Alan Vega IV

Alan Vega: 'Jukebox Babe'

Alan Vega III

Alan Vega: 'Video Babe'

Alan Vega II

Alan Vega: 'Lonely'

Alan Vega

Alan Vega: 'Wipeout Beat'

Alan Vega

Alan Vega
downtown, NYC - 8/6/10
photo: ht

North Fork Sound Top 20 - May 23rd 2010

Jason Pierce, Alan Vega
Suicide dressing room, Hammersmith Apollo
London, May 3 '10
photo: ht

1.= Spiritualized: Broken Heart
1.= Suicide: Girl
3. Ray Charles: In The Heat Of The Night
4. Lorraine Ellison: I'll Be Home
5. John Lydon: Dog
6. Danny Dell & The Trends: Froggy
7. Sara Hickman: Before You Change Your Mind
8. JJ Cale: Since You Said Goodbye
9. Ray Wylie Hubbard: Drunken Poet's Dream
10. Ed Sanders: Some FEMA Trailers In Hope
11. Kim Simmonds: North Country Town
12. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Dog On The Run
13. Richard Lloyd: There She Goes Again
14. Sinner DC: Glass Alley (360/Patrice Baümel & Nunos Dos Santos Remix)
15. Brinsley Schwarz: Don't Ever Change
16. ZZ Top: Heard It On The X
17. Leslee 'Bird' Anderson w/Danny Gatton: Little Jonah
18. Al Kooper: Making Plans For Nigel
19. The Stooges: 1969 (alt. vocal)
20. Jackie Moore: Both Ends Against The Middle

North Fork Sound Alb O' The Week
Buddy Holly: Not Fade Away
The Complete Studio Recordings And More

North Fork Sound Legend Of The Month
The Pretty Things

Last Week's Listener Favourites

Bill Kirchen w/Dan Hicks: Word To The Wise
Chris Farlowe: It's All Over Now Baby Blue
Chris Hillman: Eight Miles High
Christine Ohlman: A Shot Of You
Dave Berry: Don't Give Me No Lip Child
David Allan Coe: Death Row
Ed Sanders: Some FEMA Trailers In Hope
Elvis Costello: Sulphur To Sugarcane
Eric Burdon & War: Spill The Wine
Isaac Hayes: Theme From Shaft
Jeri Bo Keno: Here It Comes (And Here I Go Again)
Kim Weston: Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)
Kris Kristofferson: Enough For You
Mary Gauthier: Jackie's Train
Miles Davis: All Blues

Bobby Gillespie, Alan Vega
Suicide dressing room,The Garage, London N5, November 2000
photo: ht

Primal Scream: Country Girl

Randall Bramblett: Queen Of England
Roky Erickson & The Aliens: Creature With The Atom Brain
Rupert Holmes: Studio Musician
The Rolling Stones: Pass The Wine (Sophia Loren)
The Rolling Stones: Tumbling Dice
The Records: Starry Eyes
Shpongle: No Turn Un-Stoned
Stevie Wonder: Uptight (Everything's Alright)
Will Bradley Trio: Down The Road Apiece

live365 and the internet is just not big enough, so now we're on terrestrial radio too! Next show: June 11th, and every second Friday of every month, 1-4pm:-
WPKN 89.5 or www.wpkn.org

North Fork Sound Top 20 March 21st '10

Alan Vega, Alex Chilton
Mercury Lounge, NYC
photo: ht

1. Alex Chilton: Bangkok

2. The Velvet Underground: Who Loves The Sun
3. The Woodentops: Third Floor, Rooftop High
4. Mose & Amy Allison: This New Situation
5. Dave Alvin: Don't Look Now
6. Derek Trucks Band: Frisell
7. Trembling Bells: Goathland
8. Barrington Levy: Love The Life You Live
9. Caravan: If I Could Do It Again, I'd Do It All Over You
10. The Quireboys: 7 O'Clock
11. Chuck Prophet: Barely Exist
12. Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham: Night Nurse
13. Lucio Battisti: Ancora Tu
14. Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban: Los Twangueros
15. Guy Evans & John Anthony: Maniac & Brainiac Project, song #1
16. Th' Faith Healers: This Time
17. Pierce Turner: All Messed Up
18. The Kinks: Dead End Street
19. This Heat: Horizontal Hold
20. Roman Candle: Why Modern Radio Is A-OK With Me

