The Blues Muse – Chicago – Paperback/Kindle

Posted on by Opher

You want the story of Rock Music? You got it!

I was lamenting with my good roadie friend Mike that we missed out on so many seminal moments in the history of Rock Music. What we would have paid to see the Beatles in Hamburg or at the Cavern, the Stones and Yardbirds in Richmond, Little Richard tearing up the little Southern clubs, Howlin’ Wolf in a sweaty Chicago club. If we could only get a time machine to go back to see Elvis and Scotty ripping it up, to see Hendrix when he first arrived in England, or the Doors at the Whiskey. The list was endless.

It didn’t matter how many great bands we had seen there were always the ones that got away.

But I did have a time machine. It was in my skull. I had run a History of Rock Music class and written books on it. I knew it all. I had seen some amazing gigs, Pink Floyd with Syd, Doors at the Roundhouse, Stones in the Park, Led Zep at the Toby Jug, Zappa, Cream, Hendrix and a thousand more. I’ve been immersed in Rock ever since I was a kid.

I invented a musician character and took him back to the very beginning. He was my vehicle to present the whole history of Rock Music as a novel. Where I couldn’t be he was. Right there with James Brown, Hank Williams, Buddy Holly and Robert Johnson.

This is the history of Rock Music in a novel – as it’s never been told! Sit back then jump up and dance! We’re off on a journey! From Son House to White Stripes! It’s all here!

Excerpt – The Blues Muse –Chicago

I’d really dug those days of busking but if the truth was told I’d had enough. I’d reached a plateau with my music. I was good but there was no way that I could compete with the best and although I got by and had my times I could see that it was a road that was going to end in misery.

I figured it was time to get in out of the weather; to get a room that I could call mine and settle down. Besides, times were changing fast. The South was becoming a different place. The old ways were dying out.

When slavery had been abolished we’d thought we were all free but it hadn’t worked out that way. We might have been free in name but in practice we worked the fields just the same and worked for the boss-man. We lived in the same huts and scratched the same living. We shopped the same stores and drank from our own water fountains, rode in our own parts of the buses and had our own eating places. We were out in those fields early, never educated, never voted and knew our place. If anyone made too much fuss or got above themselves they were quickly put in their place. The Klu Klux Klan saw to that.

There might not have been as many lynchings but that didn’t mean there weren’t any murders. It was easy to lose a body or two in those muddy bayous, especially when nobody asked too many questions. If a pastor got too big then it was always good for a church getting torched. With the Klan’s hooves pounding past your door, the yells and glow of those fiery torches lighting up your room, and the burning cross stuck in front of your door as a warning, it took a brave man to speak his mind. When the men who carried out the terror and tied the weights round the bodies were the same who did the investigating it took an exceptional person to defy the odds.

That is why you don’t find too much Blues with a political message. There was no protest in the words; the protest was heavy in the notes. Even to record a mild rebuke put you at risk.

There was that change coming but it was still a way off.

But for me it wasn’t the racism and politics that drove me out so much as the other changes. The old days were being swept aside by the new world. Machines were replacing men. The days of a big man, like ‘The Wolf’, Chester Burnett, running a team of oxen to plough those fields were going. There were tractors that could do a better job in a tenth of the time. The labour gangs were being replaced by machines that dug, sowed and harvested as good as any gang. The need for a workforce was melting in the heat of the future.

A man could do two things: he could kick his heels and grumble, get mean and ornery and starve; or he could uproot and take himself off to those northern cities where they had a need for labour. The huge car plants of Detroit and Chicago were calling out for fuel for their machines; they wanted hands to keep the wheels turning. Right now, in the South, there were idle hands in need of bucks while in the North there were plenty of greenbacks to be harvested.

There was a black tide flowing in one direction – out of the fields and into the factories, out of the heat and into the ice of winter, out of fields and into the concrete canyons of the city.

I was part of that mass migration. I was about to swap my hominy grits and greasy greens for hamburgers, hotdogs and French fries.

Besides, the days of the acoustic Blues were over. These were the days of electricity. The kids wanted something new that they could dance to, something with a beat. After the war it was as if the old world was washed away on a huge wave of energy. The radio rocked. The clubs rolled and those northern cities shook to the new world.

I hitched into Memphis and straight through with hardly a pause. I worked the street corners and clubs to get my fare together and proudly bought my ticket. I wanted to hit Chicago standing on my own feet.

Excerpt from The Blues Muse.

Posted on by Opher

Can you turn the whole history of Rock Music into a novel? I reckon you can. That’s what I did with ‘The Blues Muse’

This is a tiny section. My protagonist, an itinerant black blues singer, meets the young Elvis Presley:

Tupelo

Tupelo was a small town and like most of them places had two sides to it. One was black and one was white and never the twain shall meet. Ceptin’ that wasn’t strictly true. The truth was that some of those white sharecroppers were worse off than the blacks and certainly lived no better. They lived a hundred to a room in wooden shacks the same as the negroes. They worked the land and hoed weeds just the same, walked the mules, ploughed, sowed and owed the man the same as everybody else. There was no difference. And many of them weren’t too proud to share some music, a bottle or some dice.

Of a night, when the heat was cooling off, we’d sit on the veranda and rock on our chairs with a guitar on our laps and a bottle at our feet. Sometimes someone would strike up a diddy-bow on the side of one of them huts and some of the youngsters would try out some of their moves. Even the old folks would join in. It was kind of spontaneous and neighbourly.

If you wanted the real action you headed for town. The white folks would Honky Tonk but if you wanted something a bit earthier you hit the black side of town where the beat sizzled and the boots hardly hit the floor. The big mamas would jive their asses and shake like jelly. Their bodies shimmied while the guys, dressed to the nines in their dapper suits, ties and loud shirts, shoes shined, hair slicked and a hat tilted at a crazy angle, would strut their stuff and make their moves. Why – I would watch that floor and sometimes it looked like those cats had bones of rubber.

Elvis Presley was one of those real young white cats who liked to hit town and soak up the sounds. He was a rare one, that young kid. He did not fit in with most of his white group. With his long hair slicked back into a ducks-ass DA and combed into a tall pompadour of a crest like Esquerita, side-burns that he could tie under his chin and bright clothes of contrasting colours, he put the coolest black dudes to shame. He was a young skinny kid and had a mind of his own. His black eyes would look right through you and shine with some inner light when he saw something he liked. I guess it was that Cherokee blood set him apart. He was untamed and wild at times and, I declare, if he hadn’t have been so quiet and shy by nature, I’d swear he was pushing the numbers for some gang or other.

Many’s the time we’d sneak into the back of one of those clubs where the lights were so low you couldn’t tell the colour of a man’s skin and we’d watch. Tupelo was small but we’d get all the Blues Guys come through. Elvis’ eyes would pop outa his head when he saw Jimmy Reed, Big Maybelle and Arthur Crudup.

I saw him talking to Arthur after his show. Arthur had come down from Chicago when he was supposed to have lived in a packing case under the station in Chicago Central. If he ever did, he was not doing that now. You could see the man was eating good.

Elvis soaked up Howlin’ Wolf, Roy Brown and Big Mama Thornton. I could see it. His eyes were glowing and he never missed a beat. That sound was driving into his head and swirling round in there with all that Bill Monroes and Hank Williams. I knew it was all going to come bursting out one day.

The Blues Muse: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781518621147: Books

The Blues Muse – Kindle/Paperback – Rock Music novel!

Posted on by Opher

This book tells the story of rock music but as a novel!

