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::
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- WHAT'S RATTLIN' ?
-
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:: The Weekly
Digest for Canterbury Music
Addicts ::
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Issue #
19A
::
::
Saturday, August 31st,
1996
::
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::
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[Hi all, this new issue comes very quickly, but I've had
lots of mails
and will not be home for the next ten days so I preferred
not to delay
them too much... Next issue around Sept. 10th - AL]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: dshaw@pop.tiac.net (David G. Shaw)
Subject: Re: Gong USA tour
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 11:10:57 -0400
What's the band lineup for the upcoming USA Gong tour?
[Unfortunately Tim Blake is definitely not involved in
Gong anymore.
Otherwise we can safely assume it will be Daevid Allen,
Gilli Smyth,
Didier Malherbe, Steffi Sharpstrings, Mike Howlett and Pip
Pyle. In
addition to this tour [10-27 october] it has been
announced that Gong
will be back in the US next Spring, appearing at Los
Angeles' Progfest'
97 alongside Brand X, John Wetton etc. - AL]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: sydster@ix.netcom.com (Syd Schwartz)
Subject: Richard Sinclair & other Questions
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 08:59:06 -0700
1. Is there any chance that the Sinclair/Hopper
"Somewhere in France"
will be officially released on CD? I have a tape
that doesn't sound
too good but the music is wonderful.
[Reportedly this should come out very soon, I understand.
The organisers
of the upcoming "Canterbury Event" in Harlingen (Holland)
say there will
be some sort of 'launch party' for the CD during the
week-end (21/22 sept).
But this is definitely an unfinished album. Hugh Hopper
once told me that
"there (was) still a lot of work to be done". Have they
worked on it again ?
I can't say. What's sure, though, is that one track ("Only
The Brave") was
released on the "Caravan Of Dreams" album (in 1992) by
Richard Sinclair, in
the very same recording, and that several other songs were
later re-recor-
ded : "Cruising", "Keep On Caring" and "Videos" by Richard
Sinclair, and
"The Oldest Story Ever Told" by Hugh Hopper on his
"Hooligan Romantics"
CD - AL]
2. Is there a new Sinclair solo album in the
works? "C.O.D." was
amazing and "R.S.V.P." even better. Both tours were
lots of fun also.
[I agree. Reportedly, Richard has yet another solo album
in the works.
Anyone knows more ? - AL]
3. I have a tape of Hatfield BBC material that I got
from Richard
during his last tour. He mentioned that he was
working towards
acquiring the rights for CD release. Anyone have any
info?
[It seems hard to get the BBC's authorization for such
releases. Camel
have been trying to release some such material, and have
undertaken
some heavy legal proceedings, but have yet been
unsuccessful. I guess
this is even harder for Richard. There's also some very
good Caravan
material from the same sources. No doubt if these bands
were as 'le-
gendary' as Soft Machine, these recordings would already
have been
released - AL]
4. On a non-Sinclair note, is Pip Pyle's "Equip Out"
available on CD?
[There are apparently a lot of legal problems involved.
The original
label has of course gone bankrupt, and if I remember my
last discussion
with Pip, he's not ready to go through all the trouble it
would take
to get the rights back... - AL]
5. On another non-Sinclair note, who's cage do we
need to rattle to
get "The Best of Caravan Live" released on CD. And
to get really
pushy...how about some bonus tracks! :)
Thanks,
Syd Schwartz
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Julian Belanger <cookie@cwconnect.ca>
Subject: Syd Barrett-"The Madcap laughs"
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 12:26:22 -0700
Hello to all Rattlers!!!
I was just listening to my cd Syd Barrett -"The Madcap
Laughs" and noticed
something very familiar to my ears on the track #2 - "No
Good Trying".
There are no liner notes on personel in the cd sleeve.
Does Hugh Hopper
play fuzz-bass on this tune (as well as the rest of the
softies)? If
anyone knows, please let me know.
