As previously mentioned the idea for my Friday Music Spot was to recreate the practise whereby every Friday afternoon at work we’d get in the mood for the weekend by cranking up the volume and playing a selection of favourite tracks.
As this week I have found myself back in the studio - though not exactly as it was - and as this maybe my swan song (my last gig) - I thought one of my old boss’s favourites would be a good choice. "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" he’d shout and on it would go… well he was the boss, after all !

The original song is early Crosby, Stills & Nash from 1969, but this video is Live from the New Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles in 1982 > Stephen Stills is quite extraordinary and those harmonies …. amazing !

DVD of the concert: info at http://www.allmusic.com/album/daylight-again-video-dvd-mw0000934217

Welcome to another instalment in the ongoing series entitled "How did I get to this?"
It starts with me seeing a newspaper ad for Joe Bonamassa and a FREE album download at www.jbonamassa.com  > I checked it out and a 12 track selection of his music, spanning some 15 years came my way for free. (Still available as of today).
One of the tracks called 'One of These Days' was credited to Joe Bonamassa and Alvin Lee! It's his 2007 take of the Ten Years After song, written by Alvin Lee, that opens their 1971 LP 'A Space in Time' - which I have. And which I probably haven't played in over 40 years !
It has turned out to be one of life's little RE-discoveries. It's Ten Years After's 6th studio album and less 'heavy' than previous releases with acoustic and psychedelic elements mixing it with their blues rock. Among the many great tracks is "I'd Love To Change The World". Early 70s sentiment that still remains relevant today & sounds like Led Zeppelin meets Lynyrd Skynyrd… 

Having started with 'One of These Days' here's the link to a TYA nine-minute 'live' version from 1975 > complete with harmonica and organ solos and a mic-stand guitar solo ! > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSgr0bip7xg
And the 2007 Joe Bonamassa cover version > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juKqZivVNRs

Wild Flowers, Holyport Village, SL6 

A driveway, running a hundred meters and leading to a farm had a 3 meter strip bordering a field of wheat, full of wild flowers. Stunning ! 

Shared on Facebook earlier this week was this version of the Guns N' Roses song 'Sweet Child o' mine'. Slightly renamed to express the crossover influence and marriage of Eastern music meeting Western Rock. It features Carnatic guitar maestro Baiju Dharmajan and the vocals of Girish Pradhan. 
The videos demonstrating his slide guitar technique are great to watch as is my pick for this week's track. Composed by Baiju for his 2012 album called 'The Crossover', this is 'Philia'. Love the video (of his Southern Indian home) and the fantastic LP cover illustration (below).

Don't miss the 'Sweet Indian Child o' Mine' video as it really does display the Indian sound of the music. As does this amazing version of 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' - a famous Indian tune composed nearly 30 years ago to promote national integration and unity in diversity.

(Summer transfer news) Bill's Beer Buys

Rather overpriced 
English striker

Kernel Table Beer
Well crafted, full of flavour and certainly worth trying. 
Different outlets > approx £2.50 a 33cl bottle.

NEW Back Four

Various breweries and styles, available from Aldi at 99p a 33cl bottle. The American IPA and Red Rye a recommended pairing.

Replacement reliable Midfielder
and Foreign Star

(Left): Wild Bill's IPA (appropriately) > tastes like Lidl's Green Gecko use to taste. Available in Aldi at £1.19 in a half litre bottle.


(Right): Alhambra Litre bottle of lager, great value at €1 – but you'll have to go to Southern Spain to buy it at this price.

