Friday, 21 August 2009

Crosby, Stills and Nash "Demos" (2009) (News, Views and Music 41)



Available to buy in ebook form 'Change Partners - The Alan's Album Archives Guide To The Music Of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young' by clicking here!








“Everybody saying that music is love...” “Help us make some more...”

Crosby, Stills and Nash “Demos” (recorded 1968-71, released 2009)

Marrakesh Express/Almost Cut My Hair/You Don’t Have To Cry/Deja Vu/Sleep Song/My Love Is A Gentle Thing/Be Yourself/Music Is Love/Singing Call/Long Time Gone/Chicago/Love The One You’re With

Actually, it’s not such an old favourite this album – it came out at the end of June this year, but what with our computer breaking down and one thing or another we never got round to reviewing it, so the time seemed right to revive it for our ‘Woodstock’ special. Now, had this set come out even just five years ago it would have seemed pretty amazing – Graham Nash has been talking about putting a collection of demos together ever since he started cataloguing the vaults for the 1991 CSN box-set and we’ve been promised oodles of fascinating recordings sporadically ever since.

Finally issuing this set of some of the earliest CSN recordings seems like a perfect way to celebrate CSN’s 40th birthday then – but, alas, most of the really interesting material has already trickled out on various collections (the excellent though expensive Crosby and Nash box-sets for example) and what we’re left with here is the dregs of the studio vaults after Young refused access to his songs (some of which are out on his Anthology box set, though again not as many as we’d hoped). Technically none of these 12 recordings have been issued before, but if you have even some of the afore-mentioned sets some of these mixes sound near enough to repeats of previously released archive gems as to sound the same. (Deja Vu, Almost Cut My Hair and a slightly edited version of Long Time Gone all appeared on Crosby’s ‘Voyage’ set of 2006 – albeit the former demo runs much longer this time around, the demo for Music Is Love is just the released version unedited and running about 30 seconds longer and a slightly later demo of Marrakesh Express appeared on the re-issue of ‘Crosby, Stills and Nash’ in 2005; that’s five recordings out of 12 for crying out loud!) Even the previously unheard demos – mainly the Stills songs, seeing as he’s the only member of the quartet yet to get his own box-set retrospective – sound pretty darned similar to the finished songs (perhaps if we’d had the demos of the electric songs instead of the acoustic ‘Singin’ Call’ and ‘My Love Is A Gentle Thing’ this set might have fared better). Nash’s demos, meanwhile, nearly all sound like out-takes rather than demos, given how stripped down his solo material often is anyway. If this was a bootleg you’d be slightly disappointed, albeit pleased at the one or two goodies on offer here. For an official release, this smacks of desperation and marks an unwelcome first instance of CSN failing to give value for money (well, OK, that’s assuming you find ‘American Dream’ and ‘Looking Forward’ at a very cheap price).

Record company Rhino are usually superb at sets like these, cramming them full of fan-friendly goodies and extending the running times as far as is humanly possible. For this set I can only imagine that their hands were tied or that unexpectedly good sales for Stills’ excellent ‘Just Roll Tape’ in 2007 forced the issue as what’s most annoying about this short, barely-half-hour set is what’s missing. Had CSN gone the whole hog and re-issued the ‘other’ previously released demos (Crosby’s exquisite Guinnevere, one of the highlights of the CSN box-set, Stills’ other charming attempt at the unfinished ‘My Love Is A Gentle Thing’ and the other extras included on the 1st CSN album re-issue) plus a few other ‘famous’ but unheard recordings (CSNY’s ‘Pushed It Over The End’, ‘Traces’, ‘Hawaiian Sunset’ ‘Little Blind Fish’ plus unheard recordings of, allegedly, ‘Prison Song’ ‘Human Highway’ ‘Wind On The Water’ and many of the Stills/Young album songs – see news and views no 33) this could have been the best CSN/Y release in 20 years. Even the sleevenotes are poor, with a coffee-mug stained front cover that tries to replicate the tape-reel back-to-basics feel of the ‘Just Roll Tape’ without the same reasons. The track listing is brief, too, to the point of covering up how many of these demos have been heard before. Even the inner shot of CSN gathered round a microphone is one that’s been used on the back cover of 1977’s ‘CSN’ and the box-set back front cover already (it is a great picture, though, summing up Crosby’s dreaminess, Stills’ intenseness and Nash’s blissfulness and saying more about the three men’s characters than most books on the trio).

