Tell Me It Ain't So

Led Zeppelin looking to tour without Plant: report


LONDON (Reuters) – Rockers Led Zeppelin are looking at the possibility of touring and recording without frontman Robert Plant, who has resisted pressure to reunite with his former bandmates, the BBC reported.

The band, which sold an estimated 300 million albums and is considered one of the most influential in rock music, briefly re-grouped for a one-off charity concert in London in December, 2007, leading to calls from fans for a full reunion tour.

Guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist/instrumentalist John Paul Jones are both understood to be keen to return to the stage, as is drummer Jason Bonham, the son of original member John who died in 1980, reportedly after a bout of heavy drinking.

But Plant, who has forged the most successful solo career of the surviving band members, has always appeared reluctant and last month issued a terse statement confirming his intentions. "Contrary to a spate of recent reports, Robert Plant will not be touring or recording with Led Zeppelin," he said.

Jones told the BBC's Radio Devon that the band had already tried out possible replacements for Plant.

"We want to do it. It's sounding great and we want to get on and get out there," he said at a guitar show in Exeter, southwest England.

"It's got to be right. There's no point in just finding another Robert. You could get that out of a tribute band, but we don't want to be our own tribute band," he added.

Jones said Led Zeppelin, which broke up in 1980, planned a tour and a new record.

Other big pop acts have re-formed with new performers brought in, most notably Queen which has been working with Paul Rodgers on lead vocals in recent years replacing Freddie Mercury who died in 1991.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

This is wrong, Plant is the voice of led Zeppelin and cannot ever be replaced. I would certainly not buy a ticket.

Classic Rock Videos

Brenda Lee I'm Sorry & All Alone Am I

Songwriter's Hall of Fame Announce 2008 Nominees

The Songwriter's Hall of Fame has announced their nominees for their 2008 induction. Members of the society have until November 12 to submit their ballots, after which the new inductees will be announced.

The Hall breaks the nominees into two categories, Non-Performing Songwriters and Performer/Songwriters, although we'll be the first to admit it's not clear how the nominees are broken out as artists like Boyce and Hart and Joe South certainly were/are performers.

The nominees in Non-Performing Songwriters:

Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart (Come a Little Bit Closer, Last Train to Clarksville, I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight)
Roger Cook & Roger Greenaway (I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress, You've Got Your Troubles)
Tony Hatch (Downtown, Don't Sleep in the Subway, I Know a Place)
Ivy George Hunter & Mickey Stevenson (Beachwood 4-5789, Dancing in the Street, Wild One)
Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia (Casey Jones, Truckin', Uncle John's Band)
Mark James ((You Were) Always On My Mind, Suspicious Minds, Hooked on a Feeling)
Robert John "Mutt" Lange (Photograph, (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, That Don't Impress Me Much)
Irwin Levine & Russell Brown (Tie a Yellow Ribbon, I Woke Up In Love This Morning, Knock Three Times)
Sandy Linzer & Denny Randell (Let's Hang On, Dawn, Workin' My Way Back to You)
Galt MacDermot, James Rado, Gerome Ragni (Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In, Easy to Be Hard, Good Morning Starshine)
Stephen Schwartz (Corner of the Sky, Day by Day, Colors of the Wind)
Joe South (Games People Play, Hush, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden)

The nominees in Performer/Songwriters:

Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson, Bjorn Ulvaeus (Dancing Queen, Fernando, Waterloo)
Jimmy Buffett (Margaritaville, Come Monday, Cheeseburger in Paradise)
Felix Cavaliere & Eddie Brigati (Groovin', How Can I Be Sure, People Got to Be Free)
David Crosby, Stephen Stills & Graham Nash (Our House, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, Teach Your Children)
Ray Davies (Lola, Tired of Waiting, You Really Got Me)
David Gates (Baby I'm-a Want You, Make It With You, If)
Yusef Islam (aka Cat Stevens) (Morning Has Broken, Peace Train, The First Cut is the Deepest)
Tommy James (Crimson in Clover, Crystal Blue Persuasion, I Think We're Alone Now)
John Mellencamp (Jack and Dianne, Pink Houses, Small Town)
Steve Miller (Abracadabra, Fly Like an Eagle, The Joker)
Leon Russell (A Song For You, Superstar, This Masquerade)
Bob Seger (Night Moves, Still the Same, We've Got Tonight)

SOURCE: http://winkscollectibles.blogspot.com

Album Cover Art

Well, it has been a journey, but here we are! Here is the top of the Gigwise.com list of the most controversial, weirdest, best and worst album covers as compiled by their staff. I want to thank the crew at Gigwise.com for their insights and opinions:

Controversial

1. Mayhem: ‘Dawn Of The Black Hearts’ – On one of the most bootlegged metal albums of all time, Norwegian band Mayhem decided to use a photograph of their deceased frontman, Dead, shortly after his suicide. The cover pictured the singer slumped beside a shotgun and a knife after taking his own life in an unparalleled display of glory-hunting, suicidal gore.

Appalling and in very poor taste, the less said the better. In fact, I won't even post the cover, I feel that strongly about it, what a disgrace.

If you have to, you can find an image here (warning: the cover and image is beyond offensive, it is just wrong)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_Of_The_Black_Hearts

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Weird


1. Gong: 'Acid Motherhood' – Gigwise says: "While the majority of albums on this list are weird, this goes a step further; it's just plain wrong. Naked, pregnant female bodies with Jimmy Savile-esque faces, it's as twisted as you can possibly get. Made four decades into Gong's career, who says rockers mellow with old age?"

I think it is a funny cover, maybe we should make a new category....

