Crosstown Lightnin' played their first gig in a while, the first of many more the way things are looking.
Charles Shaar Murray, Buffalo Bll Smith, Marc Jefferies and Pete Miles were tight as a gnat's bum and rocked the swanky new W14 venue, Black Velvet, with their punky blues.
Bex Marshall headlined with her 4-piece blues band. She has an amazing textured voice — from gravelly and snarling to sweet and melodic, and she wields a mean resonator. It's an awesome full-blooded BIG sound from a home-grown Brit.
Special mention to her backing singer who gave a soaring gospelled up acapella "New York, New York".
Some pix here. Videos of Crosstown Lightnin' to come.
First the important stuff. Last night, I finally gave my ancient punk jacket an outing after an absence of nearly 20 years.
Oh, and by the way, the grand occasion was Crosstown Lightnin's gig at the Colour House Theatre for the Abbey Mills Blues Festival.
Charles Shaar Murray, Buffalo Bill Smith, Marc Jefferies and special guest Dick Jude on drums (the Great Pete Miles is gigging in Poland) entertained us until the witching hour.
Here's Crosstown Lightnin' playing Muddy Waters' Can't Be Satisfied.
"You don't need to go to the crossroads to make a deal with the devil. The crossroads will come to you."
So says award-winning author and journalist Charles Shaar Murray of his first ever novel, The Hellhound Sample. Off we trooped to the Archway Road crossroads in north London on Wednesday for his combined book launch and 60th birthday celebration at the trendy Boogaloo, haunt of many a cult muso and rock-chick supermodel in north London.
The Hellhound Sample, is published by Headpress in July. It's a handsome beast with a fab photo-mosaic cover of our favourite icons from Bessie Smith to Marlon Brando, the book being a supernatural epic taking in three generations of black American musicians. Charles draws on his extensive knowledge from a 40-year career as "the rock journalist's rock journalist" and biographer of blues legend John Lee Hooker, to weave a vivid tale of the blues. Whatever happened to those who followed in Robert Johnson's footsteps down at the crossroads?
It's a potent mix of secrets, nightmares and lies, spanning decades and continents. James "Blue" Moon has one last chance to escape the hellhound on his trail ... if the cancer doesn't get him first.
Deborah Grabien, creator of the successful JP Kinkaid stories, says:
Charles Shaar Murray has given us a phenomenal story ... It achieves something rare in fiction: it makes you feel and it makes you wonder.
Charles read an extract from the book (see video above) and was then interviewed by another legend of the counter-culture, John Sinclair. John was a major figure in the American underground of the 1960s and 70s. He managed the proto-punk Detroit rabble-rousers MC5 band, supported the Black Panthers and formed the White Panther party in solidarity, and was then arrested by a narc who'd bummed a couple of joints off him and sentenced to 10 years in prison. This sparked a wave of protest from the left, with John Lennon recording the song, "John Sinclair" on his album, "Some Time In New York City".
The author said that, while it's not exactly a roman a clef, there were elements of several well-known music figures in the characters. F'rinstance, "Blue" Moon's house is based on John Lee Hooker's gaff where Charles stayed while talking to the great man for his biography, Boogie Man. And Mick Hudson's music company office in Soho Square was modelled on Paul McCartney's. There. You were told here first.
The evening ended with a set by Charles's band, Crosstown Lightnin' (a video of which I'll be posting later), and a fab encore where the band was joined onstage by Gary Lammin, Peter Conway and John who recited some of his poetry to a medley of Bo Diddley.
It was a fine way to spend an evening and I had the headache the next day to prove it.
I enjoyed immensely last night's Crosstown Lightnin' gig, the first with new drummer Pete Myles who joined Charles Shaar Murray, Buffalo Bill Smith and Marc "The Exorcist" Jefferies for the Abbey festival weekend. Pete brought a sensitive interplay to the performance and a strong sense of dynamics making Canned Heat's On The Road Again a hypnotising mesmeric experience.
I managed to video proceedings despite being strangely drawn to the Caribbean food stall. Several times. The curried goat with rice and beans was delicious but incredibly bony. However, the jerk chicken was only £2 for a fat succulent grilled quarter. £6 with rice and beans. Go figure.
Had to miss out on the super-talented Peter Conway's gig tonight where I was to provide guest vocals on one song. Sadly, the stage at The Good Ship in Kilburn is minuscule and wouldn't hold Peter's band and guest musicians who were to include Phil Ryan and Charles Shaar Murray as well as myself.
It was the stages that got small! But we will do more.
So I stayed in and edited a backlog of videos instead for your pleasure. Others are going up on my Madam Miaow YouTube page. Have a look at Crosstown Lightnin' play Bourbon, Beer and Barbecue at the same gig.
I enjoyed immensely last night's Crosstown Lightnin' gig, the first with new drummer Pete Myles who joined Charles Shaar Murray, Buffalo Bill Smith and Marc "The Exorcist" Jefferies for the Abbey festival weekend. Pete brought a sensitive interplay to the performance and a strong sense of dynamics making Canned Heat's On The Road Again a hypnotising mesmeric experience.