The Blues Muse

I was in conversation with a good friend who, like me, is a Rock Music fanatic. We have both been everywhere, seen everyone and have had our lives hugely affected by music. However it is not who you have seen but what you failed to catch that you dwell on. I said to him that it would be brilliant if we had a time machine and were able to go back and see all the major events in Rock history; Robert Johnson play in the tavern in Greenwood, Elmore James in Chicago, Elvis Presley in the small theatres, The Beatles in Hamburg, Stones in Richmond, Doors in the Whiskey, Roy Harper at St Pancras Town Hall…………….. and a thousand more. Then I realised that I could. I knew it all, had seen much of it first hand, and had the imagination to fill in the gaps. All I needed was a character who worked his way through it, was witness to it, part of it and lived it; someone to tell the story and paint the picture. I invented my ‘man with no name’ and made a novel out of the History of Rock Music. This is that novel. It starts in Tutwiler Mississippi in 1903 and finishes in Kingston upon Hull in 1980. On this journey you will breathe the air, taste the sweat and join all the major performers as they create the music that rocked the world and changed history.

The Blues Muse: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781518621147: Books

Excerpt – 537 Essential Rock Albums – Pt. 1 The first 270 Paperback 

Posted on by Opher

I greatly enjoyed putting this together. I tried making a list of what I considered to be one hundred essential rock album. I arrived at 600 and pared it down. I couldn’t get it below 537. Even then I probably missed out some that definitely should have been included.

This was the first slice. I always intended to write the second half but have been far too busy with other projects and the response to this one was disappointing. One day.

Anyway, this is another slice. If you want to know what I consider to be the best 50 albums in rock music you’ll have to buy the book. It is only £6,89. I make 54p a book! But it’s not about the money is it? I enjoyed writing it. Great fun!

225. White Stripes – De Stilj

The White Stripes were a duo of guitar and drums who came out of Detroit with their great Garage sound of Rock, Country and Blues. There was a lot of controversy concerning their exact relationship. Meg was the female drummer and Jack was the guitarist/vocalist. They called themselves White. Were they brother and sister? – Or husband and wife? They kept dumb. All that mattered was that they were creating some amazing music.

Jack’s guitar sound was loud and raw and Meg could certainly pound the hell out of those drums. They were like a breath of fresh air on a moribund music scene. The major labels had been stifling the life out of bands with their over-production and safety-first policy of the lowest common denominator. It was clear that they put profit over music. Then the White Stripes burst upon the scene with a new vital sound and blew everyone out of the water. It was so refreshing.

I kick myself daily. I had the chance to go and see them perform at a small club in Leeds before they released De Stilj and became famous. They had brought out their first album ‘White Stripes’ and it had caused a stir. This was getting further enhanced by their live reputation. A friend rang me up and wanted me to go and see them but it was mid-week and I was knackered and couldn’t be bothered to make the trip. Well we all make mistakes. I did get to see them in Bridlington though a few years later and they were amazing.

Der Stilj was deliberately recorded with old technology to recreate that feel you used to get on those old fifties recordings. It worked. There was the same mixture of styles as on the first album, ranging from Blues to Pop and Country. It certainly worked for me. The production was so clear and the guitar sound right in your face. There was a Punk feel to the whole album.

The Blues tracks were a brilliant version of the Son House ‘Death Letter Blues’ and Blind Willie McTell’s ‘Your Southern can is mine’.

The whole album buzzed without a weak track. ‘You’re pretty good looking (for a girl)’ started it off pretty good but it was eclipsed by ‘Hello Operator’ and then ‘Little Bird’. The guitar seared. Jack took those rhythms, chords and notes and drove them right through your head. Slide guitar, acoustic, chords, single notes, it mattered little; it was all equally exhilarating. Jack could certainly put original riffs together in a nice way. I’d never heard anything so sharp. Awesome.


226. Linton Kwesi Johnson – Forces of Victory

Linton became the Poet Laureate of Brixton and archivist for the black community of Brixton. For generations they had felt victimised and persecuted. It appears that there is a tipping point. The SUS laws along with Thatcher’s discriminatory socially unjust policies were that tipping point. Linton documented and reflected the emotions of black youth in his poetry at this time as feelings boiled over. This was summed up in his poem/dub song ‘Time come’ with its chilling sentiments that ‘I did warn you’.

Forces of Victory contained the brilliant ‘Sonny’s Lettah (Anti-SUS poem)’ recited in Linton’s rich timbre it never fails to send chills through you. There was a cause to unite everyone. ‘Fite dem back’ displayed the determination to take the fascist forces on and fight whether that be Combat 18, the National Front, British Movement or the Police. This was a rallying call to fight on the streets.

This was reggae music at its very best and the politics made Bob Marley sound tame. This was the music of the people.

The voice was assured. There was no doubt over the outcome. ‘Forces of victory’ made that quite clear. Black consciousness, equality and anti-racist sentiments were going to win. If it could not be achieved through argument it was going to be achieved through strength.

Linton was the voice of the new assertive youth who had taken a leaf out of the Black Panthers, lost hope in organisations, and were prepared to fight it out in the streets. The confidence and fury was evident in Linton’s words and music.


227. Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night

This was the Beatles third album and also the soundtrack to the film of the same name. Beatle-mania showed no sign of diminishing and, as with Colonel Parker and Elvis, Brian Epstein had looked to capitalise on their popularity by getting them into films.

This was a departure from the previous albums in that they had moved away from the R&B and Rock of their early act. All the songs were written by the Beatles, the bulk by John, with George getting credited with one, and they had a Pop quality.

They were good catchy numbers with that great Beatle sound but they lacked that raw edge. These sounded a bit more polished and smooth. It gave the album a mellow feel but was strong enough to maintain the Beatles forward progress. It appealed to the young market who eagerly lapped it up. It might have been more Pop orientated but it was not a reduction in quality. Seemingly the Beatles, despite the pressures imposed on them, could churn out a string of quality songs without effort. They were touring, doing lots of radio and filming and still they were coming out with creative material. These songs were not run-of-the mill Pop songs.

The stand out tracks were the two singles ‘A Hard Day’s  Night’ and ‘Can’t buy me love’. But there were also a lot of other good songs that are still pleasant to listen to. Numbers like ‘If I fell’ were beautifully arranged as were ‘I should have known better’ and ‘And I love her’. This was the sound that influenced bands like the Byrds and even Dylan.


228. Nick Drake – Bryter Layter

Well Nick Drake and Joe Boyd certainly had pulling power. On the basis of one album they were able to get musicians of the quality of Richard Thompson, John Cale and Dave Pegg to provide the backing.

The production was greater and the strings were sympathetic. In many ways it had a more commercial feel to it and yet retained the Nick Drake  feel.

The words were poetic and painted pictures but, with hindsight, you can see the pressures reflected in the words. ‘Hazey Jane’ was still alluding to the cannabis use.

There were some delightful songs sung with Nick’s mellow voice that really set a mood for late-night listening. There was a sadness in the delivery. ‘One of these things first’ seemed to catalogue the regrets at roads not taken and love lost. Despite the optimism in ‘Northern song’ and the almost jaunty ‘Bryter Layter’ it was not going to be brighter later for Nick. His depression got worse and he became more reclusive and moved back to his parent’s house where he died of his overdose. It was brighter much later for record sales and reputation when, years after his death, he was finally recognised for the huge talent he was.

His last offerings were the great melancholy album ‘Pink Moon’ recorded in two late night sessions – just a sparse guitar, piano and Nick.

‘Family Tree’ was an album of his early home recording which showed him developing his craft and the influences of Jackson C Frank, Bert Jansch and Bob Dylan.

If only he hadn’t fallen so far down. All he needed was a second grace.


