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VOLUME 68, sent April 23, 1997
(long one this time, sorry, folks)
Topics in this issue:
1. Winwood UK dates (UK SUBSCRIBERS - PLEASE READ!!)
2. How did you 'meet' Winwood?
3. Re: set list
4. David Oxtoby's paintings
5. Re: old guard vs young
6. Winwood in the Hall
7. Two Hearts album
8. Re: Canteen
9. Crow connection and Birthday Greetings
10. Re: I'm a Man
11. A young Winwood fan
12. Re: Buddy Holly
13. Re: old guard vs young
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Date sent: Wed, 23 Apr 1997 08:48:46 +0000
From: Humphrey Keenlyside
Subject: Winwood UK dates
Hey Bobbie
Tickets go on sale today for Steve Winwood's club dates in the UK
(which start next week!). The number to ring is: 0976 100 500.
Humphrey
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From: "Angelo"
Subject: How did you 'meet' Winwood?
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 08:42:37 +0200
- I would love to know what were the circumstances of SP's subscribers
regards their first meeting with Steve Winwood and his music. Was it a song?
A Photograph? A concert? A record bought by mistake? I think it would be nice
and interesting to know how Steve and his music changed our lives, now that
we are approaching the 40th anniversary of his career and his 49th birthday
- 2nd. To English speaking subscribers ( the broad majority) Could you help
when somebody doesn't fully understand some lyrics and asks for help. I
noticed some are prone to correction, but not actual help. However, a big
thanks to Peter Nuttall, Andrea and the guy who sent Let me make something
in your life.
It is very nice indeed to read so much about the Video concerts you Americans
see all the time, but rather tantalizing for me. I feel really left out like it was
back in the 70's when Traffic used to tour USA constantly and rarely "the
Continent" as they graciously call it.
Ellie
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Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 13:09:35 +0300 (EET DST)
From: Berkin Altinok
Subject: Re: set list
NBC super channel showed a little bit from the Honors concert, on the program
called "The Ticket", there was a little interview with Steve, he said he enjoyed
being there together with the rest of the bunch, guys in Europe can check it out,
I think they do air the program again some time. Check the Web site..
I also would like to see Steve perform some different songs than the previous
years, which i think we are all disgruntled about.
So how about this: he could open with "Time is Running Out", and the rest of
the songs , I can not figure out an order, but the list goes like:
2)Ask Anybody
3)Take it as it comes
4)You'll keep on Searching
5)Hidden Treasure
6)Who Knows...
7)Empty Pages
8)Dream gerrard
9)I'm a Man
10)Let me down easy
11)Goodbye Stevie
12)Oh Lord Why Lord!
13)My Love's Leavin'
14)The Morning side
15)Riding High
16)Can't find my way home
Finally) Gimme some lovin!!
sounds like a dream come true, it is so hard to choose, but this would be
awesome,,
&&&& If that's what you've heard , i am free as a bird ^^^^^^
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From: "Angelo"
Subject: David Oxtoby's paintings
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 13:18:54 +0200
It seems they let me mail a bit more today and so I'm unashamedly taking
advantage of it. I'm referring in particular to issue # 8 on SP n. 67, the post
from DreemWyvr@aol.com . She seems to be very informed on Traffic -
inspired artwork, so I'm asking her and everybody else in SP on a series of
paintings by an artist called David Oxtoby who apparently held an exhibition of
his work inspired by Traffic music around 1972-73. I had a Melody Maker
article about it and I wrote them at the time but they never replied. I wish I
knew if somebody has ever had the chance to see this exhibition, make
photographs or see reviews on art magazines, or put me in contact with the
Artist himself. I' m particularly interested in a painting of Chris while playing
he made, and in the whole exhibition indeed.
Also I wanted to thank this person for allowing a non-AOL'er to read the info
of Capaldi relating about the recording of "Low Spark" and the cover idea. It
seems to me this is one of the most inspired and deep-meaning lyric Jim gave
us, and I'm very surprised it came all of a sudden. Inspiration must be like that,
a flash in the mind. I always loved Jim's lyrics in their spontaneous naiveté and
deep spiritual connection. He is on a par with celebrated lyricists such as Pete
Townshend in my opinion.
Will we ever get something like that again? I think there's still much to give
from that particular well, because STATE OF GRACE was one of the most
beautiful lyrics I've read in the last 10 years.
Regards this time by a more serious Ellie
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Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 08:52:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: Kathy Brooks
Subject: Re: old guard vs young
Here's my response to Eric's comments from Vol 67. I just had to spout! (No
one will want to send me a tape after they read this!)
"The old guard just blew the young ones away. And it's not that Steve et al
learned how to be musicians with their age, they've been performing like this
for a long time, well over 20 years. So why was difference between them so
drastic? I guess Crow and the Wallflowers are supposed to be the new
"superstars" of the 90's. Has the quality of music really declined that much?
Am I just smoking something or is there a change. If so, why?"
