Laurel Canyon

For those of you 'of an age' and who like their 60's and 70's music, I watched a really interesting 2 part documentary on Sky called Laurel Canyon which is a road/area in the hills just outside of L.A (not Long Ashton !)
It followed the early careers of the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young), the Mamas & Papas, Jonie Mitchell, Jackson Browne, and the early formation of the Eagles.
It's well worth a watch

 

I thought you were going to say this was a new candidate for our next manager

 

We could do worse !

 

Sky Arts is brilliant. You can pick and choose your own preferences but they've got the lot.

Watched a fantastic programme ages ago about the the formation of the early Small Faces lineup and their demise when Marriott wanted to bring in Frampton from the Herd. Marriott didn't think he was personally good enough on lead guitar and Frampton would have taken them to a new level - he was right but it never happened.

It took a new group Humble Pie with Marriott and Frampton to set new standards.

Having said that, I think the Laurel Canyon 2 parter is actually on Sky Docs which is also a very good, if selective channel..

 

Now you've started my juices flowing when it comes to that era of music and where it lead us in to the future.

When I was dating my now wife Ann she lived in Chislehurst Kent and after I dropped her off at her home I headed straight for the caves just down the road where I was fortunate enough to see some remarkable music makers in their early years. They used to hold some larger events twice a year for all the medical students et al which brought in some bigger more established bands and because my roomate (Viv who apparently played for the Pretty Things as a drummer) was on security I got in for free. During those years in SE London area I saw so many bands and singers including T-Rex, Small Faces, Manfred Mann and many many more.

It was a great time and area to see the formation of music for years to come right up close and personal. I will look to see if we casn get those channels over here in Canada. Thanks for bringing me back to life Sparkey you made me smile once again.

 

Look Mike, just get your head around this Marriott/Frampton vid.

They didn't last that long together before Frampton went on his own and on to better things, but what they put together for a couple of years was classic.

 

I love that 12 bar rock and blues stuff - I play it myself and there is no better feeling then when you get a group of musicians around who just ‘feel’ the music and play along - they may not ever have heard the song before. love it.

 

Starting to sound like I'm due a lazy sunday afternoon.

 

I've seen that one too Wiz. Think it was called Through Any Window ?
But it was very interesting

 

It's nice to talk about something other than the ineptitude of our management !

Some other films/documentaries that I can recommend on Sky Arts/Sky Documentaries and elsewhere are

Rolling Stone - Stories From The Edge - This is a 6 part documentary (an hour per episode) telling the story of popular music, culture and politics thrown in for good measure, from the 1960's to the present day and how Rolling Stone Magazine reported on the events. I really can't praise this one highly enough, it's awesome.

The Who - The Making Of Tommy - The making of the 1st Rock Opera

Rush - Time Stands Still - Documentary charting their final tour before Neil Pearts death

Black Sabbath - The End - Concert and documentary in one about their final/farewell show at the Genting Arena in Birmingham in 2017

Deep Purple - From Here To Infinity - The making of their previous album

I'm Not In Love - The 10CC Story - Absolutely brilliant

Iron Maiden - Flight 666 - Concert and documentary film

There is also a Jethro Tull one but I can't remember what it's called

Beside Bowie - The Mick Ronson story. Can really recommend this one too. Hugely underappreciated musician

Howards Way - The story of Everton FC in the 1980's and how Howard Kendall turned their fortunes around and they cleaned up domestically, just as English clubs were being banned from taking part in European competitions after Heysel. Great side though with Graham Sharp, Andy Gray, Neville Southall, Kevin Ratcliffe, Trevor Steven, Gary Stevens, Derek Mountfield, Pat Van Den Hauwe, Adrian Heath etc with current interviews. Even our old mucker John Bailey appears in it.

 

funnily enough I was listening to the Mamas and Papas greatest hits as I drove down to the airport on Sunday. Fantastic!!

 

They really were awesome and John & Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty and Mama Cass wrote brilliant songs with amazing harmonies.
There is only Michelle Phillips left alive these days. And did you know that it was her daughter that had hits with the band Wilson Phillips in the 1990s or whenever it was ?

 

I didn’t - but I knew that one of them was the daughter of a Beach Boy - that must have been the ‘Wilson’ half then?
I also knew that Mama Cass died choking on a sandwich - tragic

 

I love Bread - particularly ‘Truckin’ and ‘Guitar man’
I was horrified to read somewhere that the band split in a row over money, with Gates demanding to be paid more than the rest of the band on the justification that he wrote the songs and the other band members simply played them. Unsurprisingly, the other band members disagreed.
Very similar to the Eagles split - with Henley and Frey wanting a bigger cut than Felder and Walsh. Blondie too. Shame.

 

I used to have several Bread albums and David Gates was a really prolific songwriter but he seemed to retire, if that's the right word, very early.
But he was the main man the way that Jeff Lynne was to ELO, Henley/Frey were to the Eagles, Mark Knopfler was to Dire Straits, and David Coverdale was to Whitesnake.
Despite some massive successes, many bands have split, had fist fights, or have had major personnel changes over money/royalties/songwriting credits, or had serious disagreements about future musical direction causing band members to leave.
Deep Purple, Rainbow, Guns N Roses, Motorhead, Slade, Sweet, the Who, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Eagles, ELO, Whitesnake, Ramones, Dire Straits, the Kinks, Thin Lizzy, all come to mind with little effort,

 

Too many big egos in the eagles. All talented in their own right. Ive lots of solo albums by their constituent parts, back to the days of Bernie leadon and Walsh's time with The James Gang.
No doubt Henly, Frey and Walsh (Favourite album has to be The Smoker you Drink, the Player you get) were the most talented but otgees, including Timothy B Schmidt were talented.
Saw them on their Hell Freezes Over tour.
Turbulent relationships when they broke up with fighting on stage.

Plenty other good bands listed above. Listen to many of them.

Some good documentaries on sky as is said.
Brian Johnson hosts a good set, including one with Walsh.

 

Brian Johnson - as in AC/DC? (apologies I’ve not watched much Sky Arts)

 

Indeed.
He did a series of interviews. Only saw a few, but all entertaining.
My favourite interview with Joe Walsh was by Alexis Corner the best part of 40 years ago. High as a kite (Walsh that is).