There are highlights, though. Many many highlights. This is, after all, CSN one of the greatest bands on the planet if not the greatest bands and even the trio’s leftovers have a charm and importance lacking from other artist’s million-selling records. Not for the first time Stills is the shining member here. The ‘Just Roll Tape’ from 1968 reminded us all, I think, what a master Stills was on the acoustic guitar before electric amplifiers and Neil Young got in his way and urged him to concentrate on riffs and spliffs instead of chords and words. The amount of unreleased songs on that forgotten tape was ridiculous – the fact that songs sprinkled across the next six years’ worth of Stills’ work were already in place before CSN sang their first note together seems staggering in retrospect. There are no unreleased songs this time around but each are at least subtly different from their finished masters.

‘You Don’t Have To Cry’ is the first song CSN ever sang together and as such holds a high place in people’s reflections, even if its easily the most generic song on that first album (not to say its bad, it just might feasibly have been written by somebody else; the other nine songs never could). The version here is a 90-second extract with just the first verse and chorus before the song abruptly ends on a ringing chord. According to the sleeve-notes it dates from August 1968, just four months after the ‘Just Roll Tape’, and is in a similar fragmented-but-somehow-finished mould to those recordings. Stills sings falsetto on this recording, more or less the part that Nash sings on the finished product, which offers an interesting insight into how different this song could have been had CSN never met and already the song’s pop sensibilities are firmly in place. It’s frustratingly short though – like the Lennon Anthology, why is it the best out-takes are always the one that are just seconds long rather than the ones that last for hours?     

‘My Love Is A Gentle Thing’ is a similarly fragmented song that was never completely finished and can be heard in a later, more polished form on the CSN box-set. However, this acoustic demo is more of a revelation than the other demo-songs previously heard, slowing down the tempo to a curious waltz-time trot and stretching out in a completely different direction after the first few notes. It sounds much better here than in its 1991 form, making you wonder why Nash passed over the recording for the box set back then, and Stills’ impressive playing is right at the fore-front of this song. You can hear lots of future Stills songs in this demo, from the descending down-riff from ‘Black Queen’ to the tempo for ‘Know You’ve Got To Run’, not to mention the laid-back pastoral beauty of ‘Singin’ call’ (sorry, ‘Singing Call’ – the ‘g’ has been re-instated on this record after going missing for 38 years). 

Talking of ‘Singing Call’, this lovely, under-rated acoustic song is lovely to hear in any format, even though this now marks the third almost-identical version of it released to date (you can hear the original on ‘Stephen Stills II’, see review no 48, and a re-make on 1991’s ‘Stills Alone’). This version may well be the weakest of the three, with Stills getting to know the lyrics and missing the lovely harmonies and gentle percussion of the first version. It’s still mesmerising, however, with Stills at his blues-wailing best, desperate to get back to nature and ‘tell my brothers what I saw’. The best part of this ‘new’ version is the ending, when Stills finally dispenses with the niceties and ends the song with a roaring repeat of the chorus, strumming his guitar with such desperation it sounds as if its about to break.

Stills also ends the set with a stunning version of ‘Love The One You’re With’, which might be the highlight of the entire record. The song begins with Stills’ ‘goofy’ voice uttering ‘this is really a fun game!’ before embarking on a spectacularly funky acoustic reading of one of his best known songs. Now, I’m not as big a fan of this song as most CSN-ers seem to be, as its a bit too trivial for Stills’ usual style and is largely built on one note without the vast range of ideas that are usually packed into Stills’ mini-epics (it also stamps so close to Crosby’s lyrical territory as to be virtually on his toes), although even I admit that the rousing performance of the original takes the song to heights it probably doesn’t deserve. I much prefer this demo, however – this is Stills roaring the vocal with a passion he’ll rarely have again and replacing the somewhat awkward stop-start rhythms of the finished product with a massacring of his guitar, changing from chord to chord with wild abandon. Unlike the other demos here, this song sounds complete without the overdubs and makes you wonder why he ever bothered to re-record it – the definitive version of this song is right here in April 1970, all ready and waiting to take on the world.

Thereafter the Crosby and Nash songs are a bit of a mixed bag, more because we’ve heard these songs and recordings before than because of any fault with the demos. Nash’s ‘Marrakesh Express’ never really gets grooving and his vocal is too far off the microphone to register properly. It also badly misses the harmonies of Stills – something surprisingly few of the other demos do – and Crosby enters the song much too late. Having said that, it’s fun to hear an early, tentative version of a song that is about to become one of the best known songs Nash ever wrote and it’s clear that both Crosby and Nash are having fun with this song, even as early as January 1969.

‘Almost Cut My Hair’ would be jaw-droppingly stupendous had we not already heard this demo on ‘Voyage’. You see, this slow, dream-like demo couldn’t be further from the spiky, angry bitter rant that appears on CSNY’s ‘Deja Vu’ album and seems to share only the vaguest DNA with its finished cousin. It’s easy to see why Crosby changed his plans as this version’s five minutes seem to take forever (compared to the unedited final version’s nine minutes which still seem way too short) and Crosby’s vocal is, while still stunning, less raw and less passionate than on the final recording which just makes the recording of that song. Again, though, its a fascinating study of an alternate CSN universe which would have been worth the price of admission on its own – had we not already forked out £50 for the ‘Voyage’ box-set a few years back.         

