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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 157 responses total. |
mcnally
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response 100 of 157:
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May 4 18:58 UTC 2003 |
re #99:
> Then I find at Richard Thompson's website that he has a 5-song, limited
> edition EP being released to "select independent stores and chains"
> starting around now.
I picked up a copy of "Tracks" at Easy Street Records in West Seattle
yesterday for $4.99 (less 10%). They had stacks of them, so I don't
think that availability will be a problem with this "limited edition"
but if the record retailing situation in Ann Arbor has grown so bad
that they can't be found there, I can pick up a few to send to Ken and
other interested parties.
The tracks are:
"I'll Tag Along" (from the new album)
"Bathsheba Smiles (live)" (live version of a song from the last album)
"Hard on Me (live)" (live version of a song from the last album)
"Worldes Blis Ne Last" (from "1000 Years of Popular Music")
"Don't Stop the Music" (from "1000 Years of Popular Music")
anyone know more about this "1000 Years of Popular Music" project?
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krj
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response 101 of 157:
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May 4 19:34 UTC 2003 |
My understanding is that "1000 Years" was a one-man show which Thompson
toured for a while; I don't think he brought it to Michigan. It includes
his cover of Britney Spears' "Ooops! I Did It Again," which he played
on the "Fresh Air" program around New Year's.
The Q&A section on the official RT website led me to think that
"1000 Years" would be the next "fan-club" cd issue, so I was suprised
to see the "More Guitar" set from 1988 turn up as the next release.
I'm hopeful we'll see "1000 Years" before long.
Borders didn't have the RT EP when last I checked. Schoolkids-in-the-
Basement seemed to think it would be for sale with the new album
starting this week; if that's not the case, I'll probably have to take
Mike up on his offer.
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krj
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response 102 of 157:
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May 6 21:10 UTC 2003 |
More information on the RT web site. They list the retailers where
the CD EP is for sale, and yup, no place in Ann Arbor qualifies.
However, the other news is that "1000 Years of Popular Music" is
going on sale soon at the website, so I won't need the "Tracks"
CD if I get "1000 Years," "Semi-Detached Mock Tudor," and "Old Kit Bag".
The "Tracks" EP is for sale at stores in Brighton and Dearborn.
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mcnally
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response 103 of 157:
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May 6 21:52 UTC 2003 |
Well, if anyone else should want one, let me know within a week or so.
I'll be gone from Seattle after that..
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anderyn
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response 104 of 157:
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May 6 23:08 UTC 2003 |
I may. How much?
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mcnally
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response 105 of 157:
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May 7 04:04 UTC 2003 |
When I bought one over the weekend they were $4.99 - 10% discount for a
sale that was going on. Unfortunately I believe the sale will be ended
by the time I make another trip over to West Seattle so you'll have to
pay that extra $0.50.. :-P
I can probably scare up a padded envelope to ship it in, and estimate
probably about $1.25 for postage, so probably total cost would be:
$4.99 purchase price
$0.44 WA sales tax
$1.25 shipping
-----
$6.68 (or thereabouts..)
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anderyn
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response 106 of 157:
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May 7 13:29 UTC 2003 |
Okay. Let me know and I'll send a check. Or how would you like to deal with
this?
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krj
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response 107 of 157:
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May 7 17:26 UTC 2003 |
(OK, if Twila's going to get one, send one for me too, in her package.)
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mcnally
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response 108 of 157:
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May 7 19:34 UTC 2003 |
Check will be fine, and I'll let you know the total after I ship,
plus where to send it.. (I'm not even sure of that last part myself --
it depends how soon I get over to the record store, as my departure
from Seattle is imminent..)
Meanwhile, e-mail me the address you want it sent to.
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krj
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response 109 of 157:
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Jun 6 02:58 UTC 2003 |
Thanks, Mike, for handling the EP purchase.
I procrastinated on ordering "1000 Years" and "More Guitar" from
Richard Thompson's website last week, and today they are
temporarily out of stock. Sigh. And amazon.co.uk is still
out of stock on Steeleye's "Present." I just can't win.
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dbratman
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response 110 of 157:
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Jun 10 23:53 UTC 2003 |
Try again, Ken. I ordered "1000 Years" through the RT website last
Wednesday, and it came on Monday. Fast service! As for "Present", I
got that from Park Records a month or two ago.
I have to say I have kind of mixed feelings about "1000 Years". I
enjoyed the medieval and folk songs very much, and also got a thorough
kick out of the gusto with which RT sings the music-hall songs,
especially "Waiting at the Church", and G&S's "There is beauty in the
bellow of the blast." But the jazz and most of the rock numbers left
me entirely cold. Oh well.
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krj
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response 111 of 157:
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Jul 7 18:35 UTC 2003 |
Little Johnny England, The Ark, Ann Arbor: Tuesday June 24 2003
I mentioned this concert over on Utne Cafe's music conference, and
someone asked if the band were Celtic? *Sigh.*
Nope, they are English, and very retro. The electric guitar sound
similar to Bob Johnson's Steeleye Span work is a signature part
of their ensemble, though in their reliance
on melodeon they are more reminiscent of the various Albion bands.
(Looking at their web page, I see that their melodeon player used to
be in in the Albions! And, the rhythm section used to be in another
English folk band called Clarion which Twila adored.)
The basic lineup is electric guitar, bass, drum kit, fiddle and
melodeon. They described part of their sound as "rumpty-tumpty;" I
think of it more as "rhythmically chunky."
This is a band I enjoy mostly for the nostalgia of their sound; they
really nail that 1970s folk-rock thing. Most of the songs are
originals, and honestly they are not the best songwriters. Some of
the better songs come from a friend of theirs, Pete Scrowther, who
lives in Switzerland and is not a part of the group.