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Worst


1. Hard-Fi – ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’: Here is what Gigwise had to say: "Seemingly in a bid to make some kind of deep cultural comment about the rise of downloading, Hard-Fi decided to ditch the record sleeve altogether. The result? A pretentious mess."

The cover art of the album has received both good and bad criticism. It has a yellow background with the album title at the top, and NO COVER ART written in large, white letters below. Top cover art designer Peter Saville has described it as "a 'White Album' for the digital culture."

When asked about the cover art, Richard Archer said, "We all sat down as a band with our manager and thrashed it out over beers. The record company wanted a picture of us coming out of a helicopter... We said no."

"At the end of the day do you want the same old boring stuff? or do you want something different?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Best


1. Nirvana: ‘Nevermind’ - Gigwise has this to say: "A stunningly original idea and an undoubted classic. The swimming baby chasing the American dollar was a defining image of the nineties and summed up the endless rat race of contemporary society perfectly – an innocent baby corrupted by money."

Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on Geffen Records, which signaled its move away from Seattle-based independent record label Sub Pop. Front man Kurt Cobain sought to make music outside of the restrictive confines of the Seattle grunge scene, drawing influence from groups such as the Pixies and its use of loud/quiet song dynamics.

Despite low commercial expectations by the band and its record label, Nevermind became a surprise success in late 1991, largely due to the popularity of its first single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit". By January 1992 it had replaced Michael Jackson's album Dangerous at number one on the Billboard charts. The album has been certified ten times platinum (10 million copies shipped) by the Recording Industry Association of America. Nevermind was responsible for bringing alternative rock to a large mainstream audience, and would subsequently be regarded as one of the best rock albums of all time.

The album's tentative title Sheep was something Cobain created as an inside joke towards the people he expected to buy the record. He wrote a fake ad for Sheep in his journal that read "Because you want to not; because everyone else is." Novoselic said the title was inspired by the band's cynicism about the public's reaction to Operation Desert Storm. Cobain grew tired of the title as recording sessions for the album were completed, and suggested to Novoselic that the new album be named Nevermind. Cobain liked the title because it was a metaphor for his attitude on life and was grammatically incorrect.

The Nevermind album cover shows a baby swimming toward a US dollar bill on a fishhook. According to Cobain, he conceived the idea while watching a television program on water births with Grohl. Cobain mentioned it to Geffen's art director Robert Fisher. Fisher found some stock footage of underwater births but they were too graphic for the record company. Also, the stock house that controlled the photo of a swimming baby that they subsequently settled on wanted $7,500 a year for its use, so instead Fisher sent a photographer to a pool for babies to take pictures. Five shots resulted and the band settled on the image of a three-month-old infant named Spencer Elden, the son of the photographer's friend Rick Elden. However, there was some concern because Elden's penis was visible in the image. Geffen prepared an alternate cover without the penis, as they were afraid that it would offend people, but relented when Cobain made it clear that the only compromise he would accept was a sticker covering the penis that would say "If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile."

The back cover of the album features a photograph of a rubber monkey in front of a collage created by Cobain. The collage features photos of raw beef from a supermarket advert, images from Dante's Inferno, and pictures of diseased vaginas from Cobain's collection of medical photos. Cobain noted, "If you look real close, there is a picture of Kiss in the back standing on a slab of beef." The album's liner notes contain no complete song lyrics; instead, the liner contains random song lyrics and unused lyrical fragments that Cobain arranged into a poem.

I agree, this is a great cover- but the best of all time? Not in my book.

This has been an interesting glimpse into the fascinating world of album cover art. The Gigwise selections, while certainly up for debate, omitted some classic album covers and certainly showed me a few that I have never seen before. But where are some of the classics, like "Cheap Thrills," by Janis Joplin (with cover art by R. Crumb), Yes covers by Roger Dean, Santana's first album (with the wonderful ink lion), Zeppelin covers like "Zeppelin 2" or "Physical Graffiti," or any Molly Hatchet album cover? I could go on and on and on.....

Look for another series about album cover art coming very soon to the blog!

This Date In Music History- October 28

Birthdays:

Wayne Fontana ("Game Of Love") turns 63.

Curtis Lee ("Pretty Little Angel Eyes") is 67.

Fiddler Charlie Daniels ("Uneasy Rider") turns 72.

Telma Hopkins (actress and member of Dawn-- "Tie A Yellow Ribbon") is 60.

Hank Marvin, guitarist with the English instrumental group the Shadows, was born in Newcastle in 1941. His distinctive twang inspired Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Keith Richards to pick up the guitar. It is reported that he played and owned the first Fender Stratocaster in the UK, serial number 34346, finished in Fiesta Red with gold hardware. This guitar, with its tremolo arm, contributed to the Shadows' sound. The guitar was imported from America by Cliff Richard.

History:

A young British lad named Raymond Jones walked into a Liverpool record shop in 1961 and asked for a song called "My Bonnie" by Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers. After checking, store manager Brian Epstein discovered that the song had only been officially released in Germany. Intrigued by this local band's popularity, he decided to check them out for himself. It would prove to be the dawn of a new era in Pop music history.

Elvis Presley's song "Love Me Tender" became the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit in 1956. He became the first artist to follow himself into the No. 1 position. The song "Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog" had been the No. 1 song for 11 weeks.

Buddy Holly appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand in 1958, where he lip-synched "It's So Easy" and "Heartbeat". It would be Holly's last major TV appearance.

In 1962, The Star Club in Hamburg, Germany was the site of a historic Rock and Roll get together when The Beatles and Little Richard appeared for a two week engagement.

In 1967, Diana Ross and the Supremes' "Greatest Hits" started a five week run at #1 on the US album chart.

