DPRP Mark Hughes Review – Roy Harper On Track… Every Album, Every Song

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Opher Goodwin — Roy Harper: On Track… Every Album, Every Song [Book (157 pages)]

Opher Goodwin - Roy Harper: On Track... Every Album, Every Song

info:

 sonicbondpublishing.co.uk

9

Mark Hughes

Another title in the rapidly growing list of books published by SonicBond, this time featuring original maverick and friend to a guitar rock god or two, Roy Harper.

As a long-standing Harper fan I know that tackling his discography is not a task for the faint-hearted. With albums going in and out of print, reissues, alternative versions and limited editions, there is a lot to get to grips with. Thankfully Goodwin handles everything with aplomb, clarifying where extra tracks on various re-releases originally stemmed from and where they fit into Harper’s recording chronology. It makes it easy to disentangle the frequently messy and confusing slew of releases from a prolific writer.

Of course, it helps that Goodwin has been friends with Harper since 1967, just after the release of Harper’s surprising debut album Sophisticated Beggar; surprising in that it eschewed the folk and blues numbers that Harper had gained a reputation for from his busking and folk club performances and comprised all-original material. Perhaps more startling was that it also featured a full band in places, not what the folk crowd that had primarily been his audience up to that point had been expecting. These were the first signs that Harper would stick to his own plans and not be pushed into doing what others necessarily wanted or expected.

What will be alien to modern bands is the fact that Harper’s first two albums, released on different labels, were both commercial failures. Yet the musical environment of the time meant that it was the music that mattered and the lack of commercial appeal was not considered a black mark against the artist. He found a longer-lasting home on Harvest Records for his third album, Flat Baroque And Berserk, the first of seven essential albums he recorded for the label over the next decade.

Goodwin’s personal memories and analysis of the songs and albums adds a lot to the book and offer insights that keep things interesting, more than some other titles in the series in being a sterile list of songs. Harper was never an artist that was likely to trouble the singles chart but he did consistently release such items. Although a lot of the songs unique to the format, particularly from the earliest years, have been compiled and re-issued, his b-sides remain some of the hardest items to locate for the collector. In that respect this book is a valuable guide to what was released, and in some cases what has not been released, both of which can be quite frustrating for the searching completist!

I would have liked to have seen a bit more on the live Roy Harper as, despite the brilliance of the studio output, it was on stage that Harper excelled. As at least a couple of the official live albums were assembled from a multitude of recorded concerts, there is potentially a lot of recorded material that remains locked in the vaults. However, considering that recording details and locations were omitted from Inbetween Every Line as all the tapes were mixed up and it wasn’t deemed necessary to sort them out, it could be a major task sorting them out if, indeed, they still exist.

Despite his long recording career, there doesn’t appear to be much studio material left languishing in the vaults and it seems increasingly unlikely that Harper will return to the studio to record a new album, despite how well his last album, 2013’s Man And Myth was received. So it is from these putative live archives that any future releases will presumably be drawn.

As such, this volume can be assumed to be as complete a record of the musical legacy of one of Britain’s finest and most idiosyncratic singer-songwriters as you are likely to find. Written in a relaxed and enjoyable style, it is an easy-to-read volume that will introduce, and re-introduce, the reader to the delights of the Harper catalogue. I certainly dug out a few of his lesser-played albums from my collection and listened to them in a new light after reading the book. And if that is not recommendation enough, I don’t know what is.

Now, back to searching for the missing items. Anyone know where I can find Goodbye Ladybird?

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Roy Harper: Every Album, Every Song (On Track): Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789521306: Books

Leonard Cohen – Martin Burns Review for DPRP – Every Album, Every song

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Martin Burns

Opher Goodwin has appeared in the pages before with four of his music books on, lets say more prog adjacent, acts. He covered Captain Beefheart, The Beatles, Roy Harper and Bob Dylan, all for Sonicbond. This new one covers the not-at-all prog, Leonard Cohen.

Leonard Cohen is foremost a poet who found an outlet for his work through song. He became the most unlikely star through not playing the typical folk or later rock star. What commends him to his audience is the quality of his song writing. Writing recognized classics like Sisters Of Mercy, So Long, Marianne, Suzanne, and of course Hallelujah. With Cohen’s dour deep baritone voice being an acquired taste moving between the almost wearisome and the hypnotic.

