Friday, December 10, 2021

The Friday Flash

The Rolling Stones played a brief tribute concert to their fallen bandmate Charlie Watts on Monday, December 6th, at a small London club (Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club to be exact, which was Charlie’s favorite.)  The event was hosted by Charlie’s granddaughter Charlotte and other members of the Watts family.

The venue was packed with 200 invited guests, among them former Stones bassist Bill Wyman (who did not perform with the band.)  Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, all of whom attended with their wives, were joined on stage by No Filter tour drummer Steve Jordan and played two R&B standards (because, as you know, they are essentially just a blues cover band) … “Shame Shame Shame” and “Down The Road Apiece.”  (kk)

Joe Walsh will be hosting his fifth annual VetsAid Concert on December 18th.  ZZ Top and Ringo Starr have already been announced as performers … and more special guests are expected.  Funds raised go directly to charities supporting veterans and their families and have raised over $1.5 million so far.

Tickets for this year's VetsAid live streaming show are on sale now and prices start at just $15. Viewers will be able to watch the premiere on Dec. 18 plus re-airings through Dec. 25.  (kk)

It is being reported that Adele will earn TWO MILLION DOLLARS PER SHOW for her four-month residency in Las Vegas at the Caesar’s Palace Colosseum.  The shows kick off in January and run thru April … and the ticket prices are just as astounding … ranging from just under $3000 per ticket to upwards of $6000 per ticket.  (You know, even if I had a great night at the tables and won $25,000, I don’t think I’d spend HALF of it to see Adele!!!  At that point, it might make more sense to plan a trip to London to see the ABBA Avatars ... and at least get a really cool vacation out of it!!!)  kk

Here’s a pretty cool Eddie Van Halen keepsake …


You can preorder it now thru Amazon.com  (kk)


So, Kent, I never played with Legos when I was a kid.  I only stepped on them in the dark late at night in my bare feet on the way to the refrigerator when my small sons had left theirs out after THEY had played with them! YOWWW!!!  

Still, I find the creative designs the Lego Folks come up with rather fascinating! The “Beatles Rooftop Concert” that Clark Besh shared with us in Forgotten Hits yesterday is one of them!  Pretty interesting!



And THESE weren’t around when I was a Young Dad!



Padded slippers to create a barrier between your feet and the sharp-edged Legos left strewn around the floor!


Can you imagine?!  

Thanx, Clark!  

< Buell >


The official Cat Stevens-centric soundtrack to the cult film favorite “Harold And Maude” is FINALLY getting a commercial release here in The States on February 11th.  (I LOVE this movie … can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve seen it … and finally having ALL of the Cat Stevens songs in one place is a dream come true!  And, they’ll be interspersed with dialog from the film as well!!!)  kk

TRACK LIST:

 1. Don't Be Shy

 2. Dialogue 1 (I Go to Funerals)

 3. On The Road to Find Out

 4. I Wish, I Wish

 5. Tchaikovsky's Concerto No.1 in B

 6. Dialogue 2 (How Many Suicides)

 7. Marching Band / Dialogue 3 (Harold Meets Maude)

 8. Miles From Nowhere

 9. Tea for the Tillerman 

10. I Think I See the Light

11. Dialogue 4 (Sunflower)

12. Where Do the Children Play?

13. If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out - Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort

14. Strauss' Blue Danube

15. Dialogue 5 (Somersaults)

16. If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out

17. Dialogue 6 (Harold Loves Maude) 

18. Trouble 

19.  If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (ending)

That A&M Documentary we told you about is airing now on Epix … check your local listings or talk to your cable provider to catch this mega-interesting series!  (kk)


And the soundtrack to last year’s “Summer Of Soul” concert documentary will be available soon, too.  Focusing more on what we saw on screen, the track list represents what the film makers have offered up so far …

But the hope remains that we might get to see more from each of the musical acts that appeared at this unique festival.

