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VOLUME 33, sent June 24, 1996
Topics in this issue:
1. Miscellaneous thoughts on compilations
2. Tattoos and Boots
3. Re: Muff Winwood
4. Re: Isle of Wight
5. Spencer's page (fwd)
6. Any medley ideas?
7. Birthday Greetings
8. Changing Smiling Phases to majordomo
9. (Even more) Jimi Hendrix and Traffic
10. Ric Grech
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1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 13:19:54 -0400 (EDT)
From: pharaoh@digital.net (Dave Davis)
Subject: Miscellaneous thoughts on compilations
Seeing as Go & GO : Live are only available in vinyl. And Aiye-Keta is
possibly not available period, reminds me of something that bugs me very
much. I can understand when a company (or whoever) is deciding which
albums will be remastered that they might pass up the single album Aiye-Keta.
That seems logical, only one album, probably never had that high of a demand
anyhow. But...take for example a great artist like Neil Young (at least I think
he's great). They seem to pick and choose what will be released on CD. They
skip right over albums, and I have to go out and get them on
vinyl!! Oh well, now that I'm done griping...
I'm excited to have someone to talk with about Traffic and Steve!! What was
you first "Traffic Experience?" Mine was the second album, plopped it down in
the record player and listened to "You Can All Join In." From that moment on
I was stricken. I had never heard anything even close to their style. I knew
that I had to have every album.
When you mentioned that the Traffic double set was disappointing to you, I
could only nod my head. The first thing I noticed right off that I didn't
like was - It was *only 2 discs*!!! Two discs for such a influential group?
One that lasted so long and produced such a volume of quality work? C'mon!
Secondly, nothing from "Welcome to the Canteen?" What were they thinking?
And, how could they leave out "Memories of a Rock 'n' Rolla?" One of my
favorites. About the only redeeming factor is the pre-Fantasy singles. Now
that I've written a novel, I promise this will be the last comment before I sign
off. Being as I am an avid collector of bootlegs of three particular artists - The
Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Van Morrison (who I got to see in person last
month!!!), I have found a strange Winwood artifact.
He is featured as an organist in two instrumental jams on a Zep boot I have.
The two tracks were recorded in Sept. and Oct. of 1968. Right around the
time that "Traffic" was released. Recorded at Olympic studios in London,
the tracks are pretty good. Steve with Zeppelin - an interesting mix. Just
thought you might like to know that!
--dave davis
2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 17:24:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: pharaoh@digital.net (Dave Davis)
Subject: Tattoos and Boots
I went to another local used vinyl store today and inquired about the Go
albums. However, the guy who owned the shop is an overbearing idiot - all the
time trying to sell me everything in his shop, that I did a quick check and left.
There is only one shop that I know will have them, and I'll go there next pay
check and pick them up.
Here is some good news too! - Having been a Traffic fan for a good while now,
I have come to realize that Traffic may be one of the most underrated bands of
all time. However, last month when I attended the Jazz Fest in New Orleans to
see one of my heroes (Van Morrison), I had my shirt off and was relaxing in
the sun on the grass between two performances. I had my eyes closed and was
near dozing off when I heard a voice from above ask if "...that was the Traffic
symbol on your tattoo there?" "Yeah, it is," I replied. We proceeded to get into
a Traffic conversation while waiting for Van to take the stage. He told me
about his getting to meet Dave Mason in the mid-seventies and actually having
a lengthy conversation with him. I was enthralled!! We sat and talked
Winwood until Van's mc took the mic, then he left. It just goes to show that
although they may not have been one of the most followed bands - they
certainly have their group of devotees!
Oh yes, I phoned a store today where I often buy Beatle boots and inquired
about Traffic, Blind Faith, and other boots. They actually show some in their
books. But boot listings mean little, as albums come and go out of print and are
sometimes only available for a few weeks at a time. However, I am going to
make the hours journey to the store next week and see if I can't pick up a few.
Wish me luck!
--dave davis
3*3*3*3*3*3*3*3*3*3*3*3*3
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 22:56:12 +0100
From: Mark Tilson
Subject: Re: Muff Winwood
As I understand it, Muff became head of A&R for CBS Records (UK) and is
now Managing Director of Sony Music (UK). Quite a big cheese! I'd be quite
interested to know how he gets on with George Michael these days. Don't think
he would have much time for production lately, but I could be wrong.
