07-bill wyman and eric clapton

the finest article i've read in a while is the bill wyman interview in the UK daily telegraph conducted by robert sandall. i have attached the article here for your enjoyment.

mr. sandall is not your usual journo.

he is a former punk and post punk musician and a member of bands that "have never gone down in history". he's a former ski-bum, he’s worked at Q magazine and the UK sunday times…and was a good choice for bill wyman.

whilst at the UK times he wrote what must have been the last, or almost last, piece on the revered champ of brit DJ's, the late john peel. (you can read here)

peel spoke with robert just before he left for his last holiday in peru, which is where he died. sandall was actually editing the piece when the news broke that peel had died. tiz a moving piece, it was as much a friendly, concerned diagnosis as anything else the article contained.

i may have met sandall in the mid-90's. it was the oddest of occasions. i was in london and to have dinner with my barrister. (a barrister is the legal person who stands up for you in court and wears a white wig and black robes and
addresses the judge as "m' lud"). my barrister was a very accomplished
lady named margaret puxon. in the UK high court system they are known as QC's. you may be familiar with them from a myriad of tele and/or filmed efforts. these efforts range range from "witness for the prosecution" to TV's "rumpole of the bailey". anyway it was an odd place to meet robert but my QC liked to "keep in touch with what youth was up to".

i like the bill wyman article because mr. sandall has allowed bill to skate over the sensitive area of his relationship, both personal and professional (with the rolling stones), without having bill fall through the ice (the hole determined by sandall's pen). in addition the sub-editors (those who determine the headline) have gone gentle on both the subject and topic which is a rarity in the UK and almost anywhere.

we live in an era where pro-tools have both improved and debased our music
and it's potential to affect our daily lives. at the same time the computer has both improved communication and debased the meaning and standard of
journalism, via the "everybody is a star" blog-ville in which we all reside.

of course it's more than computer, it's a whole social discourse ranging
from rupert murdoch to the decaying of the family unit by economical and
egoic wants and needs. also its our affection for schadenfreuden and the
belittling of others seemingly more fortunate than we may be. this article
is from the old school about the old school and it works. it's a rarity.....but so is bill.

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a couple of months ago i raved both on my shows and on this page about the
eric clapton biography. i had read an extract that was published in VANITY FAIR. a few days ago i popped into my english book
carrying shop here in bogota and picked up a copy of the actual book.

i was concerned about it from the moment of purchase. it was thinner in pages than i'd thought it might be, it was lacking in photographic amities to the written
proceedings and the cover was brasher than i'd imagined. the cover was more Rosanne barr or farrah fawcett than gore vidal or gay talese. i sorta ignored this as i cancelled my nightly meet with " law & order" and set into eric. i was
disappointed.

vanity fair had done a superb job of presenting the best aspects of the book. the rest did not stand up to that standard. i have written two volumes of biography and am hard at work on a third. it is a very thin line, like the one tightroped by bill wyman, chez robert sandall in the above telling the truth without going tabloid. with ronnie wood there is no danger, he does not even notice it. regarding eric, had my life been changed and futured by seeing God in it's forms as cream and/or blind faith and had that treasured moment trampled on by eric talking about the gig or tour that had improved my lot as something he was " not there for"…i'd feel like whacking him. honesty has to be respectful to another fellow's recall.

another vomit moment is eric's naff betrayal of his "best friend" , the late beatle george harrison. by betrayal, i do not mean it was back in the day. i refer to the way it is written up now. eric has given both God and musos a bad name with his self-serving agenda of dismissal and moving on.

sorry eric, but this God can move to the judus section of the table.

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staying in the realm of the musical holy we have some great VATICAN PICKS
coming up on the UNDERGROUND GARAGE. our "vat-man" has come up with a slew of goodies for the upcoming weeks.

this week it's the stones and "get yourself together", recorded in november of '66 at olympic studios in london. i do not actually remember this session. the times they were a-straining and some six months later i would be leaving the band. this track is hitherto unreleased. glyn johns was the engineer. ian stewart is tentatively playing piano holding back whilst wondering whether
his little three chord wonders are going to pull it off. they don't, otherwise it would have been finished, mixed and released. the human riff (keith)
has the figure down, the bottom end is starting to swing and mick is gamely
trying to secure a song. tiz a gem.

we have quite a few more gems coming up from VAT-MAN in the coming weeks so please listen in.