Only your nose knows!!!
Julian (from Canada)
[In the Robert Wyatt biography, "Wrong Movements" - a
must-buy for any
Wyatt fan -, it is stated that Soft Machine (Wyatt,
Hopper, Ratledge) did
a recording session for Syd Barrett on May 3, 1969. The
tracks on which
they played were "No Good Trying", "Love You" and
"Octopus" (a/k/a "Clowns
And Jugglers"). For contractual reasons, the Softs were
not credited,
so most people must have thought : "hey, Dave Gilmour's
playing fuzz-
bass now ! wow !"... No, it was good ol' Hu' - AL]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: (Bill Maccormick)
Subject: What's Rattlin' ?
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 96 21:13 BST-1
Boy, there are some crazy people out there. And
names I haven't heard of
for (literally) decades. It almost seems as
though we should arrange a
reunion of everyone who is still living from around
1967-72 - or perhaps
I'm the one who's gone missing. :-) It seems
as though I am the only
one who went on to a 'normal' job (as my parents kept on
telling me to
get).
Did I do the right thing when I gave up? Time to get
seriously drunk I
suspect.
Keep it comin'
Bill
P.S. Are there any good quality Soft's bootlegs prior to
Robert leaving?
I could persuade myself to break the habits of a lifetime
and buy one.
[No need to buy boots - there are excellent official
releases of Soft
Machine live (or BBC) material : "The Peel Sessions",
"Live At The Para-
diso", the "Soft Machine And Heavy Friends BBC'71", "Live
At The Proms",
I think that's it - AL]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: cmeloche@julian.uwo.ca (Chris Meloche)
Subject: Charles Hayward
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 18:30:36 -0400 (EDT)
There's a new release on the Italian label New Tone / Robi
Droli by composer
Jeremy Peyton Jones entitled Regular Music II / North
South East West.
Charles Hayward is listed among the percussionists on the
disc. The pieces
were recorded during December 1995 and January 1996.
Chris
cmeloche@julian.uwo.ca
London, Ont., Canada
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: DrOrb@aol.com
Subject: Canterbury Tribute?
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 00:27:33 -0400
HI to all those in group!
<<I asked John Greaves & Peter Blegvad what had
happened to Lisa Herman.
Peter said she'd joined a band and recorded an album with
them>>
Thanks AL. The band was "Longhouse" and I have their only
(I think) LP. IMHO
it is a big letdown, since Lisa has material that is
nowhere near the quality
of the work she did with Greaves/Blegvad.
[I've put my recent interview with Blegvad/Greaves/Cutler
online, on the
CALYX site. Those without access to the WWW may request an
e-mail copy - AL]
BTW, someone posted a query somewhere about the notion of
doing a
"Canterbury" tribute project... I have been thinking about
this concept a
lot, especially after I began to digest Steve Feigenbaum's
Cuneiform project
"Unsettled Scores". What a great idea! I look at classic
"CB" music as being
fair game for reinterpretation the way that classic jazz
is...
Steve, any interest in doing such a project? Any thoughts
out there?
Suggestions for groups to be contacted? Songs to be done?
Rob Bennett
[Definitely a good idea - as long as one sticks to
instrumental material. The weakness of the vocal parts, especially
when they're sung by foreigners who don't understand what they're
singing (you find so much of that on many of the recent 'tribute
albums') or can't catch the spirit of the original (remember
Mirage's cover of "O Caroline" ?), generally makes this sort of
project useless. I think what made "Unsettled Scores" so
successful was the quality of the original compositions, and the
fact that these were (with a couple of exceptions) composed (and
instrumental) works rather than "songs" - AL]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael Bloom <mhb@mitvma.mit.edu>
Subject: An answer to a FAQ
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 96 08:24:24 EDT
What I think distinguishes Canterbury from other kinds of
music, and what
I like best about it, is its particular quality of humor.