‘Deja Vu’ is a real curio – we’ve already been given one demo for this song on ‘Voyage’, but that version was a Crosby-Nash demo which formed the basis for the finished song. This is a much rougher, solo version of the same song with an extended running time that replaces the scat singing intro of the original with a scat-sung fade that goes on for hours. What’s interesting about this song is how ordinary and simple this song sounds without the magical harmonies, the elaborate production techniques or the sleepy haze-inducing middle section. Crosby’s tale of past lives and trying to get things right before another ‘turn on the wheel’ is a classic, open for just about every interpretation under the sun – and Crosby/Nash, CSN, CSNY, CPR and Crosby solo have given us some very different interpretations down the years. Here, though, the song is down to the barest threadbare bones and that’s not quite the angle that suits it best, interesting as it is. The best part of the song is that ending, where Crosby has obviously not worked out quite what he wants to do with the song yet and just improvises his way round the song’s (soon to be) instrumental passage, apparently unclear about what to do with it. This end segment runs for nearly three minutes and yet it neatly mirrors what the whole band are about to add to it in a year or so’s time – the only part missing is the end ‘we have all been here before’ section. Only, of course, we have all been here before – this makes for the sixth official version of the song yet to be released and is really beginning to scrape the barrel a little bit now.

‘Sleep Song’ is the most dispensable moment on the whole set. Not that it’s a bad song – Nash’s goodbye ode to his first wife is a sweet little romantic number that offered a breakthrough in Graham’s songwriting in two ways – it urged a move towards more autobiographical-sounding songs and managed to annoy the hell out of the other Hollies, who hated this song’s lines about the characters ‘taking off their clothes’. The finished version on ‘Songs For Beginners’ is a minor classic (see review no 46), but this version is identical in tempo, guitarwork, lyrics, melody, vocals, in short everything that makes hearing demos of previously issued work so rewarding. Only Nash’s scat-vocal middle section, in which he hums solo instead of using a multi-track machine, seems at all different and those 10 seconds are not worth issuing this new version for, however much I love the song.

‘Be Yourself’ suffers from the same problem – Nash’s finished version, also from ‘Songs For Beginners’, is similarly acoustic, although this version is at least nice to hear without the booming chorus of soul singers. Again this is a sweet little song that deserves to be better known, but this collaboration with Terry Reid is one of the few demos here that actually sounds unfinished and really benefits from the changes Nash made in the studio. Graham’s voice creaks and crackles like never before – not really a problem for a demo usually but it sounds really out of place on this otherwise immaculately sung set – and the only real points of interest are the occasional lyric change, such as this version’s ‘though you disguise what you see...your reality’ instead of ‘the mirror is free’.

‘Music Is Love’ is one of the more interesting moments of the set but it’s a bit of a cheat – this is the issued version of the record slightly remixed and given a slightly longer running time courtesy of a groovy percussion-led ending. Of course, this song isn’t really a demo at all – its Crosby messing around in the studio as a bit of a warm-up but Nash and Young loved the results so much they overdubbed harmonies, more guitar, a glockenspiel, vibes, percussion and a few other odds and ends as well. The finished product ended up opening Crosby’s first solo album ‘If Only I Could Remember My Name’ (see review no 45), but sadly what we have here isn’t Crosby’s original demo before the others made off with it (something I’m dying to hear) but a first attempt at a mix by Nash and Young, with their harmonies starting much earlier in the song and featuring a repetitive strumming part from Crosby’s acoustic before abruptly cutting off. This is nice to hear and very interesting after getting to know this track so well for the past 20 years – but why oh why wasn’t the Crosby-only version used? And surely there’s tracks that have more differences than this in the vaults still?

‘Long Time Gone’ is a Crosby-Stills demo from June 1968, back in the days when they were still working on the first record as the ‘Frozen Noses’ before Nash joined in the fun. It’s not quite the same as the Crosby/Stills demo first heard on ‘Voyage’ – but it near enough is, with the only real difference being that the song is taken at a slightly quicker lick. That version on ‘Voyage’ was a revelation – Crosby often said that there was an ‘awful’ version of the song in the vaults before Stills’ stunning new arrangement and Nash’s blissful harmonies promoted the finished recording to being one of Crosby’s career highlights (‘Those cats loved me so much they helped me find my voice!’) That version on ‘Voyage’ was it – lopsided, ragged and very very peculiar, it had none of the spooky ambience of the finished product and even though the lyrics were identical seemed to have none of the blistering anger and rage of the recording we know and love. Inspired by the death of Robert Kennedy in 1968, both of these two recordings must have been remarkably quick out of the blocks after Crosby wrote it – but each of them are miserably lacking in everything the finished version got right. But that’s how it goes – outtakes sets like these are an invaluable source in showing true fans just how much effort and skill went into the finished songs and horrors like these are actually more interesting than beautiful recordings that sound more or less the same. However, there’s no excuse for issuing two more-or-less-the-same stabs at the same arrangement within three years – that’s just going too far.