Steve Perry made his first concert appearance with Journey at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco in 1977. He would lead them to 17 Billboard Top 40 entries over the next ten years.

Glam rocker Nick Gilder had the number 1 song in the US in 1978 with "Hot Child in the City". It would prove to be his only major hit record in America.

Country musician Porter Wagoner died in Nashville in 2007 at the age of 80 (lung cancer). Wagoner helped launch the career of Dolly Parton and had his own US TV show, which ran for 21 years until 1981.

Janet Jackson started a four week run at No.1 on the US album chart in 1989 with 'Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814.’ Only one of three albums to produce seven Top-ten US singles, (the other two being Thriller by Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA).

1997, R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry announced that he was leaving the group after 17 years, becoming a farmer.

The Beatles played at the Empire in Liverpool in 1962, their first gig at Liverpool's top theatre. Eight acts were on the bill including Little Richard, Craig Douglas, Jet Harris and Kenny Lynch & Sounds Incorporated.

The Record Ranch

Sick of eBay and the problems that are associated with this online giant (and there are many)? I had the pleasure of speaking with Chris Celeste who has just launched The Record Ranch. Let's explore this up and coming website:








The Record Ranch

New Online Venue to Cater to Music Lovers

written by Robert Benson


The global economy is in shambles. Ask people involved in the music industry and they’ll probably tell you that their industry has likewise been affected. But there is a bright spot: the renewed interest in vinyl records.

Taking advantage of this vinyl revival is eBay veteran Chris Celeste. He believes that eBay should not be the only major online marketplace where people can go to sell records. In fact, utilizing his years of online experience, his experience working in a ‘mom and pop’ record store in the 90’s and his entrepreneurial drive, Celeste has decided to launch his own online auction site: www.TheRecordRanch.com

The goal of the Record Ranch is to have an auction web site that will serve record and music collectors better than any current site and give music buyers and sellers a safe, trusted and reasonably-priced place to do business. Although the Record Ranch could never replace your neighborhood record store, what it can do is cultivate a friendly, vibrant venue that is driven by both knowledgeable sellers and music fans worldwide.

I spoke with web site owner Chris Celeste about his new site and what consumers can expect from the Record Ranch:

Tell me more about the decision to create the site.

“The seeds for a music-only niche auction site were planted a few years back,” said Chris. “I was quite turned off after participating in some music category restructuring discussions with eBay. I guess I naively assumed that the people that managed the categories had some expertise in their respective categories. From then on, I envisioned a site that served collectors and sellers of just music items; sort of a DIY, by collectors-for-collectors type of concept. Fast forward five-plus years and countless ill-researched site ‘tweaks’ at eBay later; it was clear that the time was right to finally take the plunge. Luckily I have a few guys in my corner that have really helped out.”

How many people are involved in the site (do you have partners)?

“There are essentially three. It's me, a web developer and a designer. All three of us have been music junkies forever. The other two play in bands and are also great at their trades. It works quite well.”

Obviously you love vinyl, but what is it about records that make them your format of choice?

“For me, vinyl equals great memories and great sound. I grew up in a household full of records. I remember the record covers of my youth like it was yesterday. When I was old enough, it seemed logical to fill my house full of them too. I have a ton of CDs too, but it's not the same. They're digitized and they collect dust. Vinyl is just a better experience all around,” explained Chris.

You are now in direct competition with eBay; -what will make your site different than this retail giant?

“Well, for starters, The Record Ranch is a manageable venue,” suggested Chris. “EBay is not a manageable venue at this point and compulsive buyers and sellers of music suffer. Quality buyers and sellers are leaving or have left. Their (eBay’s) solutions to issues are never logical, and it's obvious that the folks managing the site have never bought or sold (or shipped) anything collectible in their lives. Did I mention categories yet? While The Record Ranch's format is quite similar to eBay, the way the site is run is much different. Having people running the site who know their trade is obviously a good thing, especially when addressing buyers' and sellers' concerns.”

“The Record Ranch's format is very similar to eBay, but finely tuned to the needs of music collectors. The pricing structure makes it a more affordable venue, especially for casual music sellers who can't qualify for eBay's Power Seller discounts. Basic listings are free. Enhancements such as subtitles and featured space on the home page can be purchased to spice up listings. Sellers also have the option to open a store free of charge. The final value fees are 4% for sold items up to $100, 3% for sold items between $100 and $200 and 2% for sold items over $200. Sellers may choose to accept payment via diverse methods, including Google Checkout, PayPal and checks/money orders.”

“The Record Ranch is made up of “rooms.” There's a CD Room, a 78s Room and so on. Each room's genre subcategories were created with the obsessive fan/collector in mind. For example, if you're a collector of rockabilly 78s, there is a rockabilly subcategory in The 78s Room. This ensures collectors of a certain specific genre of music will find exactly what they're looking for much more quickly.”

Where do you see vinyl in, let's say, ten years from now?

“I think it'll be the same in 10 years as it is now or where it was 10 years ago. Digital media will change and evolve and its proponents will proclaim the death of vinyl once more, only for vinyl to survive and flourish.”

When did you start collecting (I assume you are a collector) and do you have a special stash for personal use (meaning records you would never sell)?

“I guess I realized that I had the collector bug in me in high school when I was the guy who wasn't OK with lending out records. I adopted the "I'll be happy to tape it for you" mantra back then. As for a special stash, it goes in waves I guess. I've definitely parted with records and regretted it years later. I guess there are some records I've kept for years that aren't exactly rare, but hold special meaning for me. I guess that would be my special stash.”