I managed to video proceedings despite being strangely drawn to the Caribbean food stall. Several times. The curried goat with rice and beans was delicious but incredibly bony. However, the jerk chicken was only £2 for a fat succulent grilled quarter. £6 with rice and beans. Go figure.
Had to miss out on the super-talented Peter Conway's gig tonight where I was to provide guest vocals on one song. Sadly, the stage at The Good Ship in Kilburn is minuscule and wouldn't hold Peter's band and guest musicians who were to include Phil Ryan and Charles Shaar Murray as well as myself.
It was the stages that got small! But we will do more.
So I stayed in and edited a backlog of videos instead for your pleasure. Others are going up on my Madam Miaow YouTube page. Have a look at Crosstown Lightnin' play Bourbon, Beer and Barbecue at the same gig.
Last night's premiere of Julien Temple's Dr Feelgood documentary, Oil City Confidential, was stunning, a combination of movie screening and Wilko Johnson gig simultaneously beamed from a packed Koko's in Camden to 40 plus venues across the UK.
Singer/guitarist Wilko Johnson's charismatic amphetamine-charged performance reminded me why I used to go to gigs. Tall, lean and lanky, he struts the stage like a cross between Nureyev and Max Wall. Possessing one of the most beautiful male faces ever, the Nureyev factor may have morphed into the late Ken Campbell now he's 62, but, as with Campbell, time hasn't withered his beauty, only seasoned it. There are few seats at Koko's, my back was killing me, but I'd have stood for another four hours to see that gig again.
The sense of occasion was kicked off with an introduction by Keith Allen and a few words from director Julien Temple. Then the screening of Oil City Confidential, set mostly in the Feelgoods' home town of Canvey Island on the Thames estuary. Solidly working class, this Essex locale was double-blighted by the devastating flood of 1953 which killed 58 people, and the construction of the huge oil refinery. A TV clip shows a young John Wilkinson articulately arguing the case for the local residents and against the might of the oil companies: a wilful Wilko as ever.
I hadn't realised Wilko had been an English teacher before turning his childhood passion into a successful career. I envy his students. I bet he was wonderful, just the type of inspirational class-warrior we'd have loved at my East End school with his long hair and determination to keep the human spirit alive. When the head-teacher gave him a dressing-down for dressing down, he resigned, telling the old fogey that he'd travelled further in his mind and geographical locations than some of the dead-heads in the staff-room and that he'd be back in a pink Cadillac. Dunno if he ever drove that pink Caddy through the streets of Canvey but he had the last laugh.
Not that the band was always a bundle of giggles. The three Johns and Lee Brilleaux who formed the rhythm and blues band, Dr Feelgood, in 1971 embraced gangster miserabilism and won fans across the world with their high energy and angry music while prog-rock hippies were Mooging themselves into cosmic oblivion. The freshly shorn Wilko and frontman Brilleaux held audiences mesmerised and won over the New Musical Express even before they'd been signed. Not one but two massively talented divas in the band meant the social divide between sensitive moody Wilko (who'd charge up on speed and spend tour evenings in his room writing the album) versus the pisshead contingent (everyone else) turned into a chasm and an eventual split.
The film splices current interviews with documentary footage and witty movie clips telling the story of the Feelgoods and their huge influence on popular music, defining British pub rock and affecting fledgling American punk.
The gig never lagged. For the 50- and 60-year-olds pogoing in the mosh pit this was one area where they could still keep it up all night. Bassist Norman Watt-Roy (Blockheads) was fantastic and energetic, a right little showoff. Dylan Howe (son of Steve) delivered crisp, snappy drumming. A freshly slimmed Alison Moyet guested, wowing us with her lovely blues-tone voice, and had some of us women wondering what her fitness regime was. Man-mountain zydeco accordionist Slim (The Urban Voodoo Machine) played great despite having to battle heroically against deafening low-frequency feedback.
And Charles Shaar Murray — NME veteran journo, author, harpist and guitarist/singer — shared the stage with Wilko for the first time in almost thirty years to play Brilleauesque harmonica on four numbers: Dimples, Boom Boom, Going Back Home and Route 66. He threw shapes and blew that thang like it was the '70s all over again. From our perch at the side, Charles's Crosstown Lightin' compadre, harmonica player Buffalo Bill Smith, gave him a ten, and his bassist Marc Jefferies yelled, "Charles is the coolest dude I know". (CSM says Marc needs to broaden his circle of acquaintances. But I say, STFU, CSM. Whadda you know?)
Last night's premiere of Julien Temple's Dr Feelgood documentary, Oil City Confidential, was stunning, a combination of movie screening and Wilko Johnson gig simultaneously beamed from a packed Koko's in Camden to 40 plus venues across the UK.
Singer/guitarist Wilko Johnson's charismatic amphetamine-charged performance reminded me why I used to go to gigs. Tall, lean and lanky, he struts the stage like a cross between Nureyev and Max Wall. Possessing one of the most beautiful male faces ever, the Nureyev factor may have morphed into the late Ken Campbell now he's 62, but, as with Campbell, time hasn't withered his beauty, only seasoned it. There are few seats at Koko's, my back was killing me, but I'd have stood for another four hours to see that gig again.
