#AprilSongs #2 - Tuesday Afternoon

This is possibly not good, I'm using a song that should be a last resort on my second post, although it is from a fairly "important" album, "Days of Future Past" by The Moody Blues where they collaborated with Peter Knight with full orchestral backing on their first concept album based on  #ADayInThe Life transitioning from a rhythm and blues group (gotta say that because some people see R'n'B as the bland Rhythm and Beat string of Soul / Dance rather than the rawer rockier Rhythm and Blues of Howlin' Wolf , Muddy Waters , Bo Diddley and the like). I wrote a comparison here.

Actually "Tuesday Afternoon" is a decent record with the mand heavy on the mellotron, though for this album everything get's overshadowed by the classic "Nights In White Satin" (though I'm always tempted to write it as "Knights in White Satin". Parts of the album suffer from some awful sixties pretentious spoken word sequences, and although they carried this into further concept albums they managed to hone it into acceptability.

So on this rainy April Tuesday I will leave you to enjoy The Moody Blues "Tuesday Afternoon"

On Christmas Day Reach For Love

I really wasn't expecting to post today but so far I've had a brilliant relaxing Christmas. I've managed to talk to some friends and family, got some lovely presents, and am listening to one of them , The Rolling Stones "Blue & Lonesome" , Mick Jagger sounding bluesier than ever almost like Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters or, dare I say it Captain Beefheart, and that is just one of the wonderful albums I received today , which I am now transferring to my music server.

There's no snow so it's not going to be a White Christmas I don't think although there's parts of the sky that are black while others are blue and sunny. So really who knows what the weather is going to decide to do.

Be Like Frank

I am sort of wondering what song to play on this one , and though I haven't posted in the #LikeNoOther sequence for ages, which makes me think of Wild Man Fischer but I don't think that's one for today. I remember Frank Zappa telling a story about Larry Fischer meeting his brother one day:

"Larry had the axe, his brother had the bad luck" , which made me chuckle, though I hope his brother was not too traumatized







Just looking out the window and it looks like one of my neighbours has got a new drill for Christmas, I so detest getting or buying anything practical for Christmas and Birthdays, this should be a time of getting something pleasurable and out of the ordinary. I know that is not an option for a lot of people but if you need something you should get it immediately as soon as you can afford it, not wait for Christmas or a Birthday.

I was wondering what to play and it was staring me in the face, Marcel King's "Reach For Love" , it's Shaun Ryder's favourite Factory single, and a truly wonderful uplifting record, from the sadly missed singer , love Marcel's voice. I found this New York Mix which stretches it out to five and a half minutes, and if there's one thing better than a good thing, it's more of a good thing, and this certainly is a wonderfully good thing.



Anyway I hope your day is going brilliantly , I hope that you are going to rest and then kickstart another year of fun, good deeds , enjoyment.

The Art of Geoff Marston

Geoff Martson's Blues Suitcase Cards

Geoff Marston does Tom Waits

Every now and then you see something that stops you in your tracks. Sometimes it's something similar to something else , acombination of the familiar presented in an original way.



Today at the Summertyne Festival I was wandering through The Sage foyer to the concert area , when I saw an amazing display of suitcases !! I always imagine this image of Robert Johnson is him sitting on a battered suitcase.

Tom Waits

 
Anyway what Geoff Marston has done is set his paintings on real suitcases!! The look amazing and are an amazing piece of art combinng paint with a suitcase instead of your normal canvas. The problem being then is how do you display it ? You need room to do that but they do look fantastic.

About Geoff Marston

The artwork looks like an excellent blues album cover , and most of the artist are archetypal American musicians such as Hank Williams , Muddy Waters and Tom Waits.

Hank Williams

 Geoff also does mounted prints of his work as well for the more standard art display . There are examples of his art dotted around this post , obviously influenced by his love of music and major involvement with the Jumpin' Hot Club.






Check out his work , you will have seen nothing like it.

RnB vs. RnB

In general I’ve always loved RnB and I’ve always hated RnB. This might sound a little odd, but remember that RnB originally was used for Rhythm and Blues and is now used for Rhythm and Beat. Ask your average RnB fan under thirty what RnB stands for and you’ll get the answer “I don’t know” or “RnB” or maybe “You know, Rihanna!”, unless of course they’re a Rhythm ‘n’ Blues fan!!

Any way here’s my brief guide to the two genres, Rhythm ‘n’ Blues will win every time for me, but you always have to have a winner.

Rhythm ‘n’ Blues

Essentially evolved from the slow blow blues but adding the rhythmic electric guitar and bass and drums, paving the way for Rock ‘n’ Roll and eventually all forms of rock. The finest examples of this are Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, early Rolling Stones, Pretty Things and Yardbirds.

Rhythm ‘n’ Beat

I think that this   evolved from soul music, but to me is mostly, bland rubbish from Bobby Brown to the wobbly lipped Belinda Carlisle impression that is Whitney Houston, real elevator music. However I’d completely missed the excellent Beverley Knight, and must say most of Beyoncé’s output is well worth hearing, and Rihanna is also worth a listen.