IAN FRASER KILMISTER 1945 -2015/END OF YEAR ROUND UP – HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM US TO YOU/DL DIARY BLOG UPDATE
Ian Fraser Kilmister 1945 – 2015:
“There is no easy way to say this. Our mighty, noble friend Lemmy passed away today after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer. He had learnt of the disease on December 26th, and was at home, sitting in front of his favourite video game from The Rainbow which had recently made its way down the street, with his family.
“We cannot begin to express our shock and sadness – there aren’t words.
“We will say more in the coming days, but for now, please, play Motorhead loud, play Hawkwind loud, play Lemmy’s music loud. Have a drink or a few. Share stories. Celebrate the life this lovely, wonderful man celebrated so vibrantly himself. He would want exactly that.”
Motorhead
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I awoke on Tuesday morning to learn of the very sad passing of Ian Fraser Kilminster – Lemmy to us all…
My memories of Lemmy and Motorhead are intrinsically linked with my years of working in record shops.
I can vividly remember coming back off holiday in June 1981 to find that Motorhead’s classic live album No Sleep ‘Til Hammermith had entered the UK chart at number one. The new order was taking over and spearheading the new wave of British heavy metal was Motorhead. Lemmy was already something of a seasoned veteran by then, having paid his dues in the 60s and 70s – notably as roadie for Jimi Hendrix and then a stint in Hawkwind.
I can remember selling the early Motorhead album on the Chiswick label, plus hit singles such as Ace Of Spades and the collaboration with Girls School for the Johnny Kid and The Pirates cover Please Don’t Touch. That song epitomised Lemmy’s credentials as a seasoned rocker. He understood the heritage of rock’n’roll as well as anybody…
These words by long time TBL supporter Chris Wright ring so true.
Whatever one’s opinion, and I absolutely loved them for over 36 years, Motorhead was a truly original rock concept, bestriding the spaces between punk, metal and pure rock n’roll. Nobody ever sounded remotely like them and no one ever will. Lemmy was a legend even before forming the band and he leaves this mortal coil as one of the most important unique, most respected and influential rock performers of all time. Not bad for an ex-Hendrix roadie. Here was a guy who not only saw the whole rock story, but wrote some of its most important chapters. Will be sorely, sorely missed.
Whilst I always had great respect for their work and the man, I was never a big follower of Motorhead myself but I know plenty of people who are – including Classic Rock news editor Dave Ling, Dave Linwood, Andy Adams, Andrew Pepworth, Mark Winslade, Mick Scullion, the aforementioned Chris Wright, local friend John McKenzie – this news will be deverstating for them and millions around the globe.
In recent years, Lemmy’s iocnic status as a true statesman of rock’n’roll has increased manifold. He has just always been there…from the relentless touring, through many a classic Ross Halfin image, through the documentaries etc.
I’ve been lucky enough to be in his company a couple of times – notably at the Classic Rock awards at the Roundhouse in 2011. Lemmy was there that night to pick up an award. I had a few minutes with him (this pic was taken then) and asked him for a quote about Led Zeppelin IV for the then forthcoming TBL issue 30 which was celebrating the album’s 40th anniversary. This is what he told me:
”I can remember being down the Speakeasy club with Jimmy quite a few times and Bonzo would be around too. They were just the best musicians and that album is one of many of theirs that still sound amazing. They were a fucking amazing band”
He was knowledgeable about a lot of subjects and certainly Led Zeppelin.
As we all know, in recent years his health has suffered but reports of his impending demise were always premature. He just somehow seemed indestructible…
Lemmy was again in attendance at the Classic Rock Awards last November and I watched him hold court on the red carpet. Despite looking gaunt and thin and walking with the aid of a cane, he still had the swagger – addressing the rock media with verve and enthusiasm. When he walked into a room you instantly knew you were in the presence of true rock royalty.
Now Ian Fraser Kilmister is gone…leaving an unimaginable hole in the playing field of rock’n’roll he dominated for so long.
The term iconic does not do him justice – he was, is and always will be beyond iconic – and with his passing, a dazzling light has faded in the eyes of every rock fan across the land.
He will be forever held in our highest esteem…
Dave Lewis – December 29, 2015.
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That was the year that was….2015 End Of Year Review:
So that was the year that was …and in terms of being a Led Zeppelin fan -it’s been another very fulfilling year.