There are other
kinds of "funny" music out there: Zappa, Devo, Randy
Newman, Tom Lehrer,
the Jazz Passengers, the Swinging Erudites, etc. etc. But
the Canterbury
school seems to me uniquely capable of making purely
musical jokes without
parody, without insult to other musicians or listeners,
without vitiating
musical or intellectual ideals. Some of this attitude
resides in lyrics,
like how "Why Am I So Short" offers Wyatt's unflattering,
unsentimental
self-appraisal of his old drummer/biped character in a way
that makes you
laugh with him rather than at him. But the true Canterbury
musician can
do it equally well without uttering a word.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: d-wayne@lanl.gov (Dave Wayne)
Subject: random responses to various FAQs
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 17:09:56 -0600
>[Whatever Happened to:]
>Marc Charig, Jeff Clyne, Nick Evans, Phil Lee, Trevor
Tomkins : These
>musicians are all involved in the London jazz scene
Recordings by each of these musicians (as sidemen & as
leaders) are
available through Cadence / North Country Distribution
(http://www.nwu.edu/jazz/cadence/). Evans has recorded for
the Ogun label.
Elton Dean has several solo albums on Ogun and on George
Haslam's 'Slam'
label. Marc Charig is also very active in the Dutch jazz
scene, and has
recorded extensively with Maarten Altena (on the "Hat ART"
label), among
others. Dave MacRae's recordings with Aussie musicians are
also available
through Cadence... Wayside Music often carries these items
as well
(http://members.aol.com/Cuneiform2/cuneiform.html).
>... others ?
Lyn Dobson, Steve Cook, Ric Sanders, Phil Howard...
[The current activies of Cook and Sanders have already
been discussed in
this newsletter. Basically, Cook "plays very rarely (most
often with Mike
Westbrook's band) but has his own company designing
programmes for
computers" and Sanders has been a member of Fairport
Convention for a
little more than 10 years, and has released a couple of
solo albums. He
also often plays with his old friend Fred T. Baker from
Phil Miller's
In Cahoots. Lyn Dobson is apparently still involved in
session activity.
As regards Phil Howard, not much is known, but here's an
excerpt from
the liner note of a 1979 reissue of "5" : "Where are they
now, these
Machine operators ? Mike Ratledge has gone to ground,
reputedly working
on private tapes. Phil Howard, detonator of the earlier
sessions, was
last heard of on a North Sea oil rig...". - AL]
>6) What makes 'Canterbury' music different to other
styles of music ?
I) It seems to me that the very essence of "Canterbury" is
the tension
between complicated harmonies, extended improvisations,
and the sincere
desire to write catchy pop songs. In the very best
Canterbury music (i.e.,
all of Hatfield & the North, National Health, and
Matching Mole, early
(i.e., with R. Wyatt) Soft Machine, early Caravan
(pre-"Cunning Stunts", and
early Gong (pre 'Shamal')), the musically silly & the
musically serious are
juxtaposed in an amusing & endearing way. I've often
felt that Soft Machine
lost all their 'charm' when Robert Wyatt stopped singing
(& eventually
left). Much the same can be said of the various post-Allen
& post-Hillage
editions of Gong in which Pierre Moerlen was the prime
mover. As great as
the post-Wyatt Soft Machine music was ("7th" was my first
"C" purchase!!), a
lot of the humor & silliness was gone. Caravan went
the other way & became
too poppy & accessible... they smoothed over their
musical quirks, which
were pretty much totally gone by "Cunning Stunts" (...the
title
notwithstanding!).
II) Another well-known aspect of the "Canterbury" scene is
the circular
nature of personnel changes in the various groups. Without
going into gory
detail, it always seems that the same players were turning
up in each
others' bands. To me, this phenomenon explains why there
is a "Canterbury
Sound" at all. After all, musicians are the ones making
the sounds! Similar
scenes have emerged in France (Zao, Magma, Weidorje, et
al.) and Belgium
(Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, etc.) to much the same effect. In
contrast, Daevid
(sp?) Allen's "New York Gong" albums, bear absolutely NO
resemblance
whatsoever to Canterbury music. To me, this is a great
example of the
importance of this rotating cast of musicians to the
Canterbury sound. Of
course, there are always exceptions & so there are
some VERY
Canterbury-sounding (...but also very original-sounding)
bands from Japan &
Italy (e.g., Picchio dal Pozzo).
