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March 4, 2010
Think You’ve Heard The Last From Jimi Hendrix? Think Again!
It’s not often we hear the announcement of a new album from an artist who has passed on. That’s exactly what’s happening with the planned release of a new Jimi Hendrix album in just a few days on March 9th.
Veteran recording engineer Eddie Kramer mixed the 12 tracks that make up the new album, which bears the title Valleys Of Neptune. Those tracks were recorded by Hendrix over a period of four months during 1969, approximately a year before his untimely death at the age of 27.
Working on the new album was a surreal trip down memory lane for Kramer, whose memories of working with the guitar legend came flooding back as he heard not only the music that Hendrix laid down on tape, but also the conversations that took place in the studio at the time.
“That part of it’s really real. That’s the part that makes the hair on the back of your head stand up,” says Kramer.
He obviously holds Hendrix in high esteem, offering advice to young guitarists who are hoping to make their mark on the music scene. According to Kramer, if you want to play guitar, you should listen to Jimi Hendrix play first. Advice that probably not too many seasoned musicians would argue with.
What may be even more amazing than the release of this new album is what Hendrix’s sister had to say. Janie Hendrix, who serves as CEO of Experience Hendrix LLC, reports that there are sufficient recordings in Jimi Hendrix archives to “ensure a new release every 12-18 months for the next 10 years.”
Although the guitar legend is missed by legions of fans, his prolific writing and recording may offer more surprises in the coming years. Perhaps Valleys Of Neptune is just the start of previously unreleased material that Hendrix fans can look forward to; and what a cool name for an album, by the way.
The Hendrix legacy is likely to be as enduring as rock music itself. His creativity and raw talent inspires and influences guitar players to this day, and will probably do so for many decades to come.
Valleys Of Neptune will be available from Amazon.com
For more on this new Hendrix release, visit Spinner.
October 19, 2009
Jethro Tull Live At Madison Square Garden 1978
Tomorrow marks the release of the new Jethro Tull live CD/DVD set. From their Heavy Horses tour, the video and audio was recorded during a performance at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden and beamed around the world live via satellite. Something of an event in the days before satellite communications became so commonplace. In fact, the show had to be broken up into three segments due to the lack of broadcast time that was available on the satellite at the time, with the middle portion being shown on television.
The set consists of a single DVD and a single CD. The DVD includes just the audio for the first segment of the show which is comprised of three songs.
The middle portion of the show was televised and the resulting 50 or so minutes of video footage is included on the DVD. Eight songs are performed for the middle segment including hits like “Aqualung” and “Thick As A Brick.” Fans should not expect to see video footage presented in wide-screen “movie” format since the show was being shot for broadcast on television, and as we all know, there certainly was no HD in 1978.
The final segment on the DVD features the audio from three more songs, including “Cross Eyed Mary” and an encore of “Locomotive Breath.”
I had not seen Jethro Tull perform live before this, but I can say without any hesitation that they were certainly not a boring group to watch. Ian Anderson’s energy is extraordinary, and I’m not quite sure the man stood still for a single second during the entire performance. There is little doubt that both Anderson and the rest of the group poured every ounce of energy and ability at their disposal into that show.
Although the group took liberties with the arrangements of some well-known material, as one might expect during a live show, none of the changes diminished the quality of the performance for me. As is typically the case, the frontman got the lion’s share of the face time, and although some of us might have appreciated a little bit more attention directed at some of the other musicians, that appears to be the nature of show business and is not unique to this recording.
As anyone who has read my reviews of live albums in the past will know, my main sticking point is always the sound. I freely admit I am a bit of an audio snob, and I am often disappointed with live albums due to the mix, the acoustics, the microphone placement or any number of other circumstances I might be find disagreeable.
I’m happy to report that the sound quality of this live set is quite good. Especially when one considers that it was recorded 31 years ago! Kudos to Robin Black and Peter Mew, two gentlemen who were responsible for the mixing of the original recording and the newer 5.1 Dolby and stereo mixes respectively. Those are the names that most fans probably never notice among all the others in the liner notes, but they contribute enormously to the quality of the finished product. It really is a superb live recording.
Although I’ve been a fan of Jethro Tull since the 1970’s, I’m not sure I ever listened as carefully to their arrangements as I might have before receiving this new set. Certain passages are almost fusion-like to my ears, and reveal an impressive quantity of talent on that stage that I may have never fully appreciated before.
The CD that accompanies the DVD contains all the audio material from the DVD with the exception of the encore performance of “Locomotive Breath” and a few short non-musical segments like band introductions and such.
Although it is probably obvious by now, I would not hesitate to recommend this set to any Jethro Tull fan. As rare as it may seem coming from me, the quality of this recording elevates its status to one that is worthy of listening to for the audio alone.
Ian Anderson is currently on tour here in the U.S. Having finished up for the remainder of this month with a show yesterday in Connecticut, he will next appear in Phoenix at the Dodge Theatre on November 3rd.
Thanks to the folks at EMI for the review copy of this recording. At the same time, I should also mention that I was not compensated in any way for this review beyond the review copy of the set that I received.