At the centre of it all was the completion of the Led Zeppelin reissue programme. This saw the stand alone release of Physical Graffiti in February to be followed by Presence, In Through the Out Door and Coda in July.
As I have stated before, yes we can all ponder on the might have been and lost tracks that may or may not have been overlooked – far better we celebrate exactly what Jimmy Page has put before us… and in my world it was more than enough for me to love this band even more than I thought I did. The Companion Discs of Coda providing the highlight of the entire programme.
On November 19, Jimmy Page took to the stage at the finale of the EMP Founders Award at the Seattle Music project. Jimmy was in attendance to receive the annual EMP Founders Award (chaired by Microsoft’s Paul G Allen) for his exceptional influence on music. Seeing him romp through Rock And Roll was an absolute joy. Here’s hoping for more of the same in 2016…
2015 has also seen Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters consolidate their position with a series of memorable performances across Europe and the US. In his tour overview piece in TBL 40 Stephen Humphries eloquently noted:
”When Robert Plant Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters played Boston in September—the third last show of its year-long tour to promote lullaby and…The Ceaseless Roar—the blues formed the nucleus of the band’s visionary sound. Indeed, the first song of the night, Poor Howard, was written by Lead Belly. But the live version bore only a casual resemblance to the one that the Sensational Space Shifters covered on its latest album. Robert Plant is bringing the blues into the present by making it sound like it’s from the future.”
John Paul Jones maintained his ability to move between differing projects and collaborations. There were various ad- hoc performances in between work on his opera project.
Jason Bonham kept busy with further Led Zeppelin Experience gigs and Deborah Bonham was out and about with a series of UK and French appearances.
So what is in store for 2016?
Following Robert’s two Bert Jansch tribute performances in Glasgow, Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters reconvene for a date in Florida in early March.
The aforementioned ambitious opera project John Paul Jones has been working on for over three years could also bear fruition in 2016. This is an opera work titled The Ghost Sonata, based on a Strindberg work.
As for Jimmy Page – well, yes we have been here before – and again there has been plenty of positive talk from the man himself that he will be out there playing and there are plenty of sceptics out there who will believe it when they see it…. as I’ve noted before , as far I am concerned the man owes us nothing.
I personally believe something special is going to happen ahead that will put Jimmy Page right back in the forefront of contemporary music…
Whatever is ahead in the world of Led Zeppelin, I will be doing my utmost to chronicle it all again through the various TBL channels of the website, Facebook, Twitter and the TBL magazine.
Here is a diary of upcoming events as compiled by James Cook for Led Zep News at
https://www.facebook.com/ledzepnews
December 28 – The BBC will air Led Zeppelin’s June 27, 1969 show on BBC Radio 6 Music at 2am.
December 30 – “Johnnie Walker meets Jimmy Page” will air on BBC Radio 2 at 5.05pm.
January 31 – Robert Plant will perform at a tribute concert to Bert Jansch in Glasgow.
February 1 – Robert Plant will again perform at a tribute concert to Bert Jansch in Glasgow.
February 12 – “Né So,” the new album by Rokia Traoré that features John Paul Jones, is released.
March 4 – The charity album “The Long Road” (which contains a new Robert Plant song) is released.
March 4/5/6 – Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters perform at the Okeechobee music festival in Florida.
Many thanks to James and be sure to check out https://www.facebook.com/ledzepnews for all the breaking Led Zep related news.
TBL round up:
It’s been another action packed 12 months here. The early part of the year was dominated by the creation of Five Glorious Nights – Led Zeppelin at Earls Court May 1975 – the photographic record produced by Rufus Stone Limited Editions. Many thanks again to Mark Smith for providing me with the opportunity to compile this deluxe volume. In July, It was an absolute pleasure to had over copy number one to Jimmy himself.
TBL 39 included another up close and personal rendezvous with Jimmy Page. Other highlights included attending the Physical Graffiti fan playback Yahoo Live streaming event in February. On that occasion long time TBL associate Mark Harrison touched many fans across the globe with his emotional question and I was captured staring up at the screen during the playback of the tracks, in a pic that might be described as a portrait of ‘the wonder of devotion’.
I was also privileged to attend the press playbacks for the Physical Graffiti and final three reissues at Olympic Studios.