III) The vocals (if any) are delivered in very "British"
manner, with
absolutely no attempt to ape American blues & pop
singers. For my money,
this aspect of the Canterbury sound, plus the tendency
towards complex
structures & lengthy improvisations was enough to
scare off most record
companies!
IV) The lyrics (if any) betray a strong sense of the
absurd (pataphysical
humor?). If they are 'about' anything, they're often
hilarious & concerned
with private jokes and/or various aspects of British
domestic life.
Hatfield's lyrics about "life as a pop star" from the
first album are
utterly hilarious!!
>7) Early Soft Machine and Gong are great, the rest is
crap
This sort of opinion is total crap & is best left to
mouldering old hippies!
Even though Gong & the Softs lost a lot of their
Canterbury-ness when
certain members left permanently, the remaining band
members managed to
produce some truly wonderful music. Just listen to Gong's
"Gazeuse" and
"Exspesso II" albums, or Soft Machine's "5", "6", and
"7"!! These are but a
few examples...
>9) What is typically 'British' in Canterbury bands ?
This is essentially the same question as #6!
...That's all for now. Hope this is of some use to you
& our friends (WR
subscribers)!
Later,
Dave Wayne
PS: A truly great Canterbury-affiliated group was John
Surman's "Morning
Glory" which recorded one Lp in the mid-to-late 70's and
included John
Marshall, Terje Rypdal, Malcolm Griffiths, and Chris
Laurence. Marshall &
Laurence are still playing with Surman! Also, Don
"Sugarcane" Harris
(...former Harvey Mandel, Zappa & Tupelo Chain Sex
sideman) recorded a very
fine live Lp on BASF in 1972 with Rypdal, Robert Wyatt,
Neville Whitehead,
and Wolfgang Dauner!
\_/o \_/o \_/o \_/o \_/o
\_/o \_/o \_/o \_/o \_/o
Chemical Sciences & Technology Div.
CST-8, MSG-740
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, NM USA 87545
Phone: 505-665-5933 <OR> 505-667-9868
FAX: 505-665-4737
e-mail: d-wayne@lanl.gov
http://mwanal.lanl.gov/Homepages/113674
\_/o \_/o \_/o \_/o \_/o
\_/o \_/o \_/o \_/o \_/o
If classical music is the state of the art,
then the arts are in a sad state.
Frank Zappa
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Julian Christou <jchristo@eso.org>
Subject: Bill MacCormick
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 08:53:59 +0200
Hi again fellow Cant fans. It was great to see the
interview and comments
from Bill in the recent WRs. Good to know that he'll be
keeping an eye on
things and maybe keeping us honest! Welcome Bill.
The comments about Random Hold were interesting. I picked
up their first
album after seeing it in an import bin in a fairly good
record shop in El
Paso, Texas, a long story as to why I was in El Paso! It
featured Bill on
it and was produced by Peter Hammill. Two good reasons for
trying it out
sound unheard.
Personally I really enjoyed it, a refreshing "modern"
sound at the time.
Of course David Rhodes went to play in Peter Gabriel's
band. There was also
a 12" EP also released and later a second album with a
female vocalist
("Burning Buildings") which I really didn't care for too
much (sorry Bill).
There was also a Passport(?) release in the UK with tracks
from the first
album and the EP and some other ones and I remember seeing
a double LP (I
don't know the country of origin) which purpotedly had the
complete Peter
Hammill produced sessions on it.
Information about RH is hard to come across. Maybe Bill or
someone could
give us the full discography (with all tracks) and also
does anyone know
(Bill) if these recordings will see the light of day on
CD?