North Fork Sound Alb O' The Week
Chumbawamba: ABCDEFG

North Fork Sound Legend Of The Month
Captain Beefheart / Don Van Vliet

Last Week's Listener 'Thumbs-ups'
Albert Lee: Don't Let Go
Amen Corner: Shake A Tailfeather
Billy Bragg: The Saturday Boy
Bob Dylan: I Want You
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band: Low Yo Yo Stuff
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band: Clear Spot
Chumbawamba: The Devil's Interval
Clarence Clemons & The Red Bank Rockers: Resurrection Shuffle

The Cramps
l-r: Nick Knox, Ivy Rorschach, Lux Interior
CBS Records, London, 6/81
photo: ht

The Cramps: I Wanna Get In Your Pants
Daisy Chainsaw: Love Your Money
Dennis Linde: Hello, I Am Your Heart
Dion: The Heart Of Saturday Night
Dorothy Moore: Misty Blue
The Georgia Satellites: Games People Play
The Hollies: Honey And Wine
Ian Dury & The Blockheads: Sweet Gene Vincent
Intastella: Manchester
James Hunter: Believe Me Baby
Jimi Hendrix: Fire
John Cale: Helen Of Troy
Johnny Rivers: Turn On Your Lovelight
Julie London: Cry Me A River
Katrina Leskanich: Hitsville UK
Lisa Marie Presley: S.O.B.
Little Willies: Lou Reed
The Lo-Fidelity Allstars (feat: Pigeonhead): Battleflag
Madness: Forever Young
The MC5: Kick Out The Jams
Moondog: Bumbo
The Mothers Of Invention: Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance
Nick Lowe: I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass
The Pink Fairies: Taking LSD
Pink Floyd: Astronomy Domine
PJ Harvey: Down By The Water
Prince Far I & The Arabs: The Right Way
Public Image Ltd: Ease
Rob Tyner & The Hot Rods: Till The Night Is Gone (Let's Rock)
The Shazam: NFU
The Specials: Ghost Town
Suicide: Ghost Rider
Trevor Rabin: Something To Hold On To
Zoot Money's Big Roll Band: Big Time Operator

North Fork Sound Top 20 - January 31st '10

Ed Hamell, Peter Lubin
W. 23rd St, NYC
photo: ht

1. Hamell On Trial: The Meeting (live)
2. Patti Smith & Fred Smith: It Takes Time
3. Dobie Gray: The 'In' Crowd
4. Gene Casey & The Lone Sharks: It's A Free Country
5. Baba Brooks: Watermelon Man
6. Family: In My Own Time
7. Jimi Hendrix: Crosstown Traffic
8. Don Covay: It's Better To Have (And Don't Need)
9. Chuck Berry: I'm A Rocker
10. Eric Clapton & The Powerhouse: Crossroads
11. Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents: Mama Told Me
12. C.C. Adcock: Kissin' Kouzans
13. Ricky Nelson: Lonesome Town
14. Richard Hell & The Voidoids: Blank Generation
15. Jolly Bros: Cool Down
16. Elliott Sharp: InSERGEncy
17. Bob Seger: Katmandu
18. Midlake: Acts Of Man
19. Happy Mondays: Bob's Yer Uncle (Perfecto 12" mix)
20. Donovan: Hurdy Gurdy Man

North Fork Sound Alb O' The Week:
Shpongle: Ineffable Mysteries From Shpongleland

North Fork Sound Legend Of The Month:
Nick Lowe

Last Week's Listener Thumbs-Ups:
John 'Snaykee' McParland
(The Wolf:Gang Deisel)
Scranton, NY
photo: ht