229. Byrds – 5th Dimension

This was the Byrds third album and a bit of a milestone. It was 1966 and the world was changing. The old Beat and Pop music of the 1964/5 British Invasion was transmuting into the start of the Underground. LSD was in the air and music was beginning to change. The Byrds were starting to expand and experiment while at the same time had lost the principal song-writing force of Gene Clark who had been having increasing problems with flying. The experimental side is clearly heard on tracks like ‘2-4-2 Fox trot (The Lear Jet Song)’ and ‘Eight miles high’. Yet they still kept their previous jangly style on songs like ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ and ‘John Riley’ both adaptations of traditional songs. The version of ‘Hey Joe’ seemed extremely tame when compared to Jimi Hendrix’s scintillating slowed down heavy version.

The supposedly druggie songs got the Byrds into trouble with radio stations and both ‘Eight miles high’ and ‘5th Dimension’ were both banned despite the bands protestations that the first was about being high up in an aeroplane and the latter was about Einstein’s theory of relativity. No. It didn’t quite wash with me either.

It was a bit of a strange mish-mash of an album with the rather Poppy ‘My Spaceman’ (with the Byrds jumping on the psychedelic Sci-fi theme), the instrumental ‘Captain Soul’ and a rather typical Byrds’ song with all its close harmonies in ‘I see you’, but I loved it.


230. Devo – Q: Are we not men? A: We are Devo!

Straight out of Akron Ohio came the strangest New Wave band of all, complete with flower-pots on their heads and strange robotic quirkiness, weird rhythms and a staccato delivery and futuristic one-piece costumes. They looked weird, acted weird and sounded weird. But they also sounded interesting and completely different to anything else that had gone before they were good.

Seemingly Devo was short for De-Evolution. The concept was that instead of evolving the human race was de-evolving into mindless cretins who did as they were told and followed each other around without a thought in their heads – hence the disjointed music, jerky music and strange taste in clothing. It was also the basis for tracks like ‘Mongoloid’, ‘Sloppy (I saw my baby getting)’ and ‘Joko Homo’

The band were brilliant at selling themselves with great videos of people in straight-jackets jerking about and throwing themselves about.

Their version of the Stones ‘I can’t get no (Satisfaction)’ with its stilted delivery and complex arrangement captured the attention and they built up a big following.

The most interesting track of all was ‘Jocko Homo’ with its strange repetitive riff, weird organ sound and lyrics. Seemingly they are no longer men. They have reverted back to some strange unintelligent primate now known as Jocko Homo.

537 Essential Rock Albums – Pt. 1 The first 270: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781502787408: Books

Top Rock Album Books

Posted on by Opher

ere is a list of some of my top Rock Music books (all available in paperback or kindle and some in Hardback):

Phil Ochs – On Track: Every Album, Every Song

Phil Ochs was the ‘The Prince of Protest’ in the sixties. The only real rival to Bob Dylan, he was the archetypal Greenwich Village topical songwriter. Whether protesting the Vietnam War or campaigning for civil rights, workers’ rights and social justice, Phil was always there. Phil was the man to take up causes, write songs, play at rallies and even risk his life. His clear voice and sense of melody, linked with his incisive lyrics, created songs of beauty and power. As his career progressed, with lyrics and music becoming more highly poetic and sophisticated, he still never lost sight of his cause. Towards the end of the sixties he joined with the YIPPIES in protest against the Vietnam War. But idealism became Phil’s downfall. He was an idealist who could see no point in continuing if he was unable to make the world a better place. Phil lost all hope and descended into depression, which, along with excessive alcohol consumption, led to his suicide in 1976. Shortly before he took his life, Phil asked his brother if he thought anyone would listen to his songs in the future. Well here we are; sixty years later, still listening. The songs of Phil Ochs are every bit as relevant as they ever were and they are making the world a better place!

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

Captain Beefheart On Track: Every Album, Every SongCaptain Beefheart (Don Vliet) was undoubtedly the creator of the most bizarre and wonderful music. A child prodigy sculptor, he applied his artistic approach to music, creating ‘aural sculptures’. He befriended Frank Zappa in High School, collaborating on a teenage rock opera and sci-fi/fantasy film entitled Captain Beefheart vs The Grunt People. It was from this film that Don took his name. Of course, a magic character had to have a magic band. Captain Beefheart On Track: Every Album, Every Song : Opher Goodwin: Amazon.co.uk: Books
Roy Harper On Track: Every Album, Every SongRoy Harper must be one of Britain’s most undervalued rock musicians and songwriters. For over fifty years he has produced a series of innovative albums of consistently outstanding quality. He puts poetry and social commentary to music in a way that extends the boundaries of rock music. His 22 studio albums 16 live albums, made up of 250 songs, have created a unique body of work. Roy is a musician’s musician. Roy Harper: Every Album, Every Song (On Track): Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789521306: Books
In Search of Captain Beefheart – A Rock Music MemoirThe sixties raged. I was young, crazy, full of hormones and wanting to snatch life by the balls. There was a life out there for the grabbing and it had to be wrestled into submission. There was a society full of boring amoral crap and a life to be had in the face of the boring, comforting vision of slow death on offer. Rock music vented all that passion. This book is a memoir of a life spent immersed in Rock Music. In Search of Captain Beefheart: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781502820457: Books
Bob Dylan 1962 to 1970 On Track (Decades) Out this month!!  Bob Dylan is the magician who sprinkled poetic fairy dust on to the popular music of the early sixties and his songwriting sparked a revolution and changed rock music forever. The diminutive poet/singer claimed he was merely a ‘song and dance man’ but Dylan altered popular music from intellectually bereft teenage rebellion into a serious adult art form worthy of academic study. Bob Dylan 1962 to 1970 On Track (Decades) : Opher Goodwin: Amazon.co.uk: Books
Neil Young 1963 to 1970: Every Album, Every Song   Out this Autumn!!  In the realm of singer songwriters, few have been as influential as Neil Young, whose music has always been creative and relevant throughout six decades. Neil is a chameleon for whom boundaries of genres do not exist. He has delved into folk, country, r&b, rock ‘n’ roll, grunge, hard rock, electronic and pop and made them his own.Neil Young 1963 to 1970: Every Album, Every Song: Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789522983: Books
Nick Harper: The Wilderness Years    Nick speaks!  I first met Nick when he was a young child and over the years he has become a close friend. This book illuminates the genius that I feel is Nick Harper and is designed to accompany ‘The Wilderness Years’, a trilogy of vinyl albums. Nick talks candidly about many aspects of his music and career. I include, with Nick’s permission, the lyrics of all the songs featured in the trilogy. There are also many photos dating from his childhood to the present day.Nick Harper: The Wilderness Years: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9798815185630: Books
The Blues Muse – A novelI was in conversation with a good friend who, like me, is a Rock Music fanatic. We have both been everywhere, seen everyone and have had our lives hugely affected by music. However it is not who you have seen but what you failed to catch that you dwell on. I said to him that it would be brilliant if we had a time machine and were able to go back and see all the major events in Rock history; Robert Johnson play in the tavern in Greenwood, Elmore James in Chicago, Elvis Presley in the small theatres, The Beatles in Hamburg, Stones in Richmond, Doors in the Whiskey, Roy Harper at St Pancras Town Hall…………….. and a thousand more. Then I realised that I could. The Blues Muse: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781518621147: Books
Rock Routes – A History of Rock MusicThis charts the progress of Rock Music from its beginnings in Country Blues, Country& Western, R&B and Gospel through to its Post Punk period of 1980. It tells the tale of each genre and lists all the essential tracks. I was there at the beginning and I’m still there at the front! Keep on Rockin’!!Rock Routes: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781514873090: Books
Opher’s World Tributes to Rock Geniuses  If you like Rock Music you’ll love this! – 195 tributes to Rock Acts of Genius. – Each one a gem of a picture. You’ll find out what makes them so brilliant and a lot more besides! This is the writing of a true passionate obsessive. These are Ophers tributes to Rock geniuses – loving pen-pictures to all the great artists and bands that have graced the screens, airways, our ears, vinyl grooves and electronic digits – (well a lot of them anyway). These tributes make you thrill to all the reasons why they were so great.Opher’s World Tributes to Rock Geniuses: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781508631279: Books
537 Essential Rock Albums  – Pt. 1This is not your average run through an opinionated list of somebody’s favourite albums. This is much more than that. By the time you get to the end of the book you will be in no doubt as to the type of person who has written this and what their views are. This is Opher at his most extreme and outspoken. He’s been there at the front through thousands of shows, purchased tens of thousands of albums and listened to more music than seems possible to fit into a single life.537 Essential Rock Albums – Pt. 1 The first 270: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781502787408: Books

