I remember being not really surprised when she died, given her [cough] size and the lifestyle she had. Don't think her little pump stood a chance.
Really dislike most presenters on Radio 2 as they are so condescending, but one I like is Craig Charles and his Funk and Soul program. Here's a link to get those bodies a shakin'. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08ydxv4
Strange to think that kids are now studying Miles Davis for GCSE. When I did music at school back in the early 80's any form of popular music was frowned upon and considered not worthy of serious study. I don't think my music teacher had heard of Miles and I gave up the piano before I was 14 because no one taught me what I wanted to learn. I ended up taking lessons again in my early 20's when I wanted to seriously get in to jazz piano. Nowadays there is a Hampshire Youth Jazz Orchestra and people are more switched on with regard to the broad range of music. Oddly, "Kind of Blue" is one of the Miles albums I don't have in my collection. I think I have just under 20 CDs by Miles but there seems no need to buy a CD of something I feel I know really well already. It is strange how particular Miles' records are regarded and I always think that "Seven steps to heaven" is seriously under-rated, the ballad playing being the best that Miles ever laid down. It is a really fantastic record . The 2nd quintet was pretty special and I have quite a bit by this group as well as the Gil Evans collaborations yet "SSTH" always gets considered as a "transitional" record and frequently over-looked. Then there are records like "Some day my prince will come" which are a bit under-whelming with the front line pairing with Hank Mobley being a massive mismatch.
This record always impressed me and this track is staggering. I was shocked the first time that I heard it as a teenager around 1983 as it was so contrary to my opinion of what a jazz orchestra should sound like. It sounds like total chaos but it is actually really cohesive. Probably the last great album Gil Evans released. I love the crabby keyboard riffs on this track:-
Picking up form the blues thread, one of Howlin' Wolf's most famous records is a recording of Willie Dixon's "Spoonful." This Gil Evans arrangement is a masterful interpretation and has another blistering so by Phil Woods on alto. Quite a few motif's from old blues recordings work heir way into some of Evan's scores including an early version of Leadbelly's "Ella Speed" but this track is by far the best of the lot:-
My favourite Jethro Tull track is probably this one: Though I do think Too Old to Rock & Roll follows a close second.
To change the "firsts" theme slightly... a track from your first album ever bought by yourself. Mine was Complete Madness
I was a singles guy until '72, mainly as LPs cost so much. Then I discovered the wonderful Music For Pleasure (MFP) label in Woollies. The World of David Bowie was I think my first investment and though not Ziggy Stardust I was always fond of this -
Ahhhh... I saw that song live at Wembley a couple of years ago when they did the Pre-Match Show at one of the NFL International Games. It was good. On another note, does anyone use Last.FM? I just went onto the website, and before you log in there's a new cool feature. A venn diagram where you click and drag different genres in one circle, and decades in another and depending on what genre and decade you select, it comes up with different tracks... A good way for discovering new music I guess. Although it does seem to have a few teething problems, e.g. I'm pretty sure Blondie isn't from the 1920s but generally it seems to work.
That would be nice, so many exciting teams in the Championship and we'd be guaranteed to make it to the 3rd round of the FA Cup! Though it would no doubt even harder to get tickets when we're in the Championship. Please Mr Eisner, come and rebuild Fratton Park so us non-season ticket holders can actually get tickets!
Inspired by Beddy's words [yes, really] on the Saints Transfer Thread, here's the first song I ever heard from Bachman, Turner Overdrive. You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet from the album, Not Fragile:
I wasn't aware of that although I knew he did record with Chaka Khan at some time in the 1980's. I think it didn't make any sideman appearances after the Cannonball Adderley album "Somethin' else" in 1958 until he cropped up on a number of rather bizarre recordings including the soundtrack for the film "The hot spot" where he performed with John Lee Hooker, the Chaka Khan record and an appearance with the veteran singer Shirley Horn. I was getting into jazz around the time Miles was making his 1980's comeback and whilst I liked his music at the time, it sounds really dated these days. I think this was a major problem with so much music produced in that decade where the production has a slick and slightly unreal quality about it. From recollection, he also showed up in a episode of "Miami Vice" too I can particularly remember when the album "Tutu" was released with Miles' trumpet being cut and pasted on the backing tracks produced by the excellent Marcus Miller. I was a bit of a sceptic of the more fusion elements at that time and as the decade progressed, Miles seemed to be spending more effort trying to garner popular appeal as opposed to making music that would last. Apart from "Aura", I think his 1980's stuff is pretty dispensable. This Scritti Politti cover sounded great in 1987 but it seems very very dated nowadays.
