Showing posts with label Billy Bragg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Billy Bragg. Show all posts

Sunday, November 21, 2010

North Fork Sound Top 20 - November 28th 2010

Introducing...Luna

1. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Luna

2. NIck Drake: Black Eyed Dog
3. John Lydon: Dog
4. The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band: My Pink Half Of The Drainpipe
5. The Sex Patels: The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum

6. The Cramps: Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?
7. Peter Tosh: Maga Dog

8. Moondog: Bumbo
9. Rosco Gordon: No More Doggin'
10. Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban: La Luna En Tu Mirada
11. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Doggone Right

12. Marianne Nowottny: Dog Of Ivory

13. Peter C. Johnson: I'm A Dog
14. The Residents: Santa Dog

15. Luna: Bewitched
16. Bill Doggett: Honky Tonk Pt. 2
17. Shelby Lynne: Old Dog

18. Lightnin' Hopkins: Play With Your Poodle

19. Pete Townshend: Dogs
20.
Los Lobos: Luna

North Fork Sound Alb O' The Week

The Pretty Things: Parachute (40th Anniversary Edition)

North Fork Sound Legend Of The Month
Billy Bragg
Washington DC
(scanned from a lenticular 3-D print)

photo: ht

Last Week's Listener Favourites
Bernard Fowler & The Laddins: Soulfingertips
Big Jack Reynolds: I Had A Little Dog
Billy Bragg & The Blokes: England, Half English
Bonnie Raitt & Little Feat: Cold Cold Cold
Brinsley Schwarz: Don't Ever Change
Dave Mason: Only You Know And I Know
The Drive-By Truckers: Danko/Manuel
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley: Crying In The Chapel
The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced?
Kid Rock w/Zac Brown: Flyin' High
Kurt Wagner & Cortney Tidwell Present Kort: Yours Forever
Mickey Newbury: How I Love Them Old Songs
The Nips
The Nips: Gabrielle
The Pretty Things: Parachute
Roland White: Head Over Heels In Love With You
Rubén Blades: Ojos De Perro Azul
The Shadows: Wonderful Land
The Star Spangles w/Dennis Thompson
Nick Price, Joey Valentine, Dennis Thompson, Tommy Volume, Ian Wilson
Detroit, MI
photo: ht
The Star Spangles: Which Of The Two Of Us Is Gonna Burn This House Down
Steve Martin: Calico Train (instr.)
Third Ear Band: Stone Circle
Tone-Loc: Wild Thing
Willie Nelson: Bloody Mary Morning

and don't forget, 'PURE w/howard thompson' is broadcast, streamed and archived on WPKN Bridgeport, CT 89.5fm and www.wpkn.org

Next show: Friday December 10th, noon - 3pm (ET)


Sunday, November 7, 2010

North Fork Sound Top 20 - November 7th 2010

The Last Poets
l-r: Umar Bin Hassan, Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Abiodun Oyewole

1. The Last Poets: When The Revolution Comes
2. Die Antwoord: Liewe Maatjies
3. Mark Bingham: Ernie K-Doe Takes A Meeting With Anais Nin
4.
Freddy Fender: Wasted Days And Wasted Night
5. Susan Cadogan: Do It Baby (Nice & Easy)
6. Love Affair: Everlasting Love
7.
Dolly Parton: Jolene
8. Lazy Lester: You're Gonna Ruin Me Baby
9. Mike Badger & The Shedy Trio: What You Done To Me
10. Bryan Ferry: You Can Dance

11. Michael Chapman: It Didn't Work Out
12. Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson: The Bottle

13. Harper Blynn: All The Noise
14. The Royaltones: The Yea Yea Song
15. Gogol Bordello: We're Coming Rougher (Immigraniada)
16. Dobie Gray: The "In" Crowd
17. Björk: Amphibian (Mark Bell mix)

18. Gang Of Four: Armalite Rifle

19. Carl Malcolm: Fattie Bum Bum
20. Bob Doss: Don't Be Gone Long

North Fork Sound Alb O' The Week
Lee 'Scratch' Perry & Friends: Sipple Out Deh
The Black Ark Years
- The Jamaican 7"s

North Fork Sound Legend Of The Month

Billy Bragg
photo: ht

Last Week's Listener Favourites
Al Green: Take Me To The River
Alejandro Escovedo: Castanets
Angel Corpus Christi
St. Marks' Place, NYC - 7/28/84
photo:ht

