inthepink
ThankstoTomPinnockfora
brilliantcoverstoryonPinkFloyd
[Juneissue]. I’velongheldthe
opinionthattheperiodbetween
Syd’sdepartureandthe
heavyweightrunbeginningwith
TheDarkSideOfTheMoongaverise
totheband’sbest,mostinvolving
music.Theirfilmsoundtracks,
particularly,areterrific– andwith
hindsightseema particularly
usefulopportunityforthebandto
findtheirwayforwardwithouttheir
oldsinger.Apartfromanything,it
feelsa comparativelyfreshperiodto
cover.TheSydyearsaresoslim,
therecan’tbeanythinglefttosay
aboutthem;whiletheTheDark
SideOfTheMoon,WishYouWere
HereandTheWallerahasbeen
exhaustivelydocumented.No,
yourcoverstoryfeltjustabout
right:shininga lightona relatively
overlookedperiodintheband’s
history.Thanks– andkeepup the
goodwork!
DrBruceYardley,Leeds
Weappreciatethekindwords,
Bruce.Thiswasthefirsttimewe’d
puttheFloydonthecoverfor
almostthreeyears,soit’sgreatto
readyourenthusiasticresponse
toTom’spiece.And– I agree
wholeheartedly– it’stheir best
period,isn’tit?(MB)“summertime”news
Iwonderhowmanyreaders
wouldhavebeenintriguedatthe
mentionintheLennoncoverstory
[Aprilissue] oftherecordingof
“Summertime”inAkustik.This
referstoa recordingsessionin
Hamburgin 1960 whereLuWalters
sang“Summertime”and“Fever”
backedbyJohn,Paul,George,
RingoandStuartSutcliffe.If this
werethecase,theresulting 78
acetatewouldberightuptherewith
themosthighlyvaluedrecordsin
theworld,vyingwithElvis’svanity
recordsforhismumatSunand
evenTheQuarrymen’s“InSpiteOf
AllTheDanger”/“That’llBeThe
Day”.Butit’srarelyreferenced
orwrittenabout.It’stimethis
sessionwasthesubjectofa proper
investigativearticletosortout
themythsfromthefacts– overto
you,Uncut.
RaphaelCallaghan,viaemail
Ah,yes– “Summertime”certainly
doesfeellikethemissingpiece
intheearlyFabs story. Watch
this space...allhailthedon
Inoticethatyouparticularlylove
singer-songwriters,withnumerous
articles(andcovers)devotedtothe
obvious“greatones.”Youknow:
Dylan,LeonardCohen,NeilYoung,
TomWaitsandothersonewouldbe
sorelypressedtoarguewith.I love
thoseguystoo,butI’dliketosuggest
a namethatnevergetsbroughtup
anymorebutwhowasa forceand
innovatorinhistime– Donovan.
From 1966 to 1970 Donovanwasa
superstar,onewhoneverreceived
enoughcreditfromthecognoscenti.
ListentothoseearlyLPs,starting
withhis(supposedly)“folkiephase”
through“MellowYellow”,andyou’ll
hearelementsofblues(“Sunny
GoodgeStreet”,“YoungGirlBlues”)
andjazz(“Preachin’Love”,“Sunny
SouthKensington”).Donovanwas
alsointhevanguardofusing
Easterninstruments.Hisdouble
“conceptalbum”A GiftFromA
FlowerToA Gardenwaslikewisea
landmark.Isn’tit time,particularly
inlightofhis 2012 inductionintothe
Rock& RollHallOfFame,todevote
pagestohiscontributionstothe’60s
musicscene?Thanksforhearingme
out,andforputtingouttheabsolute
bestmusicmagazine.Keepupthe
good,makethatgreat,work.
GaryHarnerviaemail
Hey,Gary.Funny,we’veneverdone
a greatdealonDonovaninUncut;
maybe it’s time we remedied that.orderinthecourt
NewOrder’sMovementdivides
criticsandfansalike.Everyoneis
entitledtotheiropinions,buttheir
firstalbumseemslikea stepinto
thewilderness.Thegreyghostof
JoyDivisionhangsoverthisrecord
insongslike“ICB”and“Senses”.
But8/10seemsa bittoogenerous
[Mayissue] formyliking– thoughit
bringsmetotheconclusionthatit’s
noweithera fascinatingmistakeor
a misunderstoodgem.Personally
speaking,I thinkit’sanalbum
madebya goodgroupstuckin
twominds.
PTurberville,Derbyshire
Thanksforwritingaboutthis.I
agreethatMovementis a difficult
album.Musically,it’snotasgood
asPower,Corruption& Liesor
Low-Life;nevertheless,it’sa
criticaltransitionrecord.The
8/10score,I think,reflectedthe
deluxeeditionpackageasa whole- ratherthanspecifically the
Movementalbum.
straitsahead
Ihavebeena fanofMarkKnopfler
[Februaryissue] sinceI heard
“SultansOfSwing”.Overtheyears,
I haveenjoyedhissongsabout
peoplewhoarestrugglingwithlife
aswellashiscombinationwith
someBritishsessionsplayersforthe
folkinfluence.Guitarplayershave
always featured in my listening,goingbackto 1964 whenlisteningto
theTop 10 inNewZealand.I have
comebacktoUncutrecentlytocatch
upwithpastplayersandnewones.
I amenjoyingyourwholemagazine.
GlennHooper,Melbourne,
Australia
Thanksforthekindwords,Ken.feastofsteven
Reallyenjoyedyourrecentarticle
onHumblePie[Aprilissue], being
a longtimefanofSteveMarriottand
SmallFaces.I wasalsofortunate
enoughtohaveseenbothSmall
FacesandHumblePielivein
Birmingham.I stillremember
seeingMarriottonstageattheIce
RinkdoingsongsfromOgdens’Nut
GoneFlakewitha brasssection.I
wentwitha schoolfriendmod.I still
havemycopyofOgdens’withthe
circularsleeve.Thankyouforan
informativearticleona finesinger
anda writerofmanyexcellent,
timelessclassics.
DavidHunt,Birmingham
Ah,a greatmemory,I’msure.Glad
youenjoyedthepiece,David.G r e ats c ot t
TerrificScottWalkerobituary
featureinthismonth’sUncut[June
issue]. Exemplarymusicwritingyet
againfromGraemeThomsonthat
reallycapturesthemoodymagic of
themanandhismusic.
Ralph McLean, via Twitter116 • uncut • JulY 2019f e e d B a c k[email protected]:uncutfeedback,basement2, bluefin building,
110 southwark street, london se1 0su. or tweet us at twitter.com/uncutmagazinebridgingthesyd
gap:pinkfloyd,
tokyo, march 1972Koh hasebe/shinKo Music/Getty iMaGes