The latter part of the year saw the creation of a landmark TBL issue – issue 40
Massive thanks are also due in the direction of Gary Foy, Mike Tremaglio, Nick Anderson, Richard Grubb, Rikky Rooksby Andy Crofts, Stephen Humphries, Bucks Burnett, Neil Jeffries, Larry Bergmann jnr, Scott Heck, Chris Charlseworth and Paul Shepperd – all who made invaluable contributions to the TBL magazine.
Also to Chris Wright, Dawn Godfree, Paul Humbley, Andrew Pepworth Kevin Hewick and Ken Winovitch for their constant support on Facebook
Thanks are also due to James Cook for all his support and input at Led Zep News and to Nick Carruthers for his support at record fairs – plus Mike MacKechnie, John Parkin, Andrew Ricci, Gary Davies and Jose Manuel Parada.
Last but my no means least I must also offer sincere thanks to Mick Lowe at StudioMix who has applied his immense design skills to bring many TBL projects alive in 2015 – and of course to the good lady Janet for all her support.
Sales of the TBL magazine have been good – I shipped out some 900 copies of TBL 40 and subscriptions ended at nigh on 800.
There’s also been the launch of a digital version of the TBL mag via the Magzter newsstand. TBL 40 will be available to download via Magzter soon.
It’s now been nearly seven years sine I branched out as self employed to fully concentre on making a living via the books, magazines, freelance work etc.
Whilst there is much input from various contributors, it remains something of a one man job in terms of the planning, decision making and motivating. I often find myself tying to spin several plates at the same time – but basically I have to work on one project at a time and see it through to fruition. I have many plans ahead -and If I had Mojo’s production team some of them would get past the planning stages a lot sooner – but hey I’ll be endeavouring to get things moving in 2016 – more on that to follow.
To make it all work I of course need the support of the people like yourselves who buy in to what I do by investing in the various TBL products. It’s essential that these projects bring in the necessary revenue to keep everything on track.
So may I offer a massive thanks for the continued loyalty shown throughout the year – as I’ve said before – if you keep buying them, God willing, I’ll keep writing them…
Whilst professionally it’s been a very fulfilling twelve months, personally there have been some challenges as there are always are. Janet’s mum Betty has been in poor health and spent three separate periods in hospital. Thankfully she is now back home and we are monitoring carer’s visits etc. All this has been quite a strain especially for the good lady Janet. We are by no means the only ones in this position and approach it with as much positivity as we can.
At times, I have also had to deal with the reoccurring old black dog depression issue – which coupled with some other irritants and disappointing scenarios that unfolded, has sometimes darkened the mood here somewhat.
The fact is none of us are getting any younger – incredibly I will be 60 in September 2016. Health wise, I have my type 2 diabetes to monitor ongoing and there are always aches and pains to deal with.
It’s life and it’s how you deal with it that is all important. Keeping on top of all that and all the day to day stuff that goes with it, is never easy for any of us – what becomes more than evident with age, is how important friendships become and through the social media that now consumes all our lives, it’s a big positive that support and kind words are never too far away.
I know I have so much to be thankful for – the days are to cherish and I will be doing my best to demonstrate a zest for life that lights up others.
Some Favourite things of 2015:
Best Gigs:
It was a big disappointment that I could not get out to any of the Robert Plant UK appearances. With a heavy workload during the summer the Forest dates proved a no go – as did the Egremont charity show.
However, there were some exciting nights out.
My gig of the year goes to David Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall September 24.
A masterclass of how to combine a legendary heritage with the present. The lights were pretty fabulous too…
Plus
The Who – 02 Arena March 2015
Boot Led Zeppelin – Shepherds Bush Empire, May 9
T Rextasy 02 Academy Islington, September 19
Whole Lotta Led – Haynes Village Hall, November 21
From The Jam Corn Exchange Bedford , December 4
Best official CD Reissues of 2015:
Led Zeppelin Reissues naturally!
Bad Company – Bad Company
Bad Company – Straight Shooter
Jimmy Page – Sound Tracks 4 LP set
The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers
The Faces 1970 -1975 You Can Dance Sing Or Anything – 5 CD set
Fleetwood Mac Tusk 3CD set
Bob Dylan – 1965 – 1966 The Cutting Edge – 5 CD set
David Bowie Five Years 1969 – 1973 box set
The Beatles 1 DVD
Best Led Zeppelin bootleg acquisitions:
Storming The Big Apple – New York 1970 Complete Shows (Eat a Peach)
The Garden Tapes MSG 1973 6 CD set (Empress Valley0
Journey Into the Fourth Dimension and Black Dragon With the Blue Axe (Empress Valley) – superbly packed Earls Court May 18 1975 sets.
