Showing posts with label Trevor Bolder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trevor Bolder. Show all posts

November 30, 2018

20,000 Vinyl LPs 158: Mick Ronson ~ Slaughter on 10th Ave.

~      
 vinyl LP album front cover detail
album cover photo by Leee Black Childers 
photo of album by Styrous®


I have been prompted to do this article because of a new documentary about the influence and contributions Mick Ronson made for the David Bowie 1970's band, The Spiders From Mars (link below). It is a tribute way late in the making but it is finally there. The documentary features guest musicians Marianne Faithfull, The Troggs and Amanda Lear. There are many fine reviews of the film by Billboard Magazine and others (links below).   

I have heard people say they have a "desert island" list comprising one hundred record albums they would take with them to that island. It would be impossible for me to narrow my list down to just 100 but without a moments hesitation Slaughter on 10th Avenue by Mick Ronson would be one of mine.
  

 vinyl LP album front cover 
album cover photo by Leee Black Childers 
photo of album by Styrous®


This is Ronson's 1974 debut album and what a great line up of music it is! Each song is unique in one way or another; the instrumentation is dazzling and  the personnel is  stellar.       


 
 vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®


Trevor Bolder played bass, trumpet, trombone and performed with Uriah Heep and The Spiders from Mars, the one-time backing band for David Bowie.    

Aynsley Dunbar was on drums and percussion. He has worked with Nils Lofgren, Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, Michael Schenker, UFO, Flo & Eddie and Journey. 

Mike Garson played piano, electric piano and organ. He has worked with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Billy Corgan, Free Flight and The Smashing Pumpkins.        

David Hentschel played ARP on Hey Ma Get Papa. He is an English recording engineer, film score composer and music producer who engineered All Things Must Pass by George Harrison and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John, as well as with artists including Genesis, Tony Banks, Ringo Starr, Queen, Nazareth, Marti Webb, Andy Summers, Mike Oldfield, Renaissance, Peter Hammill and Ronnie Caryl.      

Sid Sax very nicely took care of the strings. He was a leading violinist in London's session musician circles. In addition to being an eminent and influential orchestral leader he was also contractor, 'fixing' the personnel for recording sessions. In 1964 he was the joint founder of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, London together with Charles Gerhardt.      


 vinyl LP album back cover 
phosto by Leee Black Childers 
photo of album back cover by Styrous®


The songs range from standards to a couple co-written by Ronson and Scott Richardson of the  psychedelic SRC  band.       



 vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®


Love Me Tender, written by George R. Poulton and Ken Darby and performed originally by Elvis Presley, of course, is a slow rock cover that doesn't quite match up to Presley's version but it is pleasurable.           

Growing Up And I'm Fine, written by David Bowie, is a bouncey at times tune with a nice female backup.     

Only After Dark, co-written with Scott Richardson, is syncopated and    

Music Is Lethal          


Mick Ronson ~ Slaughter on 10th Avenue
 vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®


On Oct. 20, 1973, Ronson performed with David Bowie at a live recording of The 1980 Floor Show for the NBC The Midnight Special TV show at The Marquee Club in London, England (link below). The club was the location of the first-ever live performance by The Rolling Stones on July 12, 1962. 

The title of the show was a play-on-words referring to the song 1984, that captured a transitional moment between the glamorous science fiction of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album and the dark dystopia of the Diamond Dogs album, released six months later. Towards the end of the show Bowie and Marianne Faithfull do a cover of the 1965 song, I Got You Babe by Sonny & Cher.     


David Bowie, Mick Ronson - 1973     
The 1980 Floor Show, The Midnight Special, NBC
The Marquee Club, London 
photo by Jack Kay




Mick Ronson ~ Slaughter on 10th Avenue
 vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®




Mick Ronson ~ Slaughter on 10th Avenue
 vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®



Mick Ronson ~ Slaughter on 10th Avenue
 vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®




Mick Ronson ~ Slaughter on 10th Avenue
 vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®





Mick Ronson ~ Slaughter on 10th Avenue
 vinyl LP labels
photos by Styrous®



Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Love Me Tender, written by Presley*, Matson* - 4:50

A2 - Growing Up And I'm Fine, written by Bowie* - 3:10

A3 - Only After Dark, written by Ronson*, Richardson* - 3:30

A4 - Music Is Lethal, Lyrics by Bowie*Written-By – Battisti* - 5:10

Side 2:

B1 - I'm The One, written by Peacock* - 5:03
    Medley     (8:55)

    B2a - Pleasure Man, written by Ronson*, RIchardson*

    B2b - Hey Ma Get Papa, written by Ronson*, Bowie*
   
B3 - Slaughter On Tenth Avenue, written by Rodgers* - 4:41

Companies, etc.