Angel Corpus Christi: Candy
Ann Peebles: Part Time Love

Bob Dylan: It Takes A Lot To Laugh (It Takes A Train To Cry), alt. version

Booker T Jones: Knocking On Heaven's Door
Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez w/Dion DiMucci: Cry Baby Cry
Dungen: Skit I Allt

Dwight Twilley: Ten Times
Gary 'US' Bonds: From A Buick 6
J Roddy Walston & The Business: I Don't Wanna Hear It
Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin: Leur Plaisir Sans Moi
Jerry Lee Lewis: Real Wild Child
Little Feat: Cat Fever
Robyn: U Should Know Better
Roland White: Marathon

The Rolling Stones: Shine A Light
Stereolab: Young Lungs
Iggy Pop
The Stooges: I Wanna Be Your Dog
Tilly & The Wall: Night Of The Living Dead

Tom Jones: Strange Things


'PURE w/howard thompson' is broadcast/streamed 'live' every second Friday of the month on WPKN in Bridgeport, CT 89.5fm and www.wpkn.org
Next show: Friday November 12th, noon - 3pm (ET)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

North Fork Sound Top 20 - July 18th 2010

M.I.A.
1. M.I.A: Born Free
2. Patto: Sugar Cube 1967
3. HTRK: Rentboy
4. Peaches: Jonny
5. Yvonne Fair: It Should Have Been Me
6. The Rutles: Eine Kleine Middle Classe Music
7. Gillian Welch: Paper Wings
8. Mother Earth: Jesse
9. Dynamoe: Clowns And Prophets, Bitches And Backers
10. Chris Isaak: Wicked Game (live)
11. Dwight Yoakum: Give Back The Key To My Heart

12. Anthony Moore: Dreams Of His Laughter
13. Van Morrison, Lonnie Donegan & Chris Barber: Midnight Special
14. Scotty Moore: Don't
15. Desmond Dekker & The Aces: The Israelites
16. John Brannen: Hoodoo Highway
17. The Small Faces: The Universal
18. The Jesus And Mary Chain: About You
19. V.A.S.T: Pretty When You Cry (Trailermen Electro Bump mix)

20. Naked Orchestra: Brief Repairs On The Gradually Unraveling Spool In The Sense Continuum

North Fork Sound Alb O' The Week
Jimmy Vaughan: Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites

North Fork Sound Legend Of The Month
Doug Sahm

Last Week's Listener Favourites
Aaron Neville: Jailhouse
The Action: I'll Keep On Holding On
Adam Ant: High Heels In High Places
Alabama 3: Ain't Goin' To Goa
Albert Lee: Country Gentleman
Allen Toussaint: Bright Mississippi
Clare Grogan/Altered Images
The Venue, London - Jan '82

photo: Alan Short
Altered Images: Dead Pop Stars
Amy Rigby: All I Want
Andy Fairweather Low: One More Rocket
The Big Three: What'd I Say (live)
Billy Bragg
photo: ht
Billy Bragg: Must I Paint You A Picture
Blind Faith: Presence of The Lord
Blind Willie Johnson: Dark Was The Night Cold Was The Ground
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band: Ice Rose
The Deltamatics: Hold Your Mouth Right
Dennis Linde: DR-31
Detroit: Rock & Roll
Dorothy Moore: Misty Blue
Doug Sahm: Huggin' Thin Air
Doug Sahm: Poison Love
Drumbo: Bus Ticket Outa Town
Flywheel: I've Got Time
The Fugs: Kill For Peace
George Jackson: Aretha Play One For Me
Geraint Watkins: Unto You
Happy Mondays: W.F.L. (Think About The Future mix)
If: I'm Reaching Out On All Sides
The Inmates: Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie
Jackie Brenston: Rocket 88
James Brown: I'm A Greedy Man
John Cale: I Keep A Close Watch On This Heart Of Mine
Johnny Dynell & New York 88: Jam Hot (Rhumba Rock)
Johnny Rivers & His LA Boogie Band: Barefootin'
Laurie Anderson: Strange Perfumes
Leon Russell: Big Lips
Lonnie Mack: Wham!
Los Lobos: It Didn't Even Bring Me Down
Lou Reed: Sad Song
Loudon Wainwright III: New Paint
Martin Rev
photo: ht
Martin Rev: Baby Oh Baby
Mem Shannon: You Ain't Nothing Nice
MX-80 Sound: Someday You'll Be King
Neil Young: The Painter
New Power Generation: Black MF In The House
The New York Dolls: Ridiculous
Peter C Johnson: I Can't Paint For You
Pink Floyd: Paint Box
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band feat. Dr. John: Winin' Boy Blues
The Prissteens
I.I.W.I.I. Studios, Weehawken, NJ
photo: ht
The Prissteens: Run Back To You
The Pulsars: Tunnel Song
The Ramones: Needles And Pins
The Records: Paint Her Face
The Rolling Stones: Faraway Eyes
Richard Berry & The Pharoahs: Louie Louie
Ry Cooder: Little Sister
Sierra Leone's Refugee Allstars: Jah Come Down
Sir Douglas Quintet: Backwood's Girl
Sir Douglas Quintet: Huggin' Thin Air
Skip McDonald: Hammerhead
Solomon Burke: Dreams
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble: Wall Of Denial
Sugar Minott: Rub A Dub
Tim Buckley: Sweet Surrender
Todd Rundgren: Bang The Drum All Day
Unit Four Plus Two: Concrete And Clay
Wreckless Eric: Joe Meek

