JON ANDERSON
1000 Hands: Chapter One
This is only Anderson’s second solo
release of the millennium, though the
title indicates the many collaborators
here and on the other two ‘chapters’ yet
to be released from this project which
spans 30 years. His voice is as angelic as
ever, the material just as cosmic, with
bells and choirs climbing to the clouds
in the paired pieces of First Born Leaders
and Activate, alongside more deliberately
simple arrangements layering vocal loops under his lead with often a
single instrument plus rhythm below; it’s not hard to see this feeding
into the breed of solo performance Anderson last brought to Australia
in 2013. It’s nearly all upbeat, joyful, hopeful, assisted by Ian Anderson’s
flute, Jean Luc Ponty’s fiddle, Chick Corea’s keys, wife Jane’s vocals on
the fine I Found Myself, and his Yes brethren Howe, White and even the
departed Chris Squire appearing on three tracks. Not so ‘solo’ then!
ThE YARDBIRDS
Yardbirds ’68Thisis a legendary 1968 recordingof
thefinalYardbirdsincarnationliveat
theAndersonTheatrein NewYork,
originallyreleased(briefly,beforeJimmy
Pageforceditswithdrawal)witha
shockinglyfakeaudiencetrack;the
crowdwassmall,recallsbassistChris
Dreja,becauseof newboysVanilla
Fudgepackingthemin downthe
street.Fromthedynamicandforceful
performance, a particular testamenttothequalityof KeithRelf’svocal
work, you would never guess thattheband’sendwasalreadydecided,
with only five more shows to follow,yetin hindsighta newbeginning
is equally audible, that of Led Zeppelin,whichPagewastoformand
take to Denmark as The New Yardbirdsonlymonthshencetofulfil
pre-breakup committments. Thisis clearlytheJimmyfromLedZepI,
the flash, panache and violin bowallin place.Thegreatersurpriseis to
hear how much drummer Jim McCarthyhadcreatedtherhythmson
White Summer and Dazed and Confused, patternswhichZepfanswould
suppose to be Bonham’s invention,andhowtheoverallZepsound
was not so much invented by thesynergyof itsmembersasrefinedby
them from this late Yardbirds template.Alsoa delightis therecording
quality—a proper multitrack re-masterwitheverythingin itsplace.
Currently available only on vinyl andCDfromJimmy’sownlabeland
website, the second disc is a mish-mashof abandonedstudiotracksalso
recorded in New York at the sametime,showingdirectionsthatmight
have been. But the proto-Zeppelinlivesetis trulyamazeballs.ROGER WATERS
The Soldier’s Tale
If Roger’s last rock album was largely
regurgitation, this one is entirely
fresh, with only his 2005 Ça Ira opera
providing any hint he might choose to
release an Armistice-centenary-inspired
version of Stravinsky’s ‘The Soldier’s
Tale’. Waters handles all three spoken
parts (soldier, devil and narrator) of
this cautionary tale written and set
during the First World War, and is ably
accompanied by a string septet from the New York Bridgehampton
Chamber Music Festival Musicians. Rog hasn’t sounded so engaging
since he read extracts from ‘The House at Pooh Corner’ over Gone
Fishing back in 1984, here capturing the humour of the English libretto
translated by Kitty Black and the great Michael Flanders but also the
pathos of the war-worn soldier’s plight, Waters’ father’s death in that
same war having given gravitas to ‘The Wall’ in the same way. A gem.
ThE YARDBIRDS
Live and RareWherethereleaseaboveis quality,this
collectionis moreaboutquantity—
longer,moreexhaustive,thoughalso
morefragmented,with 70 tracksover
fourCDsanda bonusDVDranging
from 1966 to1968,frommilkshake
andtoothpasteads(surprisinglygood!)
tofourdifferentTrainKeptA’Rollinglive
versions.Thetitleis confusing—it’slive
and/orrare,withthevariable-qualitylive
desk, radio and film recordings supplementedbystudiosingles,some
of which, such as Happenings TenYearsTimeAgo, aren’tparticularlyrare
either. Worse still, there’s no apparentorganisationbyeitheroriginor
time period, shuffling from studiotoradiotolive,from 1968 to 1965
to 1967 without thought for listeningcontinuity,andopeningbizarrely
with a bone-dry mono 1966 off-deskrecordingwhichfavours,asdesk
recordings often do, the non-amplifiedvocalsanddrums,andwith
Relf’s vocal also pushing into overloaddistortion,sothatthebassand
drums from this Paris recording onlyfindspacebetweenthelyrics.
There’s almost nothing with the qualityof Jimmy’slushandimpeccable
release of the Anderson Theatre concertabove.Yettherearegems,a
1968 Manchester BBC session especially,withWhiteSummershowing
Jimmy at full flamboyance throughhisprolongedsolospotbefore
tabla-like drums and Dreja’s bassraisethisBertJanschtribute/rip-off
to another level. Again this and theDazedandConfusedthatfollows
show proto-Zeppelin interplay, thoughtheZeppelinversionsadded
dimensionality, communication and,let’sfaceit, a higherlevelof
playing: witness John Paul Jones’sdrivingof theexitbackintothemain
Dazed riff compared with Dreja’sback-seatbassdeliveryhere.A mixed
bag, then, but Yardbirds fans cancertainlyrejoicein sucha sudden
profusion of proofs of prowess fromthisstillunder-ratedband.SUZI QUATRO
No Control
Last seen touring here in 2017 with
members of Sweet and Slade, currently
celebrating 55 years of performance,
and publicly stating she will “retire when
I go onstage, shake my ass and there
is silence”, Suzi Q’s new release was
written with her son Richard by former
lead guitarist and husband Len. There is
variety to split the otherwise constantly
driving rhythms that will no doubt
provide some rollicking new live material to slot between her substantial
selection of classic cuts, the bulk of it heavier than the pop-stomp of her
early days, with vocals an octave lower yet still growling with attitude.
But there’s also the carnival atmosphere of Love Isn’t Fair, the slow blues
of Easy Pickings, the Lee Hooker-esque Don’t Do Me Wrong, and even
a Laurel Canyon vibe to Bass Line. Production is slightly stodgy, lacking
edge and air to the drums in particular, but hey, it’s all solid Suzi, and
she surely scores bonus points for sheer stamina.
Australian Hi-Fi 69
ROCK ON by Jez Ford