The Wolf:Gang Deisel: Horsemeat Pie

The Slits: Be It
Link Wray: Rumble
William DeVaughan: Be Thankful For What You Got
Doug Powell: Return To Sender
Ronnie Spector: Hell Of A Nerve
Ace: How Long
B.B. King: Chains And Things
Carl Perkins: Matchbox
Eddie Cochran: Cut Across Shorty
Shelby Lynne: Johnny Met June
Sparks: Suburban Homeboy
The Tornados: Earthy
Bryan Ferry: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
The Pirates: Four To The bar
Johnny Hiland: Gatton To It
The Charms: Top Down
Nanci Griffiths & John Prine: Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness
Fats Domino: Please Don't Leave
Doris Troy: Just One Look
Alvin Robinson: Down Home Girl
Fairport Convention: White Dress
The Techniques: Queen Majesty
David Bowie: After All
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)
Richard Berry & The Pharoahs: Louie Louie
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band: Sure Nuff 'n Yes I Do
Mikel Rouse: Wait For Me
J.J. Cale: I'll Make Love To You Anytime
Freda Payne: Band Of Gold
The Pretty Things: Havana Bound
Duffy: Distant Dreamer
Galactic: Crazyhorse Mongoose
Bob Dylan: Tombstone Blues (alt. take)
Dr. John & The Lower 911 (w/Eric Clapton): Time For A Change
White Hills: Radiate
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes: If You Don't Love Me By Now
The Faces: Around The Plynth
Chuck Berry: Little Queenie (live)
Vince Quatroche: An Understanding
Fleetwood Mac: Man Of The World
The Fun Lovin' Criminals: Loco
The Sisters Of Mercy: Temple Of Love (Touched By The Hand Of Ofra Haza)

Alan Vega, Kevin Patrick, Andrew Eldritch
Gramercy Park Hotel, NYC, room 825
photo: ht

North Fork Sound Top 20 - January 24th '10

Louise Hull

1. Louise Hull: Warning Signs
2. White Hills: Radiate
3. Vince Quatroche: New Suffolk Girls
4. The Techniques: Queen Majesty
5. Johnny Hiland: Gatton To It
6. Reckless Kelly: Idaho Cowboy
7. Barrington Levy: On The Telephone
8. The Faces: Around The Plynth
9. Fun Lovin' Criminals: Loco (Latin Quarter version)
10. Billy Swan: Jailhouse Rock/King Creole
11. The Incredible String Band: Chinese White
12. Waylon Jennings: Waymore's Blues
13. Sam Cooke: Mean Ole World
14. J.J. Cale: I'll Make Love To You Anytime
15. The Doors: Maggie M'Gill
16. mewithoutYou: Bullet To Binary Pt. 2
17. Marty Robbins: Singing The Blues
18. The Fugs: Wide, Wide River
19. Prince: We March
20. White Rabbits: Rudie Fails

North Fork Sound Alb O' The Week:

The Pirates: Shakin' At The Beeb - BBC Sessions 1976 - 1978

North Fork Sound Legend Of The Month:
Nick Lowe

Last Week's Listener Thumbs-Ups:

Dean Wareham, Angel Corpus Christi, Alan Vega
W. 23rd St, NYC
photo: ht

Angel Corpus Christi: Big Black Cloud
Nebula: The Dagger
Burning Spear: Black Wa-Da-Da
Alex McMurray: I Am In Hell
Marvin Gaye: Anna's Song
Big Joe Turner: Low Down Dog
Kevin Ayers: Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes
John Mayall: Streamline
The Four Horsemen: Drunk Again
Bo Diddley: Mona
Luna: Crazy People
Barrington Levy: Rob And Gone
Brenda Lee: Sweet Nothin's
The Crickets: My Little Girl
David Bowie: Suffragette City
Marianne Faithfull: Down From Dover
Bobby 'Blue' Bland: I Wouldn't Treat A Dog (The Way You Treated Me)
Jerry Lee Lewis w/Jimmy Page: Rock And Roll
Elvis Presley: I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water
Billy Bragg: Sexuality
The Isley Brothers: That Lady
Lou Reed & John Cale: Nobody But You
T. Valentine: Hello Lucille, Are You A Lesbian?
Nick Lowe: I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass
The Crusaders: Put It Where You Want It
Genya Ravan: What Kind Of Man Are You
The Divinyls: Pleasure And Pain
Todd Rundgren: Bang The Drum All Day
Man: Bananas
Shelby Lynne: Johnny Met June
Twinkle: Terry
Link Wray: Rumble
Brinsley Schwarz: (What's So Funny 'bout) Peace, Love And Understanding
Delbert McClinton: The Jealous Kind
The Sex Pistols: EMI
Elliot Easton: (Wearing Down) Like A Wheel
Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez: Born To Be Together
Johnny Kidd & The Pirates: A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues
The Pirates: Castin My Spell
Nina Hagen: New York, New York