My other show - 'PURE' - is now on WPKN 89.5fm & www.wpkn.org

Next show: August 13th, and every second Friday of the month, 12 (noon) - 3pm

SEND PROMOS - cds or vinyl ONLY

Sunday, May 3, 2009

North Fork Sound Top 20 May 3rd ‘09

1. Ike Turner: Jesus Loves Me
2. The Cramps: People Ain’t No Good
3. Dean Wareham: Anesthesia
4. Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers: Pablo Picasso
5. John Mooney: Drink A Little Poison (4 U Die)
6. Kris Kristofferson: The Show Goes On
7. Detroit (feat: Mitch Ryder): Long Neck Goose
8. Billy Bragg: Seven And Seven Is
9. Beverly Jones & The Prestons: Hear You Talking
10. Doug Powell: The Uninvisible Man
11. John Doe & The Sadies: Til I Get It Right
12. Ornament: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
13. Allen Toussaint: Singin’ The Blues
14. Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson: Motor Head Baby
15. Johnny Dynell & New York 88: Jam Hot (Rhumba Rock)
16. The Divinyls: Elsie
17. True Believers: Nobody’s Home
18. Pink Floyd: Interstellar Overdrive (‘Tonight Let’s All Make Love In London’ version)
19. LCD Soundsystem: Yeah (Pretentious Version)
20. Clive Chin & Lloyd Parks: Extraordinary Version

NoFoSo Alb o’ The Week:
Various Artists: Cries From The Midnight Circus/Ladbroke Grove 1967-1978 (featuring The Pretty Things, Quintessence, Mick Farren, Junior’s Eyes, Robert Calvert, Mighty Baby, The Action and more)

