Locked down 2 – Stir Crazy

Working from home is a tough gig. On the positive side, I am kept very busy so the day passes quickly. I realise what a great bunch of people I am working with, the team spirit is fantastic. I speak with Craig who I share an office with most days which always boosts my morale as we end each call discussing how many beers we’re going to drink together if we get through this shit. On the downside, Skype calls are very frustrating; after all, you can’t make eye contact with a laptop screen!

Phone conference protocols are difficult to adhere to. It’s hard not to talk over somebody when you can’t see what is going on. It proves Professor Mehrabian right;

Professor Mehrabian came up with the now famous—and famously misused—rule that communication is only 7 percent verbal and 93 percent non-verbal. The non-verbal component was made up of body language (55 percent) and tone of voice (38 percent).

Last week I was exchanging emails with my friend Mark. His wife Jeanne told him to ask me what my favourite album sleeves are. Hey, serendipity intervenes again. I have been meaning to sort my vinyl albums alphabetically for months, mainly driven by my inability to find my copy of Solid by the Groundhogs. Jeanne’s question proved the motivational trigger.  I decided that I would only choose my favourite album covers from those I own on vinyl.

I will provide a little commentary on what I like about the sleeve and also a few words about the album. I must stress that I have picked my favourite album covers, not my favourite albums

So here we go, my top 10 in no particular order;

I love Modern art and Don Van Vliet is one of my favourite artists. His paintings have a childlike quality but reward those who study them deeply. There is much wisdom concealed within that childlike simplicity and his use of colours is stunning. Don was a fellow member of the MS club.

Captain Beefheart is Don’s alter ego (named after his uncle, read the story!). This isn’t his best album but it is a good one nonetheless. Seekers should checkout Clear Spot or Ice Cream for Crow for great songs, Trout Mask Replica for weirdness, and Bongo Fury for one of the best collaborations of all time.

ps

Pat told me if I ever buy one of Don’s paintings (I could never afford an original) and attempt to hang it on open display she will perform an orchidectomy with her bare teeth!!!

What can I say about this Hipgnosis classic? There is so much going on here; the everyday gesture of two people shaking hands, particularly those formally dressed. The seeming indifference to the fact that one of the guys is on fire! Finally, the background is incongruous. Is it a movie set? Maybe it’s a deserted factory? Wherever they are, it’s a beautiful day. Wish you were here indeed!

I love Pink Floyd and this album is one of their top three in my opinion:

Dark side of the Moon

Wish you were here

The Wall

I honestly can’t pick a favourite as it is only ever the one I happen to be listening to. Of those three great albums it is Wish you were here that boasts the best cover!

Pretty whimsical I hear you say.

This is less about the sleeve and more about what this album did for me. I bought this album from Earthquake records in 1977. I had never heard of the Pink Fairies. A guy called Simmo took me under his wing one day and showed me albums that I should own, needed to own. His number one recommendation was Kings of Oblivion.

Forty three years later I sit here in my man cave typing this blog looking at a framed copy of the album cover. I love the perfection of the colours, the expressions of the pigs but most of all I love travelling back through time to the day that I first unfurled my freak flag!!

The album is awesome as well. If there is a better track than City Kids then I have certainly never heard it.

Larry Wallis and Duncan Sanderson passed away recently.

Rest in peace comrades.

I was fascinated by this sleeve from the first time I saw it. I love the black and silver diagonal stripes, the band logo is a design classic but most of all I love the photo of Alex Harvey. Alex looks hard, threatening, uber fucking cool.

What a fantastic album as well. Not only is there not a bad track but the album marks the first outing for Harvey’s alter ego Vambo.

Towering over everything else is the title track Next, a song written by legendary Belgian singer Jacques Brel, Harvey makes the song his own just like Sinatra does with New York New York and Elvis does with Are you lonesome tonight.

Don’t die without hearing this album at least once. 

Never has an album sleeve described what you are about to hear as much as Swordfish Trombones. You really have to listen to this masterpiece to understand what I mean.

Waits was a great songwriter from the get go. I love Blue Valentine, Heart attack and Vine and Nighthawks at the Diner but this one was the game changer. This album marked not only a musical departure but an artistic one as well. The sleeve reflects the fact that through the album you will meet a cast of vagabonds, ne’er do wells and real people that will warm your heart. These stories are set against an eclectic, fantastic musical background.

Tom’s next album was Rain Dogs and he raised the bar again.

Please check this album out and whether you like it or not, see how it resonates with the sleeve art.

I used to flick past this album every week in Earthquake records. I would inevitably retrace my steps and pull it from the rack. I loved the sleeve. The colours are stunning the image of the cowboy waving goodbye to his true love felt strangely reassuring.

The problem was that I was told that the band were just a second string bunch of old hippies that noodled away aimlessly fuelled by a cocktail of weed and psychedelics.

Then I read Winos, Rhinos and Lunatics by Deke Leonard. This fantastic book recounts Deke’s time as a part of legendary Welsh hippies Man. One of the books highlights is the time that the Manband spent with John Cipollina, guitarist with Quicksilver Messenger Service. Deke is awestruck as he describes Cippo’s talents. So I finally bought the album. I really like it but the sleeve is still the star

The French would say this sleeve is ‘Les ballons de chien’ The dog’s bollocks! 

