Rolling in the deep (Adele)

I am fascinated, obsessed, forever interested in the Woodstock festival of 1969.

It all began with the trailer before a movie I watched it 1970 when I was 13. I have no idea what the actual movie was that I saw because all I could think about was the incredible new world of long hair, hippie chicks, nudity and freaky music that I had just had a tantalisin glimpse of. BTW - said trailer is no where to be found on youtube - just a corporate sell for the Blu Ray edition. Sad.

I've recently read a couple of books on the festival, got Santana's full set on CD and bought the 4 DVD director's cut edition. Woodstock definitely has legs. I for one, can't get enough.

Speaking of youtube - it has some cool clips from performances that haven't made the triple vinyl soundtrack, the Woodstock II double vinyl soundtrack, the director's cut DVD or the compilation soundtrack CDs that have appeared over the years.

Scooter and the big man bust this city in half (Scooter)

1975, aged 18, in the sixth form at Mount Albert Grammar - I'm driving in my (mum's) car, I turn on the radio, I was riding alone through the drizzling rain, trying to look so hard, and a transistor blasts, I turn around the corner and things got real quiet real fast.

It's a wild song playing and I'm transfixed - turns out to be Born To Run by someone called Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Aarrrgghhhh it's so good. The lyrics capture me, the driving drums get my body moving, the mid song count down hooks me, and the sax sound - always the sax sound. The Big Man on saxophone.

Clarence - you had a hold on me right from the start, a grip so tight I couldn't tear it apart.

Sadly the Big Man is no more than a plaintive saophone wail now, maybe that  one at the end of Jungleland. Who'll ease the sadness, who's gonna quiet the pain?

The answer is, of course, Clarence and the Boss will quiet the pain - with their song with the funky break.

It started here:


And it ends where it begins. Thanks Clarence and so long, sometimes you just gotta walk on, walk on.

Burn me in hell but as long as it pays (10CC)

Okay - so the final post in my album cover series and it's the second, best of the rest and last one on the arty farty theme. Next post - the Big Man remembered.

Aren't these covers awesome??!!

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

King Crimson - In The Court of the Crimson King

Frank Zappa - The Grand Wazoo



My series ends with the first cover that really zapped me between the eyeballs.

 Love and peace - Wozza

I close my eyes and remember the days of a blood red sky and a purple haze (Starship)

The final theme centres on the arty farty world of the album cover. In practice this is a bit of a mixture of comic book art, drawings, and paintings used to sell an image - Commander Cody as a Flash Gordon type character, Conan the Barbarian style warriors used on the southern boogie band Molly Hatchet and so on.

I have many favourites in this category - here are the first 10.

By the way - the Big Man's passing will be marked in the appropriate way in a post to come soon. In the meantime suffice to say the world got a little less flamboyent and a little less exciting as a result of his passing.

Circled so fine like a velvet palace (Hot Tuna)

Today's album cover theme centres on the striking typography used to register a name into a buyer's consciousness.

I feel like letting my freak flag fly (CSNY)

Leading on from that weird Placibo cover - Sleeping With Ghosts - the next cover theme features similar freakily surreal worlds.

Pink Floyd - Division Bell

ELP - Brain Salad Surgery

Led Zeppelin - 4th album

Pink Floyd - Meddle

Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy

Paul McCartney