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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 157 responses total. |
krj
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response 64 of 157:
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Aug 12 21:04 UTC 2002 |
I've just been handed a note listing a Linda Thompson appearance
at the Ark for October 21.
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carson
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response 65 of 157:
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Aug 15 03:57 UTC 2002 |
(the NPR piece on Linda Thompson can be heard in RealAudio at
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/wesun/20020804.wesun.18.ram. it's a twelve
minute piece that includes snippets from the album.)
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carson
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response 66 of 157:
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Aug 31 16:32 UTC 2002 |
(CNN.com has an article on Linda Thompson this weekend.)
http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/31/arts.us.linda.thompson.ap/i
ndex.html
(note that the URL wraps.)
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krj
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response 67 of 157:
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Sep 1 23:25 UTC 2002 |
Thanks carson! I didn't expect to see such a nice story about Linda
in the mainstream, since her commercial presence is almost nonexistent.
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anderyn
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response 68 of 157:
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Sep 3 00:18 UTC 2002 |
Linda and Teddy Thompson are coming to the Ark in October or November.
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scott
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response 69 of 157:
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Sep 3 00:41 UTC 2002 |
Linda Thompson is listed for Oct. 21.
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krj
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response 70 of 157:
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Sep 8 01:35 UTC 2002 |
NP: MacAlias, HIGHWIRED. A duo of two Scottish women, Gill Bowman &
Karine Polwart. Karine is better known as the singer for Malinky,
a hot new Scottish traditional band; in this act, they are doing
mostly singer-songwriter originals with a faint tinge of country,
with a couple of songs by Trad or Robert Burns mixed in.
I didn't like this at all on first listen many months ago, but
it sounds better today.
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krj
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response 71 of 157:
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Oct 26 10:29 UTC 2002 |
Very nice Linda Thompson article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10562-2002Oct24.html
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dbratman
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response 72 of 157:
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Oct 29 00:05 UTC 2002 |
I didn't even know about her longstanding voice problems.
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krj
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response 73 of 157:
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Dec 9 03:59 UTC 2002 |
Geezer news: the new Steeleye Span album should be out.
http://www.parkrecords.com/ss7.htm
The title is "Present: The Very Best of Steeleye Span" and it's
new recordings of their favorite tracks as selected by a
website poll. It's a 2-cd set with 17 tracks.
I forget all the details of the lineup, but Maddy Prior is back in
the band as the only female voice, and Bob Johnson is back on
electric guitar. There is a somewhat alarming report that
Johnson dropped out of the December tour due to "a minor heart
condition," being replaced for the tour by a recent Albion Band
guitarist, Ken Nicol.
There's also a report that the Albion Band has broken up, after about
15-20 years of more-or-less continuous existence and with a career
going back to about 1972. The various Albion Bands were Ashley Hutchings'
third great folk rock band, after he'd been involved in the founding
of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. The Albion work from the 1970s
is some of the greatest British folk-rock; the band was wildly uneven in
the early 1980s (Twila likes this period, but I gave up on them for
a few years) and then rallied at the end of the 1980s before the wheels
fell off in the 1990s. The last few Albion CDs I bought were
pretty dire; I don't even try to buy them all any more.
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anderyn
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response 74 of 157:
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Dec 9 15:08 UTC 2002 |
I do like early 1980s Albion, but I also like earlier Albion. I agree that
1990s Albion is not so good. :-)
I'm looking forward to the new Steeleye. (Will have to see if it's available
Stateside.) Nice lineup of songs and folks.
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krj
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response 75 of 157:
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Dec 9 20:10 UTC 2002 |
I wouldn't expect US distribution until after Christmas; the album was
only released at the end of December. Park Records may still be having
US distribution problems: I don't recall having seen Maddy's last
two albums (GOLD FRANKINCENSE & MYRRH and BIB & TUCK) in American bins.
(Park's previous US distributor, if I remember correctly, went out
of business maybe a year ago?)
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dbratman
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response 76 of 157:
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Dec 9 22:17 UTC 2002 |
Well, I hope PRESENT is a good album. The return of Prior is a good
sign, because I didn't like the sans-Prior albums at all. I very much
liked the Harries-Genocky rhythm section period, and I wonder what a
Kemp-Genocky one will sound like. (The web page says "a classic and
much-loved line-up", but these two guys never played together in a
regular Steeleye lineup.)
As for the selection of tracks, there's not a one I dislike, though
there are certainly a few I'd be happy to dump in favor of others
omitted which I like much better. Of course "Gaudete" and "Long
Lankin" are there, the two songs without which no Best of pre-reunion
Steeleye could be complete, and it's amusing to see "King Henry" (which
I've always considered a rough draft for "Long Lankin") there as well.
Interesting that there's only one post-reunion song, though: "Let Her
Go Down", which I suppose is one of the better non-Prior numbers from
SAILS OF SILVER.
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krj
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response 77 of 157:
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Dec 11 22:19 UTC 2002 |
Mike Harding (BBC Radio 2 folk show host) played "Blackleg Miner"
from the new Steeleye album on today's show. It's the opening track,
so if you can find the show on http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2
you can go right to it.