Nina Hagen, ht
Paradise Garage, NYC - 1984
photo: Gail Bruesewitz

Suicide again

Suicide

Suicide

Suicide: 'Wipeout Beat'
Alan Vega: vocals
Martin Rev: electronics
Deitch Projects, Wooster St, NYC
February 22 '02

North Fork Sound Top 20 April 26th ‘09

1. Sam Cooke: Little Red Rooster
2. John Lydon: Dog
3. Bob Dylan: It’s All Good
4. Huw Gower: Memory Lane
5. Roy Harper: Sgt. Sunshine
6. Toots & The Maytals: Reggae Got Soul (remake)
7. Jimmy Witherspoon: You Gotta Crawl Before You Walk
8. Tracey Curtis: If The Death Penalty Were An Olympic Sport
9. Robert Medici: She Said Drive
10. Jill Sobule: Nothing To Prove
11. Joey Ramone & General Johnson: Rockaway Beach
12. Hugh Cornwell: Beat Of My Heart
13. Willie Nelson: Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down
14. John Adams: Short Ride In A Fast Machine
15. The Mermen: Blue Xoam
16. Sara Leport: Beethoven Pathetique Son. #8 in C Minor 2nd Movement
17. Brett Smiley: Va Va Va Voom
18. Timi Yuro: What’s A Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You)
19. Neil Young: Johnny Magic
20. Alan Vega w/A.R.E. Weapons: See Tha’ Light

NoFoSo Alb o’ The Week:
Charlie Haden Family And Friends: Rambling Boy (Decca)

The Guilty Pleasure:
Raquel Welch: I’m Ready To Groove (Hanna-Barbera Records)

Last Week’s Listener Thumbs-Ups:
Doug Powell: A Prayer For Ray Davies
Wheatus: Punk Ass Bitch
Syd Straw & Marc Ribot: Whole Wide World
3 Aces And A Joker: Booze Party
Lou Reed & John Cale: Nobody But You
Mac Gayden: Morning Glory
Tomorrow: My White Bicycle
Booker T Jones: She Breaks
Dion: Your Own Backyard
The Fun Lovin’ Criminals: The View Belongs To Everyone
The O’Jays: Back Stabbers
Angel Corpus Christi: Surfer Girl
Jook: Crazy Kids
Thomas Dinger: Für Dich
John Cale: Pablo Picasso
Gregory Isaacs: Mr. Cop
The Tornados: Telstar
Shawn Sahm & Augie Myers: Mendocino
Tinsley Ellis & The Heartfixers: Hong Kong Mississippi
John Lydon w/Leftfield: Open Up (full vocal mix)
Patto: The Man
The Liverbirds: He’s About A Mover
Wynder K Frog: Green Door
The Tubes: Don’t Touch Me There
The Phobics: Lipstick
Tim Buckley: Look At The Fool
The Wolfmen: Jackie Says
Tragic Mulatto: Hardcore Bigot Scum Get Stabbed
Timmy Thomas: Why Can’t We Live Together
Delbert McClinton: Texas me
Bruce Anderson: The Inherent Beauty Of Hopelessness
The Yardbirds: Baby What’s Wrong
Dave Alvin: Dynamite Woman
The Star Spangles: Tear It To Pieces Girl
Tracey Ullman: They Don’t Know
Illusion Fields: Feral Pups Of Frenchman Street
Hamell On Trial: Sugarfree
Joe South: Games People Play
The Firecharmers: The Rainbow Song

Mr. Blonde (ManBreak, The Firecharmers)
Bateman St, London, April 5th '09

This week, we celebrate the opening of the North Fork’s much-needed Red Rooster Bistro with Sam Cooke’s ‘Little Red Rooster’. Additionally, taking their place on the play-list are versions by Howlin’ Wolf, the Rolling Stones and The Jesus And Mary Chain while ex-Housemartins and Beautiful South singer, Paul Heaton, gives us an entirely different tune with the same title.