I cannot imagine that Goodwin’s well-written, thoroughly researched On Track… book will appeal to the general readers of this site. Though I myself am a fan, though not a rabid one. I found that this book has encouraged me to investigate his later work following his return to recording and touring. My favourite and most played record of his is the politically charged, and seemingly in these times more relevant that ever, The Future.

Fans of Cohen should snap this book up, as Opher Goodwin’s opinions of the music and lyrics will generate good-hearted debate. For the curious its a good resource to guide the dipping of toes into Cohen’s long, but not intimidatingly so, back catalogue.

Leonard Cohen On Track: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781789523591: Books

Captain Beefheart – DPRP Martin Burns review – On Track Every Album, Every Song

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Opher Goodwin - On Track: Captain Beefheart

info:

 sonicbondpublishing.com

9

Martin Burns

The quote on page 46 from Opher Goodwin’s On Track: Captain Beefheart of the track When Big Joan Sets Up, encapsulates what makes Beefheart special, and at the same time why he remains a niche artist.

“… a great melody that carries it through. It’s meaningless but full of insight, so frenzied that it shouldn’t work, yet it does. It hangs together. That’s what is so great about Beefheart’s music – it pulls you in; the music is complex; the lyrics seem full of meaning, but everything is just beyond one’s grasp. You find yourself hooked. It propels you. It’s visceral. It tugs at the cortex. Rewarding.”

This applies across all of Beefheart’s recordings. Not without the odd exception of course, such as the mid-period ‘commercial’-leaning releases and things like Beefheart’s contribution to Frank Zappa‘s Willie The Pimp on Hot Rats. One of the things I find interesting about these two maverick forces of musical nature (Zappa and Beefheart) is that both went to Antelope Valley High School in the small Californian Mohave desert town of Lancaster. They remained friends on and off after leaving Lancaster; when their monumental artistic egos would allow. With Zappa, being more successful, helping the often-broke Beefheart out.

This is a great addition to Sonicbond Publishing’s ever expanding Every Album, Every Track series. This looks at Captain Beefheart’s studio output as well as the plethora of live releases and bootlegs that have followed since his death in 2010.

Comprehensive and critical where required, self-confessed Beefheart obsessive Opher Goodwin, knows his way around an incisive phrase and sets each of the studio albums into a context of time and place, record company and management shenanigans, and contemporary critical reactions. As well as assessing the various incarnations of the Magic Band, and how well they were able to translate the Captain’s ideas into actual music.

After making his brilliant final album, Ice Cream For Crow (1982), he left music-making on a high point, and turned back to painting. Beefheart, under his own name of Don van Vliet became a renowned abstract expressionist painter, gaining the level of success in the US that had eluded him musically. A happy ending of sorts.

This makes an excellent companion to Mike Barnes’ Captain Beefheart: The Biography (Omnibus Press) where neither shy away from Beefheart’s obsessive and bullying behaviour that were part of his artistic makeup. Opher Goodwin’s On Track: Captain Beefheart is a great guide and companion to this often-challenging artist.

If you’re curious, for me the place to start is with 1978’s Shiney Beast (Bat Chain Puller), but every Beefheart fan will have a different gateway release to recommend.

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Ian Dury – On Track

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Ian Dury On Track: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781789523744: Books

Opher Goodwin’s book offers an in-depth analysis of Ian Dury’s albums and songs, portraying him as a singular figure in British music, though formal reviews from readers are currently scarce.

Content Overview

The book takes a song-by-song and album-by-album approach, exploring the inspirations, spirit, and context behind Ian Dury’s work 

It covers his early years with Kilburn And The High Roads, his peak success with The Blockheads, and his solo career, including the 1997 album Mr Love Pants. Notable hits such as Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick are discussed in depth 

Goodwin frames Dury as a multi-faceted personality—“part teddy boy, part punk, part vaudeville act”—highlighting the unique blend of artistry and charisma that defined him 

Author Background and Approach

Opher Goodwin is a rock music historian and educator who taught the first History of Rock Music classes in the UK. He has previously written extensively about artists such as Captain Beefheart and Roy Harper, demonstrating a research-driven and analytical approach

 . His writing blends cultural context with close musical analysis, placing Dury’s work within the broader UK post-punk and pop landscape

Ian Dury – On Track: Every Album, Every Song -Paperback & Ebook

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Yes – everything interesting thing you need to know about Ian Dury, the Blockheads and what lay behind every album and every song.