As a record collector, I am excited to find a new alternative in which to buy records for my collection. Creating a ‘mom and pop’ online venue is just what the record collecting community needs. Let’s hope that the corporate giants in the field welcome this newcomer, because I am sure many vinyl record buyers and sellers will.

eBay time saver- nice site to visit!

I found another interesting site, this should be of help to all of us who cruise eBay for collectible and rare vinyl records- I am trying to contact the person who runs it to get some more information, but for now, check it out:

http://recordauction.co.uk/

The specifics from the site:

"What I’ve done is formulate pages of ebay listings which show the rarest and also the cheapest rarities from a range of major artists. They all display on one page so you can see which mega rarities are going under the hammer and one the same page, keep an eye on any records that appear to be slipping through unnoticed. Saves hours of ebay trawling and if you just have a spare ten minutes, gives you a change to nab either a special rarity or a bargain record! And, of course, it’s completely free to use."

Cover Story- Bob Dylan

As always I want to thank Michael Goldstein at www.RockPoPGallery.com for the exclusive rights to reprint this interesting cover story:



Cover Story Interview - Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks",

with photography by Paul Till

Subject: Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks, released in 1975 on Columbia Records, with cover photo by photographer Paul Till.


Back in April, I wrote about the making of the cover image for Bob Dylan’s Slow Train Coming. Shortly afterwards, I received a nice letter from Kevin Odegard, a writer-musician who had written a book titled A Simple Twist of Fate that provided the complete story of the making of another classic Dylan album – 1975’s Blood on the Tracks. It seems that there were a number of stories floating about concerning this recording, and Kevin’s book, which features interviews with many of the people who worked on the production (including Kevin), served to provide the details (and dispel the rumors) that had kept fans of this album guessing for years.

While I won’t spend a lot of time talking about the recording – I’d suggest that you track down Kevin’s book for an in-depth account – I can tell you that it seems that this album was the one where we “got to know” more – as best as we could determine from his songs’ lyrics, which can be a bit allegorical - about Dylan and his state of mind following the breakup of his marriage to his wife Sara.

Backed by an excellent studio band, Dylan’s songs of loneliness, anger and heartbreak all come together in a recording that, according to many critics and fans, represents one of the best in his long career. The double-platinum album reached #1 on Billboard’s pop charts in the U.S. (and #4 in the UK), while the single "Tangled Up in Blue" topped out at #31 on the Pop singles chart.

As it turns out, the making of the cover image also has an intriguing story, so to help create this unique Cover Story, I asked Kevin to provide some additional content (see the section following the main Cover Story interview) while I sought out and then interviewed the creator of the iconic cover image – Ontario, Canada-based photographer Paul Till – to learn his story about “the making of” that fascinating snapshot. The story is particularly interesting in that – in the days before Photoshop – it was the “art” of photography and experimental film processing that produced one-of-a-kind images like the one we’ll talk about today. Read on…and you’ll then know…the REST of the Cover Story…(my apologies to Paul Harvey!)

In the words of the photographer – Paul Till

I was 20 years old at the time, and had been doing photography for about three years and had been using a darkroom for a year and a half or so. I loved the darkroom and learning and using various darkroom techniques. I was also a big Bob Dylan fan, and so when the 1974 tour was announced, there was a mail-in “first-come first-served” process for getting tickets to his show at the Maple Leaf Gardens. I took my letter down to actual post office where their post office box was and ended up with quite good tickets. I was directly stage right a few seats from being obstructed by loudspeakers. I was relatively close to the stage, but not really close. I photographed the 2nd of Bob Dylan's two concerts in - I think it was - January of 1974. I'd never photographed a concert before.

The camera I was using was a screw-mount Leica III which dated back to the 1930's. It was my dad's - he'd bought in London, England in 1945. I had a fast normal lens for it, but not a telephoto, so I borrowed a Canon 135 f3.5 lens from the father of a friend of my sister. Anyhow, I shot about a roll and half of 35mm Tri X - the standard 400 ASA film of the time - and tried to figure out the exposure. I pushed the film to about 1600ASA (ASA is the same as ISO. but that's what it was called then). I don't recall if I did the darkroom work to make the cover image in the Fall or Winter of 1974.

At the time, I was doing a lot of darkroom manipulation of photographs as well as hand-colouring them. I was very familiar with Bob Dylan's music and I felt that the combination of darkroom technique and hand colouring echoed the old/new dichotomy of much of his work, as well as the notion that it echoed the (sometimes slapdash) off-handed power of his words and music.

Here's how it was actually made - The negative was enlarged in the darkroom onto another piece of film in such a way that just Dylan's head was on it. This would normally result in a positive image on the film which, if you printed it onto a piece of photo paper, would give you a negative print. However, I solarized this piece of film (that is, re-exposed it to light) as it was being developed. This partially reversed the image and also gave it the distinctive line between what was dark to start with and what has made dark by the solarization. Technically, this technique is actually called “the Sabbatier effect”, and the lines are called “Mackie lines”. This resulted in a quite dark and low-contrast piece of film to make a print from. I had to use the very high-contrast grade 6 Agfa Brovira paper to get a print with enough contrast.




I made a bunch of these and hand-coloured them using Marshalls photographic watercolours (they are a dye that sinks right into the emulsion of the photographic paper). I do recall that I was selling 5X7 hand-coloured prints of the cover image and the entire image for $5.00 in the Fall.

In the fall of 1974 I sent Bob Dylan some of the photos. I sent in at least two images- the one that ended up on the cover and a hand coloured version of the entire image. I had gotten his office address out of Who's Who. I hadn't done any work for the label or act before, so the artist and management were completely unaware of what I had done. It's my understanding the Bob Dylan saw the photo and thought that it was great, but I don't know where that understanding came from. I really didn't get any feedback about the image. I would have been pleased just to get a letter back!