Mark
4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 22:53:19 -0500
From: Richard Batey
Subject: Re: Isle of Wight
I have a tape of the BAND at Isle of Wight 69 and there is a song tacked onto
the end of the tape that is not the BAND. The group sounds great; strong
drummer, bass, guitar, and sax. Here is a bit of the vocals though the song
is primarily instrumental and only about 3-4 minutes long:
"Higher than the mountain
Higher than the trees are tall
Stronger than the sun
Oh yeah - say yeah.
Someday that wall will crumble..."
The group sounds like the Cream or Blind Faith or Traffic and I have heard
the song before - a LONG time ago, but I can't place the song or group -
much less the date/venue.
If you can help, my thanks to you.
Richard
5*5*5*5*5*5*5*5*5*5*5*5*5
Date: Fri, 14 Jun 1996 11:22:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: Scott Tribble
Subject: Spencer's page (fwd)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 14 Jun 1996 08:01:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Gregory Springer Multimedia
To: stribble@husc.harvard.edu
Subject: Spencer's page
Hi Scott,
Spencer is planning a page dedicated to related links. Your site address
will be placed there. He will be very pleases to know that there are so many
visits to your site. Good news for SDG cyberfans: a new CD is in the works!
Please feel free to contact me if you have any further comments or
questions. Thanks for your compliment about the site.
Best regards,
Gregory
Gregory Springer Multimedia
gsmmedia@deltanet.com
http://www.webcom.com/gsmmedia/
6*6*6*6*6*6*6*6*6*6*6*6*6
From: Self
Subject: Any medley ideas?
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 11:18:34 +0700
Had an idea while I was walking this morning, listening to "Ocean Breeze" on
the walkman; at the end of Gimme Some Loving', SW sings the phrase 'every
day' in exactly the same way he sings it in the song 'Every Night, Every Day' on
the album "Far From Home." I was thinking what a cool segue that would
make, kind of a before-and-after theme.
Well, we're all used to 'Glad' segueing into 'Freedom Rider'. What other
medleys would be interesting? They could be either thematically or stylistically
similar or totally opposite, or even tell an imaginary story.
I think this could be a no-brainer to obsess on while you're lying on the beach
this summer. Just to have fun, y'know?
--
Bobbie
7*7*7*7*7*7*7*7*7*7*7*7*7
From: "BobbieG."
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 12:03:47 +0700
Subject: Birthday Greetings
I finally finished it! A mere one month and one week late! The birthday
greetings went into the mail this morning.
I also put them up on my Web site. There's a link from the Mailing List Page,
which you can link to from Scott's High Life Page, but to get there directly, go
to
http://www.azstarnet.com/~bobbieg/birthday.htm
The resolution on Netscape is not that great; it looked a lot better on paper,
trust me.
---
Bobbie
8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8
From: "BobbieG."
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 12:34:45 +0700
Subject: Changing Smiling Phases
I an thinking of transferring management of this list over to a majordomo and
started the process yesterday, June 18. For those of you who have never dealt
with an automated mailing list, let me reassure you that it will look different to
you in only 2 ways. 1) The address you write to will be different (I'm not going
to tell you what it is yet) and 2) your posts will be automatically sent to all the
other people on the list, individually.
I will hand-subscribe everyone myself to receive the posts individually; but I
will configure the list for a digest as well. If you would rather continue to
receive Smiling Phases in digest format, drop me a line and I will subscribe you
that way.
I also intend for a couple of weeks following the changeover to send messages
to you all, to make sure you're receiving the posts and that you're satisfied with
the service. In September we can all evaluate it and decide if we want to stick
with it or go back to the current system. Frankly, I'm a little sick of being the
Cut-and-Paste Queen, and would like the challenge of administering a list.
(And no, I'm not sick of being the Co-Goddess of Steve Fans yet.)
I will be discussing this at greater length in future posts and will be happy to
answer any questions or concerns you might have.
And of course, you can all still write to me personally! I love getting all the
mail!
---
Bobbie
9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9
From: RRopek@aol.com
Date: Sun, 23 Jun 1996 19:33:26 -0400
Subject: (Even more) Jimi Hendrix and Traffic
Thanks to Steve Smith (Vol. 29) for shedding some light on the
Winwood/Traffic/Hendrix studio sessions. It's good to finally have some
"facts" on the fascinating collaborations.