Eric is not smoking something. It used to be that the musicians, the true
TALENT, were well-rounded artists who could play multiple instruments and
not only experiment but also adapt to multiple styles of music. Many of today's
artists just use gimmicks to build a following. Example, and please, I'm not
trying to offend anyone (although if I do, I'll enjoy it :-) ), take Sheryl Crow.
She has garnered a following by singing offbeat lyrics off key -- and out of tune.
You will find people who either hate her, or like her -- to me ALL of her stuff
sounds equally annoying. With SW, there may be people who don't like him
overall, but I'm sure that with his diversity, those same people will probably
like something he's done. -- Another point, now you've got a whole bunch of
"artists" who have come out with voice-cracking out-of-tune stuff, in the Crow
vain, trying to cash in on the success of that niche. NO ONE can successfully
copy Winwood. He's in a higher league. Oh well, there's my spouting off. I
just find I'm listening to more and more CDs and less and less radio. It's the
downfall of music as an art, I guess! (although I do welcome the sounds of
'The Why Store,' 'Dishwalla,' and some other recent bands. No, I'm not ancient
-- just a music snob, perhaps)
Kat
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Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 09:20:34 -0500
From: Yui-chan
Subject: Winwood in the Hall
>> A friend of mine from Scottsdale dropped me a line the other
>> day and asked me if I was aware of whether or not those at
>> Virgin Records, Ron Weisner Entertainment or any other sources
>> are making attempts to get Steve Winwood into the Rock and Roll
>> Hall of Fame.
I know Steve isn't eligible to get into the Hall as a solo act, I think you have to
have been around for 25 years before that happens. Wasn't the first solo effort
in '77? I think SDG is eligible, and perhaps Traffic, but it would be a few years
before Just Steve would get in
>Copyright in this country is regulated by Title 17 of the United
>States Code, between Canada, Mexico and the US under the NAFTA
>treaty, and while the international laws are still incomplete, it
>looks like it will come under GATT 1994 and administered by the
>World Trade Organization. In other words, you really need a
>lawyer.
Do you realize that more Lawyers pass the bar every year in the US than there
are Lawyers in Japan? I've been reading about Post-War Japan and that's one
of the things that kind of annoys them about the US, us being Lawyer and
Lawsuit happy and all. Wow, what a tangent!!
>And with this I don't mean the style of music or what have you,
>but the actually artist aspect of music. If you look at Winwood
>or Wonder you think, "That is a musician." I don't think that
>when I look at a lot of the new kids on the block (pun intended).
> Am I just smoking something or is there a change. If so, why?
I have a quick question. Does anyone know of a really angst ridden song that
Steve has done? I think back to the 60's and 70's and there were some angry
songs (like "Paint It Black" by the Stones) but they were just parts of albums
and not the entire thing. Maybe that's the difference I'm hearing. It's hard to
sound like you love your art when your art is about whining.
Eric
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Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 08:10:29 -0700
Subject: Two Hearts album
From: woontner@sirius.com
In a published interview, Dave Mason's reveals that Steve's participation
on the Two Hearts album was more or less a publicity stunt by the album's
producer. Tracks of 3 songs were sent to Steve's studio and Steve recorded
his music independently and sent them back to the producer who mixed it in.
There was no contact between Steve and Dave on this album. Having heard
Two Hearts I have to say that this is reflected in the rather uninspired result.
Lets face it, these two guys were not meant for each other, except to play a very
pivotal (if brief) role in each other's careers way back in the late sixties.
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From: "Fischler, Sol (NBC)"
Subject: Re: Canteen
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 11:34:00 -0400
The issue of "Canteen" raised in #66 got me thinking (dangerous) again,
because it was always one of my favorite albums (Lord only knows why -- the
recording is terrible, SW mixes his stanzas again, Mason trips all over himself
during his solos, and if you listen carefully to Gimme Some Lovin -- you
really don't have to listen carefully at all -- towards the end everyone plays out
of sync with each other.)
Anyway, someone asked way back if it was a Traffic album at all, since the
band's name isn't mentioned and the only reference is the logo on a soda bottle
on the back cover. I started looking closer and noticed that even Dave Mason
appears through courtesy of his then solo record label Blue Thumb -- (on the
CD its listed as EMI-Harvest), so I guess contractually he couldn't be a
member of another band. (Lord, now I'm talking law -- did someone mention
NAFTA in the last SP? Scary.)
In #67, Ellie's answer quotes an interview about other transient players
"collaborating" but not being "responsible for the project" -- I'd love to read
the whole interview and see how they differentiate. (Did SW et al. decide in
advance this was going to be only a short-term thing? And how did
Grech/Gordon end up writing for the band?) I'm also fascinated by how "other"
musicians are chosen -- I mean I know SW knew Grech from Blind Faith, and
Mason knew Gordon from Delaney & Bonnie, but I'd love to know what went
on behind the scenes to bring everyone together (and for that matter what
brought Mason back in the first place, knowing that bad vibes had been
growing for quite a while at that point). By the way, I read an interview years
ago with Winwood where he refers to Mason & the issue of his ego as "Dave
"Feelin' Alright" Mason" -- as opposed to "Hole in My Shoe" -- I'll try to dig
out the article.