All of this photography was done as a ticket holder. I've seen Dylan in concert quite a few times since then but he's been very restrictive about photography. Cameras are not allowed, and many times press photographers aren't allowed as well. A year or so later I made a photograph at the Rolling Thunder Revue concert in Niagara Falls, New York that was then used on the cover of the Bob Dylan Songs 1966-1975 songbook (see below).



I also photographed Bob Dylan in 1978 (from way, way, way back in the crowd), in 1979 (it was, I think, the “gospel tour”) where I got some good photographs and got as close as I ever got with a camera to Dylan, and then again 1981 (also from pretty far back, but it was a great concert.)

When I finally did hear Blood on the Tracks, I thought it was a great record and that the photo worked great with the music as well as the art direction of the cover. That being said, if I ever get a good seat again, I'll probably put some tiny digital camera in my pocket and...

About the photographer, Paul Till (with an intro in his own words) –

After the Blood on the Tracks photos, I figured that I'd be a professional photographer. I went to community college and have been a photographer since then. I did a few record jackets in the 80's - some people may have heard of the Canadian band "FM" as well as the electronic solo artist "Nash the Slash" – and I photographed some of the early Toronto punk scene. Since 1981, I've been a freelance photographer for Toronto's Now magazine (www.nowtoronto.com) and these days shoot for them once a week - almost all live music. I've done a wide variety of commercial photographic work as well as having many photo shows with a variety of subjects and using many different techniques. My most recent show is "First 3 Songs (no flash)" which ran beginning in May (and probably through the summer) at Industrial Storm at 1099 Queen St West in Toronto. It features large prints of manipulated concert photographs, most of them combining multiple images, through physical collage or digital techniques.



Personal Data

Born: June 17, 1953, London, England and immigrated to Canada in 1957

Education

Paul was educated at the University of Toronto and at Humber College in Toronto, where he received a diploma in Creative Photography in 1977 (he also has teaching credentials, teaching ESL classes and classes in photography/advanced darkroom techniques).

Photographic Specialities

Live concert photography, low light photography, infra red photography, photojournalism, location photography, photograms, panoramic photography, archival processing, black and white and colour printing, pinhole photography, and camera construction.

Selected Exhibitions

1 Person Shows

2008- First 3 Songs(no flash), Industrial Storm, Toronto
2007- Toronto Buildings Gardens and Statues, Industrial Storm, Toronto
2006 - North American Buildings, Gardens and Statues, Industrial Storm, Toronto.
2004 - Buildings, Gardens and Statues. South Hill Home, Toronto.
1999 - Paris Panoramas. See Gallery, Toronto.
1998 - Actual Photographs. Arcadia Gallery, Toronto.
1997 - Some Neat Stuff. Arcadia Gallery, Toronto.
1990 - Some Neat Stuff. Latcham Gallery, Stouffeville.
1985 - The Magic Show. Gallery 44, Toronto.
1983 - The Secret History of Aircraft. Cameravision Gallery, Los Angeles.
1983 - Photographs of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The Mecene Gallery, Toronto.
1983 - One More River to Cross, Boats and Monuments, Gallery 44, Toronto.
1982 - The Secret History of Aircraft. Sacks Gallery, Toronto.
1981 - new/gods/sing. The Print Finishing Gallery, Toronto.

Group Shows

2005- The Official Bob Dylan Exhibition, Proud Gallery, London, U.K.
2004 - Now and the 80s. Thomas Fisher Library, University of Toronto Archives, Toronto.
2003 - Toronto Grid Works. York Quay Gallery, Harbourfront, Toronto.
1996 - Now Photo Show, Ryerson Gallery, Toronto.
1994 - Toronto After Dark. The Market Gallery, Toronto.
1991 - Black and White and Still Blue. Community Gallery Habourfront, Toronto.
1990 - 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Gallery 44, Toronto.
1989 - 4 Canadian Photographers, Canon Gallery, Amsterdam
1985 - Living with Lead. Gallery 44, Toronto.

Collections

Paul’s works are featured in the collections of the Canada Council Art Bank, City of Toronto Archives, Forum Research Inc., the University of Toronto Archives, and in many private collections in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.

To see more of Paul’s work, please visit his website at www.PaulTill.com

To see more Bob Dylan-related works in the RockPoP Gallery collection, please follow this link –

http://rockpopgallery.com/items/bob-dylan/list.htm


Extra bonus content from Kevin Odegard (from his book, A Simple Twist of Fate) -

In 1974 Bob Dylan wrote, recorded, reconsidered, and then re-recorded the best-selling studio album of his career. Blood on the Tracks was composed as Dylan's twelve-year marriage began to unravel, and songs like "Tangled Up in Blue" and "Shelter from the Storm" have become templates for multidimensional, adult songs of love and loss. Yet the story behind the creation of this album has never been fully told; even the credits on the present-day album sleeve are inaccurate. Dylan recorded the album twice-once in New York City and again in Minneapolis, with a rag-tag gang of local musicians, quickly rewriting many of the songs in the process. For A Simple Twist of Fate, the authors have interviewed the musicians and producers, industry insiders, and others, creating an engaging chronicle of how one musician channeled his pain and confusion into great art.

The book has, since its publication in 2004, held up factually, and nothing has been challenged or singled out as inaccurate. Critically, it has been received as a book primarily for hardcore Dylan fans and musicians. My emphasis on technical aspects of the studio experience (microphone makes and placement, guitar types etc.) has been singled out as overly obsessive by pop and literary writers, and praised by trade and music journals. However, this information is exclusive to our book, and I am happy to accept that kind of hit. Andy's analysis can be florid in places, overwrought in others, so that can be judged as "subjective". The opinions and quotes by the musicians in the book have been praised by all involved; everyone in the book was quite happy to have been portrayed accurately. There have been inquiries about a theatrical adaptation for this reason.

