Billed as the "11th National Jazz, Blues, Folk & Rock Festival" - Reading. Now simply known as the 'Reading Festival' this was my first such event in August 1972.

See this poster of the line-up and the £3.25 paid for the entire weekend*. 

"Arriving with 3 mates from London on Friday evening having been searched (for drugs) at Reading Station, a delay that caused me to miss the start of the Genesis set. Hurrying into the arena to the strains of 'The Musical Box', having nearly as hurriedly pitched the tent for the weekend, I did catch the end of their performance followed by that of Mungo Jerry and Curved Air. 

Having consulted various websites for further memory joggers I must confess a lot of the weekend and the music is a bit of a blur. Focus were good, as were The Faces. I recall John Peel as one of the compares but aside from Status Quo I remember little about Sunday beyond the Ten Years After set being quite late on and us leaving to catch a train back to London before if was to late."

PS: Diplomacy stops me revealing the names of my fellow festival goers, who would edge me out of the end of the tent on both nights, due to the limited space at our disposal. Here lies a possible reason for my memory loss, being down to a lack of sleep.

 

Some music then from The Faces setlist (link) - as the band played various tracks before ending with Rod Stewart's recent solos successes. Their third number of the night was the excellent 'Stay with Me' > such a good instrumental intro

While looking for this track I came across another version from the Foo Fighters with Chad Smith guesting on drums and Taylor Hawkins on vocals (click here for that). 

➤ NB: Billed as the 11th but actually the 12th (see more on that here)

* This years Reading Festival will cost you £259 for a weekend ticket.

  

Staying in the 60s and the California sun (see the previous two posts) for some 'Sunshine Pop' >

Often the 'B' side of a great single can be much more than just the backside of a hit 45 ! 

This The Mamas & the Papas track is a wonderful example of a hidden gem. So playing DJ let's flip the 1966 single 'I Saw Her Again' (follow up to 'Monday, Monday') and give 'Even If I Could' a spin. 

Nice video of the Mamas and Papas too. 

A new occasional music spot - remembering places around the World

This is something new. The idea is simple, I remember a place and then an associated piece of music to accompany it.

Starting today with a place in San Francisco in 1978. At the end of an East > West 'Road Trip' we met up with a group of Long Islanders living the Summer in the City. That first evening of friendship, the first of many down the years, we went to the cinema at 10pm, to see 'Foul Play' with Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Dudley Moore. The cinema entrance fee was $4. Brilliant movie and all filmed in San Francisco for added interest while afterwards we went to a bar on Van Ness street, for coffee and carrot cake, called 'Tommy's Joynt' (still there I understand). 

My journal entry records the following: "paraphernalia bar with the most colossal selection of beers from all over the world". 

Back to the movie for the rather cheesy title music, which plays over the opening drive along California Highway 1 - a road we had only travelled along the day before.

Barry Manilow sings 'Ready to Take a Chance Again' - enjoy the drive  

         

  

Always happy to receive suggestions from listeners. This came up recently and is well worth sharing with everyone. A band of musicians from Brazil playing Beatles songs in the style of the 'blues'. Certainly a novel idea !

They call themselves the Blues Beatles. You'll know the famous song title, but this version of 'Yesterday' is almost unrecognisable. 

Marcos Viana: vocals; Lancaster Ferreira: guitar; Flavio Naves: keyboards; Fred Barley: drums; Bruno Falcao: bass; & Denilson Martins on sax. 

There's a 2016 album called "Get Back to the Blues" and a more recent "Let It Blues". Good stuff 

   

In July 1962 the communications satellite 'Telstar' was launched. (If you have been following the latest 'James Webb Space Telescope' news story you will no doubt appreciate the degree of space exploration that has taken place in the 60 years since).

In 1962 'Telstar' was a big deal when on July 23rd the first transatlantic television pictures and satellite phone calls took place. Repairs were needed in early 1963 and then irreparable transistor failure occurred and it went out of service on 21st February. Telstar 2 was a replacement, launched from Cape Canaveral in May 1963 and remained active for two years.  

Such a big deal that record producer and songwriter Joe Meek composed and recorded a tune called 'Telstar' on 22nd July, performed by The Tornados and released on August 17. 

It was recorded in Meek's studio in a small flat above a shop in the Holloway Road, North London. (Years later a lawsuit resulted in no royalties being paid, due to plagiarism, successfully filed by French composer Jean Ledrut). 

The Tornados' single was a UK No.1 in October and then provided the first US No.1 by a British group on December 22nd 1962. 

Both original 'Telstar' satellites still orbit the Earth !

 

This coming Monday, 18th July is Mandela Day.   

Cue the concert to commemorate Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday Live in London's Hyde Park, from 27th June, 2008. 

Eddie Grant deliveries a great version of 'Gimme Hope Jo'Anna' assisted by a full cast of colourful singers and musicians along with South African singer Kurt Darren.  

 

A song of hope from the late 1980s. Banned in South Africa when it was released, but widely played. Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990. 

  

As explained in the video introduction by accordionist Martin Green, Kris Drever wrote this after visiting the unique, but very flat, landscape of Norfolk. This came to mind as we drove there last week, so here's that piece of music. 

Guitarist Kris and fiddle player Aidan O'Rourke are both Scottish, while Martin grew up in Cambridgeshire, England, an area that would present a big contrast to their homeland.

Experience 'Horizontigo' by Lau - my favourite and one of the best folk groups of the last 16 years. 

   

So what has Jon Anderson been doing in recent years as Yes go about their way without him ? 

His most recent offering is a record called '1000 Hands'. As it implies a lot of hands came together over a number of years to bring this album to fruition. 500 artists might not be an exaggeration [click on: wikipedia>'1000 Hands' > see origins - for the full lowdown]. It's a huge assortment of musical styles and different artists.  

Jon Anderson has compiled a Zoom window style video for this track 'First Born Leaders' - with a definite calypso / gospel feel for a real joyful song. 

Still singing 'sweetly', still dreaming his dreams...

 

And to a NEW release, 2021 album called 'The Quest' and a track about lockdown 'The Living Island'  >  [this fantastic video appears almost 3D] 

 

This line-up has vocals from Jon Davison [another sound alike] with Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Alan White and it becomes the first Yes LP without any original band members after the death of Chris Squire [he's replaced by Billy Sherwood - also of previous Yes's and Asia]. 

From a 2008-11 line up [including Chris Squire, Alan White, Steve Howe, Oliver Wakeman and Canadian Benoit David - sounding remarkably like Jon Anderson] :-
'From a Page' was a mini-album, it contained four previously unreleased tracks originally recorded by that 2008–2011 line-up of the group and intended for release on an album at the time, but ultimately they weren't, until more recently. 

This track is called 'To the Moment' - nice video

Oliver Wakeman (son of Rick) - search for 'Divine Harmonies ~ Music For The Soul' - check it out > [another nice video]