Also Bill, I've really enjoyed your playing since I first
heard the
Matching Mole album when it first came out.
Julian
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: davidl@mail.tss.net (David Layton)
Subject: "Jazz-era" Gong & Softs : not crap !
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 22:14:02 +0100
I'm going to be a bit of an iconoclast (my friends will
tell you there's no
surprise here) and defend some music that gets unfairly
lambasted in these
pages and elsewhere.
In particular, I am going to defend jazz-era Gong and Soft
Machine. It's
not just that I like them, it's that there are reasons to
like them and
reasons why saying simply that they are "crap" is wrong.
Sticking to one very narrow style of music, such as
british psychedelia, is
an annoying kind of elitism, principally because it is
generally based on
nostalgia, one of the worst criteria of judgment. I like
music that shows
high quality musicianship, good knowledge of advanced
musical principles and
how to use them, and is in some way distinctive.
I believe that jazz-era Gong and Soft Machine meet these
criteria, that they
were not simply generic fusion bands, and that they
deserve their places in
the hearts of Canterbury music fans and people like me who
just like good
music no matter where it comes from. The beautiful
interlocking tuned
percussion riffs of the brothers Moerlen and the fabulous
soloists they got
to front those riffs (Holdsworth, Oldfield, Lockwood, Way,
Malherbe)
certainly place these Gong albums among the best fusion
recordings. Karl
Jenkins' unique composition style of jazz mixed with
minimalism is also too
distinctive to write off as simply garbage.
And it strikes me that those who do not appreciate the
musical qualities of
these recordings have not listened with any great care to
what is musically
there. Instead all they hear is that it is not what Daevid
Allen or Robert
Wyatt would have done, and so tune out.
I am glad that later incarnations of Gong and Soft Machine
did not try to
imitate what had already been done. Allen and Wyatt are
their own kinds of
musicians. The musical world is big enough to hold them
and Moerlen and
Jenkins (and while we're at it Rick Wakeman and Yes as
well).
So I appeal to What's Rattlin' readers to open their ears
a little, expand
their musical horizons a little, and save their barbs for
those commercial
phonies who really deserve them.
David Layton
davidl@mail.tss.net
[I don't think it's fair to say that the more "serious"
side of C-music gets "unfairly lambasted" in this newsletter. I'd
rather say "a bit overlooked". I for one completely agree with
what you've written, as confirms the following excerpt from my
Pierre Moerlen's Gong article on Calyx : "Pierre Moerlen is
considered by some Gong fans as the musician who turned the band
into a cold and uninteresting jazz-rock band after Daevid Allen
left in 1975. This sort of statement often results from a
misunderstanding : this isn't the same band at all. Comparing
Pierre Moerlen's Gong's music and the 'Radio Gnome Trilogy' is
like comparing Jenkins-led Soft Machine's "Bundles" to the very
first Softs album : the name is the same, but the contents are
different, sometimes unrelated"... And while we're at it, the
"Early Soft Machine and Gong are great, the rest is crap" sentence
from last issue was part of a "FAQ" list. It was not supposed to
be understood as my (or any WR reader's) opinion. But it's the
kind of statement one often hears, and deserves an intelligent
reply - so thanks for your useful suggestions, David - AL]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Julian Christou <jchristo@eso.org>
Subject: "Essential" Canterbury albums not yet on CD
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 09:04:14 +0200
Some questions for the discussion group. Basically we need
to get a list of
"essential" Canterbury albums not as yet available on CD.
At least I would
like such a list and maybe we can "lean" on the companies
or even Voiceprint
to see about rerelesing them.
1: "Fool's Meeting" - Carol Grimes & Delivery
Vocalist Carol Grimes backed by Roy
Babbington, Pip Pyle and the Miller
Brothers (Phil and Stephen). With guest
appearance by that wandering
Busker Lol Coxhill (probably the first
recording of Miller & Coxhill).
