February 1933 (around a month before Eddie Lang died of complications during surgery). Check out Jimmy Dorsey's clarinet solo at around the two minute mark to see how Danny Kirwan adapted these lines for the electric guitar in the terrific Fleetwood Mac version.I have put together a slideshow for this tune incorporating images of the Blue Five (other than Phil Wall who I could not find any photos of). As always, comments are invited.
(THEY CALL IT) STORMY MONDAY (1966) by John Mayalls Bluesbreakers live w/Eric Clapton wilson mcphert 2010-03-02 | One of the rare recordings of Eric Clapton playing live with Mayall's Bluesbreakers. It was recorded at the Flamingo Club London on 17 March 1966. The other players were Mayall on organ, Hugie Flint on drums, and future Cream bandmate, Jack Bruce on electric bass. Clapton rips it up on his Les Paul and Vox AC30 amp. On the Beano album, he was better known for using a Marshall amp, a combination that influenced countless guitarists everywhere. His playing during this period was also influential, with guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen and Sting stating that they learned guitar copying the studio Bluesbreakers album with Clapton. I have to say I did too, and I learned more guitar off that record than any other.Eric Clapton told Guitar Player magazine that the 1960 Les Paul Standard he played on Blues Breakers was "the best Les Paul I ever had... just a regular sunburst Les Paul that I bought in one of the shops in London right after I'd seen Freddie King's album cover of Let's Hide Away And Dance Away, where he's playing a gold-top. It had humbuckers and was almost brand new -- original case with that lovely purple velvet lining. Just magnificent. I never really found one as good as that. I do miss that one." According to Clapton lore, his sacred 1960 was purchased in Lew Davis' guitar shop on Charing Cross Road in London in 1965. This is my third video of Mayall/Clapton (see Steppin Out and Hideaway on my channel). Comments are invited.
LIVING IN A CHILDS DREAM (1967) by the Masters Apprentices wilson mcphert 2010-02-05 | The Masters Apprentices were an Australian rock/pop/beat group from the sixties. They were fronted by singer Jim Keays, and the main songwriter at the outset was Mick Bower, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist. Their early singles, 'Undecided' and 'Buried and Dead' were garage band type tracks, and this song contrasted with those, with Bower writing a ballad expressing a longing of going to back to the simplicity and wonder of childhood. It's considered a psychedelic classic, although apparently Bower did not have this in mind and did not consider it a drug song. The other members were not sure that the song suited the band, but by the time they put it out, psychedelia had arrived and it became a big hit. By the time of this single, two original members had left, drummer Brian Vaughton, and lead guitarist Rick Morrison. They were replaced by Steve Hopgood and Tony Sommers respectively, who both play on this track. Sommers in particular does a nice guitar solo in the middle and at the outro. The other member was Gavin Webb on bass. The great music site 'Milesago' has this background on the song: "Living in A Child's Dream" was recorded at Bill Armstrong's famous South Melbourne studio at 100 Albert Park Rd, and as with all their Astor cuts, it was (nominally) produced by staff producer Dick Heming although his input, says Keays, was mainly limited to watching the clock to ensure sessions started and finished on time! Most of the real production was done by Armstrong's renowned house engineer Roger Savage, who before leaving England had recorded Dusty Springfield, the Rolling Stones' debut single "Come On", and produced the backing track for The Easybeats' breakthrough hit "She's So Fine". Another important factor was the presence of Molly Meldrum -- Keays' book reveals that Molly attended the session and had quite an influence on the eventual outcome; in fact this single might be considered his first production. Released in August, at the peak of the 'Summer Of Love' psychedelic explosion, it became one of their biggest successes, reaching No.9 in the national charts. Both "Living In A Child's Dream" and "Undecided" ranked in the Top 5 Australian Singles of 1967, and "Living In A Child's Dream" was voted Australian Song of the Year. As there is no video, I have done a slideshow video for the song, using mainly images of this line up of the Masters. I have also put some images of Mick Bower at the end as a tribute to one of Australia's great songwriters. (Aztec Music have released a remastered two cd issue of the early Bower version of the Masters). Comments are invited.
