2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of Island Records by Chris Blackwell in Kingston, Jamaica. After relocating to London in the early 60's, the label became reknowned as the home of cutting edge progressive rock - launching the careers of artists as diverse as Jethro Tull, Bob Marley, and U2. The occasion has been marked this past month by a documentary on the BBC, and the latest issue of MOJO magazine.
One of the key players in the early days of Island Records was American music and film producer Joe Boyd, who I had the opportunity to speak with back in 2006 upon the publication of his book "White Bicycles - Making Music in the 1960s". Boyd is the former owner of the Witchseason production company and was instrumental in launching the careers of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and The Incredible String Band.
He first became involved in music promoting blues artists while a student at Harvard University, and in 1964 made his first visit to Britain, returning the following year to establish an overseas office of Elektra Records. He was eventually to settle in London.
He became best-known for his work with British folk and folk rock artists, including the Incredible String Band, Martin Carthy, Nick Drake, John Martyn, Fairport Convention and Richard Thompson. Some of these were produced by his own production company, Witchseason. He also co-founded London's UFO Club and worked with UFO regulars Pink Floyd (producing their first single Arnold Layne) and the Soft Machine.
Boyd returned to the States in the 1970s, assembling footage for the eponymous film documentary on Jimi Hendrix (1973) and producing records by Maria Muldaur and Kate and Anna McGarrigle among others. He went on to found his own Hannibal label (now a part of Rykodisc) which released records by the likes of Richard Thompson and various discs of so-called world music. Boyd also produced R.E.M.'s third album Fables of the Reconstruction (1985), and records by Billy Bragg and 10,000 Maniacs.
He was Executive Producer for the 1988 feature film Scandal, starring John Hurt and Bridget Fonda about Britain's Profumo Scandal. He left Hannibal/Ryko in 2001 to concentrate on writing, and this week we'll be replaying my conversation with him.
Welcome to Fluxedo Junction. This week's episode features an interview with 60's British rock legend Terry Reid. Terry had enjoyed a long career in the music industry, getting his start at the age of 15 as a member of The Jaywalkers. His first solo release was produced by the legendary Micky Most, and in 1969 Terry secured an opening slot on the Rolling Stone's tour of the U.S. Terry is widely known for passing up on offers to front two of the most famous hard-rock bands of the 70's - Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. However, he has distinguished himself as a solo artist of enduring passion and perseverance - continuing to tour and record to this day. I spoke with him on April 10th, 2009 in advance of his performance at Mirelle's in Westbury, NY. You can check Terry out on the web at www.terryreid.net.
This is an interview I did with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin back in 1999, upon the release of his solo album "Zooma". This was an interview conducted for a print article that appeared in Good Times magazine, which I then edited into a radio show that never aired.
I've always thought John Paul Jones was under rated, and he's had an interesting and diverse career as a producer, arranger, recording artist and touring musician since leaving Led Zeppelin. As it turns out, he's also a really nice guy. I got to meet him at SXSW at around the time of this interview and he was just a gracious in person.
My guest this week was singer/songwriter Caroline Doctorow. She has released four records on the Narrow Lane Records label. Other credits include the performance of a song on the PBS series, Freedom - The History of Us narrated by Katie Couric, which aired on public television in 2003. Her compositions appear on many compilation disks including, The Best of The Eclectic Café and on an Ars Nova Productions release, featuring independent folk performers.
Caroline's latest CD release, Carmel Valley Ride, is a concept record about the 60's folk duo, Richard and Mimi Fariña. This recording has received outstanding reviews. "This CD takes the listener on a fascinating journey, with most of the songs in some way relating to the Fariñas... Carmel Valley Ride spins from the disk with a driving fury and conviction", Sing Out Magazine, 2004. "A brainy, heartfelt tribute... #15 Best CDs of 2003", Eric Alterman MSNBC. "An uplifting mix of sublime originals and covers that's positively enchanting... Best 20 Discs of 2003", Jim Musser of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.
Today Caroline tours the country performing with her band, "The Folk Dogs". She is the daughter of author, E.L. Doctorow.
My guest this week was recording artist Richard X. Heyman.