And while going through the racks at HMV recently, I saw a CD by Mason
called "It's Like You Never Left" ( or something like that) -- dated 1995 with
all sorts of great players -- Graham, Nash, Radle, Keltner, Stevie Wonder etc...
Is this a "new" album or a "greatest hits" collection. It has the title track on it,
but also has Headkeeper on it -- a remake or the original? (And am I crazy, or
does he hold the record for using the same songs over & over on different
albums -- Shouldn't Have Took..., Sad & Deep.. etc.? I swear he has more
greatest hits/live albums than studio albums...)
Ah, musings, musings. By the way, I thought everyone knew that the
first band to record Not Fade Away was the Dead...
Carry on...
-- Sol
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From: "BobbieG."
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 10:08:41 -0700
Subject: Crow connection and Birthday Greetings
SW seems to have been working with Sheryl Crow a lot lately. (Now this
appears to me to be a *good* thing, because Crow lives here in Tucson, and
maybe he'll visit her, and one evening, when they have nothing better to do,
they'll say, "Oh, I know! Let's call Bobbie!" ... Well, I can dream, can't I?) But
Crow is known for her song "All I Wanna Do (Is Have Some Fun)" and now
Les tells us there's a song on J7 called "Just Wanna Have Some Fun". What do
you suppose is the connection there?
New topic - Birthday Greetings. Remember, Our Hero turns 49 on May 12,
and I would like to start work on formatting your greetings into a single card by
May 1, May 5 at the absolute latest. I have 6 messages so far, and I want to see
at least 25 or 30, so c'mon, don't be shy! If you feel like you'll write something
dorky or stupid, just look at http://www.azstarnet.com/~bobbieg/birthday.htm
and read MY message from last year, and be thankful that you'll never sink that
low!
Bobbie
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From: MomeyKate@aol.com
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 15:27:35 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: I'm a Man
Just responding to jsantoro's question about "I'm a Man"- I remember reading
that it was originally meant for a documentary film called Swinging London.
The group decided to release it as a single instead (or maybe in addition to
it being included in the documentary). I have seen a documentary about the
British Invasion which features a section on London, showing clips of Twiggy,
the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in which the background music is "I'm a
Man". VH1 has shown this documentary, and the "video" for SDG's "I'm a
Man" is clips from this documentary. Anyone else see this?
Mary from MN
[Yeah, Mary, I've got this video on tape. Anyone else? --BG]
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Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 17:17:31 -0400
From: Aaron Price
Subject: A young Winwood fan
I've been on this list for a while now since I found it on the High Life page.
I've noticed that most of the talk tended to lean towards the older Traffic and
70's stuff (until the recent VH1 appearances that is). I wanted to throw in my
two cents as another generation of Winwood fan. I'm 21 and got caught up in
the Roll With It craze. Since then he has been my favorite solo musician even
though I really don't dig this genre of music! I don't like Clapton at all and
during the VH1 show Winwood was the only one I could stand to watch. I'm
into the techno scene and I also like classical piano. (I can hear the yuks) How
different from Winwood can you get! But his shows rock, his musicianship is
superb, and there is just something about his music. My fav song is Don't..
YKWTNCD. I really love listening to the mid eighties stuff (Roll With It
album is perfect in my mind) and I liked "Far From Home" but not quite as
much. However, the Traffic concert was fantastic.
With that said I want to ask what would be a good old Winwood/Traffic album
for me to pick up knowing my tastes? Also, I want to say that while we are few
and FAR between, there is a young fan base out there for the man. At least, as
long as I'm alive there will be!
Aaron
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From: GShaw10@aol.com
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 17:58:10 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Buddy Holly
Just in case no one else has responded to the queries about "Not Fade Away,"
Adrian is correct, the song was written by the legendary Buddy Holly. It was
covered by the Stones, who added an emphasis on the "Bo Diddley beat." Holly
also authored "Well All Right" which was covered by Blind Faith on their LP
and featured some fiery keyboard work from Winwood.
The version (in tape circulation) of "Not fade Away" performed live in New
York 1970 during a jam featuring Traffic and the Grateful Dead was more
closely aligned with the original Holly version than in the style that the Dead
usually played it.
Greg Shaw
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From: "Mike and Janie Jordan"
Subject: Re: old guard vs young
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 18:02:24 -0500
Concerning #11. No, you're not smoking anything. There aren't as many good
players out there. Partly because of synthesizers, sequencers, and computers.
Partly because music education is one of the first things to get cut from a school
budget. I like SP. I've listened to SW for a long time, but never could find
much in print about him. Being new to the Internet, I'm having a great time
finding out all this stuff about my two favorite things: Traffic and Hammond
Organs.
Enjoy the music,
Mike
[There's a Hammond organ mailing list out there, but I can't remember the
address off-hand. Anyone know? --BG]
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END OF SMILING PHASES, VOL 68