It's always great to hear Maddy's voice, and I'm sure I'll buy this
eventually, but the instrumentals were kind of blah, and I'm in no
rush.
David: I've never had any patience for the song "Let Her Go Down,"
it always triggers a bit of a gag reflex. The English Country Blues
Band has a *much* better shipwreck song, "Wreck of the Northfleet;"
of course, they didn't write that one, it comes from an old broadsheet.
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dbratman
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response 78 of 157:
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Dec 13 20:22 UTC 2002 |
Ken, I wouldn't mind if you gagged at the entirety of SAILS OF SILVER,
but I don't see where "Let Her Go Down" is worthy of being singled
out. For me, the most gaggy moment on the entire album is one line
in "Gone to America": "I asked if I could see him, and they said no."
Hm, it seems stupider in context.
Anyway, the whole album is inferior examples of songs done better when
they were adapted from folk sources. I'm sure that "Wreck of the
Northfleet" is a better shipwreck song than "Let Her Go Down". Heck,
even "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a better shipwreck song
than "Let Her Go Down" (despite its own famously gaggy line, "As the
big freighters go, it was bigger than most"). But "Let Her Go Down"
hardly stands out on SAILS in respect of better examples. How
about "Longbone" as the poorest ever Bob Johnson monster song, eh?
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dbratman
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response 79 of 157:
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Dec 13 20:24 UTC 2002 |
I should add also that while I was, and continue to be, tremendously
impressed by the instrumentals of Steeleye's Genocky period in the new
songs, I haven't been so impressed by most of their remake songs. A
couple of exceptions: "Padstow" on TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT worked a bit
better than the original, and "Twa Corbies" on TIME is just amazing.
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krj
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response 80 of 157:
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Jan 6 20:41 UTC 2003 |
From a UK mail order firm I have an announcement of an
upcoming Richard Thompson album: "The Old Kit Bag," due early
February in the UK. No further info yet.
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krj
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response 81 of 157:
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Jan 6 21:10 UTC 2003 |
http://www.richardthompson-music.com/
Reports that the UK release will be on Cooking Vinyl in Feb;
USA release scheduled for April, no label given. There are some
nice FAQ answers about upcoming/possible live recordings.
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krj
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response 82 of 157:
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Feb 2 21:22 UTC 2003 |
If you were thinking of getting the new Steeleye Span release PRESENT:
I suggest not getting it from Amazon.com, who want US $35 for it.
The UK Amazon store lists it for only 12 UK pounds. My vague recollection
is that UK sources are pricing it as a "standard" release, even though
it is a 2-CD set.
Another tidbit: there is a very nice Linda Thompson feature in the new
issue of DIRTY LINEN magazine.
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dbratman
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response 83 of 157:
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Feb 2 21:25 UTC 2003 |
Thanks for the word, Ken. UK Amazon was listing a CD of "The King of
Elfland's Daughter" in print, but when I tried to order it, they had to
give up, running me through the usual series of 6 apologia e-mails.
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krj
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response 84 of 157:
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Feb 2 21:52 UTC 2003 |
On folk stuff, the key words to look for on amazon.co.uk are "ships in
24 hours," meaning they have it in stock. For anything they don't
have in stock, it gets to be a dice roll -- one has to balance the
hope of a low price against the fear that the item will never show up, and
usually at that point I switch over to one of the folk specialists
such as Musikfolk, MusicScotland or ADA, who are more reliable about
stocking the small folk labels and who will tell me promply in email
if they do or do not have an item on hand.
FRoots magazine (formerly Folk Roots) says they are working with
Amazon on stocking and promotion issues for folk/world/roots music.
Rockin' World claims THE KING OF ELFLAND'S DAUGHTER is out of print
and the proprietor offers a last few copies for $25. My guess is that
David will have to pay a small collectible premium for a used CD, or
else wait until the next time someone thinks the album is worth issuing.
For those who came in late: ELFLAND is a concept album produced by
Steeleye Span guitarist Bob Johnson and fiddler Peter Knight after
they left the band around 1977.
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mcnally
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response 85 of 157:
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Feb 2 22:19 UTC 2003 |
Presumably based on the novel by Lord Dunsany?
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krj
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response 86 of 157:
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Feb 2 22:34 UTC 2003 |
Yes.
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dbratman
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response 87 of 157:
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Feb 4 17:39 UTC 2003 |
What got me was Amazon's claim that Elfland was in print. I figured
there was half a chance they could still get me a copy: such things
have happened on occasion. If not, no harm was done.
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mcnally
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response 88 of 157:
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Feb 12 18:46 UTC 2003 |
If what he's said elsewhere about the slowdown in his music habits is
true, he probably hasn't bothered, but I've been wondering whether Ken's
Richard Thompson fandom is still strong enough to prompt him to order
RT's newest release "The Old Kit Bag" from England (where it was released
about a week ago. Apparently it won't reach the US until at least May.)
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