  Thank you for looking. Why not try one or two? And please leave a review! Cheers Opher

Excerpt from – 537 Essential Rock Albums – Pt. 1 The first 270 Paperback

Posted on by Opher

Having presented the first adult education ‘History of Rock Music’ course in Britain and written a number of books on the subject I set out to list my 100 essential Rock albums. I could not possibly narrow it down any more. With difficulty I pared it down to just 537 essential albums. Of course, they reflect my taste and dislikes and would change on a daily basis. I’ve probably missed out a few gems and included a few that I’ve gone off. Never mind. It was fun.

I wonder if you would agree? I wonder if you’ve heard of them all? I wonder what you would add?

Another excerpt:


231. Junior Kimbrough – Sad Days Lonely Nights

Junior Kimbrough is a highly influential Blues artist whose records came out in the 1990s on the wonderful Fat possum label. Fat possum specialised in recording blues from the North of Mississippi which became known as the North Country Blues. They gave it a good solid beat and amplified guitar sound that brought it right up to date.

Howlin’ Wolf came from this region and you can hear the rudiments of the North Country Blues sound in his 1950s recordings – other influences of note were Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker and Mississippi Fred McDowell.

The North Country Blues sound, as created by Fat Possum, was based around a repetitive guitar line which develops into a hypnotic rhythm. Junior Kimbrough was the leading exponent of this fluent style which had a huge influence on white bands such as The Black Keys. The North Mississippi Allstars originated from this region and grew up with Junior and RL Burnside and their large extended families. Sons of both Junior Kimbrough and RL Burnside often play together and with the North Mississippi Allstars so the legacy continues and hopefully will grow.

This album ‘Sad Days Lonely Nights’ is a great example of North Country Blues. The title track ‘Sad Days Lonely Nights’ opening and closing the album with different versions is the definitive example. The guitar line is augmented with slide guitar and a repetitive vocal that dovetails into the rhythm perfectly. The closing version laments the process of getting old.

Other tracks on the album, including the brilliant ‘Black Mattie’ and ‘Pull your clothes off’ follow the same vein. On live recordings you can hear how these rhythms provide a great basis for dancing.

Junior ran a club called ‘Junior’s Place’ in Chulahoma Mississippi and you can just imagine the place heaving with gyrating bodies in the cool of the Mississippi evenings as they grooved to Junior or RL’s rhythms.

I visited the place in 2007 and was dying to get to hear some authentic North Country Blues. Unfortunately the club had burnt down in 2000 and I was seven years too late. Ironically I came back to England and found T-Model Ford playing in York the next week and then Dave ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards playing in Sheffield and then shortly after the North Mississippi Allstars played York. There was more Blues in Northern England than in North Mississippi.


232. RL Burnside – Burnside on Burnside

RL Burnside was a stable mate of Junior Kimbrough and produced an equally exciting style of North Country Blues. He was not so restrained as Kimbrough and had a louder more in-your-face style with strident slide guitar. There was the same repetitive beat though.

Fat Possum applied the same production with a pounding beat and great amplification. You did not groove so much to RL Burnside’s sound as much as jump about. He was more strident and unrestrained.

This is clearly evident on this live recording as RL launches into a pounding version of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s ‘Shake ‘em on down’ and follows that up with ‘Skinny woman’. The pace doesn’t slow until we reach the solo ‘Walking Blues’ on slide guitar.

Kenny Brown was the slide guitarist in the band. He was white and RL always referred to him as ‘my adopted son’.

‘Jumper on the line’ was back to the pounding group sound and ‘Going down South’ was his clearly North Country style of repetitive guitar. The audience weren’t going anywhere. The album ended with ‘Snake drive’ which is a real tour de force.

Later RL Burnside was to team up with the John Spencer Blues Explosion for a punked up sound that can be heard on ‘Ass Pocket of Whiskey’ – another brilliant RL Burnside album.

This is how the blues should sound.


233. Captain Beefheart – Ice Cream for Crow

It is so good that at least Captain Beefheart went out on a high. Like the previous two albums (three if you count the unreleased ‘Bat Chain Puller’ album) this was a return to form and a great purple patch.

All the elements were there. There were the guitar riffs interweaving in intricate patterns, the vocal poetry, rich in imagery and thought provoking phrases, Don’s rich vocals and a batch of highly innovative tracks.

This was the last album. Don Van Vliet would record no more apart from a few poems delivered when he was obviously ill and not functioning well.

There will never be another band quite like this. This album is a fitting epitaph. It was brilliant. Tracks such as ‘Ice Cream for Crow’, ‘The past sure is tense’, ‘Skeleton makes good’, ‘The Witch Doctor life’, ‘The thousandth and tenth day of the Human Totem Pole’, ‘Skeleton makes good’ and ‘The Host, the Ghost, the most Holy-o’ were all classic Beefheart tracks.

I don’t know if it’s my imagination but looking back, and listening intently, it is just possible that I can detect the first signs of his illness. His voice, though just as rich and textured, could just have the first glimmers of a tremor. He was said to have died from complications from Multiple Sclerosis. There was talk of Parkinson’s disease. It was clear from his poetry readings on the DVD ‘Lo Yo-Yo Stuff’ that he was not in good shape. Perhaps he retired suddenly, while obviously still at the peak of his abilities, because he was starting to get symptoms or had received a diagnosis. Or he may have decided that a life as an artist was more lucrative and less demanding? We will never know.

I love his paintings but I sure do miss his music. The world is a lesser place for his passing.

I’ll play this album through again and thank him in my mind. His music brightened up my world.


234. Slim Harpo – Best of

Slim Harpo was the absolute Star of Louisiana’s Excello Swamp Blues label and the Excello label had gathered together all the Blues talent in the area – including Lightnin’ Slim, Lonesome Sundown and Lazy Lester. They were given a sprinkle of fairy dust in the production by JD Miller who created that renowned sound that set Louisiana apart from the Chicago sound. You could detect the influence of New Orleans.

Starting in 1957 Slim set about producing a string of great singles including ‘I’m a King Bee’, ‘Got Love if you Want It’, ‘Shake your hips’, ‘Scratch my back’ and ‘Raining in my heart’.

Many of these songs became staples of the British Beat groups of the early sixties and were covered by the Rolling Stones, Kinks, Yardbirds, Them and the Who. Though I doubt Slim ever made much money out of it all.

I went to visit his grave in Port Allen near Baton Rouge. He’d died of a heart attack at just forty six. It was tragic. His grave was tucked away in the back and heavily overgrown with great tree roots. Slim, his real name, James Moore should have been an enormous household name.

The Album – The Best of – contains all the important tracks and demonstrates the full scope of his output. It’s a great album.


235. Hank Williams – 40 greatest hits

Rock ‘n’ Roll did not just have its roots in Blues; it also originated from the Mississippi Country Music and Honky Tonk. Hank Williams was a prime force in this. Many people cite ‘Move it on over’ as a proto-rockabilly track.