(BTW any JD & The MBs recordings
available anywhere?)
[The name of that band was actually DC & The MBs, for
"Dyble-Coxhill and the Miller Brothers". They were together in the
Summer of '71 just before Phil Miller went on to Matching Mole.
Phil : "We made a tour of Holland and the UK, playing almost
entirely improvised music". Peter Frame's family tree mentions
Laurie Allan as the drummer, but Phil speaks of "a quartet"... -
AL]
2: "Caravan" - Caravan
I gather this will be or has been rereleased
- more info please chaps.
3: "The View From Here" - Random Hold
See previous posting.
4: "You Are Here ..." - Keith Tippett Group
Keith's earliest release with Elton, Marc,
and Nick with Jeff Clyne and
Bryan Spring. A great recording although IMHO
not as good as "Dedicated
to You ..." . I t was available for a short
time I gather but I've been
unable to get it anywhere. Info anyone please
if true.
That's all I can think of for now. Anyone else?
Julian
[There are also some albums that used to be available on
CD but the
initial pressings of which are now OOP. For instance
Gilgamesh's first
album, Pierre Moerlen's Gong "Time Is The Key" and "Leave
It Open",
Hopper-Dean-Gowen-Sheen's "Rogue Element"... A C-related
album which
was never reissued on CD is John G. Perry's very nice
"Sunset Wading",
which has Geoff Richardson, Mike Giles, Rupert Hine etc. -
AL]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Gerald Purnelle <Gerald.Purnelle@ulg.ac.be>
Subject: What we all like
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 09:53:24 +0200
Hello. I'm a belgian fan of Canterbury music since 78-79.
So, I
discovered it when most of that stuff was already done. I
begun with
Soft Machine #1, probably my desert island record. Then I
listened to
(and learned to like) everything: Wyatt, Ayers, Gong,
Caravan, H&N, NH,
then parallels families, like Henry cow.
I'd like to give a few ideas about THE crucial, even
though academic or
byzantine, question: what is (and what is not)
Canterburish? Some
members of the list have spoken of 'spirit'. Of course.
But I think
there is more, and more simple. There is another big
question, much more
difficult (try to answer, and you'll see): what is
progressive rock? The
only criteria we can use are musical, stylistic, formal.
But the field,
the styles are so diverse... We are more lucky with the
Canterbury Scene,
because the criteria are more specific: they are
historical, biographical,
personal.
Let's explain : Members of the Cant. Scene have generally
personal links
of friendship and collaboration. First we have the basic
bunch, the ones
from the Wilde Flowers, the early SM and Caravan, and
their subsequent
groups or carriers (Gong, the Mole, Ayers, ...). This is
the historical
criterion. Secondly, other musicians have been involved in
these
groups. A good exemple: Dean. One impressive case:
Delivery was (from
what I read) a blues band, but ALL of its members have
been in one or
another Canterburian group! So everyone of them is a
citizen of the
nation. On a third level, a group has played a prominent
part, Hatfield
& the North, with the introduction of Dave Stewart.
And we can see what
role chance can play in history, when we read (in his
autobiography) how
he got involved in the band. This is this fact (and the
involvement of
Hillage in Gong) which retroactively aggregates groups
like Uriel, Egg
and Khan to the Scene.
And collaborations or involvements are also the reasons we
have to count the Henry Cow family amongst the Canterburic groups.
For instance, there is a BIG black hole in the Cant. Scene: the
Ottowa Music Company. No records (no recordings?), just a little
information. What was it? what did they play? (This is a question
for your FAQ, dear Aymeric. The only information I've got is from
the Henry Cow family Tree and the autobigraphy of D. Stewart).
This was a reunion of Egg and Henry Cow, and it seems to me to be
a major fact in the connexion between Henry Cow and Canterbury.
I still don't know if Keith Tippett is Canterburiable.