Fort Worth March 3 1975 – great to hear this newly surfaced show.
One other bootleg set of note:
David Bowie – Can You Hear Me Call? The Young Americans Studio Sessions. (Eat a Peach) Superb two CD set of outtakes from the celebrated 1975 Bowie album.
And then there’s vinyl – LP records – and lots of them actually..
My obsession with the collecting of LP records continues unabated.
There have been a fair few additions to my collection this past twelve months from various sources – notably the Olympia Fair and Victoria Record Fairs , Spitalfields Market, and various record shops I’ve visited – such as St Albans Empire Records, Fopp in Cambridge Circus, Sister Ray and Reckless Records in Berwick Street London.
Plus of course the Vinyl Barn in Bedford. -Friday morning at Darren Harte’s Vinyl Barn continues to be a most enjoyable weekly rendezvous. Darren consistently come up with stuff that is right in my bag and subsequently goes in my bag!
Find of The Year:
Led Zeppelin first album turquoise sleeve pressing
I was wading though a friend of a friend’s albums for sale – about eight of them Stones/Beatles etc and what should I come across but a Zep 1 turquoise sleeve pressing. I have to say it was in only fair condition vinyl wise but still an amazing find. A bargain too as I bought the eight albums for a mere £40!
Here are some of my other favourite album acquisitions of 2015:
Led Zeppelin – Coda Japanese Swan Song pressing
Bad Company – Run With the Pack Japanese Swan Song
Stephen Stills 2 on UK Atlantic orange and plum label
Simon & Garfunkel – Bride Over Troubled Water – CBS quadrophonic pressing
Bob Dylan – Shadows In the Night
Otis Redding – Otis Blue – UK orange and plum mono Atlantic pressing
Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti Super –deluxe box set
The Groundhogs – Split United Artists import
Detective – Detective US Swan Song
Yes – Time And A Word – US Atlantic
ELP – Welcome Back My Friends…US Manticore promo
Sad Café – Sad Café – US Swan Song promo
Jimmy Page – Death Wish II Soundtrack US Swan Song promo
Jack Bruce – Harmony Row
The Rolling Stones – Get Yer YaYas Out original
Bombers – Polydor sampler with original sticker £1.99 or 39/10
Robert Plant & The Sensational Space Shifter – More Roar 10 inch Record Store day release
Bob Dylan – The Basement Tape – Record Store Day Release
The Yardbirds – Roger The Engineer album mono pressing on limited picture disc
Detective It Takes One To Know One –US Swan Song promo
Led Zeppelin – Soundtrack from The Song Remains The Same – Argentina promo
Led Zeppelin Presence –Chile pressing
Led Zeppelin In Through The Out Door Yugoslavia pressing
Led Zeppelin Presence with WH Smith sticker
Physical Graffiti Redrawn – Mojo magazine compilation
The Rolling Stones Live at The Marquee LP with DVD
Free – Fire And Water on pink Island
Thunderclap Newman – Hollywood Dream – US MCA 1973 pressing
Beck, Bogart & Apiece – Live Japanese with Obi strip
David Bowie – Station To Station with insert
Frank Sinatra -Songs For Swinging Lovers – ten inch
Led Zeppelin – In Through The Out Door –Swan Song Spanish pressing
Crosby Stills Nash & Young – Lo majoer de Spanish Atlantic pressing
Fair Weather – Beginning From an End – rare 1970 album on Nova
Led Zeppelin Ballcrusher bootleg
Led Zeppelin Liv at at Kezar bootleg
The Rolling Stones –Stone Age
Family – Fearless
John Barry – Stringbeat original green Columbia 1961
Jimi Hendrix Loose Ends
The Who – Who’s Missing UK Polydor
The Who – Two’s Missing UK Polydor
David Bowie Low with insert
Rory Gallagher – Irish Tour 74
David Crosby If I Could Only Remember My Name – Atlantic Hipsavox Spanish pressing