That’s by the by. What is quite clear is that the man had a huge impact on Country Music, the Grand Old Opry and everything that came after in what was a brief career. He was dead by the age of twenty nine. Bob Dylan cited him as a major influence and his songs have been recorded by countless Rock acts.

A lot of Hank’s early work had a strong religious basis which was not surprising seeing as how this was the ‘Bible belt’ of America. Everything that happened was suffused with religion. Hank was also drinking heavily and even as a young man rapidly heading towards becoming an alcoholic.

Hank’s songs still resonate today ‘(I heard that) Lonesome whistle blow’, ‘Mansion on the hill’, ‘Lost Highway’, ‘You’re gonna change or I’m gonna leave’, ‘I’m so lonesome I could cry,’ ‘Long gone Lonesome Blues’, ‘I’m a long gone daddy’, ‘Lovesick Blues’, ‘Cold, cold heart’, ‘Honky Tonk Blues’, ‘Jambalaya (on the bayou)’, ‘You win again’, ‘Your cheating Heart’, ‘Take these chains from my heart’, ‘Dear John’, ‘Hey good looking’, ‘I just don’t like this kind of living’ and a host of others set a standard for Country music and paved the way for Rockabilly.

Towards the end of his life Hank’s drinking had got out of hand and he’d become unreliable. He was found dead in the back of the car being driven to a concert. The autopsy showed bleeding in the heart and neck and that he had recently been severely beaten up. The official verdict was heart failure. Ironically his last release was ‘I’ll never get out of this world alive’.


236. Coasters – The Coasters

The Coasters evolved out of the Robins. They were an R&B Vocal group that was not really Doo-Wop although there were many components of the style incorporated into their act.

They teamed up with the song-writers Leiber and Stoller, who were the big names in Rock ‘n’ Roll, to produce a string of great singles. Their speciality was to tell a little story in song. These included ‘Riot in cell block No. 9’ and ‘Smokey Joe’s café’.

Their most popular tracks were numbers like ‘Charlie Brown’ and ‘Yakety Yak’ but I much preferred their tougher sounding tracks with that great guitar sound that was picked up by a lot of the early Merseybeat and Beat groups including the Beatles. These included ‘Young blood’, ‘Searchin’’, ‘Poison Ivy’, ‘Gee Golly’, ‘I’m a hog for you baby’, ‘Three cool cats’, and ‘Little Egypt’.

The Coasters were covered by such luminaries as the Downliners Sect, Screaming Lord Sutch, the Hollies, Elvis Presley and Leon Russell.


237. Larry Williams – At his finest

Larry Williams was a hard living R&B singer who signed to Specialty label. In the wake of Little Richard’s sudden departure due to religion Larry was given the treatment and provided with the backing band and production with which to do the job – and do the job he did. Few people get close to Little Richard during his early period at Specialty but Esquirita and Larry Williams came mighty close.

Larry produced a string of great sounding Rock ‘n’ Roll classics including ‘Slow down’, ‘Bony Moronie’, ‘Short fat fanny’, ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzie’ ‘Bad boy’, ‘You bug me, baby’, ‘She said Yeah’ and ‘Good morning little schoolgirl’.

They were covered by the Beatles, Animals, Rolling Stones and John Lennon and just about every Mersey Band who ever performed.

Larry made a comeback in the seventies as a Funk singer with Johnny Guitar Watson in his band. They put on quite a show. However Larry’s lifestyle of drugs, booze, girls and gangsters caught up with him and he was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head at the age of forty four. I guess he just never learnt how to slow down!

537 Essential Rock Albums – Pt. 1 The first 270: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781502787408: Books

A rock music memoir – In Search of Captain Beefheart Hardcover/Paperback/Kindle

Posted on by Opher

Intro

The sixties raged. I was young, crazy, full of hormones and wanting to snatch life by the balls. There was a life out there for the grabbing and it had to be wrestled into submission. There was a society full of boring amoral crap and a life to be had in the face of the mind-numbing vision of slow death on offer.

Rock music vented all that passion.

This book is a memoir of a life spent immersed in Rock Music. I was born in 1949 and so lived through the whole gamut of Rock.

Rock music formed the background to momentous world events – the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, Iraq war, Watergate, the miners’ strike and Thatcher years, CND, the Green Movement, Mao and the Cultural Revolution, Women’s Liberation and the Cold War.

I see this as the Rock Era.

I was immersed in Rock music. It was fused into my personality. It informed me, transformed me and inspired me. My heroes were musicians. I am who I am because of them.

Without Rock Music I would not have the same sensibilities, optimism or ideals. They woke me up!

This tells that story.

In Search of Captain Beefheart: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9798346131236: Books

Extract: Bob Dylan 1962 to 1970 On Track 

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   He did not exactly run away from home as seek out an excuse to leave. No, he hadn’t already absconded from home seven times (at the age of 10, 12, 13, 15, 15 and a half, 17 and 18). No, he hadn’t spent six years with a travelling carnival. No, he hadn’t ridden the freights as a hobo from Gallop New Mexico to New Orleans. No, he wasn’t an orphan. It was all much less colourful than that. He’d been brought up in a Jewish family with a middle-class upbringing and led rather an uneventful life in a small town, but he was obsessed with music and determined to have a life in music. Apart from girls it was all he cared about.

Remarkably, as a young kid, he managed to secure a gig or three backing Bobby Vee on the piano when he’d appeared in the local area. That must have been a real buzz. In 1959, looking for a way of getting into the music business.

Using a course at Minnesota University as an excuse to leave Hibbing he gained the help of his mother (his relationship with his more conservative father being difficult). She arranged for him to go to Minnesota by organising with his cousin Chucky to put him up. Chucky sorted him a room in the frat house at the university where he could stay for free in the summer. Not exactly as exciting as riding freights and touring with carnivals, but it did set him on the road.

On arriving on the greyhound bus he immediately swapped his electric guitar for an acoustic Martin Double O so that he could set about playing in the local coffee houses. It was the start. What he did next was to seek out like-minded people, hang out with musicians, and have the time to develop, learn and evolve. 

The liberal arts course at the University of Minnesota was not scintillating enough. Bob focussed more on his music, staying up late to play, listen, drink and party. For the young Robert girls, dope and booze were more interesting than study and he soon dropped out.

Bob Dylan 1962 to 1970 On Track (Decades) : Opher Goodwin: Amazon.co.uk: Books

A quirky extract from the best Rock Albums of all time – 537 Essential Rock Albums – Pt. 1 The first 270 Kindle/Paperback

Posted on by Opher

What are the best Rock albums of all time?

Well that’s a pretty subjective choice. Tastes vary. I compiled what I considered to be (after a life spent playing music, writing about music and attending gigs) a definitive list of essential albums. This book contains what I believe are the best of the best. These need to be in everybody’s collection!

Of course, your views will differ, but that’s part of the fun, isn’t it? This might just entice you to check out a few names you might not have heard of. I have eclectic tastes but am very particular!

Another extract:

238. Esquirita – Believe me when I say Rock ‘n’ Roll is here to stay

Eskew Reeder was a wild piano playing R&B singer from the early fifties. He started off as a gospel singer and moved into R&B where he produced the stage personality of Esquirita which involved heavy make-up, wigs and a huge piled up pompadour. He specialised in pounding piano and whooping vocals to great upbeat numbers.

It was said that Little Richard ripped off his style, looks and act. That is hard to assess because Esquirita was only brought in to record following Little Richard’s conversion and departure. At the time everyone thought that Esquirita’s style was based on Little Richard.