On the bench

Substitute (D'OH !)
Buy at Lidl for £1.25 a 50cl can

Great story in last weekend's Times all about its editorial by William Rees-Mogg, the paper's editor, who 50 years ago had unexpectedly come to the aid of the "strutting bad-boy of rock 'n' roll – Mike Jagger.
The article is not available in full (without registration) - but these links give an outline @ BBC and the National Post.
The Times story re-told the situation, the party, the trail and the night in jail while reminded us that "in 1967 the Rolling Stones and their lead singer were seen by many as a genuine threat to society, civilisation and morality, a sexual rebel with his thick-lipped mouthings and corybantic contortions". Indeed ?
Rees-Mogg had argued that "Mr Jagger was not treated exactly the same as anyone else". And the article closed with: "Up until that moment, most of the media had painted the Rolling Stones, and Jagger in particular, in diabolical colours. The Times reflected the changing times, by showing sympathy for the Devil".
My brother was always the big Rolling Stones fan when I was growing up. He had the singles and LP's. I would discover these great 'B' sides of singles that were very different to their well known hits and almost provide a kind of commentary to the story surrounding the drug trail and conviction in 1967. Songs like "Play with Fire", "As Tears Go By" and this "The Singer Not The Song". This was the flip-side of the UK release "Get Off Of My Cloud" > in the US it was changed to "Sad Day".
The video shows a very young Mick Jagger, who now is Sir Michael Philip Jagger but still that singer. It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, but I like it.

This is classic though - same song on YouTube - but the maker of the video has put the 45 on the wrong speed !  We've all been there….

Nearly a year ago Robert Johnson with 'Wish Upon A Star' was the Friday STAR TRACK. I said the song's riff reminded me of something but couldn't recall what it was. (You'll probably need to refresh your memory at this point > http://billblogs2.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/its-1978-and-im-in-wine-bar-in.html )
Well, a few weeks back I came across this track from roughly three years previous to that Robert Johnson's release. It's that guitar riff !
During the mid 70s the radio played a lot of Nils Lofgren, mostly 'live' material that wasn't available on an official album release, only as a limited promotional record called "Back It Up !! - Nils Lofgren Live - An Authorized Bootleg".
I've found on YouTube two slightly different versions. One appears to be the original take from this bootleg LP - the other is from the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1975, re-broadcast on BBC4 in a Guitar Heroes compilation show. Both worth a look… and there's that riff

The sound on the OGWT recording is not as good, but the track is longer…

Glastonbury Festival Weekend

Five days of contemporary performing arts that takes place near Pilton, Somerset. In addition to contemporary music, the festival hosts dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret, and other arts. 

But it wasn't like this in the beginning - the very first festival in September 1970, Michael Eavis set up the Pilton Pop, Blues and Folk Festival on his farm, charging £1 to get in. Tyrannosaurus Rex headline the event after the Kinks pull out. Here's a fascinating insight from the BBC in 2015 called 6 surprising facts about the first-ever Glastonbury. Click this link: and enjoy the videos too.
This year's headliners are numerous and the BBC has lots of coverage over the weekend on it's Two and Four channels, during the evening. 
In the autumn of 1970 Tyrannosaurus Rex were on the verge of changing their name and their image. No more sitting on the floor playing wistful acoustic tunes, that I had witnessed in May of that year. Their album 'A Beard of Stars' had been released in March and indicated a move to electrics, epitomized by 'Elemental Child' and this transitional track which bridges the old and the new Marc Bolan. 'Lofty Skies'.

As per last week, here's another song that recently came on the radio - I'd definitely heard it before but that's all I knew.
No help from the DJ, so I had to search for it. Fortunately it repeats two words a lot and the chorus is quite distinctive and finding the track wasn't too difficult. Nice spilt-screen video, for Semisonic and 'Closing Time' 

This has featured in many films and tv shows and apparently is played at the end of home games by the American National League (Central) baseball team the Milwaukee Brewers > and why not indeed ? Cheers !

This week and next week's 'Star Tracks' are loosely linked by the radio.
It's now summertime (supposedly) and I'm driving the car listening to the radio and hearing tracks I like but not hearing who or what they are. Not having a digital radio in the car that tells you the song that's playing means I often don't know what I'm listening too and the DJ invariably doesn't make an announcement as the song ends. (And Shazaming on your phone whilst driving isn't an option I'm likely to chance).
Last Sunday a track came on and I thought I recognised the band - Snow Patrol ? - but didn't know the song title. So the next day I searched for it on YouTube ….

In September of last year BBC4 had a weekend's television hosted by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones > http://billblogs2.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/last-weekend-was-lost-weekend.html  Of the many items screened that caught my eye one was a video of a high speed ride through the near deserted streets of Paris, dodging dust cart, pigeons and people. At the time I searched for this without any luck and then the other day I found this: 

… and while searching for that Snow Patrol track I'd heard I came across that Paris video accompanying their song 'Open Your Eyes'. Strap yourself in and enjoy the trip… but kept you eyes 'open'.

More on the radio next week >