TOP OF THE WORLD (2004) by Patty Griffin wilson mcphert 2009-12-01 | Patty Griffin, born 16 March 1964, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is a recipient of the Americana Music Association's highest honor as "Artist of the Year" in 2007, as well as taking home the award for best album for Children Running Through. Griffin wrote and recorded "Top of the World" for her would-be 2000 album Silver Bell. But a dispute with her label A&M Records caused the album to go unreleased and Griffin to be dropped, although copies of Silver Bell circulated and increased Griffin's reputation as a songwriter within the music industry.Griffin's own re-recording of "Top of the World" (this video) would finally surface for good on her 2004 album Impossible Dream. The above info was adapted from Wikipedia. I have put together what I hope is the definitive slideshow for this track. Many of the images I obtained from a Patty Griffin fan site http://www.pattygriffin.net/index.php Check it out, and the photographers. Comments are invited.
FORTUNE TELLER (1966) by the Throb wilson mcphert 2009-11-29 | From obscure origins as a Sydney-based surf-instrumental band, The Throb emerged in 1965 and briefly shot to national prominence. Despite its short tenure, the group left no doubt about its punkish potential and they have been immortalised on record by two superb singles, their snarling "garage-punk" version of "Fortune Teller", which smashed its way to the top of the national charts in early 1966, and their group arrangement of the old English folk song, "Black (Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair)", a slashing, snarling piece of proto-gothic wonderment. (Source: Milesago, great site on early Australian bands). The Throb consisted of John Bell (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Denny Burgess (bass, vocals), Peter Figures (drums) and Marty Van Wyk (lead guitar). There is no video for this song, and I could find few images. However I have cobbled together this video as a tribute to the band. Comments are invited.
CANT BE SURE by The Sundays on French Radio 1992 - the definitive slideshow wilson mcphert 2009-11-13 | An English alternative rock band, which released three albums in 1990, 1992 and 1997 respectively. The core of the Sundays is Harriet Wheeler (vocals) and husband, David Gavurin (guitar). This is from French radio 1992 and is recorded live in front of an audience. The band's beginnings came with the meeting of Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin at university. Wheeler had played gigs with 'Cruel Shoes' an early incarnation of the band Jim Jiminee. The duo soon augmented the band with bassist Paul Brindley and drummer Patrick Hannan. The Sundays secured a recording contract with Rough Trade Records. Their debut single was "Can't Be Sure". Their first album, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic was released in 1990, along with their next single "Here's Where the Story Ends". The album was a UK Top 5 hit. With Rough Trade's financial troubles and the band's decision to manage themselves, The Sundays' next single, "Goodbye", did not emerge until 1992. Their next album, Blind, arrived the same year, reaching the UK Top 15. The "Goodbye" B-side, a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses", also appeared on the US release of Blind and on the soundtrack for the popular television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The band toured in support of these recordings. In 1997 their third album, Static & Silence was followed by the release of their most successful single to date, "Summertime", which made the UK Top 15. The album itself reached the UK Top 10. However, the band has been on a lengthy hiatus since those releases, with Wheeler and Gavurin focusing on raising their two children. (Much of the above sourced from Wikipedia).This is my favourite song by the band, and it's a wonderful live version. I have tried to make the definitive slideshow of the band. Comments are invited.
WHEN I TAKE MY SUGAR TO TEA (1947) by the Nat King Cole Trio wilson mcphert 2009-11-13 | Early in his career, Nat King Cole started a ground breaking trio in 1937, playing piano with Oscar Moore on guitar and Wesley Prince on bass. This version of the King Cole Trio (as it was known) played a mixture of novelty songs, jazz and pop tunes, often with unison singing from all three members, as well as Nat's lead vocal. When Prince was drafted, Johnny Miller took over on bass in 1942, and by this time, Nat's voice was more to the fore, and there were less novelty songs. The melody to this song was written by Sammy Fain, and the lyrics by Irving Kahal and Pierre Norman in 1931. It was released by the trio in 1947, and later that same year Oscar Moore left to be replaced by Irving Ashby. The trio kept going until Nat's career really took off with singing ballads backed mainly by orchestras. At this point, Nat was not playing much piano, which was a pity, as he was a really hot and infuential jazz pianist. I have put a slide show video together using as many images of this version of the trio that I could find. Comments are welcome.
FOUR UNTIL LATE (1937) by Robert Johnson wilson mcphert 2009-11-13 | I first heard 'Four Until Late' sung by Eric Clapton on the Fresh Cream album. It was one of the first songs I learned on guitar, and one I still like doing. . Robert Johnson, of course, was the author of the song (although clearly influenced by Blind Blake's 'Georgia Bound'- see my video). In 1937, he travelled to Dallas, Texas, for his second and final recording session in a makeshift studio at the Brunswick Record Building, 508 Park Avenue. He recorded this song on 19 June 1937. It goes without saying that Johnson was one of the most influential blues singers in history. Wikipedia has a substantial profile on him. There are only two photos of Johnson that I know of, and I have used these and others to make a slideshow video. Comments are welcome.