Whatever the truth of that there is no denying that Esquirita created a number of rockin’ tracks in a similar style to Little Richard including ‘I’m getting plenty loving’, ‘Golly Golly, Annie Mae’, ‘Rockin’ the joint’, ‘I’m Battie over Hattie’, ‘Hey Miss Lucy’ and ‘Oh baby’. They had Little Richard’s characteristic whoops, copied by the Beatles, and the gospel tinged raucous vocals, pounding piano and wailing sax.

Unfortunately Esquirita never rose to great recognition and declined into obscurity as a car-park attendant before dying of AIDS in 1986.


239. Joan Baez – Farewell Angelina

Joan Baez always was a bit of an activist even causing a few rebellious moments in High School. She started into Folk Singing in the late 50s and released her first album in 1960.

Her early albums were all traditional folk songs and she rapidly rose to prominence as the first lady of Folk because of her crystal clear vocals. She was political back then but hadn’t yet found a way to express it. That came when she met the ragamuffin Bob Dylan fresh from his adventures ion the streets and in the coffee houses of New York. Joan was knocked out by the quality of his songs and took to promoting him, getting him to come up on stage and introducing him to a wider audience. She also took to doing covers of his songs and extolling their virtues. Joan’s music and level of activism leapt forward.

Joan performed with Bob at the great civil rights march on Washington when Martin Luther King gave his wondrous speech. She went on numerous other civil rights marches and meetings and became involved in the anti-war movement and environmental issues and human rights. She always wore her heart on her sleeve and incorporated the politics into her songs and stage act. There was no doubting where Joan stood on all those issues. She was a voice of humanity, liberty, freedom and the voice of reason and intelligence. Where-ever there is injustice in the world Joan has been willing to put her time, money and voice to opposing it. If only we had a million more Joan’s we would not have such a selfish, greedy, cruel, warmongering world!

It’s hard choosing a best Joan Baez album. Her early albums were a little lightweight, her success, like ‘The Night they drove old Dixie down’ are not her best and some of her albums are a bit patchy. My favourite songs are ‘Diamonds and Rust’ and the Phil Ochs cover ‘There but for fortune’ but in the end I plumped for the album ‘Farewell Angelina’.

I think Joan was always brilliant at interpreting Bob Dylan numbers and this was one of her early albums which featured a lot of Dylan, with a Guthrie, Donovan and Seeger as well as some traditional songs. Not only that but two of the Dylan songs ‘Farewell Angelina’ and ‘Daddy you been on my mind’ had not been released by Dylan. They really shone.

The album was well produced with Joan’s guitar and voice prominent and the lyrics shining through. The passion is there and the versions of ‘A Hard Rain’s a gonna fall’ and ‘It’s all over now baby blue’ are great. It was wonderful to hear the Woody Guthrie classic ‘Ranger’s command’ and the Pete Seeger anti-war song ‘Where have all the flowers gone’ (in German).

Oh how we need that voice of sanity now as the environment is being eaten by the machine, the animals murdered, the forests cut down and the wind and waters tainted! 56% of all our wild mammals destroyed in forty years! Sing up Joan!


240. Don & Dewey – Jungle hop

Still in the wake of Little Richard the Specialty label were hunting around for an act to fill the gap and Don & Dewey flew in from nowhere. They were a versatile powerhouse of a Rock/R&B duo who created a dynamic sound and yet were also capable of more delicate numbers like ‘Pink Champagne’ and ‘I’m leaving it all up to you’.

Their act was reminiscent of the later Soul combo Sam and Dave. I’m sure Sam & Dave were more than a little influenced by the sound and act created by Don and Dewey. It is certain that Don and Dewey were certainly Soul precursors. The idea of a dual vocal attack was quite revolutionary.

Specialty gave them a hard hitting Rock backing on numbers like ‘Justine’, ‘Jungle hop’, ‘Koko Jo’, ‘Mammer Jammer’, ‘Little Sally Walker’, ‘Just a little loving’ and ‘Miss Sue’. My one concern of the numbers they chose to produce was this emphasis on jungles and monkeys. It came over to me as a slightly racist stereotype and I wondered where that had come from.

They were never very successful despite the quality and originality of their act but a few of their numbers were successfully covered. The most notable of these was ‘Farmer John’ which was a big hit for the Premiers and was covered by the Searchers and Neil Young.


241. Ronettes – Da Doo Ron Ron

Back in the late fifties and early sixties black R&B groups were all the rage. They were mainly male and had basically come out of the Doo-Wop scene. The sound was dominated by the Coasters, Drifters, Miracles, Contours, Isley Brothers and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. In the early sixties it was the turn of the female vocal groups to make themselves heard.

The Ronettes were really a family group with the two sisters Veronica and Estelle joining up with their cousin Nedra. They started singing together as little girls round at their grandmother’s house. They went on to dance and sing at the famous Peppermint lounge’ and then signed to the Colpix label.

They developed a cool appearance with high heels, slinky dressed and hair piled up a mile high. They oozed class.

Phil Spector was developing his Philles Label Sound in New York and stole them from Colpix. Their first few numbers were actually ascribed to the Crystals.

The first single ‘Be my Baby’ was recorded with Sonny Bono and Cher (who later became Sonny & Cher) helping out on backing vocals. It went huge and not only established the group but also that special production sound that Phil Spector had been working on.

This was the time that the Beatles were breaking and they were greatly impressed with girl bands and had covered both the Marvellettes and Cookies on their first album. Other Mersey bands, such as the Searchers with Da-Doo Ron Ron’, were also successfully covering these female R&B groups. I can remember the success of a number of these groups breaking into the charts such as the Crystals, Supremes, Shirelles and Shangri-Las. While Merseybeat had blown away all the old guard it seemed to have created a space where new acts could slip in and the female vocal groups fitted the bill.

The Ronettes second single ‘Baby I love you’ was almost as successful.

Ronnie and the girls came over to do a tour of Britain and were introduced to the Beatles and Stones. Estelle dated George Harrison and Ronnie had a romantic fling with Keith Richards.

Ronnie later married Phil Spector and he kept her secluded in his mansion.


242. Crystals – Best of

The Crystals were another of Phil Spector’s Philles Label signings. For some reason Phil Spector seemed to have the view that all the girl bands were interchangeable and, much to the annoyance of his artists, brought recordings of one group out under another groups name. The Crystals had minor hits with songs like ‘Uptown’ and ‘He hit me (and it felt like a kiss)’ and then had a bigger hit with ‘He’s a rebel’ except it hadn’t been recorded by the Crystals. Phil had got Darlene Love and the Blossoms to record it and then released it under the Crystals name! – As was their follow up single ‘He’s sure the boy I love’. That was all very weird and unethical!

However it was the real Crystals who recorded ‘Da-Doo Ron Ron’ and set the ball rolling in England. I remember the B-side was an instrumental call ‘Git-it!’ The rumour was that the girls had played the instruments and that set everyone talking in my school. The idea of these girls actually playing instruments seemed strange. How times change! – It’s not so strange now! In hindsight I’m sure that they had nothing to do with that B-side at all.

‘Da-Doo Ron Ron’ was not only a big hit but also the start of that famous Phil Spector ‘Big Wall of Sound’ production technique that created such a stir.

They released another great song with ‘Then he kissed me’. After that it all went downhill. It was obvious that Phil was besotted with Ronnie and the Ronettes and they eventually split company.


243. Sun Rockabilly – Billy Lee Riley/Sonny Burgess

There are not many compilation albums in my essential album collection but this one is a must.

Sam Philips started as a scout searching for R&BN and Blues talent for the big Chicago labels like Chess and Vee-jay. After a while he thought he could do the job himself and set up his own studio to record the local R&B and Country & Western artists. He figured that there was no point discovering them and allowing someone else to get the benefit. The result was Sun Studios in Memphis.

