Five Things I Saw & Heard This Week

Transcripts from the everyday world of music by Martin Colyer

Tuesday, April 27th

April 27, 2021 by martin colyer 5 Comments

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Filed Under: Extra! Tagged With: American Blues Music, Ann Charters, BBC4, Blues America, Document Records, Martin Colyer, Mick Gold, Sam Charters

THE LATEST PROJECT: SUPER HITS [!] OF THE SIXTIES!

“SEALED WITH A KISS”

I’d heard the song for the first time in years on one of the last episodes of the TV series, Mad Men. Brian Hyland’s 1962 puppy-love pop classic (#3 on both US and UK charts) has a naggingly dark/slightly hysterical melody that stuck in my head for days after watching the programme. On one hand it’s an over-ripe teen anthem, on the other a singular melody that doesn’t sound like a “pop” tune at all. It’s the first track from a new project covering songs from the 60s.

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A pleasure to work with all these fine artists on the December issue @thecritic — you can probably find better versions of their work this month on their own Instagrams, but here’s a look at their excellent work in the magazine, starting with the cover (an old idea, but beautifully executed by @robert.venables1 here…) These arrived today. Christmas must be tonight… What the writing world has been waiting for… a metal bic. Box ticked. Expect postcards. It was brilliant. Tim Key, Loganberry. Highly recommended, if he does it again. If not, see The Ballad of Wallis Island… At the stunning Wilton’s Music Hall waiting for Tim Key to start his act. Tim has come out to check the audience is up to scratch. He is staring, pacing and nodding enigmatically while Louis Prima plays. The show starts in 10. Two sets of thanks: my friend David sends me something for my Ken Collection, an early Skiffle group EP (extended play, four tracks rather than the two of a single 45rpm). And then, this beautiful program from a tour that New Orleans clarinettist George Lewis did in the 50s that my aunt Mirry and her husband, my uncle Dave, went to see. I love the note saying that you should fill in the titles as their repertoire was too large to predict… Mirry filled in the support act (Uncle Ken) but then obviously surrendered to the music and left the rest blank… Those were the days — live music with no hard drives, kids! Mirry was a delight, too good for this world, and her wonderful daughter Julia gave me this at Mirry’s funeral late this summer. The last photo is a piece from the programme mentioning the legendary New Orleans musician, William Russell, with a mailing label from a shipment of records that he sent to my father, Bill ¶ “All of the heavies were light as a feather“ | “I Had a Dream” was sung at Woodstock by John Sebastian. It’s the second of five songs from a new project, Super Hits (!) of the Sixties! I’m aided and abetted here by the estimable Mark Pringle on guitar. I’ve just posted my memories of working with the wonderful illustrator and painter Paul Slater on my Adventures in Commissioning blog [Google adventures | commissioning | colyer]. Paul was an amazing painter and illustrator, and it was a privilege to work with him. I’ve put some of the pieces we did together here, and a selection of details from one in particular, a map for tourists that could have been bland and pretty, but was elevated by Paul’s brilliance. I just found this, a clipping from The Sunday Telegraph Magazine, of Paul Slater parodying Grant Wood’s American Gothic, with Maggie and Denis Thatcher replacing the farming couple. I can’t find that, but here’s Paul’s version of the same painting for The Listener.
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Aimee Mann Amanda Petrusich Aretha Franklin Barney Hoskyns Bill Colyer Bob Dylan Bruce Springsteen David Bowie Desert Island Discs Every Record Tells a Story Hot House Inside Llewyn Davis Janis Joplin JazzWax John Cuneo Joni MItchell Jonny Trunk Ken Colyer Leonard Cohen Levon Helm Liam Noble likeahammerinthesink London Jazz Collector Marc Myers Mark Pringle Martin Colyer Mavis Staples Michael Gray Mick Gold Miles Davis music Music Documentaries New Yorker Richard Williams Robbie Robertson rocksbackpages.com Ry Cooder Sam Charters Steely Dan Studio 51 The Band thebluemoment.com The Guardian US Esquire Van Morrison

