TO WHERE I AM NOW

I could start today by saying I was abused again by another woman whilst talking to Pete in the newsagents, but that would be too awful. That’s two women who have told me to F. off unprovoked this week. Two weeks into the lockdown, I won’t go into the dumb details, but I guess people are losing it. Also Adam Schlesinger from Fountains Of Wayne seems to have succumbed and he was just 52, I know Jody a bit from the band, so terrible. I read today that a quarter of the world is on lockdown, but not Stockholm? It’s my birthday in a month (May 7th), could that possibly be a date when things are going to get better? Unconnected to the virus, Bill Withers also died today, he was 81. Who doesn’t love Lean On Me, Lovely Day and Ain’t No Sunshine, it’s not just Soul Music, it’s Profoundly Affecting Music, it’s a genre all of its own.

The day started cloudy, got worse, then the sun came out and everything got better, because it was Space Summit guitar day. As you can see by today’s picture, we like to experiment. Sometimes a certain guitar springs to mind for a track and other times you have to try a few different ones to see which one works the best, sometimes it’s also about combinations. For example today in the verse we used the Jazz and the butchered Rick 6 (that’s why it’s red, it’s the blood). In the intro we needed the Les Paul as well. Then there’s which amp to use, AC 30, JC 120, Orange 15, Champ? I realize these are just numbers and weird names to most people, but to me they are my tools like a painter has his brushes or a plumber his spanners! (Ha ha.) Notice that all the electric guitars in this picture are 6 strings, it’s that kind of song, the previous song we worked on was Rick 12, you never really know what you’re doing and yet it usually becomes obvious. Making records can be quick if you are a band all in a room together or it can be time consuming if you have the singer in Minneapolis, the drummer in Bristol and the guitar player and bassist in Cornwall. One person recording (operating the technical stuff) in the US and another two in England. Demo ideas being played by one person in America and realized by another in the United Kingdom. What I love about Britain is that it has so many different names.

I talked to Stephen at the record label today about it all. We have a finished album in Poison Stream by MOAT, but because of the situation we are in we are unable to specify a release date. We were planning on touring in America this year, trip planned, air tickets booked, selected gigs with Salim and our great new agent Joady had the routing sorted and then all this happened so I guess everything is postponed till next year (hopefully not the MOAT album release). The Anekdoten Quebec shows and potential Canadian dates for Olivia and I this year seem unlikely. I don’t really want to go over it all again, but with people losing their lives or their livelihoods and no certain conclusion, one thing I know is that freaking out and being rude to strangers is not the answer.

I felt like some real Scottish Blues Rock tonight so I listened to the first two Stone The Crows albums, self-titled and Ode To John Law, both released in 1970 (those were the days). What a singer Maggie Bell is, the Scottish Janis Joplin. The band also starred James Dewar who became bass player and singer with Robin Trower on his classic albums (Steve Thompson took over from him). Drummer Colin Allen has played with an impressive list of bands and artists and in 1974 joined Focus. Jimmy McCulloch was also in the band later (before Wings and after Thunderclap Newman) and after lead guitarist Les Harvey, who was tragically electrocuted on stage in the Swansea Top Rank Club in 1972 (he was Alex Harvey’s brother). Ronnie Leahy, who later played with Jack Bruce and Nazareth, replaced John McGinnis on keys (keeping it Scottish). But you must at least hear the first album with its crackin’ bluesy version of The Fool On The Hill and the experimental Prog/Blues of I Saw America, a full seventeen minutes long and taking up all of Side 2.

I heard from Jerome Froese today, he’s been working on our project in Berlin. He turned me on to a German band from the seventies that I didn’t know, called (wait for it) Virus. They made two albums back then, Revelation and Thoughts, both released in 1971. I listened to the first album on Spotify, liked it, but didn’t get to the second album yet. A live album recorded in 1973 was released much later. Apparently the second album is quite different to the first, less Floydy and more Bluesy. Half the band left after Revelation and went on to form Weed (1971). I know, crazy name, fantastic album. I was turned on to it by Nicklas from Anekdoten (he has an original copy). Allegedly Uriah Heep’s Ken Hensley sang and played the heavy organ on it uncredited. The organ player is supposed to be Rainer Schnelle, but it does sound like Ken Hensley. What gave it away for me was the slide guitar playing.

Last but not least (I never did get to Bill Withers, maybe tomorrow), after the Weed album, I had to play Look At Yourself by The Heep. One of the first albums I ever owned, I’ve been told it is rubbish ever since day one, but I love it. They were the first headline band I saw. It was 1973 or 1974 at the Liverpool Stadium. I remember I was wearing grey jeans and a blue denim jacket, kinda dressed up, before I discovered holes and rips. It was my first big night out, it’s hard to not like the first band you saw.

Seeing we’ve been hitting the heavy stuff tonight I thought Luscious Ghost from Spirit Level (1992) might be appropriate:

 

Luscious Ghost

First I drew a breath
Fell into sleep
I was laughing at death
When I fell too deep
I awoke in a room
That I’d never seen
With velvet drapes
And ancient beams

And the night, she was whispering
And the portrait seemed to be real

I see your luscious ghost
Sharing you with the host
I see your luscious ghost

In a tear
Lies a force
You can’t fathom the fear
Or drink from the source
But you do
Running at you like light
Suffocated by darkness
And the widow in white

And the sky, she comes pressing down
Takes you, drowns you in blue

I see your luscious ghost
Sharing you with the host
I see your luscious ghost

And the sky, she comes pressing down
Takes you and drowns you in blue

I see your luscious ghost
Sharing you with the host
I see your luscious ghost

I see your luscious ghost
I see your luscious ghost

(Willson-Piper)
Spirit Level (1992)