I visited Sun Studio a couple of times to soak in the aura that stills hangs in the air and emanates out of those walls and that wavy ceiling. When I went they had the old microphones that Elvis used to record on, a pink Cadillac parked outside and an X on the floor marking where Elvis stood when he recorded ‘That’s alright Mama’ all those years before. We all had to pretend we were Elvis! You couldn’t help yourself!

Those studios recorded some of the greatest names in the music business – Howlin’ Wolf, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Rufus Thomas and Carl Perkins. It was awesome to stand in their and breathe their molecules.

Sun Rockabilly, which came out in two volumes, did not focus so much on the major stars so much as the plethora of other relatively unsung heroes. These included Sonny Burgess, Billy Lee Riley, Malcolm Yelvington, Warren Smith, Johnny Carroll, Ray Harris, and Hayden Thompson.

Many of my favourite Rockabilly tracks were from some of the unknowns such as Billy Lee Riley’s ‘Flying Saucer Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and ‘Red hot’ and Sonny Bugess’s ‘Itchy’ or Warren Smith’s ‘Uranium Rock’ and ‘Ubangi Stomp’ or Malcolm Yelvington’s ‘Rockin’ with my baby’ or Ray Harris’s ‘Come on little Mama’. They were wild and uninhibited.

A lot of these tracks are on the Sun Compilation.

A lot of these guys ended up with a bit of a chip on their shoulder because they reckoned Sam put all his energies and best material into Elvis, Jerry Lee and Carl and neglected their careers. He probably did. But at least we have these raw rockabilly recordings. They sure as hell knock the legs off all that Pop stuff Elvis did in his latter career.


244. Little Walter – Little Walter

Little Walter Jacobs was a master Harp player. His exploits with the harmonica have been compared to what Jimi Hendrix did for the guitar. He was the harp player with the Muddy Waters band and appears on most of his big numbers for Chess.

He recorded in his own right for Checker and had some huge hits with numbers like ‘My Babe’ and the instrumental ‘Juke’. Other great tracks include ‘Mean old world’, ‘Boom boom, out go the lights’ and ‘Tell me mama’. He had a very smooth singing voice that proved very popular. His songs were covered by lots of Blues bands from the Yardbirds to Dr Feelgood.

Those were violent times in Chicago and Little Walter was an alcoholic on a short fuse; he was always getting in fights and was supposedly extremely mean and ornery. One such altercation in 1967 led to him dying later that night of a thrombosis. He did tour Europe but he was one of the guys that I regrettably never got to see perform. I loved his records though.


245. Billy Boy Arnold – I wish you would

The first Billy Boy Arnold numbers I heard were recorded by the Yardbirds on their early singles with Eric Clapton ‘I Wish you would’ and ‘I ain’t got you’. I loved those singles and it wasn’t til later when I heard Billy Boy’s versions that I found anything better. Billy Boy’s versions were richer.

He started off playing with Bo Diddley before signing to Vee-jay and doing his own stuff. He recorded some great songs including ‘She fooled me’, ‘Rockinitis’ and ‘You got me wrong’.

When the Blues dropped out of popularity in the States Billy Boy went into driving buses and then as a parole officer

537 Essential Rock Albums – Pt. 1 The first 270 eBook : Goodwin, Opher: Amazon.co.uk: Books

PS – I got slagged off for putting a few ‘best of’ in amongst them. I remain defiant. Sometimes a ‘best of’ contains all the tracks you need and the album works!

Last Chance to order an Opher Goodwin book on Rock Music! Next day delivery!

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Looking for a last-minute Christmas present? Or just wanting to treat yourself to a great read?

Nick Harper: The Wilderness Years: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781678850661: Books

I first met Nick when he was a young child and over the years he has become a close friend.This book illuminates the genius that I feel is Nick Harper and is designed to accompany ‘The Wilderness Years’, a trilogy of vinyl albums. Nick talks candidly about many aspects of his music and career. I include, with Nick’s permission, the lyrics of all the songs featured in the trilogy.There are also many photos dating from his childhood to the present day.

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

Roy Harper must be one of Britain s most undervalued rock musicians and songwriters. For over fifty years he has produced a series of innovative albums of consistently outstanding quality. He puts poetry and social commentary to music in a way that extends the boundaries of rock music. His 22 studio albums 16 live albums, made up of 250 songs, have created a unique body of work. Roy is a musician s musician. He is lauded by the likes of Dave Gilmour, Ian Anderson, Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend, Joanna Newsom, Fleet Foxes and Kate Bush. Who else could boast that he has had Keith Moon, Jimmy Page, Dave Gilmour, John Paul Jones, Ronnie Lane, Chris Spedding, Bill Bruford and Steve Broughton in his backing band? Notable albums include Stormcock, HQ and Bullinamingvase. Opher Goodwin, Roy s friend and a fan, guides the reader through every album and song, providing insight into the recording of the songs as well the times in which they were recorded. As his loyal and often fanatical fans will attest, Roy has produced a series of epic songs and he remains a raging, uncompromising individual.

In Search of Captain Beefheart: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9798346131236: Books

The sixties raged. I was young, crazy, full of hormones and wanting to snatch life by the balls. There was a life out there for the grabbing and it had to be wrestled into submission. There was a society full of boring amoral crap and a life to be had in the face of the boring, comforting vision of slow death on offer. Rock music vented all that passion. This book is a memoir of a life spent immersed in Rock Music. I was born in 1949 and so lived through the whole gamut of Rock. Rock music formed the background to momentous world events – the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, Iraq war, Watergate, the miners’ strike and Thatcher years, CND, the Green Movement, Mao and the Cultural Revolution, Women’s Liberation and the Cold War. I see this as the Rock Era. I was immersed in Rock music. It was fused into my personality. It informed me, transformed me and inspired me. My heroes were musicians. I am who I am because of them. Without Rock Music I would not have the same sensibilities, optimism or ideals. They woke me up! This tells that story.

Neil Young 1963 to 1970: Every Album, Every Song (On Track…): Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789522983: Books

In the realm of singer songwriters, few have been as influential as Neil Young, whose music has always been creative and relevant throughout six decades. Neil is a chameleon for whom boundaries of genres do not exist. He has delved into folk, country, r&b, rock ‘n’ roll, grunge, hard rock, electronic and pop and made them his own. But the sixties were his launch pad. This book follows his music through that seminal period when he played with The Squires, Mynah Birds, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Crazy Horse and The Stray Gators. During this seminal period, Young wrote or co-wrote some of his greatest songs, including ‘I Am A Child’, ‘Southern Man’, ‘Helpless’ and – most importantly – ‘Ohio’. It is the story of how one of the most seminal artists of the last fifty years learned his trade – every band, every twist and turn and every track.

The Beatles: White Album – Rock Classics: Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789523331: Books

Arguably the greatest album by the best rock band ever, The Beatles – also known as The White Album – proved to be a watershed recording. Coming as it did, after manager Brian Epstein’s death; after the disillusionment with the Maharishi; in the middle of the break-up of long-term relationships, and following on from the psychedelic masterpiece Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it heralded changes of style and the marked the start of the falling apart of the previously tight-knit group.The album’s diversity and creation are analysed and its background and dynamics revealed. This extraordinary double album reflects a remarkable time and period. As the sixties came to an end, so too did the band. They mirrored the times they lived in. The album also followed on from their first highly criticised TV flop Magical Mystery Tour, the success of the first global satellite triumph of ‘All You Need Is Love’, and the highly ambitious Apple business venture. George Martin ducked out and ructions broke out between band members. But, among all the pressures and stress they found time to write and record an incredible array of songs; songs that synergised into a spectacularly successful album with a fascinating story. This is the tale of every track and every facet of this remarkable record.