Following the book's publication, Bob made comments relating to the book - and Blood On The Tracks in particular - which hint that he may refute or rebut the autobiographical, 'divorce' theory we have put forth and supported in the book. Bob says 'one album I made back then' has been interpreted by others to be autobiographical, when it was actually inspired by and based on a series of Chekov plays. According to family sources, we will hear more about this when Chronicles II is published.

All of the members of the original Minneapolis studio band (Chris Weber, Bill Berg, Billy Peterson, Peter Ostroushko, Gregg Inhofer and myself), along with Eric Weissberg from the New York sessions, gathered on March 3, 2004 to play a sold-out concert at Minneapolis' Pantages Theatre, "Blood On The Tracks Live." This triggered a series of college and auditorium shows over the next two years, including induction of the Minneapolis band in the Minnesota Rock and Country Hall of Fame on May 23, 2005. We played “Dylan Days” in Bob's hometown of Hibbing in July of 2006, and may reunite again in the future.

--- Kevin

Kevin can be reached by email at kevinkodegard@gmail.com

His book can be purchased at http://www.hemingwaybookstore.com/index.html
Text copyright 2004 and 2008 Kevin Odegard – All rights reserved.

All images featured in this Cover Story are Copyright 1974 and 2008, Paul Till - All rights reserved. Except as noted, all other text Copyright 2008 - Mike Goldstein & RockPoP Gallery (www.rockpopgallery.com) - All rights reserved.

Top 5 eBay Vinyl Record Sales

Week Ending 10/25/2008

1. 45 rpm- J D Bryant "I Won't Be Coming Back" / "Walk On It" Shrine 108 - $10,230.00 Start: $0.01 Bids: 15

2. LP - Michael Jackson "Thriller" LP White Label Ecuador - $3,000.00 Start: $3,000.00 Bids: BIN

3. LP - Michael Jackson "Thriller" LP White Label Ecuador - $2,500.00 Start: $2,500.00 Bids: BIN

4. LP - Michel Legrand "La Piscine" Soundtrack Japanese Pressing White Label - $2,351.00 Start: $225.00 Bids: 21

5. 10" - Amos Milburn "Rockin The Boogie" Alladin - $1,900.99 Start: $99.99 Bids 18

One of the rarest Northern Soul 45's tops the list this week, J D Bryant's Shrine 45"I Won't Be Coming Back" appears on the Top 5 for the first time, getting a healthy price at over $10.2k. This sale demonstrates that its not just rarity of the music that gets the big bids but rarity of the item. The songs on this 45 are available on Shrine compilation CD's and reissues, but in its original issue this is a rarest of rare record.

Identical records occupy the next two spots. Ecuadorian pressings on white vinyl of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" LP sell on Buy-It-Now's for $3k and $2.5k respectively. Issued from many 70's & 80's hit albums, these colored pressings from South America (there have been Columbian pressings as well) got on the Top 5 numerous weeks last year, but these are the first ones to show up in many months.

In the #4 spot, a Japanese pressing of a Michel Legrand soundtrack bids past $2.3k. A 10" record takes the #5 spot, an Amos Milburn piano boogie record selling for almost a dollar over $1.9k.


SOURCE: as always, I want to thank Brian at http://ccdiscoveries.blogspot.com for this interesting data

Classic Rock Videos

Crystals - He's A Rebel

Album Cover Art

We are all the way to the #2 position on the Gigwise.com list of the most controversial, weirdest, best and worst album covers (as put together by their staff):

Controversial

2. Scorpions: ‘Virgin Killer’ – The image of a naked prepubescent girl on later editions of ‘Virgin Killer’ was replaced with a cover featuring a picture of the band due to the controversy it caused.

The original cover art for the album depicted a naked prepubescent girl. The image was designed by Steffan Böhle, who was then the product manager for RCA Records. Francis Buchholz was the bassist for the band and, in an interview conducted in early 2007, recollects that the model depicted on the cover was either the daughter or the niece of "the guy who did the cover design." The photograph was taken by Michael von Gimbut. The band's rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenker offers the following description of the circumstances behind the album cover.

“ We didn't actually have the idea. It was the record company. The record company guys were like, 'Even if we have to go to jail, there's no question that we'll release that.' On the song 'Virgin Killer', time is the virgin killer. But then, when we had to do the interviews about it, we said 'Look, listen to the lyrics and then you'll know what we're talking about. We're using this only to get attention. That's what we do.' Even the girl, when we met her fifteen years later, had no problem with the cover. Growing up in Europe, sexuality, of course not with children, was very normal. The lyrics really say it all. Time is the virgin killer. A kid comes into the world very naive, they lose that naiveness and then go into this life losing all of this getting into trouble. That was the basic idea about all of it.”

In a separate interview, Schenker also notes that he thought the cover art was a "great thing" and that he had "pushed the band to really stay behind it" as he felt that people would "think differently" when they looked at the lyrics and realized that the cover art was only being used as "a symbol of the lyrics." The band's former lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth notes that the cover art of the "old Scorpion albums" were "usually done by other people." He has since expressed regret over the original album cover.

