Beatles Hippies

This classic 1972 album on Elektra by John Kongos has Queen/Cars director Roy Thomas Baker remixing superb production by Gus Dudgeon, the man who created many an Elton John hit. Elton sidemen Ray Cooper, Caleb Quaye, Dave Glover, Roger Pope, Sue (Glover) and Sunny (Leslie) – pretty much the crew from John's 1971 epic Madman Across the Water – are all excellent here. But this album has more to offer than the solo records by Kiki Dee and Bernie Taupin, which also proliferated around the same time. Though he never made it to Joel Whitburn's Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits in the U.S.A., there were three minor splashes on this disc: "Tokoloshe Man," "Jubilee Cloud," and "He's Gonna Step on You Again." The totally original sound – producer Dudgeon on "asses jawbone," bicycle bell, maracas, and Mike Noble playing the "clapper board" – build a texture one didn't hear on Elton John records.

Calling it a "goldmine" is a stretch, but there are certainly some gems to be found among the five discs contained in host Casey Kasem's celebration of the popular-music explosion of the 1960s…

Paris, lundi 6 janvier 1969, jour de relâche pour les artistes. Un petit appartement de la rive gauche, au premier étage d'un immeuble de la rue Saint-Placide… La pendule du salon marque 16h28 lorsque retentit un premier coup de sonnette : c'est Georges Brassens. 16h30, seconde sonnerie : Jacques Brel. 16h32 : Léo Ferré. L'affaire a été réglée comme du papier à musique ! Ponctuels au rendez-vous, les trois hommes - accueillis par François-René Cristiani et Jean-Pierre Leloir - sont visiblement ravis de se trouver réunis. Ferré en particulier, que l'idée d'une telle rencontre avait aussitôt séduit.

"Alors, qu'est-ce qu'on va bien pouvoir dire… comme conneries ?", plaisante Brel, en s'installant. Cristiani s'assied à sa droite, Ferré et Brassens à sa gauche. Leloir, qui est arrivé sur place dès 15 heures pour installer son matériel, tourne autour de la table… ronde, pour effectuer ses derniers repères. En attendant, Philippe Monsel - son assistant - immortalise la scène en photographiant les trois monstres sacrés et les deux journalistes…

Sur la table, des boissons et du tabac: de la bière pour tout le monde, des Gitanes pour Brel, des Celtiques pour Ferré, du tabac bleu pour Brassens; Cristiani (qui lui aussi fume la pipe) et sa femme Claudette ont bien fait les choses. Des micros, le magnétophone Uher du journaliste posé sur un guéridon et un autre magnéto avec un technicien, dans une pièce adjacente, pour recueillir des extraits qui seront diffusés - sur RTL - quelques jours plus tard.

Frank Zappa - From Straight To Bizarre: Zappa, Beefheart, Alice Cooper and LA's Lunatic Fringe (2012) [DVD9] {Sexy Intellectual}
DVD9 -> 7.23 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 4:3 | English (Dolby AC3, 2 ch) | ~ 161 m | ISO Image | Artwork
© 2012 Sexy Intellectual | SIDVD568
Rock / Experimental Rock

Desperate to remove himself from his original deal with Verve Records, in 1968 Frank Zappa he set up the Bizarre and Straight labels in league with manger Herb Cohen, and so began a string of releases which remain extraordinary in the extreme. This film revisits and reviews the astonishing music that came out on Bizarre and Straight, and reveals the background, operations and, crucially, the lives of the musicians, performers and management who made these labels the legendary reality they became. Includes rare footage, archive interviews and of course the music that made it all worthwhile.

Three CD set featuring 'tribute' albums from Dread Zeppelin and Great White plus a collection of Industrial cover versions. Unlike many of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal's true legends, Led Zeppelin have always appealed to a wider range of music listeners. Their musical output has been embraced by everyone from hippies to Hip Hopsters and has influenced more musicians than any Rock band since the Beatles…