    Phonographic Copyright (p) – RCA Records
    Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
    Mixed At – Trident Studios

Credits:

    Bass, Trumpet, Trombone – Trevor Bolder
    Drums, Percussion – Aynsley Dunbar
    Guitar, Vocals, Piano – Mick Ronson
    Leader [Strings] – Sid Sax*
    Piano, Electric Piano, Organ – Mike Garson
    Synthesizer [Arp] – David Hentschel (tracks: B2b)
    Producer, Arranged By, Conductor – Mick Ronson
    Remix – Mick Ronson (tracks: A1), Mike Moran (7) (tracks: A1)
    Mastered By – John Koopman, Ray Staff
    Mixed By – Dennis Mackay, Mick Ronson, Peter Fielder
    Engineer – Dennis Mackay
    Engineer [Assistant] – Peter Fielder
    Cover, Design, Photography By [Cover] – Leee Black Childers

Notes:

Labels of this version show B2 as a Medley.
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Side A stamped runout): APL1-0353A-10 I A5
    Matrix / Runout (Side B stamped runout): APL1-0353B=10 I A4
    Matrix / Runout (Side A stamped runout, Variant 1): APL1-0353A-10 I A3
    Matrix / Runout (Side B stamped runout, Variant 1): APL1-0353B-10 I A3

Mick Ronson ~ Slaughter on 10th Avenue
Label: RCA Victor ‎– APL1-0353
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1974
Genre: Rock
Style: Glam
      
    
     
        
Viewfinder links:      
       
Mick Ronson      
David Bowie       
      
Net links:      
       
Billboard ~ Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story       
Film Threat ~ Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story       
     
YouTube links:      
       
Mick Ronson ~   
           Slaughter on Tenth Ave.      
           Only After Dark       
           Love Me Tender   
           Growing Up And I'm Fine
           Music Is Lethal       
The 1980 Floor Show Midnight Special (40 min., 40 sec.)
          


        
         Mick Ronson ~ Slaughter on 10th Avenue
 vinyl LP album front cover detail
album cover photo by Leee Black Childers 
photo of album by Styrous®
   
       
          
       
Styrous® ~ Friday, November 30, 2018  













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February 18, 2014

101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 43: David Bowie 4 ~ Pin Ups

reel-to-reel tape box front cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®

I have hundreds of reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes in addition to my 20,000 Vinyl LP collection I'm selling. This is an entry about the Pin Ups, reel-to-reel tape, by David Bowie, I will have for sale on eBay on June 15, 2014. I currently have other David Bowie reel-to-reel tapes on eBay for sale. (see link below for others). Interested? Contact me by email, please, not by a comment.

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Pin Ups is the seventh album by David Bowie, containing cover versions of songs, released in 1973 on RCA Records. It was the first of two "1960's nostalgia" albums that Bowie had planned to release. The second, which was planned to be called Bowie-ing Out, would have contained covers of his favorite American artists, but it was never recorded. Bowie considered making a Pin Ups sequel; he had compiled a list of songs he wanted to cover, some of which showed up on his later releases of Heathen (2002) and Reality (2003).

The woman on the cover with Bowie is the 1960s supermodel Twiggy in a photograph taken by her manager at the time, Justin de Villeneuve. It was shot in Paris for Vogue magazine, but at Bowie's request, used for the album instead.

Bowie & Twiggy
reel-to-reel tape box cover
photo by Justin de Villeneuve
photo of album cover by Styrous®


Sorrow is by far my very favorite song on this album. Bowie's remake of the song by The McCoys was the only single released in the UK from the Pin Ups covers project, reaching UK #3 and staying in the charts for 15 weeks. Sorrow was featured in the 2008 John Cusack film War, Inc. It has a nice violin intro and it (the violin) plays intermittently through the song. The tune also features some mean sax by Bowie. In spite of the downer lyrics, it has a terrific dance beat that made me want to get up on the floor and move. 