Carol M. pointed out that the drummer was pretty
inventive; I was getting fond of the fiddler. While the fiddler was
never super flashy, he was always spot-on, just right where he should
have been, and he was a pretty good harmony singer too.
LJE played a free show in Ann Arbor, part of the monthly series of
free shows here. They said they spend a few weeks every year
touring the States, so they must be making *some* market penetration
here.
(revised from Utne Cafe)
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dbratman
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response 112 of 157:
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Jul 10 05:30 UTC 2003 |
Retro is good. Little Johnny England sounds like a band that would be
more enjoyable to hear live than to collect their records (if any).
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mcnally
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response 113 of 157:
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Oct 15 07:44 UTC 2003 |
There's a decent article in on-line magazine "Slate" this week about
Richard Thompson and his "1000 Years of Popular Music" project.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2089459/
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anderyn
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response 114 of 157:
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Oct 15 12:39 UTC 2003 |
The clips are pretty cool.
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krj
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response 115 of 157:
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Oct 16 18:54 UTC 2003 |
Thanks, Mike! I need to get to the slate piece. I've finally started
digging into "1000 Years." Meanwhile, Richard T. has his *third* self-
released album of the year out; "Ducknapped" is a live tour album from
spring 2003.
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dbratman
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response 116 of 157:
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Oct 16 22:01 UTC 2003 |
I loved the article's description of RT's singing voice as "a
phlegmatic bellow that often sounds at once both jumpy and arthritic."
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mcnally
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response 117 of 157:
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Oct 17 00:02 UTC 2003 |
I always liked and remembered the review that described his voice
as "goatlike", perhaps even "goatlike bleating."
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dbratman
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response 118 of 157:
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Oct 20 22:15 UTC 2003 |
You realize that anybody reading this who's never heard RT is certainly
not going to be encouraged to give him a try on the basis of this
conversation.
However, I recently played parts of "1000 Years of Popular Music" to a
friend to whom RT was hardly more than a name, and he immediately
bookmarked RT's website so that he could order it for himself.
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krj
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response 119 of 157:
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Oct 22 20:46 UTC 2003 |
I've made my occasional stop-in at the site of Peter Knight, Steeleye Span's
fiddler, where he graciously answers questions from fans.
Two news items of note. He says that it is most likely that Bob Johnson,
Steeleye's longtime electric guitarist, is permanently retired from
music. Bob came back to the band for the "Present" 2-CD set which appeared
at the end of 2002, but then he developed health problems which forced
him to step down from the subsequent tour. His spot was taken by
Ken Nicol, who is going to continue as a member of the band.
Steeleye Span plans a US tour in fall 2004. Current plans are for
the East Coast only. I don't know if Ann Arbor counts as "East Coast"
from the British perspective.
http://www.peterknight.net
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dbratman
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response 120 of 157:
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Oct 24 06:55 UTC 2003 |
Thanks, Ken. Your summaries are a lot more coherent than the way Peter
updates his site, that's for sure.
I'll certainly miss Bob Johnson, but new people can be good too. I'm
relieved to see that Maddy Prior is staying with the band this time: it
was NOT the same without her. I'm just glad that it doesn't seem to be
returning to that gruesome point of a few years ago when everybody quit
at once and Steeleye consisted of nothing but Peter Knight answering
the phone.
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krj
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response 121 of 157:
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Oct 31 05:43 UTC 2003 |
Martin Carthy, the Ark, October 20:
A solo show for this tour.
Martin is getting older, as is the audience, but he still puts on a
heck of an enthusiastic show, with marvelously intricate guitar finger
picking. I'd forgotten how important his guitar playing was, and how
much his guitar and singing sound is woven into parts of my personal
history. He played about three or four instrumentals, including the
morris dance tune "Cuckoo's Nest," and some of the great ballads he
sang were "Sir Patrick Spens" (a different version than the darkly
humorous one Fairport uses); "The Wanton Brown," about a bit of horse
thievery; "John Barleycorn;" and two big epics, "The Famous Flower of
Serving Men" and "Prince Heathen." The latter he did on request as
an encore; he said he rarely would do both of those lengthy ballads in
one evening, and I think he was tiring a bit at the end of "Heathen."
(Anybody want to spell out "The Famous Flower of Serving Men" for me?
I lost the thread of the story about midway through.)
To add to the nostalgia factor my wife & I were sitting with one of my
old college housemates, who drives from Battle Creek for the best
British folk concerts.
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anderyn
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response 122 of 157:
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Oct 31 15:02 UTC 2003 |
Fair Elinor's mother hates her, so sends her "men" to kill her knight and her
baby. Fair Elinor buries the dead, all alone, cuts her hair, and changes her
name to "Sweet William" and goes off to serve the king. Becomes his
chamberlain and is left at the court one day while the king goes hunting. The
king sees this marvellous deer, follows it through the woods to the grave and
watches as it turns into a dove which tells him about the killing and that
his chamberlain is really a girl. (The implication is that the dove is her
husband's ghost, as was the white deer he followed.) The king rides pell-mell
back to the court, where he swoops down on his chamberlain and kisses him,
actually her, and the whole court is agog until they find out it's a girl.
Then it switches to the taking and death of Fair Elinor's mother by burning
at the stake. In some of the stories it's very clear that the king married
Fair Elinor after that, but not in the song as Martin sings it.
And, yes, it IS one of my favorite ballads. Why do you ask?
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micklpkl
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response 123 of 157:
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Oct 31 16:05 UTC 2003 |
oh, bonnie sang the morning thrush
where he sat in yonder bush,
But louder did her mother cry
In the bonfire where she burned close-by
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anderyn
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response 124 of 157:
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Oct 31 16:22 UTC 2003 |
<smiley, since I can't actually give you one>
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