June 2, 2009
McCartney And Starr Join Forces For Beatles Edition of Rock Band
It’s not often that the two surviving members of The Beatles are seen together, but Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were recently seen sharing the spotlight in Los Angeles for the announcement of a new version of the popular video game “Rock Band.”
The two music legends made a brief appearance at the E3 video game conference along with both Yoko Ono and Olivia 
Harrison, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison. The four were received enthusiastically by the conference attendees, who showed their support with generous amounts of applause.
The new game, which is set for release on September 9, is also a move that brings the music of The Beatles to fans in digital form, which is something that the surviving members have resisted thus far. Whether or not this will influence them to change their stance on allowing the distribution of their music via sites like iTunes remains to be seen.
The new game enables players to sing along with The Beatle’s three-part harmonies and rock along with the “Fab 4” using the traditional replica instruments that are fashioned after the actual instruments that the group used, including John Lennon’s Rickenbacker 325 guitar, Paul McCartney’s Hofner bass guitar, George Harrison’s Gretsch Duo Jet guitar and Ringo Starr’s drum kit with classic black oyster pearl finish.
The new release also brings players the experience of playing along with the band at various virtual venues, including the Ed Sullivan Theater, Budokan, the Abbey Road Studio, The Cavern Club and Shea Stadium, presumably with hysterical female fans fainting in the front row.
Also included are rare audio clips and previously unseen photographs from the archives, that are revealed to players as they master the included tracks.
Included in the game are legendary Beatles classics such as “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Day Tripper,” “Back In The U.S.S.R.,” and “Here Comes The Sun,” along with other fan favorites.
The new release is currently available for pre-order at Amazon.com for the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360
April 10, 2009
Remastered Beatles Releases Set For September
Even though The Beatles broke up long before we ever heard of a CD or iTunes, that certainly does not mean that fans are not expecting to benefit from the latest in sonic technology. Sure, the old vinyl LPs that so many of us grew up listening to are making somewhat of a comeback, but at the same time, the ever-advancing technology that makes digital music a reality is coming closer and closer to delivering the elements of sound that vinyl aficionados say is missing from digital music.
And when you consider that the first release of The Beatles original British albums on CD came out in 1987, it’s easy to understand why fans desire to hear their old favorites remastered using he latest technology. Twenty-two years is probably more like a century when one considers the advancements in digital technology over the past few decades.
We now know that just five months separate fans from the release they have been waiting for. Apple Corps and EMI announced Tuesday that the highly-anticipated remasters will be released on individual stereo CDs on September 9th, which happens to be the same day The Beatles version of the popular video game “Rock Band,” is set to land on store shelves.
For those who await access to downloadable versions of the group’s material, the wait for good news on that front might stretch on a bit longer. It is being reported that a dispute between Apple Corp. and EMI is holding up the process that would allow the download to become available to the public. George Harrison’s son Dhani reportedly said that the dispute centers around the cost of the downloads, and that another alternative is being considered that would provide a site that was independent of iTunes where the downloads would be available.
The September release will mirror the content of the 1987 CD release as far as content is concerned, but the quality of the content should be a noticeable improvement, especially for fans who are eager for recordings that are more likely to please the ears of the audiophiles among them.
Although those same fans may be apprehensive about the noise reduction process that is used during remastering, EMI is said to have taken steps to reduce the undesirable side effects that can result, such as some loss on the high frequency end of the spectrum. The company claims that just 5 minutes out of the 525 minutes of music were subjected to noise reduction.
Even though the new release will not fulfill every dream that dedicated collectors have for the “ultimate” release of Beatles material, this is a step forward which is likely to please many fans, and may provide others with the hope that bigger and better things may be forthcoming.
For more on this, check out the New York Times.
March 16, 2009
New Dylan Album Set For April Release
Columbia Records announced today that Bob Dylan’s new studio album will be released on April 28. Together Though Life, produced by Jack Frost, was recorded late last year, prompted by the composition of a new song, “Life Is Hard,” which was written for a forthcoming film by French director Oliver Dahan (La Vie En Rose).
The new album will be the 46th release from Bob Dylan, and follows 2006’s Platinum album Modern Times, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and reached the top of the charts in seven additional countries and the Top 5 in 22 countries around the world.
Bob Dylan’s three previous studio albums have been universally hailed as among the best of his storied career, achieving new levels of commercial success and critical acclaim for the artist. The Platinum-selling Time Out Of Mind from 1997 earned multiple Grammy Awards, including Album Of The Year, while “Love and Theft” continued Dylan’s Platinum streak and earned several Grammy nominations and a statue for Best Contemporary Folk album. His most recent studio work, Modern Times, became one of his biggest albums worldwide, selling more than 2.5 million copies and earning Dylan two more Grammys.
Those three studio albums fell within a ten-year creative span that also included an Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning tune, “Things Have Changed,” from the film Wonder Boys, in 2001, a worldwide best selling memoir, Chronicles, which spent 19 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List, in 2004, a Martin Scorsese-directed documentary, No Direction Home, in 2005, and several volumes of the best-selling Bootleg Series, which culminated in last year’s highly-acclaimed Tell Tale Signs.
Dylan was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.” He was also the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997, the French Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in 1990, Sweden’s Polar Music Award in 2000 and numerous other awards and accolades.