"These songs are among my favourites from the '64–67' period of London. Most of the groups were playing the Ricky-Tick (was it a 'y' or an 'i'?) -Scene club circuit (Marquee, eel pie island la-la). / Some are still with us. Pretty Things, Them, Yardbirds, Syd's Pink Floyd, Mojos, Who, Easybeats, Merseys, The Kinks.  Love-on ya!"
                                                                                     -  David Bowie, 1973
"These songs . . . " 
reel-to-reel tape box back detail
photos by
detail photo by Styrous®



reel-to-reel tape box back
photos by
photo of album cover back by Styrous®



reel-to-reel tape album cover back detail
photos by
detail photo by Styrous®



reel-to-reel tape box back detail
photos by
detail photo by Styrous®



reel-to-reel tape
photo by Styrous®



reel-to-reel tape label detail
detail photo by Styrous®


Track listing:

No.   Title                                           Writer(s)                                                            Length    

Side one:
1. Rosalyn (Originally recorded by The Pretty Things) Jimmy Duncan, Bill Farley - 2:27
2. Here Comes the Night (Notably recorded by Them) Bert Berns - 3:09
3. I Wish You Would (Notably recorded by The Yardbirds) Billy Boy Arnold - 2:40
4. See Emily Play (Originally recorded by Pink Floyd)) Syd Barrett - 4:03
5. Everything's Alright (Originally recorded by The Mojos) Nicky Crouch, John Konrad, Simon Stavely, Stuart James, Keith Karlson - 2:26
6. I Can't Explain (Originally recorded by The Who) Pete Townshend - 2:07

Side two:

1. Friday on My Mind (Originally recorded by The Easybeats) George Young, Harry Vanda - 3:18
2. Sorrow (Notably recorded by The Merseys) Jerry Goldstein, Richard Gottehrer, Richard Gottehrer - 2:48
3. Don't Bring Me Down (Originally recorded by The Pretty Things) Johnnie Dee - 2:01
4. Shapes of Things (Originally recorded by The Yardbirds) Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim McCarty, Keith Relf - 2:47
5. Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere (Originally recorded by The Who) Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend - 3:04
6. Where Have All the Good Times Gone (Originally recorded by The Kinks) Ray Davies - 2:35

Personnel:

Production personnel:

RCA Records - EPP1 0291-C

Shapes of Things on YouTube




reel-to-reel listings on eBay


Styrous® ~ February 18, 2013

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January 13, 2014

101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 32: David Bowie 1 ~ Hunky Dory


photo by Brian Ward
album cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®

I have hundreds of reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes in addition to my 20,000 Vinyl LP collection I'm selling. This is an entry about one of them (links below). Hunky Dory, the first of my David Bowie, reel-to-reel tapes, up for sale on eBay; it went up on February 15, 2014 and ran for 10 days. I will have other David Bowie reel-to-reel tapes on eBay for sale (see links below). Interested? Contact me by email not by comments, please. Thank you.

~ ~ ~

Hunky Dory is the fourth album by English singer-songwriter, David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1971. It was his first release through RCA, which would be his label for the next decade.

The style of the album cover was influenced by a Marlene Dietrich photo book that Bowie took with him to the photo shoot.

 reel-to-reel tape, front cover
Front cover art work:
George Underwood and Terry Pastor
of Main Artory, London
photo by Brian Ward
photo of box cover by Styrous®


In Hunky Dory, Bowie paid tribute to his influences with the tracks, Song for Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol and Queen Bitch which was inspired by the Velvet Underground. Kooks was dedicated to his son, known to the world as Zowie Bowie but legally named Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones. This is a happy album at times. It has light, freedom and great inspiration at other times.

Kooks is a pretty neat song! It is a bouncy and happy tune that makes you want to get up and move; better yet, DANCE. Fill Your Heart is in the same category; a happy song that has some terrific piano playing by, I presume, Rick Wakeman.

Oh! You Pretty Things, with lyrics, inspired by Nietzsche, that predicted the replacement of modern man by "the Homo Superior", and which has been cited as a direct precursor to "Starman" from Bowie's follow up album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.  I always loved the great easy-paced tempo that made it good for slow dancing or some good, old fashioned bump 'n grind.

Changes was the major hit from this album with Bowie on sax again. Queen Bitch is, well, bitchin'! What more can I say?

Quicksand is a very beautiful but a very strange song. It has a lovely string orchestra with cello and piano backup. It has a dreamy quality to it but the lyrics completely throw me off. But, as with very many other songs whose lyrics I've not understood or liked, I've loved it for its musicality and the lyrics have become abstract for me. I've included them below.

Andy Warhol is, of course, a pretty whacky tune! It has an echoey sax, electronics and vocal fooling-around dialogue intro (almost a minute). Once into the song, it's ONLY guitars with some nice tambourine work and hand-clapping. There's some really terrific guitar work in it. I've always thought it a bit Español because of the hand-claps and tambourine. A very good song for a mellow or slow dance. I like it a lot and it's probably my favorite on the album.