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Celebration Copy US Atlantic pressing
The Rolling Stones – Through The Past Darkly UK Decca with hexagonal sleeve
Elton John – 11- 17 – 70 US UNI pressing
Jack Bruce – Songs For A Tailor – Original UK Polydor pressing
The Pretty Things – Savage Eye – US Swan Song with Promotional Only label
The Pretty Things -Silk Torpedo – US Swan Song with Promotional Only label
Jethro Tull – Thick As A Brick –original pressing on Chrysalis label with open up newspaper sleeve
The Rolling Stones – Metamorphosis – US Abcko with inner sleeve
Wishbone Ash –Wishbone Ash – -original MCA UK pressing
Mott The Hoople – Mott – CBS original pressing with insert
John Coltrane – A Love Supreme – Impulse/MCA pressing
The Faces – Snakes And Ladders/Best of Faces US Warner Bros
The Rolling Stones – The Stars In Your Eyes They Never Lie
Marc Bolan – 20th Century Boy – 3 LP EMI Australia compilation
The Rolling Stones – Their Satanic Majesties Request – rare 3D sleeve on the US London label
Bob Dylan – Blood On the Tracks – US Columbia label promo copy with promo radio station timings
Fairport Convention Unhalfbricking US A and M label with alternate sleeve to UKk version
Love At First Sight – Sounds Nice featuring Tim Mycroft US rare Earth label £
Homer Soundtrack – featuring Led Zeppelin How Mnay More Times – Atlantic orange and plum label UK
David Bowie Ain’t That Close To Love/Young Americans Sessions –coloured vinyl 16 of 150 limited edition bootleg
Derek and the Dominoes – Layla and other Assorted Love Songs on US Atco
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Singles:
The collecting of 45 RPM singles has been a significant collecting development of the past year for me I got right back into wading through singles and the mission I undertook was to purchase as many of the singles I would have bought circa 1969 to 1972 had I had sufficient funds to do so. It’s been great fun seeking out items such as Jethro Tull Living In The Past, Family Strange Band, Fleetwood Mac Oh Well etc etc – gems that made much impression when I was a mere teenager. The singles from that era inspire great memories and still sound fantastic. Here’s a round up of some of those choice 69 – 72 singles along with other faves I’ve acquired during the past 12 months:
Cat Stevens – Lady D’abanville
Fleetwood Mac – Oh Well
Jethro Tull – Living In The Past on Island
Jimi Hendrix – Voodoo Chile 1970 maxi single in pic sleeve
Fleetwood Mac – Green Manalishi single on Reprise
Rare Bird – Sympathy
Our House -Crosby Stills Nash & Young
W.O.L.D –Harry Chapin
Family – Strange Band
Ten Years After – Love Like A Man
Amory Kane –You Were On My Mind – arr John Paul Jones
Juicy Lucy –Who Do You Love
Juicy Lucy Pretty Woman
Traffic –Hole In My Shoe
Heavy Jelly – I Keep Singing That Same Old Song -on pink Island
Rod Stewart –Oh No Not My Baby
Badfinger – Come and Get It on Apple
Bad Company – Can’t Get Enough Canadian Swan Song
The Pretty Things – Tonight German Swan Song
Midnight Flyer – Waiting On You on UK Swan Song
The Who – The Seeker
The Who – Summertime Blues
The Beatles Let It Be pic sleeve
Pickettywitch – Waldo P. Emerson Jones
The Faces – Stay With Me/Memphis/Cindy Incidentally/You Can make me Sing, Dance or Anything EP
Lulu – Morning Dew on US Epic John Paul Jones credit £5
Lulu – The Man Who Sold The World
Fairweather – Natural Sinner
Thunderclap Newman – Accidents
Free – My Brother Jake
Small Faces – Afterglow Of You Love alternate single mix coupled with Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire – the latter written and sung by the late great Ian Mclagen and featured on the Small Faces second album in 1967.