MARS (1970) by Love Sculpture wilson mcphert 2009-11-13 | Love Sculpture, sixties guitar trio, doing the Holst classical piece, Mars, from their second and final album Forms and Feelings. Guitarist Dave Edmunds has created an abridged, spacey and propulsive version, going more for atmosphere than technical guitar wizardry displayed on other LS instrumentals such as Sabre Dance and Farandole. The accompanying slide show reflects the psychedelic feel of the track, incorporating a painting from the back cover of the LP. Comments are welcome.
ROSE ROOM (1939) by the Benny Goodman Sextet featuring Charlie Christian on guitar wilson mcphert 2009-11-11 | Rose Room was one of the first studio tunes recorded 2 October 1939 by guitarist Charlie Christian after he joined the Benny Goodman Sextet. I love this and other Goodman small group tracks as they are a good introduction to jazz and swing. They are popular circa forties' era tunes, with members taking melodic solos that can be appreciated against the chord changes. These tracks initially helped me 'get' jazz, rather than being scared off by some of the less user friendly forms of it. This song was also important in helping Charlie join Goodman's group. The story goes that Charlie sat in unannounced with Goodman's group at a live performance at the Victor Hugo restaurant in Los Angeles on 16 August 1939, at the instigation of producer John Hammond, who had been hearing about Charlie's electric guitar work in Oklahoma City. (Apparently Goodman had not shown much interest in Charlie when he had auditioned briefly on acoustic guitar at a recording session earlier that day). According to Wikipedia, 'displeased at the surprise, Goodman called "Rose Room", a tune he assumed that Christian would be unfamiliar with. Unknown to Goodman, Charles had been reared on the tune, and he came in with his solo — which was to be the first of about twenty, all of them different, all unlike anything Goodman had heard before. That version of "Rose Room" lasted forty minutes; by its end, Christian was in the band. In the course of a few days, Christian went from making $2.50 a night to making $150 a week'.Also worth noting are Benny's lovely clarinet playing and tone, Lionel Hampton's vibes, and the sextet's playing generally. I never thought I would get into this sort of music (preferring rock and pop) but this stuff is worth exploring. If you like this tune, check out Charlie's other recorded tracks with Benny Goodman, as well as some of his more extended soloing live at Minton's and Monroe's. (Regarding the latter, see my Charlie Christian videos for Stompin' at the Savoy and Swing to Bop as examples).Famed jazz guitarist Barney Kessel spent three days with Charlie watching him play. "He played probably 95% downstrokes and held a very stiff big triangular pick very tightly between his thumb and first finger. He rested his second, third and fourth fingers very firmly on the pickguard...". Source: Guitar Player March 1982.Sadly there is no film footage of this sextet, so I have put together a slide show using images of the actual members who played on the track. Note that at the beginning of the video, the last two Sextet names are smaller than the others. This was not intentional, but something that happened when converting to a Windows file. Comments on the video are invited.
HOY HOY HOY (2003) by Wayne Hancock live featuring Eddie Biebel on guitar wilson mcphert 2009-11-11 | Wayne Hancock is an alternative country singer, and his music has been described as juke joint swing. He plays a mixture of honky tonk, rockabilly, Western swing, blues, and old-time country. Hancock plays lots of live gigs, mainly in small bars. He travels the country in a van with enough room for his musicians and equipment. "I'm happiest on the road....the fact that I'm out here and ain't washing dishes is my idea of success."This track 'Hoy Hoy Hoy' was done in the fifties by the Collins Kids, a teenage duo (see the video on YouTube). This version by Wayne Hancock was recorded in 2003 at the Continental Club in Houston, Texas with his then touring band John 'Eddie' Biebel on electric guitar and Chris Rhoades on bass. (Update: According to a comment on this video from Chris himself, this was his first bass gig with Wayne). It's an audience recording and you can hear the crowd on this track having a good time. Eddie Biebel left the band in 2008 after playing with Hancock for 5 years. I love his playing, particularly live, and this song shows it off to good effect. Here is Eddie's site:http://eddiebiebel.comThere is no video for this version of the Hoy Hoy Hoy and I have made my own slideshow video. Comments are welcome.