The Guilty Pleasure
:
Abba: Does Your Mother Know

Last Week’s Listener Thumbs-Ups:
John Martyn: Certain Surprise
Jeff Onore: Twenty Years
Johnny Rivers: Rockin’ Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu
Jona Lewie: The Baby She’s On The Street
Sarah Gillespie: Stalkin’ Juliet
The Psychedelic Furs: The Ghost In You
New York Dolls w/Bo Diddley: Seventeen
Larry Lurex (Freddie Mercury): I Can Hear Music
The Pretty Things: Havana Bound
Lita Ford: Kiss Me Deadly
Robert Medici: She Said Drive
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band: Sure ‘nuff ‘n’ Yes I Do
Bo Diddley: Road Runner
Joy Division: Love Will Tear Us Apart
Howlin’ Wolf: Little Red Rooster
Bruce Anderson: Lebanon
The Band: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (alt mix)
Joe Gibbs & The Professionals: Fashion One
John Campbell: Angel Of Sorrow
The Rolling Stones: We Love You
Johnny Thunders: You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory
TG Sheppard & Delbert McClinton
: 15 Rounds With Jose Cuervo
Spike Priggen: In The Inside
Philip Glass Ensemble w/Bernard Fowler: Changing Opinion
Paul Carrack: Lesson In Love
Mick Jagger: Evening Gown
Kevin Ayres: May I
Marc V: Let Them Stare
Lo-Fidelity Allstars: Feel What I Feel
Karen Verros: You Just Gotta Know My Mind
Ernie Isley: High Wire
Grateful Dead: Till The Morning Comes
Led Zeppelin: Ramble On
Sam Cooke: Little Red Rooster
Detroit (feat: Mitch Ryder): It Ain’t Easy
Mary Gauthier: Drag Queens In Limousines
Adam & The Ants: Dog Eat Dog
Billy Bragg: There Is Power In A Union
Brinsley Schwarz: Nervous On The Road (But Can’t Stay At Home)
Jill Sobule: Nothing To Prove
Keith Gemmell: Whoo-Hoo
The High Dials: The Holy Ground
The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs: Little Tokyo
John Doe & Kathleen Edwards: A Little More Time
Eddie & The Hot Rods: It Came Out Of The Sky (live)
Family: In My Own Time
Finn’s Motel: Concord Village Optimist Club
Gene Vincent: Ain’t She Sweet
Mara Carlyle: Saw Song
Roky Erickson & The Aliens: Don’t Shake Me Lucifer
Savoy Brown: Train To Nowhere

Ike Turner: Jesus Loves Me
We like Ike. As pianist/leader of The Kings Of Rhythm, he cut what is probably the first ever rock & roll single, ‘Rocket 88’. Produced by Sam Phillips, the single was credited to Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats and released on the Chess label, reaching #1 on the R&B charts in 1951. With Anna Mae Bullock (Tina Turner) and Phil Spector, he made the greatest single of all time, ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ and continued to make great music up until his death on Dec 12, 2007. 'Jesus Loves Me' is from his last album 'Risin' With The Blues
'.

Ivy Rorschach, Lux Interior
N. Edgemont St, Los Angeles
photo: ht
The Cramps: People Ain't No Good
If there was any justice, The Cramps would be number 2 - at least - on all charts (including ‘classical’) every week.


Terry Tolkin, Dean Wareham 23rd St, NYC
photo: ht
scanned from a lenticular 3-D print

Dean Wareham: Anesthesia
Ornament: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
Dean Wareham is just one of the artists that helped make no. 6 Records a respected
indy label at college radio throughout the 90’s and now there’s a (double) cd of all its 7" 45s, ‘Speed Dating: The no. 6 Records Compendium. Founded in 1989 by Terry Tolkin, no. 6 managed to put out about 50 records during its 10 year existence and was an early champion of artists like Unrest, The Afghan Whigs, Luna, Tindersticks and Nada Surf. The label’s first album release (in 1989) was 'The Bridge - A Tribute To Neil Young' benefiting the Youngs' Bridge School cause and it featured Soul Asylum, Victoria Williams, Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, the Pixies and more. A couple of years later, alt darlings Thurston Moore, Wayne Coyne, J. Mascis, Paul Leary, Kim Gordon, Nikki Sudden, Steve Albini and 19 other 6-string slashers contributed to Terry’s ‘Guitarrorists’ compilation. I brought Terry to Elektra’s a&r department where he gave us Luna, Stereolab and the Afghan Whigs and, for a while, things were looking good. But when one of the artists he signed stole his wife and the building in which he lived on 17th St. collapsed destroying all his vinyl, a very valuable movie poster collection and all the no. 6 masters and artwork, it began a streak of bad luck and gruelling times for Terry. Luckily, he's managed to fight through it and now lives on a farm in Oklahoma with a dog and a Glock.
Ornament were Marcy Mays (from Scrawl) and Greg Dulli (from the Afghan Whigs)
more pics of Terry