“Think back on it all” - goes the opening line of Kenyon Walls, the first track on Richard X. Heyman’s new debut-album-that-never-was Actual Sighs, and an apt way to begin a musical journey through Richard’s past, present and future. One might cheekily observe that it was twenty years ago today (or rather, this year) – 1986 – that Richard X. Heyman released his first indie disc, Actual Size, a collection of six of his finest songs recorded on an 8-track Tascam machine in a home studio, the same one on which Richard would subsequently record his classic album Living Room!!
Living Room!! took on a life of its own after Richard was described as “an undiscovered treasure” in a Rolling Stone review of the album, leading to his signing with Cypress/A&M, who re-released Living Room!! in ‘89, and then with Sire/Warner Bros., who released his second album Hey Man! in ‘90, which Stereo Review cited as Album of the Month. Cornerstone came out in ‘98, garnering stacks of praise from the music press, a featured interview in Goldmine magazine, as well as another Album of the Month in Stereo Review. 2001's Heyman, Hoosier & Herman, with Peter Noone crooning the track Hoosier, had Rollingstone.com rave “hooks galore and ebullient melodies, and lyrics revealing the emotional power that pop can pack into its brevity”. Richard’s fourth full-length CD, Basic Glee was called “one of the finest records of 2002” (Listener Magazine), his “most tuneful and soulful set yet” (Stereo Review Sound & Vision), “impossibly catchy” (The Illinois Times). Said The Chicago Tribune: “An exemplary tunesmith – Heyman creates something fresh from his influences rather than parroting them.” Richard’s fifth, Rightovers, was released to the RXH fan club only in ‘03, and via the internet to the general public in ‘04. Said the All Music Guide: “at his best, Heyman’s level of craft actually approaches that of the Fab Four…a listen to Heyman’s fifth album, Rightovers, offers plenty of evidence that he is truly one of the past, present and future masters of smart power pop…Rightovers is just as strong and every bit as enjoyable as one of Heyman’s ‘real’ albums…anyone who loves a great melody and a killer hook will fall in love with this disc.”
A prolific songwriter, Richard has a backlog of songs that have never gotten their moment in the sun – not through any dearth of confidence in their quality, but more due to lack of space, time, money, etc. There are pages of lyrics in Richard’s files for which (alas) Richard can no longer recall the tunes and cabinets full of cassettes in the Heyman household – “work tapes” – with snippets of melody which have never been turned into full-fledged songs. But then there are the ones that have lived on in both Richard’s and wife/bassist Nancy’s musical memories, many of them written in the Actual Size era, that have survived the test of time -- the ones whose moment has finally come. Richard felt it was time to give these early works -- plus the original six tracks from Actual Size --another shot at the limelight. The royal RXH treatment. Altogether, they comprise Actual Sighs, Richard’s would-have-been-first album.
So here you have it, the resuscitated, rejuvenated Actual Size, now rechristened Actual Sighs, boasting twenty songs – re-recordings of the original six plus fourteen more newly recorded tunes. Produced by Richard and engineered by Nancy, the tracks were mixed by Ed Stasium (an old New Jersey friend of Richard’s who gained international recognition for his work with such luminaries as The Ramones, The Smithereens, Living Colour and Marshall Crenshaw) and long-time Heyman engineer Tony Lewis, who’s mixed Richard’s previous three releases.
Here’s a nutshell bio: Richard started banging on things when he was five, got a full drum kit when he was seven, and was astounding audiences with his chops by the time he was twelve. He picked up guitar and piano in his teens, which was also when original songs started popping into his head. Richard went solo in his twenties, although he’s found time to lend his amazing drumming skills to such great artists as Brian Wilson, Link Wray, Jonathan Richman and the Left Banke’s Michael Brown, composer of Walk Away Renee. He also played keyboards for the legendary Ben E. King. His influences are as varied as Bernstein to The Beatles, Richard Rodgers to the Rascals, and the Blues to the Byrds. On the live front, Richard leads his own band on guitar and keyboards
This week, my guest was legendary British singer Judy Dyble. Judy originally took the limelight as the original vocalist with Fairport Convention from 1967 to 1968. The group recorded their first album with her, their repertoire at the time consisting of both American singer-songwriter works plus originals.
After Fairport Convention Dyble performed with Giles, Giles and Fripp, a group that would later become King Crimson. Later she was one half of the duo Trader Horne[1] with Jackie McAuley, releasing one album, Morning Way in 1969, and two highly prized collectible vinyl singles. She also guested on The Incredible String Band's 1968 album The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (on "The Minotaur’s Song") and on G.F. Fitz-Gerald's 1970 album Mouseproof.