I have finally been able to spend some time digging through old articles,
Internet postings and my tape pile, and have come up with a few more pieces
on the above subject that may also be of interest.
First, it turns out that there were a rather astonishing number of interactions
(studio sessions, concerts, hanging out, etc.) between Jimi Hendrix and various
aggregations of Traffic, especially Dave Mason. "Coloured Rain", the European
Winwood fanzine (Issue 20) described most of the Hendrix/Traffic connection
points in their review of the book, "Jimi Hendrix, A Visual Documentary - His
Life, Loves and Music" by Tony Brown.
Apparently, this book hits most of the bases regarding what is known about
Hendrix's recordings, etc. Rather than just repeat the review (it's long), I'll just
add the things I've dug up that supplement what has already been published,
and refer you back to "Coloured Rain" (or the book - which I
recommend) for more information.
The areas that I can add to involve sharing a few long ago written tidbits,
and reviewing some of the unreleased audio material.
- Rolling Stone magazine (12/27/69), under the caption "Blind Faith Split ?
Yes, No, Maybe..." supplies the following nugget: "...Steve Winwood, just
finished with his solo LP {A.K.A. 'Mad Shadows', soon to be retitled 'John
Barleycorn Must Die'} is talking about a jam session with Jimi Hendrix and
Lee Michaels for an album". Did this ever take place ? If so, it was never
released.
- A three hour live jam session at Steve Paul's Scene Club in New York City
(apparently 1968) included Hendrix, Jon Lord (of Deep Purple), Buddy Miles,
Steve Stills (on bass) and Dave Mason. This went over so well that the
'supergroup' played two more nights (Modern Keyboard 1/89). Coloured Rain,
again citing Brown's book, gives a date of 5/9/68, but this seems to be
referring to yet another show, since the groups (or members) listed as playing
include: Traffic, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Frank Zappa and the Yardbirds.
Either way, don't you wish you'd been there ?
- Dave Mason recorded in the studio with Hendrix on a number of occasions.
Some material, such as "Electric Ladyland"'s 'All Along the Watchtower'
(Mason on bass and acoustic guitar) was released, but much of it never was.
The tape that has been circulating for years (dated 1968) consists of Jimi and
Dave noodling together on low volume electric guitars for about thirty five
minutes. Exciting ? Well, no; there are no vocals, and the the playing is rather
nondescript (especially for Hendrix), and just uneventful. A good reason to be
unreleased ! As they say, "for completists only".
- The most interesting item I've run into is the tape of the 5/2/68 N.Y.C.
Record Plant studio session for 'Voodoo Chile - Slight Return'. As stated by
Steve Smith, the session (Hendrix/Winwood/Casday/Mitchell) gave rise to both
the released version of ''Voodoo Chile' and also 'Voodoo Chile Blues',
recently released on the "Jimi Hendrix: Blues" CD. The evolution of this
session is fascinating, and is worthy of a track by track review. In fact,
'Voodoo Chile' seems to have amazingly sprung forth almost fully formed in
less than an hour. The planets and the stars must have been in some kind of
alignment that morning - all the players seem to have instantly clicked, and
are in peak form.
1. Voodoo Chile Blues (12:12) - Instrumental. Clearly an attempt to warm-up
and set the tone, this is a wild track right out of the gate - atmospheric and
moody, with screaming peaks. Even so, the 1st track is marred by
instrumentation drop in/outs. The engineer may have been adjusting the
mic's, levels, etc. while the jam developed. Still, Hendrix's leads are as
powerful as anything he's done, both fluid and jagged edged while ultimately
rooted deeply in the blues - Muddy Water's psychedelic son, indeed! Winwood's
role seems to be to keep things from flying apart, he maintains the song's
structure and leads the chord changes with walls of sound from the
organ. Very simpatico, these two - the sound is organic and flowing, leading
one to ponder the fate of a "Blind Faith" with Hendrix instead of Clapton.
Note: The last part of the released 'Voodoo Chile Blues' seems to come from
this track.