Life On Mars? is a slow, dramatic song with a great piano (by Rick Wakeman) and an orchestral backup. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph ranked it as #1 in his 100 Greatest Songs of All Time list. The BBC Radio has described Life on Mars? as having "one of the strangest lyrics ever" consisting of a "slew of surreal images" like a Salvador Dalí painting. The line "Look at those cavemen go" is a reference to the song "Alley Oop", a one-off hit in 1960 for American doo-wop band The Hollywood Argyles. The BBC Radio 2 called it "a cross between a Broadway musical and a Salvador Dalí painting." (I think that's a pretty good review. if you ask me.) There's a really cool promotional video for the song Mick Rock filmed and directed at Earls Court, in London, England, on 12 May, 1973, to accompany the release of the song as a single. It features a heavily made-up Bowie performing the song solo against a white backdrop, in a turquoise "ice-blue" suit designed by Freddi Buretti (link to the video below).

There is a postcard in the reel-to-reel box for information on other reel-to-reel tapes in the RCA catelogue.  Pretty cool stuff for a vinyl junkie. 

RCA catalog order card
photo by Styrous®




 reel-to-reel tape, back cover
photo by Brian Ward
photo of box cover by Styrous®




reel-to-reel tape back cover detail
photo by Brian Ward
photos of tape box back cover by Styrous®




I love the " . . . less complicated piano parts" notation

" . . . less complicated piano parts"
reel-to-reel tape back cover detail
photos of tape box back cover by Styrous®




reel-to-reel tape back cover detail
photo by Brian Ward
photos of tape box back cover by Styrous®




photo by Styrous®



 reel-to-reel tape label detail
detail photo by Styrous®


Quicksand Lyrics:

I'm closer to the Golden Dawn
Immersed in Crowley's uniform
Of imagery
I'm living in a silent film
Portraying
Himmler's sacred realm
Of dream reality
I'm frightened by the total goal
Drawing to the ragged hole
And I ain't got the power anymore
No I ain't got the power anymore

I'm the twisted name
on Garbo's eyes
Living proof of
Churchill's lies
I'm destiny
I'm torn between the light and dark
Where others see their targets
Divine symmetry
Should I kiss the viper's fang
Or herald loud
the death of Man
I'm sinking in the quicksand
of my thought
And I ain't got the power anymore

[CHORUS]
Don't believe in yourself
Don't deceive with belief
Knowledge comes
with death's release

I'm not a prophet
or a stone age man
Just a mortal
with the potential of a superman
I'm living on
I'm tethered to the logic
of Homo Sapien
Can't take my eyes
from the great salvation
Of bullshit faith
If I don't explain what you ought to know
You can tell me all about it
On, the next Bardo
I'm sinking in the quicksand
of my thought
And I ain't got the power anymore


Track listing:

All songs written by David Bowie, except where noted.
Side one:
  1. "Changes" – 3:37
  2. "Oh! You Pretty Things" – 3:12
  3. "Eight Line Poem" – 2:55
  4. "Life on Mars?" – 3:53
  5. "Kooks" – 2:53
  6. "Quicksand" – 5:08
Side two:
  1. "Fill Your Heart" (Biff Rose, Paul Williams) – 3:07
  2. "Andy Warhol" – 3:56
  3. "Song for Bob Dylan" – 4:12
  4. "Queen Bitch" – 3:18
  5. "The Bewlay Brothers" – 5:22

Personnel:


Credits: 

    Hunky Dory was recorded at Trident Studios in Soho (in the West End of London), in April of 1971 and was released on the 17th of December, 1971, by RCA Records.

    A GEM Production
    ℗1971
    RCA Limited, Record Division,
    RCA House, Curzon Street, London W1.
    ©1971 RCA Limited
    Remixed at Trident Studios, London.
    Printed in England by Robert Stace.


    Music links:

    Andy Warhol on YouTube
    Life on Mars?   on YouTube
    Hunky Dory (full album) on YouTube
    Kooks on YouTube
    Queen Bitch on YouTube
    Quicksand on YouTube
    Changes on YouTube
    Changes (live) on YouTube
    Oh! You Pretty Things on YouTube


    Dates the David Bowie reel-to-reel tapes will be on eBay:

    February 15, 2014    Hunky Dory
    March 15, 2014    Man Who Sold the World, The
    May 15, 2014    Aladdin Sane
    June 15, 2014    Pinups
    July 15, 2014    Space Oddity


    Links:

    David Bowie ~ Hunky Dory on eBay

    other reel-to-reel tapes on eBay



    Styrous® ~ January 13, 2014

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