Some people have
worked with him. He provided musicians like Dean, Charig,
Evans. But his
music is definitely jazz (anyway, like most of the others
nowadays?).
For me the question is of less importance: thanks to my
exploration of the
Canterbury Scene, I have listened to his music, and I like
it (the first two
albums, plus Septober Energy and Frames).
There are other, looser connexions: Bruford, Holdsworth,
Fripp / Eno / Quiet
Sun, Nucleus (another provider of musicians), the English
free jazz
(Brotherhood of Breath etc.), Bley/Mantler, etc.
So, beyond the spiritual or stylistic criteria, questions
of personal
links and biography are, for me, the main characteristic
of the
movement. For that reason (and musical stuff too, of
course), this one
is a fantastic part of the progressive rock, a unique
case. And we have,
within this microcosm, all the kinds of progrock:
symphonic (the Uriel
branch), pop-rock (and some jazzish: Caravan), rock-jazz
(SM), "rock
planant", rather hippy (Gong), pure songs (Ayers),
underground and free
rock (H. Cow) - and of course, both the diamonds you can't
compare to
nothing: H&N and NH (quintessence of progressive
rock?).
I'm waiting (am I the only one?) for somebody to write a
large, full and
complete history of it: who did what? who knew who? who
brought who? who
liked who?, and so on. (You know, the pleasure to read
about it is almost
as great as to listen to the music.) Such a book could be
a consequence (a
product) of what we are doing here - maybe a collaboration
between some of
you? Canterbury Music is a net (just look at the family
trees). What we all
love is to travel in it. My pleasure is to try to know
every branch.
Gerald Purnelle, Liege, Belgium.
PS : Have you noticed a fact: Pip Pyle and Steve Hillage
both have
worked with Dave Stewart AND Daevid Allen, but NEVER
together. Strange
and funny, isn't it? (Probably too late for them to do
it.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: bigbang@alpes-net.fr (A. Leroy)
Subject: New Expose' issue
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 13:05:39 +0000
I've had the pleasure of discovering the new issue of
Expose' in my maibox this morning. This issue (#10) is a special
treat for us as the cover, and a good number of pages, are devoted
to Gong. There is an history/retrospective on the band, a complete
discography, interviews with Pip Pyle and Pierre Moerlen and a
concert review from their recent US tour. For those who haven't
heard of Expose' yet, this is a quarterly (or quite) magazine (72
pages this time, probably the thickest so far) devoted to
"progressive, symphonic, fusion and electronic rock". The writing
staff seems very keen on the Canterbury scene, as every release in
the genre is reviewed (in this issue : Gilgamesh 2, Soft Heap,
Soft Machine Live In France, and Equip'Out - "Up !"). The contents
are a well-balanced mix of reviews (including some roundtables),
artist profiles, interviews, label overviews, and more. This is a
personal favourite and comes highly recommended.
For subscription details, contact Peter Thelen
(ptlk@netcom.com) or write to : Expose', 6167 Jarvis Ave. #150,
Newark, CA 94560 (USA).
And/or check out their website :
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/1831/expo-nl.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: (Bill Maccormick)
Subject: Answers to a few questions
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 09:25 BST-1
[I've asked a few questions to Bill MacCormick, here are
his answers - AL]
> I have a rather "disturbing" (for me at least)
question, which may
> not seem so to you as it's probably been asked by
many people already :
> Basically, how did it feel to work for the Liberal
Party having (a few
> years previously) played a major part on an album
which was called
> "Matching Mole's Little Red Record", and composed the
music to a song
> named "Gloria Gloom" which went :
>
> "Like so many of you,
> I've got my doubts about how much to contribute
> To the already rich among us
> And how long can I pretend my music's more relevant
> Than fighting for a socialist world ?"
Well, I wrote the music and Robert wrote the words/melody
line. They're his views not mine necessarily. Robert was beginning
his 'journey' leftwards about this time whereas my sympathies had
always been elsewhere. I first voted in 1969 and have always voted
Liberal (now Liberal Democrat) and I've been a member since 1973.