The New Release Bin offers entries by Bob Dylan, Jill Sobule, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Hugh Cornwell, Alan Vega w/A.R.E. Weapons and Sara Leport while a great remake of ‘Reggae Got Soul’ by Toots & The Maytals and a re-worked ‘Sunday Morning Comin’ Down’ by Willie Nelson (from the original masters) show how a couple of classics can be updated most effectively. The same applies to Rockaway Beach, which gets the ‘beach music’ treatment by Joey Ramone and (The Chairmen Of The Board’s) General Johnson.

Kevin Patrick, Joey Ramone
W. 23rd St, NYC
photo: ht (scanned from a lenticular 3-D print)

Duane Eddy turns 80 today and if it weren’t for him (and Dick Dale) we probably wouldn’t have The Mermen, whose 'Blue Xoam' is pulled out of obscurity for the occasion.

Tracey Curtis names and shames 63 nations who still favour capital punishment in our protest song of the week, ‘If The Death Penalty Were An Olympic Sport’.

John Lydon, ht
photo: Michael Halsband

John Lydon got short shrift when his solo album came out in 1997 but we don’t care and this week, ‘Dog’ is dedicated to Sophia.

Timi Yuro shows up because we can never get enough of ‘What’s A Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You)’. Thanks to Christine Ohlman for sending it in. Can't wait to play her forthcoming album which features Ian Hunter, Dion DiMucci, Levon Helm, Andy York, Marshall Crenshaw and GE Smith, to name a stellar few.

In 1974, Brett Smiley, “the most beautiful boy in the world” (according to Disc Magazine) appeared on the UK’s Russell Harty Show performing his new B-side (!!!), ‘Space Ace’. His whispy performance made David Bowie look like Haystacks Calhoun. I have no idea why I had to rush out and buy his one single on Anchor Records, but I did. The A-side, 'Va Va Va Voom', features guitar by Steve Marriott which manages somewhat to make up for being the fey-est 45 ever made. Produced by NoFoSo favourite, Andrew Loog Oldham.

Brett Smiley 7" picture sleeve

Alan Vega: Infinite Mercy - A Major Retrospective

link

PLUS: Throbbing Gristle & The Emeralds @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, 4/28/09
317 Clermont Ave, Brooklyn, NY - Sold Out
NB!!! VEGA has withdrawn from this show

Vega postcard

'Rocket USA'

lyrics by Alan Vega

John Campbell

John Campbell
Milan, Italy (March '93)
photo: ht
scanned from a lenticular 3-D print

Feb 6th 1993: So John Campbell, Alan Vega, Teddy G (Vice President of the Hells Angels, NYC Chapter) and I went to Madison Square Garden to see Riddick Bowe defend his WBA and IBF heavyweight title against Michael Dokes. Vega and I enjoyed going to the fights at the Garden. We saw Hagler/Hamsho in '84 and even went to see Hagler/Hearns on giant pay-per-view screens there the following year. At that one, Alan spotted Julian Schnabel sitting directly across the aisle so they made a bet. Vega took Hagler and won. Bowe beat Dokes by TKO in one round but there was a fight on the undercard, "Merciless" Ray Mercer vs Jesse "Boogieman" Ferguson that I remember just seemed plain weird. Mercer, a tough brawler with a "cement chin" was a huge favourite and had been promised a shot at Bowe (reportedly worth $1.5m) if he won. However, he was seriously out of shape and after 10 rounds of clumsy action and a some heavy punching in the later rounds, Ferguson managed to get a unanimous decision, much to Mercer's visible distress. Later (in court) it was alleged that prior, and during the fight, Mercer had offered Ferguson $100,000 to take a dive but it was never proven due to lack of evidence.