On the Music Player: The Latest Project

SUPER HITS [!] OF THE SIXTIES! | ONE | “SEALED WITH A KISS”

I’d heard the song for the first time in years on one of the last episodes of the TV series, Mad Men. Brian Hyland’s 1962 puppy-love pop classic (#3 on both US and UK charts) has a naggingly dark/slightly hysterical melody that stuck in my head for days after watching the programme. On one hand it’s an over-ripe teen anthem, on the other a singular melody that doesn’t sound like a “pop” tune at all. Here‘s my version, part of a five song project covering songs from the 60s.

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A pleasure to work with all these fine artists on the December issue @thecritic — you can probably find better versions of their work this month on their own Instagrams, but here’s a look at their excellent work in the magazine, starting with the cover (an old idea, but beautifully executed by @robert.venables1 here…) These arrived today. Christmas must be tonight… What the writing world has been waiting for… a metal bic. Box ticked. Expect postcards. It was brilliant. Tim Key, Loganberry. Highly recommended, if he does it again. If not, see The Ballad of Wallis Island… At the stunning Wilton’s Music Hall waiting for Tim Key to start his act. Tim has come out to check the audience is up to scratch. He is staring, pacing and nodding enigmatically while Louis Prima plays. The show starts in 10. Two sets of thanks: my friend David sends me something for my Ken Collection, an early Skiffle group EP (extended play, four tracks rather than the two of a single 45rpm). And then, this beautiful program from a tour that New Orleans clarinettist George Lewis did in the 50s that my aunt Mirry and her husband, my uncle Dave, went to see. I love the note saying that you should fill in the titles as their repertoire was too large to predict… Mirry filled in the support act (Uncle Ken) but then obviously surrendered to the music and left the rest blank… Those were the days — live music with no hard drives, kids! Mirry was a delight, too good for this world, and her wonderful daughter Julia gave me this at Mirry’s funeral late this summer. The last photo is a piece from the programme mentioning the legendary New Orleans musician, William Russell, with a mailing label from a shipment of records that he sent to my father, Bill ¶ “All of the heavies were light as a feather“ | “I Had a Dream” was sung at Woodstock by John Sebastian. It’s the second of five songs from a new project, Super Hits (!) of the Sixties! I’m aided and abetted here by the estimable Mark Pringle on guitar. I’ve just posted my memories of working with the wonderful illustrator and painter Paul Slater on my Adventures in Commissioning blog [Google adventures | commissioning | colyer]. Paul was an amazing painter and illustrator, and it was a privilege to work with him. I’ve put some of the pieces we did together here, and a selection of details from one in particular, a map for tourists that could have been bland and pretty, but was elevated by Paul’s brilliance. I just found this, a clipping from The Sunday Telegraph Magazine, of Paul Slater parodying Grant Wood’s American Gothic, with Maggie and Denis Thatcher replacing the farming couple. I can’t find that, but here’s Paul’s version of the same painting for The Listener.

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HERE’S A TAG CLOUD…

Aimee Mann Amanda Petrusich Aretha Franklin Barney Hoskyns Bill Colyer Bob Dylan Bruce Springsteen David Bowie Desert Island Discs Every Record Tells a Story Hot House Inside Llewyn Davis Janis Joplin JazzWax John Cuneo Joni MItchell Jonny Trunk Ken Colyer Leonard Cohen Levon Helm Liam Noble likeahammerinthesink London Jazz Collector Marc Myers Mark Pringle Martin Colyer Mavis Staples Michael Gray Mick Gold Miles Davis music Music Documentaries New Yorker Richard Williams Robbie Robertson rocksbackpages.com Ry Cooder Sam Charters Steely Dan Studio 51 The Band thebluemoment.com The Guardian US Esquire Van Morrison

AND HERE’S THE ARCHIVE…

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