Once again I am given the opportunity to write about one of my wordsmith heroes. What a pleasure!

Ian Dury On Track: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781789523744: Books

Ian Dury – out in 2 Days!!

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I can’t wait!! My Ian Dury book finally hits the shops in 2 days time!! You can order it now and have it delivered in time for Christmas.

I loved putting this book together, listening to every single thing he recorded, live concerts and all, and reading everything about him. A real labour of love!

Ian Dury On Track: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781789523744: Books

Bob Dylan 1962 to 1970 : Every Album, Every Song

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For her ‘Raging Pages’ column, Lisa Torem gives ‘Bob Dylan 1962 to 1970 : Every Album, Every Song’, Opher Goodwin’s new book on Dylan’s studio work high marks.

Opher Goodwin “taught the first ‘History of Rock Music’ class in the UK” and had the good fortune of catching Sixties acts, including Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and Captain Beefheart, during his time in London, “the epicentre for the underground explosion of rock music and culture” according to his recent press release. His subject, Bob Dylan, the Hibbing, Minnesota-born troubadour, who has often been championed as North America’s incomparable poet laureate, greatly influenced John Lennon, particularly on the dreamy ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and literary-minded Suzanne Vega. Goodwin was originally dismissive of Dylan’s work – “We weren’t big on ‘folk’ music,’ he shares about his relationship with a then-friend, in the introduction. That statement, alone, piqued my interest, causing me to ask myself, ‘What, then, turned Goodwin into a super fan?’ But as I pored through the book, I easily discovered how the author’s evolution took place. Dylan’s early inspirations include no-holds-barred storyteller Woody Guthrie, soulful singer/guitarist Odetta, and oddly, “Be Bop a Lula” singer Little Richard. As such, one of Dylan’s chief goals was to befriend Guthrie, and on early albums, he would sharply mirror Guthrie’s talking-blues style. Goodwin also notes that Dylan’s rise to popularity in New York’s Greenwich Village came with a price. Being considered the voice of a generation “irritated him no end” and “heaped tension on his shoulders.” This conundrum would bedevil Dylan throughout his career. Radical French poets Rimbaud, Baudelaire and Verlaine would partially quench Dylan’s desire for dark, sensuous detail, before he embraced Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Goodwin cites examples of how Dylan would, many times over the course of his career, reimagine himself, to the chagrin of his early fans. At the 1965 Newport Folk Festival he was considered a turncoat when he blasted his electric guitar. Similarly, when on his album ‘John Wesley Harding’ he dared to enter the Americana realm, he tried the patience of the tried-and-true. And again, as the counter-culture gathered steam, Dylan was called upon to lead the flock. He decried such thoughts of attachment. ‘Nashville Skyline’ honoured his new image, or lack thereof, for he had given the boot to corduroy caps and faded jeans. His times were ‘a-changin’, and so was he. Dylan’s discography reveals debut album covers by Jesse Fuller, Blind Willie Johnson, Bukka White and Blind Lemon Johnson, et al, arranged instrumentally with hard-picking plectrum and mournful blues-harp. His sophomore album was a sea-change. His labelmates had turned him on to a roster of trailblazers, and he began to scribe protest-songs oozing with unbridled conviction. ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and ‘Masters of War,’ “the ultimate anti-war song,” would become period-pieces. ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall’ “never fails to engage.” The author vehemently states: “No matter how many times you hear it there is always something new to discover or wonder at.” With the same razor-sharp focus, Goodwin ushers us through Dylan’s 1962-1970 discography, I highly recommend this well-researched book. That Dylan has achieved folk-rock royalty status is undisputed, but reading about his climb to studio self-actualisation answers a series of burning questions.

Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan 1962 to 1970 : Every Album, Every Song

Thanks for all the reviews and ratings – greatly appreciated!

Phil Ochs – Everything you need to know.

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Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song extract

New York and Early Forays

Having arrived in New York Phil started to hustle. His first paid job was opening for John Hammond Jr. and he soon built up a reputation for himself, getting work at a number of the burgeoning folk clubs like Sam Hood’s The Gaslight and The Third Side.