Cream – Sunshine of Your Love £2.50
The Rolling Stones – Brown Sugar
Dave Edmunds –Here Comes The Weekend Dutch Swan Song
Mick Jagger – Memo From Turner
Arrival – Friends
Family – No Mules Fool
East Of Eden –Jig A Jig
The Nice – Country Pie
Chicago 25 or 6 to 4
The Firm Radioactive
For You CBS EP
Mungo Jerry Lady Rose
Mary Hopkins Those Were The Days
Simon & Garfunkel Mrs Robinson EP
Creedance Clearwater Revival – Bad Moon Rising
The Move Fire Brigade
Gilbert O Sullivan – Nothing Rhymed
Free My Brother Jake
Bread Make It With You
Deep Purple – Black Night
Dave Edmunds – I Knew The Bride
Lindisfarne – Lady Eleanor
Bobby Darin – I’ll Be There
Led Zeppelin Trampled Underfoot US Swan Song
Thunderclap Newman – Wild Country Track Mastertrack
Grand Funk Railroad – Inside Looking Out/Paranoid 33 rpm on Capitol
Pickettywitch – Same Old Kinda Movie
The Strawbs – Lay Down
Frigid Pink – House Of The Rising Son
Isaac Hayes – Theme From Shaft
Jimmy Cliff – Wild World
The Rattles – The Witch
Thunderclap Newman – Something In The Air
Hotlegs – Neanderthal Man
Donovan Celia of the Seals
Bob Dylan – Like a Rolling Stone
Patti Smith Group – Because The Night
T -Rex Metal Guru The Rolling Stones -Tumbing Dice US mono
Bob Dylan – Positively Fourth Street
Plastic Ono band – Cold turkey –UK Apple pic sleeve
Ron Wood – Seven Days CBS promo
Bob Dylan – Can You Please Crawl out of Your Window
The Guess Who – American Woman
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Favourite Books:
Book: I’ve Always Kept A Unicorn – The Sandy Denny Biography by Mick Houghton – The Complete David Bowie by Nicholas Pegg, Bob Dylan Goes Electric by Elijah Wald – Big Time The Life Of Adam Faith by David and Caroline Stafford,
Plus monthly reading inspiration via Mojo, Uncut,Classic Rock and Record Collector.
Other selected highlights of the year:
The 133 days spent with Mick in creating Five Glorious Nights, book checking sessions in the Fox & Hounds, further memorable visits to Olympic Studios, fond farewells to Dec on an emotional Monday of the Graffiti in London Friday mornings at the Vinyl Barn stall in Bedford (hi Darren!), the Olympia, Victoria, and Bedford Record Fairs, a splendid day at the Reading record fair on a Good Friday, securing the vinyl treats at Rough Trade West on Record Store Day, another excellent day out at the Hi –Fi Lounge (thanks Paul!), tracking down the singles I would have purchased circa 1969 to 1972 had I have been able to afford them, searching out Led Zep foreign pressings, soaking up the Physical Graffiti promo items (thanks Ken W!),The Who still shining brightly at the 02 Arena, tales of Bad Company with Mick Ralphs at the Gibson Studio, the good lady Janet and Sam soaking up Boot Led Zep’s Earls Court set with me at Shepherds Bush Empire, a fantastic gathering here with Tom, Phil etc Phil 40 years to the day of one glorious night of May 24 1975
A week on a sometimes rainy but still beautiful Santa Eulalia in Ibiza, yet more Friday morning treats at the Vinyl Barn (thanks Darren!), a great night out at the Proud Gallery Led Zep photo exhibition launch, a night of T.Rextasy with the good lady Janet that led on to Olly Murs’ Dad buying a Knebworth book (thanks Danielz!) , Danny Baker’s From The Cradle To The Grave TV series, The Mike Oldfield Story and Rod Stewart’s Hyde Park concert on BBC4, David Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall (thanks Joe!), a meet with Billy and Alison Fletcher at the Gilmour gig, visits from Dec Hickey and James Eaton, more vinyl treats at the Victoria and Olympia record fairs, wading through countless cassettes that I re-discovered in the loft, my revived interest in collecting singles, watching the match in the Fox on a Sunday afternoon particularly if Spurs have performed well –come on you Spurs!) watching YouTube clips of Robert Plant’s Egrement gig (thanks Dawn!) finally red carpet capers at the Classic Rock Awards (hello hooray Alice C!),two days of vinyl heaven at Olympia in November, Whole Lotta Love in Haynes and YouTube clips of Jimmy Page back on stage.
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And that is about it for 2015…
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DL Diary Blog Update:
I have to say the news of Lemmy’s passing on Tuesday fair knocked the wind out of my sails. Though not unexpected it was still a massive shock. The outpouring of accolades for the man has been quite overwhelming. He was greatly loved by so many and will be greatly missed…
Christmas has come and gone as it does – we had a wonderfully relaxing time here and it was great to be together with Sam, Adam and Janet’s Mum Bet. On Christmas Eve it was also great to hook up with my very good friends Phil and Tom and toast the season. We did of course miss Dec who has now moved to Ireland.
Once again Santa has been very kind and pretty spot on in the presents department: Here’s a round up:
Bob Dylan 1965 -1966 The Cutting Edge 6 CD set – up close and personal during the creation of some of the most ground breaking music of the era…oh yes!