“ Looking at that picture today makes me cringe. It was done in the worst possible taste. Back then I was too immature to see that. Shame on me — I should have done everything in my power to stop it. The record company came up with the idea, I think. The lyrics incidentally were a take-off on KISS, whom we had just supported on a tour. I was fooling around and played the riff of the song in the rehearsal room and spontaneously improvised 'cause he's a virgin killer!' trying to do a more or less way-off-the-mark Paul Stanley impersonation. Klaus immediately said 'that's great! You should do something with it.' Then I had the unenviable task of constructing a meaningful set of lyrics around the title, which I actually managed to do to some degree. But the song has a totally different meaning from what people would assume at first. Virgin Killer is none other than the demon of our time, the less compassionate side of the societies we live in today — brutally trampling upon the heart and soul of innocence.”

The cover generated controversy and was replaced in some countries with an alternate cover art depicting the band members. It would not be the last time that the band attracted controversy with their album covers. Their next album Taken by Force originally featured cover art that depicted "children playing with guns at a military cemetery in France and some people found that offensive." Their 1979 album Lovedrive featured a "bizarre artwork" that depicts "a woman on the back seat of a car with bubblegum over her breast." Both covers were replaced by an alternate design.Vocalist Klaus Meine explains that the band's penchant for controversial cover art stems from a desire "to go over the edge" and not "to offend some people or make the headlines [as] that would be stupid."

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Weird


2. Xiu Xiu: 'A Promise' - Here is what Gigwise had to say about this choice cover: "A baby doll. A naked man. A bed. Three items that should go never together but, worryingly, all feature on the cover to Xiu Xiu's 'A Promise'. Whatever possessed this band to have this cover we'll never know – it is one of the most disturbing things we've ever seen. Even for a band that is famous for writing lyrics about such topics as AIDS, suicide and other morose subjects, this cover takes some beating in the weirdness ranking."

Thank god for the orange box, that is the only good element to the cover.

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Worst


2. The Coup – ‘Party Music’: Again, Gigwise has a cover that is repeated (#7 controversial) , I would think with all the creative album cover art that is out there, they could have done a bit more work and found a better cover for their list and put it in this spot- very disappointing to me.

Here is there reasoning: "Released in June 2001, just before the terrorist attacks of 9/11, The Coup touched a raw nerve with their album cover depicting The Twin Towers being bombed. Okay they may not have forseen the true events three months later – but despite this, there’s little doubting it’s in very poor taste."

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Best


2. Uriah Heep: ‘Very Eavy Very Umble’ - The album cover that single-handedly taught young children in the early seventies not to rifle through their Dad's record collection. So scary, they issued an alternative cover in the United States. I am not sure which one of these covers made the Gigwise list, but they both are scarry, aren't they?

Very 'eavy... Very 'umble is the debut album of British hard rock band Uriah Heep. It was released in the United States as Uriah Heep with alternate sleeve artwork, and with "Bird of Prey" in place of "Lucy Blues."


The album was generally panned by the mainstream critical press upon its release, although it has since been acknowledged as an early classic of the heavy metal genre. The most famous criticism came from Rolling Stone magazine reviewer Melissa Mills, who began her review, "If this group makes it I'll have to commit suicide. From the first note you know you don't want to hear any more."

The original vinyl release was a gatefold-sleeve, featuring David Byron on the front sleeve, almost unrecognisable beneath the cobwebs.

Former Grateful Dead keyboardist Saunders dies

SAN FRANCISCO – Merl Saunders, a jazz and rock keyboardist who collaborated with iconic acts including Miles Davis and the Grateful Dead, has died. He was 74.

Saunders died Friday at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco of complications due to a stroke, said his son, Merl Saunders Jr.

"We loved him very much — and we know that you, his fans, did too," his family said in a statement posted on Saunders' Web site. "He was a special man, a beautiful companion, father, grandfather, and family patriarch, and the proof of that spirit is in the way you've reached out to us at his passing."

Born in San Mateo, Calif., Saunders attended high school with Johnny Mathis in San Francisco. One of Saunders' very first performances was a high school event with Mathis, Saunders Jr. said.

Some of Saunders' most famous music was made in the 1960s and 1970s when he teamed up with the Grateful Dead's lead guitarist and singer, Jerry Garcia. The Saunders-Garcia Band recorded two records in the 1970s and the two would play together on an array of projects until Garcia's death in 1995.

In 1990 Saunders and Garcia released the album "Blues from the Rainforest" that achieved success on the new age music charts.

Saunders is survived by his longtime companion, his two sons and a daughter.

Classic Rock Videos

Crystals- Da Doo Ron Ron Ron

Album Cover Art

Let's continue our look at Gigwise.com's look at controversial, weird, best and worst album covers (as compiled by their crack staff):

Controversial


3. Type O Negative: ‘The Origin’ – Brooklyn band Type O Negative were forced to change their album artwork to a green and black image of dancing skeletons after the close-up of a sphincter, reportedly that of lead singer Peter Steele, unsurprisingly caused controversy. Gee you think that an image of someone's ass is the best way to sell and promote your music? Assholes.




alternate cover




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Weird


3. Butthole Surfers: 'Double Live' – Oh, these wise guys again. They have certainly made the Gigwise list several times and I think that goofy album cover art (like this alien baby/alien dinosaur shaking hands while onstage) is just a precursoor to their weird music. This live album, released in 1989, was given an extremely limited run - 10,000 vinyl printings, 7,500 cassettes, and 4,750 CDs to be precise.

The band did not begin as the Butthole Surfers, although they did have a song of that title, possibly an early version of 1984's "Butthole Surfer". This changed at their first paid concert, when an announcer forgot what the band was called and used the song title for the group’s name. They decided to keep the moniker, and have largely been billed as such ever since. Prior to that, the Surfers performed under a different name at every live show. Early aliases included the Dick Clark Five, Nine Foot Worm Makes Own Food, the Vodka Family Winstons, and many others.