   The strength of his songwriting was soon noticed. Sis Cunningham and Gordon Friesen ran a magazine that specialised in printing the song lyrics of socially motivated folk singers. They regularly printed songs by the likes of Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger. They also recorded demos of these songs in their offices in order to transcribe the lyrics.  Bob Dylan, under the name Blind Boy Grunt, recorded for them.

   Phil knew he was on the way when he was invited to contribute. His songs began to appear in Broadside. An ambitious Phil, always eager to deliver to an enthusiastic audience, and eager for publicity, would drop in to the offices regularly to share his latest song and lay down a demo. Those demos would later come out on a couple of CDs. Phil said in a Broadside interview that ‘every newspaper headline is a potential song.’ He thought that songs should say something or they were useless. ‘It never ceases to amaze me how the American people allow the hit parade to hit them over the head with a parade of song after meaningless song about love.’ Broadside agreed.

   The other important outcome of this validation was that Phil was invited to perform at the prestigious 1963 Newport Folk Festival and that brought him to the attention of an even wider audience.

   The two biggest labels in the folk sphere were Elektra and Vanguard. By 1964 the folk scene had, following the success of Bob Dylan, taken off to extraordinary heights. Folk singers were flavour of the month and in great demand.

  In 1961 Vanguard had put together an album called New Folks that was intended to highlight a number of up and coming folk singers. It included The Greenbriar Boys, Jackie Washington, Hedy West and David Gude.

   By 1964 folk music had changed beyond all recognition and Vanguard decided to put out a second volume. These four artists selected demonstrated how much things had changed in such a short while. The second album featured more broody topical songwriters and Phil led the pack.

   Before that, however, there was a slight aberration.

Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789523263: Books

Writing the Phil Ochs book.

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Writing the Phil Ochs book.

In order to want to write about anyone you have to have a love and great affinity for them. You are going to spend a couple of thousand hours of your life deeply immersed in them and their lives. You have to enjoy the experience.

Right from the sixties I have been a fan. Those early albums played a huge role in my development. His words inspired me. Phil was a hero of mine. Spending hundreds of hours in his company was going to be a pleasure.

Having twisted the arm of a reluctant publisher who did not even know about Phil Ochs and had to be persuaded that he was an important person worthy of a book, with sufficient ardent fans to make a book viable, I secured a contract.

That was the start.

Setting up

The first thing, before a word is put on a page, is to set up. To gather together your source material. I had most things. Over the years I had accumulated nearly everything Phil had done or had been written about Phil. I had all the books, every single album and a mass of bootlegs. I was a huge fan and had gathered everything. I had to check to see if there was anything missing; anything I needed to hunt down.

Starting The Process

It’s one thing having things for pleasure and quite another studying them to write about them. I began reading and making notes.

The Structure

Fortunately, the structure for the book is more or less dictated by the format of the series. The aim was to write about every album and every single song Phil Ochs had released. I had to write an introduction. Write about each album giving the background and details and then write about each and every song shedding insight into its content, meaning and importance. Easy. Well, actually not quite so easy. Some songs were not quite as simple to interpret as might appear, particularly the later ones. I had my own feelings and understanding but was that the same as Phil’s intention? Or other peoples’ opinion? I could only listen, delve, think and express my views.

Starting

I started reading the biographies and listening to all the albums. I had to get in tune, gather my wits, open my ears and allow the spirit of Phil to take over. I knew that it was a responsibility. The major songs were not a problem. The rarer ones were the most important. There were some that I’d glossed over. We all had our preferences. I had to give them equal weight and listen to everything.

Pen To Paper

Or at least finger to keyboard. I’m a one-finger typist but I can go quite fast.

Task number one was to do the layout. I put the headings in. The introduction, the albums, all the songs. I had a skeleton. I now had to apply the flesh.

I then wrote the introduction. It came spilling out.

The Albums

One by one I worked my way though, album by album. I sought the details of studios, producers, labels, personnel. I wrote about the times, the creation of the album and as much detail as I could muster. The internet was invaluable. I could check out different facts, chase things up and fill in the blanks. At times I felt like I was a detective on the case at others that I was piecing together a jigsaw.