Billy Bragg
photo: ht


Billy Bragg: Seven And Seven Is
Apart from the odd glimpse of a wandering, fully electric Billy Bragg (with loud-speakers on antenna-like stalks growing from his shoulders) accosting people with his songs in the corridors of a New Music Seminar hotel,
the first time I saw him properly was when his manager, Peter Jenner, asked if I could come and see him open for The Smiths at NYC's Beacon Theater. I didn't know Peter well, but he's been involved in so many great things I jumped at the chance. As one half of Blackhill Enterprises, he and partner Andrew King had managed Pink Floyd, Marc Bolan, The Edgar Broughton Band, Roy Harper, The Clash, Ian Dury and had organized the free concerts in Hyde Park in the 60s and 70s. Peter had also run EMI's 'underground' label, Harvest, run the a&r dept. at Charisma Records before it was bought out by Virgin and I soon got to know an immensely interesting and entertaining fellow, whose out-of-the-box thinking, sense of fair play and advocacy for artists’ rights puts him right at the top of the good guys column (managers division). Up until then, I’d only heard a couple of Billy’s singles and they hadn’t made much of an impression. I’ve always found, however, that it’s the ‘live’ experience that sorts out the real from the fake and at this show, I finally got it. I was thinking his coarse, un-trained, yet distinctive voice might have a certain commercial appeal when, out of the blue, I found tears running down my cheeks as Billy delivered ‘There Is Power In A Union’ on behalf of the thousands of striking British miners whose jobs were about to disappear courtesy Margaret Thatcher. I looked around...he had the audience in his hands and they had him in their hearts.

Billy Bragg 'Old Clash Fan Fight Song'
Grand Ballroom, Manhattan Center, NYC
October 25th 2008



Billy Bragg 'N.W.P.A.'
Grand Ballroom, Manhattan Center, NYC
October 25th 2008


Everybody was entranced. It didn’t hurt either that Billy is a natural speaker who infuses his message with humour and passion. 'Til then, I’d never been very interested in politics, but the Elektra label had quite a history in that department (Phil Ochs, Judy Collins, MC5) and at the time, with people like (10,000 Maniacs’) Natalie Merchant, Rubén Blades and Jackson Browne doing their bit, it was a natural fit. Billy recorded 'Seven And Seven Is' for Elektra's 40th anniversary album, 'Rubaiyat'. Why they left it off Billy's career retrospective multi cd box sets 'Volume 1' and 'Volume 2' is anybody's guess.
more Billy Bragg photos here

John Doe
on a bus, somewhere in Germany
photo: ht

John Doe & The Sadies: Til I Get It Right
John Doe is not a slacker. As an actor, he’s appeared in 47 films and 28 tv episodes (including 'Carnivale' and 'Roswell'). As a founder member of revered Los Angeles punk band “X”, he’s released 10 albums, 2 greatest hits compilations and appeared in 5 films. As a solo artist, he’s just released his 8th album, a collaboration with The Sadies, ‘Country Club’ (YepRoc Records). As always, he delivers.

Robert Buck, John Doe
Elektra Records Grammy party, Los Angeles, CA

photo: ht
more John Doe pics here
Christina Amphlett/The Divinyls
The Ritz, NYC

photo: Eric Maché
The Divinyls: Elsie
I saw the Divinyls open for the Psychedelic Furs one afternoon at an open air gig one afternoon at Syracuse University
. If you're looking for a female Iggy, Christina Amphlett's your gal. She wore a white blouse with a tartan schoolgirl’s tunic and during their epic ‘Elsie’ late in the set, she took out a lipstick and started scrawling all over her face and arms with it. She lurched around the stage in some kind of psychotic fog, grunting, practically dragging her knuckles along the floor. Then she proceeded to upend a large bucket of water over her head while growling “Open the door, Wally”. She had a feral, primitive appeal. She was beautiful. Ya had to see it, but here's a close approximation, cleaned up a bit for tv.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Reasons To Be Cheerfull