The name has long been a source of trouble for the band. Many clubs, newspapers, radio, and TV stations refuse to print or mention their full name, and instead opted to use "B.H. Surfers", or other abbreviations.

I'm not sure, but will we see them again on the Gigwise list?

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Worst


3. John Lennon & Yoko Ono – ‘Unfinished Music No 1: Two Virgins’: We have already seen this 'great' cover on the Gigwise list, someone must be obsessed with it.

Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins is a noise music album released by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1968. The result of an all-night session of musical experimentation in Lennon's home studio at Kenwood, John and Yoko's debut album is known not only for its avant garde content, but also for its cover. The album's title came from the couple's feeling that they were "two innocents, lost in a world gone mad", and because after making the recording, the two consummated their relationship for the first time.

The recording consists largely of tape loops, playing while Lennon tries out different instruments (piano, organ, drums) and sound effects (including reverb, delay and distortion), changes tapes and plays other recordings, and converses with Ono, who vocalises ad-lib in response to the sounds. Lennon's longtime friend Peter Shotton remembered later in his memoir (The Beatles, Lennon and Me) that many of the loops were made by Lennon and himself, in the days before the recording. Lennon recorded directly to two-track stereo, but much of the source material was monophonic.

The couple used a time-delay camera to take nude photographs of themselves, for the album's cover; the front showed them frontally nude, while the rear showed them from behind. (The photos were taken not at Kenwood, but at Ringo Starr's basement apartment at Montagu Square, where Lennon and Ono stayed later that year.) The cover provoked an outrage, prompting distributors to sell the album in a plain brown wrapper. Copies of the album were impounded as obscene in several jurisdictions (including 30,000 copies in New Jersey). Lennon wryly commented that the uproar seemed to have less to do with the explicit nudity, and more to do with the fact that the pair were rather unattractive (and the photo unflattering; Lennon described it later as a picture of "two slightly overweight ex-junkies." Nevertheless, the taboo-breaking album cover was perhaps the first time that a male celebrity of any consequence had exposed himself so thoroughly to the public.

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Best


3. The Sex Pistols: ‘Never Mind the Bollocks' - This cover shows up on many 'best of' lists and I cannot see why. It is the name of the group and the name of the album. Yes, I like the yellow and purple mix, but that is about it for me.

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols is the first and only album recorded by the Sex Pistols, a highly influential and controversial English punk band. Fans and critics alike generally regard the album as an extremely important record in the history of rock music, citing the lasting influence it has had on subsequent punk musicians and other musical genres that were influenced by such punk rock artists.

The album was released on October 28, 1977 on the Virgin Records label, amid controversy arising from the use of the obscenity (in British English) "bollocks" in its title.

Ok, now that explains it, apparently "bullocks" is a dirty word.

This Date In Music History- October 26

Birthdays:

Birthday wishes to Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs.

Born on this day in 1951, Bootsy Collins, bass player.

David Was of Was Not Was, was born in 1952. (that’s a lot of was’s).

Maggie Roche of the folk trio the Roches was born in 1951. You can hear her backing vocals on Paul Simon's There Goes Rhymin' Simon.

History:

In 1984, 19-year-old John D. McCollum killed himself with a .22 caliber handgun after spending the day listening to Ozzy Osbourne records. One year later, McCollum's parents took court action against Ozzy and CBS Records, alleging that the song "Suicide Solution" from the album Blizzard of Ozz contributed to their son's death. The case was eventually thrown out of court.

The Beatles' debut single, "Love Me Do," entered the English chart in 1962.

A She Devil: In 1993, Catholic churches in San Juan, Puerto Rico asked residents to tie black ribbons on trees in protest against Madonna's first live appearance in the country.

In 1991, legendary Rock concert promoter Bill Graham was killed when the Bell 206B JetRanger III helicopter he was riding in struck the top of a Pacific Gas & Electric transmission tower near Sears Point, northwest of Vallejo, and exploded. The fiery crash, which left the helicopter's wreckage dangling near the top of the towering structure, killed Graham (age 60); his girlfriend Melissa Gold (age 47); and pilot Steve Kahn. Graham had founded the Fillmore theaters in San Francisco and New York and had played key roles in supporting such bands as the Who, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Janis Joplin, The Band, Bob Dylan, the J. Geils Band, the Allman Brothers Band and the Rolling Stones.

Whitney Houston went to No.1 on the US singles chart in 1985 with 'Saving All My Love For You', also a No.1 hit in the UK.

Queen Elizabeth II presented The Beatles with their MBE's at Buckingham Palace, England in 1965. According to John Lennon, The Beatles smoked marijuana in one of the palace bathrooms to calm their nerves. Is this a myth or Beatle magic to sell records?

Bill Haley and his Comets played the first rock 'n' roll concert in Germany in 1958. Over 7,000 rock 'n' roll fans turned the show into a riot. 20 policemen were injured and one permanently blinded as teens from East and West Berlin skirmish.

In 1961, Bob Dylan signed his first recording contract with Columbia Records.

In 1992, Pearl Jam sets a new record for first week sales when the LP "Vs." sold 950,000 copies. It’s a record later broken by less notable performers (Garth Brooks and the Backstreet Boys).

In 1991, singer / songwriter Hoyt Axton, who wrote Three Dog Night's "Joy To The World", died peacefully at his ranch at the age of 61. His mother, Mae Buran Axton wrote Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel".

Forbes.com compiled a list of the top earning dead celebrities in 2004 and to no one's surprise, Elvis Presley came out on top. 27 years after his death, fans were still buying his music and collecting memorabilia to the tune of $40 million a year. Beatle John Lennon was number four on the list with earnings of $21 million, while his former band mate George Harrison was number 7, bringing in $7 million.