The Songs

I then played the songs, one by one, analysing the lyric, thinking about the meanings, how it was written and why. Finding words to describe what Phil was trying to say and how the song was put together. Not always easy to find words. Phil was a master of lyrics. How was I supposed to shed light on his creations? They were too important to mess up. I could only give my views and interpretations. At least others could use them as a sounding board. They might disagree. That’s fine. The most Phil’s songs are talked about the better.

The First Draft

At times the process was hard. Working up to eight hours a day, concentrating, trying to find words that were right, sapped the energy. There were days where I was tired and could not be bothered, days when I was fired up and ready to go. Fatigue sets in. Writing is a lonely task. Friends get bored with you going on about minute details. You spent hours at your desk tapping away. Hours with headphones listening, relistening, studying, scribbling.

Finally you have done the last song, completed the bibliography and it is complete.

Rewriting

Of course, it isn’t anywhere near finished. What you have is a first draft. It was put together in pieces. There is the little task of rereading it and changing the disparate parts into a coherent entity. The facts are there but does it flow? Is there annoying repetition? Does the style change? Is it coherent?

Getting that right takes a good rewrite.

Editing

Once you have the second draft the nit-picking begins – the grammar and punctuation, sentence structure and spellos. It’s amazing how they annoyingly proliferate. No matter how many times you reread they still pop up.

The Publisher

When you’ve done all you can you send it off. There’s always a fear. Will they like it? Will they reject it?

Last Edit

Having a professional objective eye run over the writing always turns up a few things that require addressing, the odd repetition or section that requires a rewrite.

The Wait

That’s it! You wait!

Finally, months later, a package arrives containing your ten copies and you hold the finished product in your hands. You have your book.

The book is up there on line on the Amazon site and Publishers site. It’s out for order in book stores. The publisher does a little marketing. You sit and anxiously wait for the reviews. What do people think? Have you done justice to Phil?

I hope so. I really hope so.

Another excerpt from Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song

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 Another excerpt from Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song

  It was while at Ohio that the final link in the chain was established. It was here that he met the guy who was going to change his life – Jim Glover. Jim was a left-wing folkie and introduced Phil to the mighty musical tomes of the great Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and the Weavers. He also taught Phil how to play the guitar. Jim used to take him home for meals where Jim’s animated father, Hugh, an avid Marxist, would regale them with stories embroidered with his political views, becoming a substitute father for the entranced Phil.

   The seeds were sown and began to germinate and blossom at an alarming rate. Phil and Jim would sit up all night playing music, listening to music and debating music and politics.

   Phil read avidly, absorbing the essence of socialism, started organising protests against the ROTC (college Reserve Officers Training Corps) and writing radical articles that were banned from the college magazine. Frustrated at not being able to get his articles published he started his own underground magazine called ‘The Word’.

   It wasn’t long before the politics and music merged together. He formed a singing partnership with Jim and played the local folk clubs first as ‘The Singing Socialists’ and then ‘The Sundowners’. Phil had discovered his new passion. He took his music seriously, declaring: ‘music had to be relevant.’

   Just before they were due to perform at their first professional gig they split up. Jim left for New York with his mind set on becoming a professional folk singer. Phil stayed on and continued playing and writing songs. In 1961, just three months before graduating, in a fit of pique at being passed over as the editor of the college magazine (not really surprising given the radical nature of his writing), Phil left the course. He returned to stay with his parents in Columbus, Cleveland but continued singing solo in the folk clubs. He’d basically sing anywhere that would have him. Pam Raver, a performer in Columbus has an amusing anecdote from this period: it centers on one of Phil’s early solo shows.

   ‘One of his first public performances as a solo artist was at the First Unitarian Universalist Church on Weisheimer Road, where he performed for a ladies luncheon,’ she said with a laugh. ‘I found that astounding because you think of him doing more radical, anti-establishment songs. God only knows the songs he performed there.’

   While singing in Farragher’s Backroom folk club in Ohio as an opener for established acts he met the folk singer Bob Gibson. Bob had an impact on his songwriting.

   The gestation period was over. In 1962 Phil followed his mentor Jim Glover to New York City and, like Bob Dylan the year before, inserted himself into the burgeoning Greenwich Village folk scene.

Phil Ochs On Track: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789523263: Books