Another Christmas present beauty (thank you Mrs Lewis!) was the David Bowie Five Years 1969 – 1973 CD box set. I recently acquired all the albums on original vinyl so this is a lovely compliment to the LPs and a superb package. You gotta love old David…
Plus a rather splendid copy of The Beatles For Sale original UK mono Parlophone pressing – a top Christmas present – thanks again the Lewis clan!
Long time TBL supporter came in with a lovely Elektra UK pressing of the 1969 Incredible String Band album Changing Horses and John Parkin sent down a fascinating spoken word album Echoes of Merseyside LP plus Ten Years After Live at Texas Pop festival.
Here’s a beauty that I’ve been saving to open at Christmas…Led Zeppelin – The Garden Tapes – The Song Remains The Same Concerts Madison Square Garden 1973 -Empress Valley promotional collectors CD set – awesome package and content…what a band!
On the reading front Chrissie Hynde’s autobiography (thanks Max and Julie) while my good friend Phil supplied me with a very user friendly horn for my bike! Christmas goodies also came via from my very good friend Tom.
Things are due to be a lot quieter here as Sam has already gone back to London and Adam is back to Uni at Eastbourne at the weekend. It’s also been great to see the progress of Tottenham Hotspur FC – their recent form has taken them into the top four of the Premier League – here’s hoping that trend continues in 2016.
The good lady Janet and I will be having a quiet New Years Eve here (hey I am 60 next year you know!).
Tomorrow night when the clock strikes 12 midnight, there will be a number of people in my thoughts, and I will raise a glass and take a cup of kindness for auld lang syne to the many people (and I’m sure they know who they are) who one way or another, have been an absolute inspiration to me in 2015.
Then it will be down to the serious business of kick starting the TBL 2016 campaign. There are some exciting plans ahead –more on all that soon.
So final thoughts:
As much as I look back and chronicle the heritage of this unique band and the world that surrounds it, , the usual mantra remains…as the singer once put it, the present and future are of paramount importance. It’s still today’s work and tomorrow’s plans that give all of us a reason for being…rather than a reason for having been.
In effect it’s ever onward…
‘’Keep flying the flag’’ said Jimmy to me as we wrapped our interview at Olympic Studios –
That is a given…
Thank you for your continued support of all things TBL and on behalf of Gary, may I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.
Dave Lewis – December 30, 2015
You Tube Clip:
Here’s a recently surfaced longer clip of the Lyon 1973 show – absolutely superb!
Led Zeppelin 8mm fan footage from Lyon, France, March 26, 1973 – Longer version:
You don’t know what you’ve got until you lose it (John Lennon 1974) …
Motorhead – Ace Of Spades:
Lemmy RIP…
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Have a great new year…
Until 2016..Keep listening, keep reading…
Dave Lewis/Gary Foy – December 30, 2015.
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So long, Lemmy. A rock and roll original. Towson College gym north of Baltimore in 1981, Motorhead/Ozzy Osbourne, where I believe Ozzy made his first US gig with Randy Rhoades. I later experienced the full frontal assault of Motorhead at Georgetown’s Bayou nightclub in DC back in 86 from the side of the stage and lived to tell the tale. And I thoroughly enjoyed their appearance on “The Young Ones” on TV, where I believe The Damned were once featured. But seeing Lemmy’s take on the old country classic “Big River” told all I needed to know about this cat: he was the real thing.
Lemmy’s death feels like the end of an era, we thought he’d outlive us all. But as we know time waits for no man.
All the best for 2016 Dave.
Dave,
It has been a pleasure working with you this year. I have already started work for the next issue which will focus on the newly reissued 1975 Fort Worth CD Soundboard (thank the gods!) and its impact.
Have a great new year.
In 2016, we keep flying the flag.
Dave,
Happy New Year to you & your family & everyone involved in TBL.
Nice feature re Lemmy. Its very sad that another Rock legend has now left us. What a life he had. I agree that he was completely unique, and over the last 35 years I was lucky enough to see Motorhead many times in concert starting with the Ace Of Spades tour in 1980 and then finally about 4 ish years ago in Birmingham at the venue known as the Hummingbird. Seeing them live was always a great gig from a great live band.
I watched Motorhead’s Stage Fright DVD yesterday (from their 30th Anniversary tour) as my tribute to him.
He will be sadly missed but never forgotten.
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