However, this never caused any problems with Robert. The person it
did cause problems with was Dave Ferguson (keyboard player with
Random Hold). He was a very active Labour Party member and,
boy, did we have some real gos at one another outside rehearsals
etc.
> I was listening to the Matching Mole "BBC Live" CD
earlier today
> and I noticed your use of a very "hopperian"
fuzz-bass on some tracks,
> which I hadn't noticed on the studio recordings.
It was Hugh's fuzz box. A Shaftesbury as I recall.
> Was Hugh an influence, prior to or after 'joining
forces' with Robert ?
Absolutely - along with Jack Bruce, although you'd
probably never know from listening!
> How long haven't you touched a bass guitar ? Do you
still play for fun ?
Well I still have one propped up in the corner of my
bedroom. Actually, it's the Gibson EB3 I used in Matching
Mole. Sometimes I run a few scale but basically don't do
much. I do have a keyboard and sequencer system on my
computer that I tinker with but time is always the problem.
> One last question : have you kept close or
not-too-close contact with
> any of your former cohorts from Quiet Sun, Matching
Mole, Gong (I
> understand you were with them for a few weeks),
801... ?
I see Phil Manzanera from time to time (expect to have
lunch with him this month). Charles Hayward / Dave Jarrett not for
years.
Robert and I chat very infrequently (usually when the
royalty cheques trickle in). Haven't seen another Mole for 20
years.
Gong - no, not since the brief period in 1972 when I was
out there. 801 - met Eno briefly a few years ago, no-one else.
That's about it. I'm well cut off from them
nowadays. Not to say I don't miss it/them but they were always
better musicians than me and I never really imagined I would make
a lifetime's work out of it. I'm just grateful I had a good
10 years <sigh>
Cheers
Bill
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
*
FORTHCOMING CANTERBURY-RELATED
CONCERTS
*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
[for more info : check out the 'Concerts' page of CALYX -
see URL below]
BON / U.S. TOUR
[Bon Lozaga, Hansford Rowe, Vic Stevens]
Sep 1 - North Carolina Progday, Chapel Hill, N.C.
[BL solo]
Sep 14 - Orion Progressive Rock Showcase, Baltimore
Sep 20 - Middle East, Philadelphia, Pa.
Sep 21 - Down to Earth, Mt. Holly, N.J.
Sep 25 - Cafe Tattoo, Baltimore, Md.
Sep 26 - The Saint, Asbury Park, N.J.
Sep 27 - Iota, Arlington, Va.
Sep 28 - D&S Coffehouse, Warrenton, Va.
Oct 4 - Middle East, Philadelphia, Pa.
THE HARLINGEN CANTERBURY EVENT (NETHERLANDS)
Sep 21 - Richard Sinclair Band [feat.Coe, Meyer,
Rees-Williams]
Hugh
Hopper's Franglodutch Band
Stips
[new band fronted by ex-Supersister leader RJ Stips]
Sep 22 - various Canterbury-related activities
STEWART & GASKIN
Sep 28 - Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
GONG / U.S. TOUR
[Allen-Smyth-Malherbe-Sharpstrings-Howlett-Pyle]
Oct 10 Club Soda, Montreal
Oct 11/12 Le D'Auteuil, Quebec City
Oct 15 Mama Kins, Boston
Oct 16 Tramps, NYC
Oct 17 Club Bene, Sayerville, NJ
Oct 18, Club Washington, DC
(more TBA)
CARAVAN
[Hastings-Richardson-Sinclair-Leverton-Coughlan]
Oct 31 - Astoria, London
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
END OF ISSUE #19
_________________________________________________________________________
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http://www.alpes-net.fr/~bigbang/calyx.html
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http://www.alpes-net.fr/~bigbang/cantdisco.html
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Send all correspondence regarding 'CALYX' and 'WHAT'S
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