In the meantime, you can enjoy:

Summer of Soul (...or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Legacy, 2022)

(Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

* digital bonus track

 1. Uptown - The Chambers Brothers (a)

 2. Why I Sing the Blues - B.B. King (e)

 3. Don't Cha Hear Me Callin' to Ya - The 5th Dimension (a)

 4. Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures) - The 5th Dimension (a) 

 5. My Girl - David Ruffin (c)

 6. Oh Happy Day - The Edwin Hawkins Singers (a) 

 7. It's Been a Change - The Staple Singers (b)

 8. Precious Lord Take My Hand - The Operation Breadbasket Orchestra & Choir feat. Mahalia Jackson & Mavis Staples (b)

 9. I Heard It Through the Grapevine - Gladys Knight & The Pips (c) 

10. Watermelon Man - Mongo Santamaria (d)

11. Together - Ray Barretto (d)

12. Hold On, I'm Comin' - Herbie Mann (d)

13. Sing a Simple Song - Sly & The Family Stone (a)

14. Everyday People - Sly & The Family Stone (a)

15. Africa - Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach (a) *

16. Backlash Blues - Nina Simone (e)

17. Are You Ready - Nina Simone (e)

All tracks recorded live at the Harlem Cultural Festival, Mount Morris Park, Harlem, NY on 6/29/1969 (a), 7/13/1969 (b), 7/20/1969 (c), 7/27/1969 (d) and 8/17/1969 (e)

Last Man Standing: Suge Knight and the Murders of Biggie & Tupac Coming to Starz This Month ~

Latest Nick Broomfield Documentary Explores New Evidence and Witnesses Indicating LAPD Played a Key Role



U.S. audiences will be able to view Last Man Standing: Suge Knight and the Murders of Biggie & Tupac this month on the Starz channel. The film is a new Nick Broomfield- directed documentary that is a companion to his earlier (2002) Tupac & Biggie and premieres December 23. The film includes newly sourced footage taken at the time of the rap icons’ killings as well as evidence that suggests direct involvement of elements of the Los Angeles Police Department in the murder of Biggie Smalls.  The documentary, produced by Compton resident Pam Brooks who had earlier worked with Broomfield on his Tales of The Grim Sleeper (2014), is a compelling look at gang culture as embodied and advanced by Death Row Records kingpin Suge Knight.

Broomfield stated, “After finishing Biggie & Tupac in 2002, I became increasingly troubled by the treatment of LAPD detective Russell Poole, who had come up with evidence that LAPD officers were involved in the hit on Biggie Smalls.” Poole, who suffered a massive heart attack in 2015 and died during a meeting at LA Sheriff’s Department headquarters, claimed that Knight, affiliated with the Mob Piru’s faction of the Bloods street gang, had LAPD officers in his employ and that they played a direct role in the murder of Notorious B.I.G. Broomfield explains, “It was a tragic end that Russell didn’t deserve. However, a few years later people stated talking more freely after Suge Knight was sentenced.” 

 

Knight is serving a 28-year sentence for manslaughter in connection with the hit and run death of music executive Terry Carter in the parking lot of a Compton fast food restaurant. That location was used in the filming of Straight Outta Compton, the 2015 biopic that tells the story of the rise of N.W.A, the legendary Compton-based rap group. Knight’s personal saga. from early childhood through his current incarceration is detailed in Last Man Standing. He will not be eligible for parole until 2034. Broomfield told The Independent, “Now that Suge Knight’s behind bars, a lot of people are coming forward that were, frankly, frightened of getting killed before.” 

 

Last Man Standing: Suge Knight and the Murders of Biggie & Tupac offers eyewitness accounts of the rise of Death Row Records and Knight’s consolidation of power. Tupac Shakur had been convicted of a sex abuse charge in connection with a gang rape that took place in New York in 1993 and was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. It was Suge Knight who facilitated his release from New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility and his move from Interscope to Death Row Records. Thereafter, Shakur was totally loyal to Knight and the Mob Piru Bloods. 

 

The film presents a chilling account of the events surrounding the murders of both Tupac in Las Vegas and Biggie in Los Angeles almost exactly six months later, and the role Suge Knight played in those events.  The film was released earlier this year in Britain where it was critically lauded.  MOJO called it “gripping viewing and one of Broomfield’s best” while Uncut characterized it as a “terrifying portrait of the maelstrom Knight sent whirling and the lives it consumed.” 

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In an interview with The Independent, producer Pam Brooks explored the film’s underlying theme.  “It’s about closure, basically,” she stated.  “It was crucial how Suge Knight crewed up with the LAPD and that just shows you how lowlife they are for a little bit of change. They make good money, but it just shows you how it’s about control. It’s all about control.”

 

Nick Broomfield is a prolific filmmaker, having directed more than three dozen documentaries dating back to the 1970s. He won BAFTA’s Flaherty Documentary Award for Soldier Girls (1981), was the recipient of the Amsterdam Film Festival’s Amnesty International - DOEN Award for Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer(2003) and took home a FOCAL Award for Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love (2019). Aileen was the basis for the film Monster that earned Charlize Theron the 2004 Academy Award for Best Actress. Other of Broomfield’s films that have been nominated for or received major awards include, among others, Battle for Haditha (2007), Ghosts (2006) and Kurt & Courtney (1998) and Whitney Can I Be Me (2017).