The band logo perfectly illustrates the sound of Motorhead. Another Earthquake records purchase of mine. I had read about Motorhead in the music press, knew of Lemmy through his tenure in Hawkwind but nothing prepared me for the holy row that erupted from the speakers.

The band logo still adorns tee shirts and has seamlessly crossed at least three generations. I would proudly wear this logo if the clothing catered for the more mature old rocker!!!

Lemmy and Fast Eddie are sadly no longer with us but the awesome music still is. The title track and the biker anthem Iron Horse stand out on this album but the band would go on to record many more great songs such as Overkill, Ace of Spades and Killed by Death.

Andy Warhol is one of my favourite artists. I have seen his work exhibited in London, New York and Hamburg. I yearn to see more, particularly his photography.

I was not convinced when I first saw this album sleeve. Nor was I sold on the music. Every band when I was a teenager played Waiting for my man (except for my band of course).

As I started to get into Warhol I realised I needed to buy this album and see if it deserved the fuss.

Brian Eno once said that even though hardly anyone bought Velvet Underground recordings at the time they first appeared, almost everyone who did formed their own bands.

You only need to hear Patti Smith, Talking Heads or the New York Dolls to see that this is true.

A truly great album. I now love Waiting for my man, Heroin and Nico singing All Tomorrow’s parties.

If you like the album then you should checkout more great Warhol art. If you don’t like the music, still checkout Warhol!

Readers of my earlier blogs will have read of my fascination with this album sleeve. I still don’t know whether to be filled with a sense of calm or a sense of trepidation. In the last few years we have visited both Glastonbury Tor and Stonehenge and on both occasions I have thought about this album cover.

Argus is a great album. There are no bad tracks. It will forever be known for Blowin’ Free but The King will come and The Warrior best reflect the album cover theme.

My God there is something deep about this album sleeve. I can remember seeing it on Amazon, reading reviews in the music press but I always felt drawn to the album cover. To this day I cannot describe why I feel so moved.

As you can imagine I needed to check the album out. It is fantastic!!! The Decemberists got even better on their next album The Hazards of Love.

We saw the band live in Leeds a couple of years ago and they are brilliant!!! I have since bought many more albums by this wonderful band but The Crane Wife sleeve still fascinates me.

Postscript: I really enjoyed sorting out my 500 records into alphabetical order. It took a little longer than planned but felt so good. So many memories came flooding back. So many long lost treasures were rediscovered and so many gaps that need plugging were duly noted.

Hey Jeanne, I’ve shared my favourites, now I look forward to you sharing yours.

I never did find that damn Groundhogs album!!!

I have been watching a lot of You tube clips over the past couple of weeks. I set of with best intentions of learning something new on guitar (Romeo and Juliet this week) but get rapidly impatient with myself when I don’t master a new song by the second try. If it first you don’t succeed……..just search for something more interesting.

I found the following three clips this week. Each features a great guitarist interpreting pieces not written with the guitar in mind.

Jeff Beck – Nessun Dorma

I saw Jeff Beck supporting ZZ Top at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. I have always loved his playing but thought he had become too ‘noodly’ in his later years. Not at this show, Beck was awesome……….he blew ZZ Top off the stage!!

I’d lose the boots Jeff!!!

      Eleanor Rigby – Stanley Jordan

I first saw Stanley Jordan on much missed music show the Tube. I stared open mouthed at the screen. I had never seen anyone play the guitar like him.

Star Spangled Banner – Jimi Hendrix

This closes Woodstock. Jimi starts playing the National anthem faithfully but then veers off course. Hendrix seems to mimics explosions, machine gunfire and a wailing emergency siren – musical images of horror. Hendrix had served in the US air force and still had many friends who were in Vietnam. Hendrix then plays the “Taps” melody, a tune traditionally performed at military funerals to honor the sacrifice of service.

Finally, he returns to the traditional anthem melody, offering a full and faithful conclusion to the song. One of the defining moments in Rock music history

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFLy8eGtSYo

 I’ll finish off this blog with a few more comedy clips. I felt much better watching these clips and laughing out loud. I hope you find them funny as well

Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979, and as leader of the Liberal Party between 1967 and 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at the Old Bailey on charges of conspiracy and incitement to murder, arising from an earlier relationship with Norman Scott, a former model. Thorpe was acquitted on all charges, but the case, and the furore surrounding it, ended his political career. It was felt at the time that the British establishment had looked after one of its own. As official documents were released over the years it was seen that this was no conspiracy theory. Thorpe may have lost his political career but he never went to jail which he surely should have done.

This clip features Peter Cook spoofing the Judge summing up at the Jeremy Thorpe trial. It is hilarious, but like a lot of the best comedy, the underlying theme is to expose corruption in high places.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyos-M48B8U

From the same Amnesty benefit are two clips of Rowan Atkinson. This was in the pre Mr Bean years when Atkinson was at his funniest in my opinion. The first clip features a duet with Kate Bush! The second clip features Atkinson as the Devil greeting new arrivals in Hell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwG5AqZih8I

The final clip is a compilation of Billy Connolly jokes. Still the king of comedy for me

Thanks for reading. I’ll finish with a couple of quotes

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.

Ernest Hemingway