From 1973 onwards, Judy left the music business to work with her husband and later as a librarian, but has recently begun writing and performing again, and released a new album, to great acclaim Enchanted Garden in 2004, followed by Spindle and The Whorl in 2006. Occasional live appearances have seen her appear at Cropredy, with what was virtually the original Fairport line up in 2007.
Judy released a single on March 3rd 2008 with northern indie/folk band The Conspirators through maverick London-based record label Transcend Media Group. The single was a double A-side featuring Judy's vocals on a remake of Fairport Convention's song "One Sure Thing" and The Conspirators song "Take Me To Your Leader". Critical praise was lavished on this new recording, and the single reached No.7 in the official uk indie singles chart, spending 3 weeks in the top 10.
The promotion for this single saw Judy make a couple of very rare live appearances, at the Harrogate International Conference Centre, and at an instore live gig at HMV's superstore, in Leeds city centre, on 3rd March 2008.
Judy is currently working on a number of high profile projects. She is thought to be providing choral style vocals for shock rock band of the moment Belisha_band on their forthcoming epic single Symphony In White, which is also mooted to be featuring other notable names, and is slated for release in Autumn 2008.
In addition to this, Judy's next album (released early 2009) is currently being recorded, with Tim Bowness (No-Man) and Alistair Murphy, and again will feature special guest appearances.
Judy will be playing a headline slot, at the Llama festival in North Devon, In June 2008
It's all about offering an alternative to the standard performance ideals. Something different in approach to music. Linear rather than part-oriented. It is stream of conscience. It is about creating ART on the spot. It is music performed with a mix of traditional instruments (guitars, percussion, woodwinds...whatever happens to be around) and non-traditional instruments (turntables, live short wave feeds, infrared, stacks of samples, synthesizers, pineapple slices, and the sounds of Babylon). But it is not limited to just avant-garde musical explorations. Fluxedo Junction is a convergence point of many different minds and attitudes. Experimental Theater, Visual Art, Zen Dancing, Bent Literary Components. Life not representing art, but life AS art. They are about liberating themselves from the tried, true and accepted forms of art– be it sculpture, print, theater, music, whatever… Flux – A state of change where only change itself is constant. Junction – A point where one or more roads, or ideas, converge. Fluxedo – Wearing your art like fine clothes (or are YOU the clothes to the art?)
2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of Island Records by Chris Blackwell in Kingston, Jamaica. After relocating to London in the early 60's, the label became reknowned as the home of cutting edge progressive rock - launching the careers of artists as diverse as Jethro Tull, Bob Marley, and U2. The occasion has been marked this past month by a documentary on the BBC, and the latest issue of MOJO magazine.
Welcome to Fluxedo Junction. This week's episode features an interview with 60's British rock legend Terry Reid. Terry had enjoyed a long career in the music industry, getting his start at the age of 15 as a member of The Jaywalkers. His first solo release was produced by the legendary Micky Most, and in 1969 Terry secured an opening slot on the Rolling Stone's tour of the U.S. Terry is widely known for passing up on offers to front two of the most famous hard-rock bands of the 70's - Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. However, he has distinguished himself as a solo artist of enduring passion and perseverance - continuing to tour and record to this day. I spoke with him on April 10th, 2009 in advance of his performance at Mirelle's in Westbury, NY. You can check Terry out on the web at 
This is an interview I did with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin back in 1999, upon the release of his solo album "Zooma". This was an interview conducted for a print article that appeared in Good Times magazine, which I then edited into a radio show that never aired.
My guest this week was singer/songwriter Caroline Doctorow. She has released four records on the Narrow Lane Records label. Other credits include the performance of a song on the PBS series, Freedom - The History of Us narrated by Katie Couric, which aired on public television in 2003. Her compositions appear on many compilation disks including, The Best of The Eclectic Café and on an Ars Nova Productions release, featuring independent folk performers.
My guest this week was recording artist Richard X. Heyman. 
This week, my guest was legendary British singer Judy Dyble. Judy originally took the limelight as the original vocalist with Fairport Convention from 1967 to 1968. The group recorded their first album with her, their repertoire at the time consisting of both American singer-songwriter works plus originals.