Frank B. sent us this newspaper clipping about a push for a street name change …

New Orleans urged to switch street name from Confederate to music legend | New Orleans | The Guardian

kk …

I'm Glad They're Not Naming It After His "MOTHER-IN-LAW."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/04/new-orleans-street-allen-toussaint-robert-e-lee 

FB


Tom Cuddy sent us this link to an article about the new Illinois Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, recapping the events from earlier this past summer.

Hopefully, next year will be a better and safer year to finally check out these facilities.

https://patch.com/illinois/joliet/joliets-new-il-rock-roll-museum-inducting-1st-hall-fame

We’ve been saluting 1971 all year long in Forgotten Hits (and will pay tribute to 1972 next year with weekly surveys from around the country … assuming we can ever find a Vermont chart, that is!!!) …

So we wanted to share this Best Classic Bands 1971 Highlights piece, which takes you thru the whole year, listing all of the key events (including a couple that WE even missed!!!)  50 Years Ago: 1971 in Rock Music | Best Classic Bands

And Ultimate Classic Rock has chosen their Top 40 All-Time Favorite Singer / Songwriter Albums … and it’s quite a list.  (How many of these do you have in YOUR collection?)

Top 40 Singer-Songwriter Albums (ultimateclassicrock.com)

In the December, 2021 issue of “Shindig!” magazine Grahame Bent raves about “Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child” in a 4-star review.  “The fact that this spectacularly illustrated ‘Voodoo Child’ comes from the combined pens of Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik undeniably brings a certain cache.  Written primarily from an American viewpoint, aside from its fantastic visuals, the use of colour and eye-catching layouts, one of the book’s strongest points is the sheer volume of interviewees and sources quoted in the text, which effectively voices the narrative.”

Stephen Peeples interviews the Kubernik brothers on their new “Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child” book (which I SHOULD be starting any day now, Harvey!!!)
Jimi Hendrix 'Voodoo Child' Bio: Kubernik Brothers Q&A - Stephen K. Peeples (stephenkpeeples.com)

Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik do an excellent job of telling the legendary tale of the late great Jimi Hendrix. Through utilizing important figures in Hendrix’s life, the inclusion of rare photography and interviews, and the Kubernik’s own mastery of rock history this book is truly visceral experience.

--Laura Bialobos 

 


The Kubernik Brothers are being interviewed TODAY (December 10th) on KPFK-FM at 5 pm Eastern … more details below …

Tune in Friday, December 10th, at 2 pm Pacific Standard Time to KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles in the Southern California Region.  Co-Authors Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik will be the guest interview subjects, discussing their latest offering, (just published), “Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child” (Sterling Publishing) with “Pacifica Performance Showcase” Host Donna Walker.  The program can also be heard nationally and globally on the internet at https://www.kpfk.org.  The Kubernik brothers will be heard in the 2:00 - 3:00 pm time slot, Pacific Standard Time. Their appearance will be part of the station's fund drive.  

https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/pacifica-performance-showcase

(Simulcast at kpfk.org and available for “Play” or “Download” via kpfk.org “Audio Archives” for approx. two months after the show airs.  1st half-hour is archived under “Arts in Review” and second half-hour is archived under “Pacifica Performance Showcase.”)

And here’s a link to Harvey’s own piece on the infamous Rolling Stones / Altamont incident …

The Rolling Stones' US Tour Gimme Shelter Documentary Interviews (musicconnection.com)

And don't miss your chance to celebrate this weekend ...


From Chuck Buell, keeping his eye out for these, perhaps lesser known, Special Frantic Final End-of-the-Year Holidays for us! 

 

He points out that ...

 

This Sunday, December 12th, is “National Ding-a-Ling” Day!

 

A Day established to encourage us all to reconnect during this Holiday Season with people we once talked to often but not so much anymore and people we haven’t heard from in a while. It might be an old Forgotten Hitter, classmate, co-worker, old lover (you’re on your own with that one!) or a neighbor from years ago who would love to hear the “Ding-a-Ling” of a phone call from you! You know, "Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling!!

 

But, hey, OK!  Because THIS is what you thought it stood for, here, against my better judgement, is Chuck Berry!

 

Chuck Berry 


(Sheesh!)

CB ( which stands for the “Other” Chuck B! )


Watch for a brand new WEEKEND COMMENTS PAGE tomorrow ...

In Forgotten Hits!

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