What do Billy Bragg, The Edgar Broughton Band, Paul Carrack, Carlene Carter, John Cooper Clark, Elvis Costello, The Damned, Dr. Feelgood, Ian Dury, Dave Edmunds, Peter Hamill, Hawkwind, Nick Lowe, Graham Parker, The Psychedelic Furs, Larry Wallis and Howard Werth have in common?
Well (apart from being core artists on North Fork Sound) they've all had their music wrapped in the art of Barney Bubbles. Born Colin Fulcher in 1942, he obtained his National Diploma in Design (with honours) from Twickenham College of Technology and in July 1963, created his first piece of commercial art - a poster for the Rolling Stones' appearance at the college's end-of-year dance. Now it's one of the rarest pieces of Stones memorabilia. Around the same time, he made a poster for the college's in-house group, the Muleskinners featuring none other than a soon-to-be member of the Small Faces, Ian McLagan. A love for music, fashion, art and photography played a huge part in Colin's development and in '67, he was inspired by a Pink Floyd event at London's UFO club to purchase four old projectors and create his own mobile light-show. He combined coloured inks with oil and placed the mixtures between glass slides which, when heated by the lamps' warmth, would 'bubble' and make gloopy shapes on walls at clubs like UFO, the Roundhouse and Middle Earth. An introduction to Oz magazine's Richard Neville and a move into 307 Portobello Road placed Barney bang in the centre of London's blossoming underground. He became art director for Friends (another counter-culture mag) who set up offices next door and soon freak-friendly labels like Island, United Artists and Vertigo were commissioning artwork for acts like Quintesscense ("Everything's great in Notting Hill Gate"), The Sutherland Brothers, Cressida, Cracious!, Quiver, Brinsley Schwarz and Hawkwind. It wasn't long before Barney's meticulous, expertly executed, pioneering designs were being used to separate stems and seeds across the nation. Reasons To Be Cheerful - The Life And Work Of Barney Bubbles by Paul Gorman tells of Barney's highs (and lows) so much better than I can and you'll find a huge amount of Barney's work presented magnificently between its covers. If you have even a half-decent record collection, you already have some of his work. Here, you can check out the rest.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Billy Bragg




Billy Bragg: "I Keep Faith"
Grand Ballroom, Manhattan Center, NYC
October 25th 2008


Billy was in tremendous form, Saturday, so if you live nearby, check him out at:
Oct 27 Washington DC, 9.30 Club - tix: (202) 265-0930
Oct 28 Baltimore MD, Ram’s Head Live - tix: 410) 244 1131
Oct 29 Charlottesville VA, Paramount Theater - tix: 434) 979 1333
Oct 30 Norfolk VA, Attucks Theater - tix: 757) 622 4763
Nov 1 Durham NC, Duke University - tix: 919) 684 4444
Nov 2 Asheville NC, Orange Peel - tix: 866) 468 7630

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Ian McLagan


David Greenberger, Ian McLagan, ht & Robyn Hitchcock
Kennedy's, NYC, April '02

Got a new cd - Never Say Never - from Ian McLagan in the mail, yesterday. The album features his usual crew, The Bump Band and this time, Patti Griffin guests on a righteous tearjerker called 'When The Crying is Over', no doubt about his wife Kim, tragically taken in a car crash last year. Glyn Johns does the honours on faders 'n' knobs and if you need more McLagan, he's all over Billy Bragg's new one, 'Mr. Love & Justice', too.

Mac, of course, first came to prominence as a member of the Small Faces. I became aware of them in 1965 when the band performed on 'Crackerjack', a
noisy and chaotic kids' tv program the BBC broadcast from The Shepherd's Bush Empire. "It's Friday, it's five to five - and it's Crackerjack!" The show featured skits and competitions (where a Crackerjack pencil was a most coveted prize!) but, for me, the best thing about it was getting to see performers like Adam Faith, Billy Fury, The Who and The Spencer Davis Group in the early stages of their careers. When The Small Faces appeared, front-man Steve Marriott made a huge impression. I was 12, he was probably just 17. No one (in my tiny world-view at the time) had dressed sharper or looked cooler, and his voice - like Van Morrison's - cut through to the bone. He clearly loved what he was doing and, instantly, The Small Faces became one of my favourite groups, alongside Them and The Rolling Stones. Thank god my uncle worked at Decca! Back in 1988, the Georgia Satellites had Mac play some fierce Jerry Lee-style piano on their second album, 'Open All Night' and had raved about what great guy he'd been on the sessions (full of stories etc.), so I was always looking forward to the day when our paths would cross. 10 years later, when Billy Bragg came to New York's Irving Plaza with his Blokes, I finally got to meet Mac. Since then, I've run into him in Austin, TX a few times, caught him at ASCAP where he read from, and talked about his terrific book, 'All The Rage' to an invited audience, hung out at Kennedy's (a bar on 57th Street in Manhattan) and invited him to guest on The Star Spangles' 'Dirty Bomb' album. He's an immensely talented player, a gifted song-writer, remarkably funny, has stories for miles and can out-drink everyone I know (Guinness) without embarrassing himself. Diamond geezer.