Captain Beefheart On Track: Every Album, Every Song : Opher Goodwin: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Captain Beefheart (Don Vliet) was undoubtedly the creator of the most bizarre and wonderful music. A child prodigy sculptor, he applied his artistic approach to music, creating ‘aural sculptures’. He befriended Frank Zappa in High School, collaborating on a teenage rock opera and sci-fi/fantasy film entitled Captain Beefheart vs The Grunt People. It was from this film that Don took his name. Of course, a magic character had to have a magic band. The Magic Band started out as a blues band in the mid-sixties but soon, with lysergic propulsion, surreal poetry, free-form jazz, polyrhythms and African beats, they were at the forefront of West Coast Acid Rock. A series of hugely inventive albums, including the infamous Trout Mask Replica, established them as the foremost avant-garde rock band with legendary live performances. The author was there for their first concert at Middle Earth and that night changed his life. Few Bands are as influential. The Beatles, The Fall, PJ Harvey and Tom Waits all pay homage, While The Magic Band have inspired a myriad of tribute bands and created a mythology like no other. This book sets the history of the band in context, analysing every track and interpreting the music with its poetic content. It is essential reading for diehard fans and the Beefheart-curious alike.

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

Phil Ochs was the ‘The Prince of Protest’ in the sixties. The only real rival to Bob Dylan, he was the archetypal Greenwich Village topical songwriter. Whether protesting the Vietnam War or campaigning for civil rights, workers’ rights and social justice, Phil was always there. Phil was the man to take up causes, write songs, play at rallies and even risk his life. His clear voice and sense of melody, linked with his incisive lyrics, created songs of beauty and power. As his career progressed, with lyrics and music becoming more highly poetic and sophisticated, he still never lost sight of his cause. Towards the end of the sixties he joined with the YIPPIES in protest against the Vietnam War. But idealism became Phil’s downfall. He was an idealist who could see no point in continuing if he was unable to make the world a better place. Phil lost all hope and descended into depression, which, along with excessive alcohol consumption, led to his suicide in 1976. Shortly before he took his life, Phil asked his brother if he thought anyone would listen to his songs in the future. Well here we are; sixty years later, still listening. The songs of Phil Ochs are every bit as relevant as they ever were and they are making the world a better place!

Bob Dylan 1962 to 1970 On Track (Decades) : Opher Goodwin: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Bob Dylan is the magician who sprinkled poetic fairy dust on to the popular music of the early sixties and his songwriting sparked a revolution and changed rock music forever. The diminutive poet/singer claimed he was merely a ‘song and dance man’ but Dylan altered popular music from intellectually bereft teenage rebellion into a serious adult art form worthy of academic study. Dylan headed for the sixties as a Little Richard rock ‘n’ roller but soon turned acoustic folkie and after absorbing the music and words of Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson and Brecht, he became a vagabond social troubadour. Basking in Rimbaud he transformed into a poetic symbolist before later immersing himself in lysergic beat surrealism. The chameleon of Dylan in the sixties was bewildering to his followers. His first album was a raw debut folk/blues. Then followed three acoustic poetic gems, three ground-breaking surreal ,electric wonders and four that were more mundane and country-tinged. But by the mid-sixties he was a strung-out polka-dotted rock star. He crashed (physically and mentally) before leaving the sixties as a clean-cut country crooner. Dylan had mutated more times than a trilobite. Dylan’s ground-breaking music changed the world and his amazing story is revealed by exploring the eleven albums that he released between 1962 and 1970.

Bob Dylan Bringing It All Back Home: Rock Classics: Amazon.co.uk: Opher Goodwin: 9781789523140: Books

One of the most pivotal albums in the evolution of rock music, few other recordings have had more impact than the 1965 Bob Dylan classic, Bringing It All Back Home. In the mid-sixties, rock music was about to explode into psychedelia, prog and jazz fusion. Meanwhile, Bob Dylan had made an enormous impact on songwriting with his first four all-acoustic albums. He had created a different way of writing songs, by embracing themes such as civil rights, anti-war protests and social issues, which lifted the subject matter from teenage love songs to serious poetic works of art, rife with symbolism. But with Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan shot his lyrics through with surreal hard-edged beat poetry while the music contained both acoustic songs and blues-based loud electric rock. It alienated him from many of his peers in the folk community but nonetheless contains classic cuts like ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ ‘Maggie’s Farm’ and ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’. Dylan had opened the door to experimentation. The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, The Doors, Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Cream all listened and responded. In its wake, Songwriting rose to new heights with few boundaries. After Bringing It All Back Home, music was forever changed.

The Blues Muse: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781518621147: Books

I was in conversation with a good friend who, like me, is a Rock Music fanatic. We have both been everywhere, seen everyone and have had our lives hugely affected by music. However it is not who you have seen but what you failed to catch that you dwell on. I said to him that it would be brilliant if we had a time machine and were able to go back and see all the major events in Rock history; Robert Johnson play in the tavern in Greenwood, Elmore James in Chicago, Elvis Presley in the small theatres, The Beatles in Hamburg, Stones in Richmond, Doors in the Whiskey, Roy Harper at St Pancras Town Hall…………….. and a thousand more. Then I realised that I could. I knew it all, had seen much of it first hand, and had the imagination to fill in the gaps. All I needed was a character who worked his way through it, was witness to it, part of it and lived it; someone to tell the story and paint the picture. I invented my ‘man with no name’ and made a novel out of the History of Rock Music. This is that novel. It starts in Tutwiler Mississippi in 1903 and finishes in Kingston upon Hull in 1980. On this journey you will breathe the air, taste the sweat and join all the major performers as they create the music that rocked the world and changed history.

Rock Routes: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781514873090: Books

This charts the progress of Rock Music from its beginnings in Country Blues, Country& Western, R&B and Gospel through to its Post Punk period of 1980. It tells the tale of each genre and lists all the essential tracks. I was there at the beginning and I’m still there at the front! Keep on Rockin’!!

Opher’s World Tributes to Rock Geniuses: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781508631279: Books

If you like Rock Music you’ll love this! – 195 tributes to Rock Acts of Genius. – Each one a gem of a picture. You’ll find out what makes them so brilliant and a lot more besides! This is the writing of a true passionate obsessive. These are Ophers tributes to Rock geniuses – loving pen-pictures to all the great artists and bands that have graced the screens, airways, our ears, vinyl grooves and electronic digits – (well a lot of them anyway). These tributes make you thrill to all the reasons why they were so great. There will be many in here that you are already familiar with and adore but I bet there are also a number that you’ve never heard of and would love to get to know. Whether you know them or you don’t this book will give you a fresh insight from a very different slant that will make you think about them again. I guarantee this will widen your horizons, give you new eyes and make you chuckle and nod your head. These are the ‘Greats’ – lest we forget.

537 Essential Rock Albums – Pt. 1 The first 270: Amazon.co.uk: Goodwin, Opher: 9781502787408: Books

This is not your average run through an opinionated list of somebody’s favourite albums. This is much more than that. By the time you get to the end of the book you will be in no doubt as to the type of person who has written this and what their views are. This is Opher at his most extreme and outspoken. He’s been there at the front through thousands of shows, purchased tens of thousands of albums and listened to more music than seems possible to fit into a single life. He’s run courses on Rock Music, written books and been there in the studio with many of the greats. But more important than that is that he has lived the life. He was there living it. You’ll find a lot of albums and artists in here that you will never have heard of and they are all brilliant. You’ll find out a lot of information about them that you did not know; but more than that you will hear someone who was there telling you why they were so important to him and giving his view on the issues around and in that music. There is a depth, a political and social perspective and a personal involvement. The passion suffuses this like TNT through dynamite. Whether you agree with the choices or not you’ll love the journey.