Riddick Bowe training, (ht watching)
Caesar's Resort, the Poconos, PA (1/27/93)
photo: Richard Williams

After the fights, we went back to my apartment in Chelsea for a hang and, because it was the first time they'd met, John was telling Alan a little about himself. A serious drag racing accident when aged 16 had thrown him through his windshield "twice", landing him in hospital while they rebuilt his face ("a coupla thousand stitches") and he learned to live with one eye, half a lung and a dodgy heart. He was taken out of school and a prolonged, lonely convalescence found him studying blues masters like Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters while "attempting to learn this vocabulary...play this music. And at that time I realized that I could get in touch with feelings that I couldn't verbalize, I couldn't feel any other way...I could feel anger, I could feel pain, I could feel hope. It's really hard to describe, but I can recall just sitting on the edge of my bed and playing the guitar and it was almost like a mantra, just to repeat these figures and suddenly I could feel things... and I felt like I was in touch with something...it was like I was exorcising my pain, I was learning to live again, really, and I realized that was what I was gonna do the rest of my life. I caught a Greyhound bus and ended up in Nacogdoches, Texas". That led to years of hitching between Baton Rouge or Shreveport and various Texas towns playing places where "if you didn't have a gun, they gave you one".

'Saddle Up My Pony'
w/Zonder Kennedy (guitar)
Robert Medici (drums)
Jimmy Pettit (bass)
live at the Shocking Club, Milan, Italy 3/13/93

"If I felt like I wanted to play, man, I'd just step outside my door, and whether it'd be a gas station...or a pool hall...or a street corner...or a club, you know - I didn't have any agencies or anything like that - I'd just go and knock on somebody's door and say, I hear that you have people here who like music...well, I play guitar. And they'd say, What do you need? And I'd play five or six hours, man, and when it was over, I'd go to what we call a house party and I'd play over there. And if I had a place to stay, I'd stay...if I didn't, I'd go to the bus station. And if I had money for a bus ticket, I'd take it. And if I didn't, I'd take a job the next day to get it. You know, I mean, there's been more than one times I've had to sell a pint of blood to buy guitar strings before a gig".
He did that for about 25 years, finally moving to NYC in '88 where Peter Lubin spotted him opening for Albert King and brought him to the attention of Elektra. Peter has his own fantastic Campbell stories (which hopefully you'll get to read in his autobiography one of these days) and I recall him coming into my office, telling me he'd seen someone quite extraordinary and asking if I'd come and see him. Peter had certain reservations about making an offer, not the least of which was that he found John a little "scary", so we caught John's next appearance at the (now much missed) Lonestar Roadhouse where he put on an undeniable display. The following day I let Elektra boss Bob Krasnow know that Pete had found something special. When he later ran into Pete (whose signing of Robert Cray to Mercury Records had gained him a solid reputation in the blues world), the Kras said, "I hear you've got a blues guy... go get him", rather forcing Pete's hand, haha.