The sense of occasion was kicked off with an introduction by Keith Allen and a few words from director Julien Temple. Then the screening of Oil City Confidential, set mostly in the Feelgoods' home town of Canvey Island on the Thames estuary. Solidly working class, this Essex locale was double-blighted by the devastating flood of 1953 which killed 58 people, and the construction of the huge oil refinery. A TV clip shows a young John Wilkinson articulately arguing the case for the local residents and against the might of the oil companies: a wilful Wilko as ever.
I hadn't realised Wilko had been an English teacher before turning his childhood passion into a successful career. I envy his students. I bet he was wonderful, just the type of inspirational class-warrior we'd have loved at my East End school with his long hair and determination to keep the human spirit alive. When the head-teacher gave him a dressing-down for dressing down, he resigned, telling the old fogey that he'd travelled further in his mind and geographical locations than some of the dead-heads in the staff-room and that he'd be back in a pink Cadillac. Dunno if he ever drove that pink Caddy through the streets of Canvey but he had the last laugh.
Not that the band was always a bundle of giggles. The three Johns and Lee Brilleaux who formed the rhythm and blues band, Dr Feelgood, in 1971 embraced gangster miserabilism and won fans across the world with their high energy and angry music while prog-rock hippies were Mooging themselves into cosmic oblivion. The freshly shorn Wilko and frontman Brilleaux held audiences mesmerised and won over the New Musical Express even before they'd been signed. Not one but two massively talented divas in the band meant the social divide between sensitive moody Wilko (who'd charge up on speed and spend tour evenings in his room writing the album) versus the pisshead contingent (everyone else) turned into a chasm and an eventual split.
The film splices current interviews with documentary footage and witty movie clips telling the story of the Feelgoods and their huge influence on popular music, defining British pub rock and affecting fledgling American punk.
The gig never lagged. For the 50- and 60-year-olds pogoing in the mosh pit this was one area where they could still keep it up all night. Bassist Norman Watt-Roy (Blockheads) was fantastic and energetic, a right little showoff. Dylan Howe (son of Steve) delivered crisp, snappy drumming. A freshly slimmed Alison Moyet guested, wowing us with her lovely blues-tone voice, and had some of us women wondering what her fitness regime was. Man-mountain zydeco accordionist Slim (The Urban Voodoo Machine) played great despite having to battle heroically against deafening low-frequency feedback.
And Charles Shaar Murray — NME veteran journo, author, harpist and guitarist/singer — shared the stage with Wilko for the first time in almost thirty years to play Brilleauesque harmonica on four numbers: Dimples, Boom Boom, Going Back Home and Route 66. He threw shapes and blew that thang like it was the '70s all over again. From our perch at the side, Charles's Crosstown Lightin' compadre, harmonica player Buffalo Bill Smith, gave him a ten, and his bassist Marc Jefferies yelled, "Charles is the coolest dude I know". (CSM says Marc needs to broaden his circle of acquaintances. But I say, STFU, CSM. Whadda you know?)
A couple of weeks after the event but I like this photo.
Half of Crosstown Lightnin' (Charles Shaar Murray and Max 'Dee' Doray) and friends in The Grey Horse smoking room waiting to go on for the second half. Taken 11th August 2009, Kingston, South London.
Video of the night's encore with guests John Sinclair and Marc Jeffries (The Plague).
A couple of weeks after the event but I like this photo.
Half of Crosstown Lightnin' (Charles Shaar Murray and Max 'Dee' Doray) and friends in The Grey Horse smoking room waiting to go on for the second half. Taken 11th August 2009, Kingston, South London.
Video of the night's encore with guests John Sinclair and Marc Jeffries (The Plague).
For all you NME babies and blues fans out there, Charles Shaar Murray's new band, Crosstown Lightnin', features the Cowboy, the Punk and the Queens of Funk: CSM on guitar and vocals, Buffalo Bill Smith on harmonica, the sublime Max Doray on bass and JoJo Ruocco bashing the hell out of her drumkit.
Following a 30 minute warm-up at Mitchum festival the other week, the band played two 45-minute sets at the Green Dragon in Croydon for their very first gig on Thursday 18th June 2009 and delighted all the old blues fans as well as assembled bright young things.
Here they are with their opening number, Freddy King's classic instrumental Hideaway.
For all you NME babies and blues fans out there, Charles Shaar Murray's new band, Crosstown Lightnin', features the Cowboy, the Punk and the Queens of Funk: CSM on guitar and vocals, Buffalo Bill Smith on harmonica, the sublime Max Doray on bass and JoJo Ruocco bashing the hell out of her drumkit.
Following a 30 minute warm-up at Mitchum festival the other week, the band played two 45-minute sets at the Green Dragon in Croydon for their very first gig on Thursday 18th June 2009 and delighted all the old blues fans as well as assembled bright young things.
Here they are with their opening number, Freddy King's classic instrumental Hideaway.
Sam 'n' MM