2. 'Voodoo Chile' (with vocals) Take 1 (2:39) Hendrix:" O.k, o.k, lets try
one - real quiet at first.... I'm a voodoo child, lord knows I'm a voodoo
child...", as they ease into a proper take. Things don't go too far before a
breakdown, but the mood and tempo are set for another try.
3. 'Voodoo Chile" Take 2 (6:28) This is a hot one, Hendrix sings and plays
with authority, while Winwood deftly mirrors Hendrix's vocal phrasing with
the organ. Things are looking good ... until 2:09 when Jimi laughs and says
"fuckin' hell, I broke a string" and stops playing (Note: the released 'Voodoo
Chile Blues' track uses this take up to the 2:09 point). Someone else,
appreciating the loss, says "damn". Amazingly, the band keeps playing,
with Steve filling Hendrix' temporary absence by improvising a Traffic-y
solo - keeping the jam alive. Hendrix rejoins, riding a staccato beat pattern,
but instead of taking flight, things crash to a halt, seemingly cut off by the
engineer (or perhaps Hendrix himself). Before beginning again, Jimi instructs
Steve: "Have a chord already started, a real, real soft chord already started, all
by yourself there (as Winwood plays) ... o.k., one more time..., a nice slow one,
that's right". Apparently, that's about all the instruction Jimi gave to the
players during the session. Winwood has been quoted as saying (regarding
'Voodoo Chile') - "we didn't rehearse it, he just gave us the chords and started
the recorder".
4. V.C. Take 3 (2:30) This take starts off with atmospheric applause and
talking, which sounds dropped in via a tape dub. The timing of this was
seemingly off and the take was stopped. The applause was reapplied to the
start of Take 4.
5. V.C. Take 4 (6:40) With everything apparently set up correctly, the band
eases into a proper take, with the group cooking. Once again, strange things
seem to interfere; the crowd noise is too loud at first, then abruptly disappears
during Jimi's solo. Although the song is cut on my tape shortly
after this point, this seems to be the take that made it to the album. Also
the "Jimi Hendrix: Blues" CD seems to have used a part of this take (the
second of three edits that I noticed) as well, perhaps because of the clear
and developed vocals here.
6. Instrumental Jam (same instrumentation as above) (13:56) Not 'Voodoo
Chile', but rather a fast paced shuffle with Hendrix/Winwood fluidly switching
places from solo to rhythm. A great deal of tension is developed as the jam
progresses. Winwood adds ambiance with the organ swells that shadow
Hendrix; a kind of amphetamine Booker T sound. Really quite nice, and over
all too soon.
Finally, another Hendrix/Winwood mystery - While the last tune on the tape
followed the 'Voodoo Chile takes as described above, I also found the track on
another Hendrix tape entitled "'Nine to the Universe' outtakes" ('Nine to the
Universe' is a posthumous lp derived from 1970 studio sessions). Odd enough,
but the tape also contains two other "Winwood sounding" tracks.
The instrumentation seems the same as the above; guitar, organ, bass and
drums. The first is a another fast shuffle with a few vocal lines, the title seems
to be 'World Traveler'. The other is a bluesy track ('It's Too Bad My
Brother Can't Be Here With Me Today') quite similar in style and feel to
'Voodoo Chile', that climaxes with an increasingly speedy jam between the
guitar and organ. More "lost" Winwood/Hendrix tracks ? I'll stick my neck
out and say yes; although I've tried without success to elicit help from Internet
roaming Hendrix experts to verify this. Anyone ?
Dan Ropek
10*10*10*10*10*10*10*10*10*10
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 23:50:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: pharaoh@digital.net (Dave Davis)
Subject: Ric Grech
--Just a one short thing - I promise. When I first encountered Blind Faith (it's
been a while now) I knew where every member came from - except this Grech
fellow. Sure, Winwood - Traffic among others; Clapton - Cream; Baker -
Cream....But this Grech guy, from whence did he come?? Anyway, after some
minimal research I discovered that he had played previously in the band
Family. I also found out that the band's most acclaimed album was "Music In
A Doll's House." So, I picked up this album figuring that he had worked out so
well in BF, he couldn't be all that bad. To make a long story short, I got the
album and, although it took me a while, now greatly enjoy it. It's a totally
different style than BF or Cream or Traffic, but decent nonetheless. Have you
heard it?
--dave davis
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END OF SMILING PHASES, VOL 33