John Campbell
Central Park, NYC
photo: ht
scanned from a lenticular 3-D print

Another means John used to get by was his sleight of hand. John described himself as a "conjurer, and a hoodoo man" and he had a way with a deck of cards or pair of dice. To demonstrate, as our boxing evening wound down, John motioned one of us to "pick a card". Alan picked a 2 of diamonds. After putting it to the deck and shuffling, John got up and said, "So with this, gentlemen, I bid you a good night." Bending the deck in one hand, he suddenly flipped the whole pack up into the air. As the cards fluttered down he turned towards the door and made his exit. The cards were scattered across over the floor, all except one face down. Sitting there all alone - face up - was the 2 of diamonds. He'd gone...we sat there, speechless.
Another time, John and I went to see a pay-per-view (Sugar Ray Leonard, probably) at the Sporting Club in Tribeca and we had a small wager, which I won. He was a little short of cash, so he asked if I would accept his marker? No problem...so he proceeded to grab a purple crayon from a glass on the table, tore off a piece of white paper "tablecloth" and proceeded to write out "I.O.U. 40 $" and signing it "Count Bubba, Good Buddy of Darkness"
I spent as much time as I could with John. Peter left Elektra having co-produced (with Dennis Walker) John's first album, 'One Believer' which allowed me greater access, as I was now JC's a&r person. He and his band, Zonder Kennedy, Davis McClarty (later replaced by former Model Citizen and former Lou Reed drummer) Robert Medici and bassist, Jimmy Pettit were good people and good times on the road were had, whether in New Orleans, San Francisco, Paris, Milan, Washington DC or back home in NYC. Simply hanging out at rehearsals was always a blast with these guys, and I was thrilled when John, Zonder, Robert and "Blind Willie Loobster" played a short set at a surprise party Valerie, my fabulous secretary organised for my 40th birthday party at the Lonestar. So it was a terrible blow when I was woken up a few days later to be told John had passed away during the night (June 13th, '93). I'd only seen him hours before and he'd been about as happy as a man could be, with a beautiful and loving wife (Dolly), a 6 month old baby (Paris), a strong infrastructure around him (finally) and a career that was on the verge of taking off in the US and well on its way in Europe. Out of the blue, something within him finally gave out and we lost a real, good man, to heart failure.
On August 6th, we put on a memorial show (benefitting Paris) at the Lonestar at which Cruel 13 (Zonder, Robert and Jimmy with Mark Grandfield on harp & vocals, Dolly Fox-Campbell, John Popper, Dr. John, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, The Voodoo Children (who included Metallica's Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted) and Chris Whitley each paid their respects with short sets.

Teddy G, Lara B, Dolly Fox-Campbell, John Campbell, BB, Dr. John
photo: Brian Ashley White
(with thanks)

(In verifying parts of this story, Alan told me that, as he and Teddy walked to the men's room at the Garden between fights, everybody stepped aside and paid their respects to the Hells Angel, greeting him like he was a rock star, calling out with thumbs up, wishing him all the best. Furthermore, at the end of the night as they were leaving my place, there was a lot of traffic on 23rd Street. Alan said Teddy couldn't be bothered to wait at the kerb so he just marched into the middle of the street, held his hands up, holding up the traffic in both directions so Alan could cross the street to where Teddy's bike was parked.

John "Clutch" Campbell
photo: ht
scanned from a lenticular 3-D print

quotes in italics are from a taped conversation I had with John in '93
more Campbell photos here
good Campbell website here

l-r: Steve Schnur, ??, David Bither, John Campbell, ht, Mike Gormley, Bob Catania, Ellen Darst

Collector's Corner:

'A Man And His Blues'
Crosscut Records (CD, Germany), 1988

'One Believer'
Elektra Records (CD, US) 1991

'Devil In My Closet' b/w 'Devil In My Closet' (acoustic version)
Elektra Records (7" single, Germany), 1991

1. 'Devil In My Closet'
2. 'Devil In My Closet' - acoustic version
3. 'Devil In My Closet' - live
Elektra Records (CD Single, Germany), 1991

Various Artists: Strike A Deep Chord
'Brother Can You Spare A Dime': Odetta, John Campbell, Dr. John, Will Calhoun and Rufus Reid
'America The Beautiful': Odetta, John Campbell, Will Calhoun and Rufus Reid
Justice Records (CD, US) 1992

'Howlin Mercy'
Elektra Records (CD, US) 1993

1. 'Ain't Afraid Of Midnight' - edit
2. Candid Campbell - a conversation between John Campbell & Howard Thompson
Elektra Records (Promo CD, US) 1993

'Ain't Afraid Of Midnight'
Elektra Records (7" promo, Spain) 1993

1. 'When The Levee Breaks' - edit
2. 'When The Levee Breaks' - album version
Elektra Records (Promo CD, US) 1993

1. 'Down In The Hole'
2. 'Ain't Afraid of Midnight'
3. 'When The Levee Breaks'
Elektra Records (Promo CD, Germany) 1993

'A Man And His Blues'
Blue Rock'It Records (CD, US) 1994

some cassette inserts:

(last public performance, Lonestar Roadhouse, NYC June '93)

last home demo (solo, acoustic)
1. 'Rough It Up'
2. 'Convent Girl'
3. 'Body Dragger'

(the last rehearsal - Big Mike's, NYC, June 11 '93)