4-csw, ug, vf, and prince's trust

most of the underground garage CSW’s (coolest songs in the world) are worthy of the note, the reward, and the airplay. but on certain lucky weeks along comes a recording that sums up the parts of the best of our game. "baby du jour" is one such ditty. the artist is roy loney & the longshots and "baby du jour" is culled from their september 18th, MM7 outing,"shake it or leave it" on career records. this record is real and off the floor. it has swamp, slide, shimmy and glimmer and it is oh so pro and relaxed and in the pocket of groove; i feel like a pointer sister. in as many words, “i'm so excited”. you can hear the room and the camaraderie of a nod, a wink and friendly persuasion. huge loog congrats to the writers - mr. loney and larry rea; the producers, mr L and the multi-accomplished living specie, deniz tek; and the band on this track: loney - vocals, guitar, jim sangster – guitar, deniz tek – guitar, scott mccaughey – bass, and graham black on drums.

the cut is so darn evocative of huey smith, specialty records, eddie cochran and as said, it's so off the floor and live. i have nothing against machines, although i prefer them when they are giving power to tape. given the less than sexy recent efforts of tom petty and bob seger both those gents and their producers should lend an ear to mr. loney. he shows it can still be done. i wish it well.

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steven van zandt is in the biz of entertainment. UG fans will be pleased to note that the UG will be entertaining and live again every wednesday following halloween at the hawaiian tropic zone, just north of new york's times square at 49th and 7th avenue. stay tuned to the UG and www.undergroundgarage.com for shows and acts coming up.

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an unlikely pairing would seem to be paul mccartney and the wayward straw, pete doherty...not so. have a read of this meeting of the two rockers: click here.

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whilst on the subject of reading check out this month's VANITY FAIR. the cover is off-putting, a less than live B &W shot of former president, john f. kennedy and his wife jacqueline the o. however, the inside has a lot of good reads. there’s an extract from the new eric clapton biography that is direct and compelling.



( i saw eric last night on larry king. it's a must for clapton fans. larry pushes the envelope of taste as to how much he dwelt on the death of clapton's son conor, but clapton dealt with it well. he has a maturity that he's taking to the road the way sinatra did in the late 70's). it would seem that daily we recover from what we've done, what we have done unto others and what has and what we perceive was done unto us. eric deals with it all first hand and on track. he does so from the point of view of being in recovery every day. i share that disease (alcoholism and addiction), with eric and so many others. clapton handles it like a man.

you might think, why not? well, read the extract, and perhaps buy the book. you'll read how clapton has handled his gift, his "being god", his tempestuous relationships with himself and " les dames" , various band mates, his triads of fame, the tragedy of loss like a well-spoken, under-spoken man of enough and occasional steel. i applaud him for his john ford-ness. if his music has ever ouched you, if you cannot touch booze or aspirin without losing it, if you've lived a charmed life this book's for you. there's also an accompanying 2 disc set called complete clapton.

in the same VANITY FAIR issue there is a great tom stoppard piece on syd barrett; dominick dunne on the latest on the phil spector murder trial; the incredible story of the fall from grace of boy band manager lou pearlman (though some might say just managing the acts he did was a fall from grace) who milked the bands, bilked the public and is about to have a day in court. the issue has the usual articles on the middle east excesses of haliburton; the bush government and KBR that you can read at your own peril and/or disgust and a very moving piece by christopher hitchens about a young enlisted american army officer, 21 year old mark daily, who was killed this past new year.

also in the VF issue is a piece on serge gainsbourg. the french elf-like-gremlin with a way with words and women. a fascinating lyricist and painter of sounds extraordinaire. he was an institution in france...like a tom waits who had become as big as clint black...underground mainstream. there are similarities with clapton; gainsbourg could not give up the drink and died at the age of 62. of all the french composers and singers gainsbourg is the one who brought the rhythm and cultures of the world unto france. he added his own way with words and gave france a musical canvas so brilliant, dark, and bright; the likes of which it will not see again. he only "pooped" in the rest of the world once. in 66 when he recorded " je t' aime... moi non plus", first with brigitte bardot, then with jane birkin.

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finally, for today, i was watching prince charles and his two sons on an A & E repeat of this summer’s London, "prince's trust concert"; a charitable venture by the prince that does amazingly good things for the ghettokiddies of the UK by providing work and entrepreneurial opportunities. these come via grants, as in cash, that the country itself no longer provides. the interview was coming to an end and the subject of music came up when suddenly out of nowhere prince charles chimes in with "have you heard of this chappie leonard cohen ? amazing poet, lovely songs, wonderful voice." his two sons looked at him as if he were daft , or perhaps they had no idea who leonard cohen was. i love leonard cohen and i warms the cockles of my musical heart to know that his mood and solace has cheered the man who may not be king.