The last track to discuss is Nash’s evergreen ‘Chicago’. Unlike the other Nash demos here this is very different to the finished product, with it’s elaborate production and mass voiced choir. Unfortunately, it’s very very like the way Nash has performed it in virtually every concert since and this version doesn’t even benefit from some nice CSN harmonies. Nash’s basic piano work and gutsy, simple lyrics about how Stills and Young should join in with a Crosby-Nash benefit for the Chicago Seven is a nice piece of work, catchy but deep you could say, but here, it sounds like a monotonous drag that’s more likely to get the Chicago seven hung than set them free. The most illuminating part of the song is the ending with Nash ad lobbing ‘help us make some more!’ – OK, so he’s actually singing to Stills and Young, but this could just as easily be his modern-day self singing to us to get us to fork out for a CSN record once again.

But unlike every other CSN record made, there seems to be no purpose to this one, even a misguided one. We can kind of guess at the circumstances behind it. CSN don’t have a long-standing record contract any more, their concert sales aren’t enough to get them by and their back catalogue is woefully out of fashion (which is the fault of the public’s not theirs, I reiterate). We also know that David Crosby, particularly, is struggling for money after being hit by the Inland Revenue yet again for unpaid taxes (back in the days of the mid-80s when he was on the run from the law and spent all the money he had and more on drugs) and even had to sell his precious yacht The Mayan, source of many of his greatest songs and an icon for CSN like no other (he managed to avoid selling it in the 1980s, so he must be really in trouble if he’s sold it now). I’m sure every CSN fan would be more than willing to pay their share to help Crosby out but, sadly, this means the first ever sub-par album from the trio (as opposed to CSNY). If only Rhino had put out a ‘proper’ CSN outtakes set, re-issued the original tapes of abandoned albums like Crosby’s ‘Drive My Car’ from 1979, CSNY’s ‘Human Highway’ (1974), ‘Long May You Run’ (1976) or even the abandoned Crosby-Nash LP that became ‘Live It Up’ (1990) the cost would very much have been worth it. But the tiny trickle of rarities on this set compared to the sheer volume of unreleased recordings still in the vaults makes this a very sad way to mark 40 years of the most magical group. Having said all that, however, the music is still stunning, even in unheard form, and well worth seeking out for newcomer CSN fans who don’t want to fork out for the superior ‘Voyage’ and ‘Reflections’ sets. Let’s hope, though, if Rhino do continue to look back in the CSN vaults they find something a bit longer and a bit more interesting the next time around.      



A Now Complete List Of CSN/Y and Solo Articles Available To Read At Alan’s Album Archives:



'Crosby, Stills and Nash' (1969)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-29-crosby-stills-and-nash-1969.html

'Deja Vu' (CSNY) (1970)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-34-crosby-stills-nash-and-young.html

‘Stephen Stills’ (1970)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/stephen-stills-1970.html

'If Only I Could Remember My Name' (Crosby) (1971)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-45-david-crosby-if-only-i-could.html

'Songs For Beginners' (Nash) (1971)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-46-graham-nash-songs-for.html

'Stephen Stills II' (1971)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-48-stephen-stills-ii-1971.html
‘Graham Nash, David Crosby’ (1972) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/graham-nash-david-crosby-1972.html

'Stephen Stills-Manassas'  (1972)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-51-stephen-stillsmanassas-1972.html

'Wild Tales' (Nash) (1973)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/news-views-and-music-issue-75-graham.html
'Down The Road' (Stephen Stills/Manassas) (1973) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/stephen-stillsmanassas-down-by-road-1973.html

'Stills' (1975)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/review-65-stephen-stills-stills-1975.html

'Wind On The Water' (Crosby-Nash) (1975)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-67-crosby-nash-wind-on-water.html
'Illegal Stills' (Stills) (1976) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/stephen-stills-illegal-stills-1976.html
'Whistling Down The Wire' (Crosby-Nash) (1976) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/david-crosby-graham-nash-whistling-down.html

'Long May You Run' (Stills-Young) (1976)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-33-stills.html

'CSN' (1977)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-70-crosby-stills-and-nash-csn.html
'Thoroughfare Gap' (Stills) (1978) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/stephen-stills-thoroughfare-gap-1978.html
'Earth and Sky' (Nash) (1980) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/graham-nash-earth-and-sky-1980.html

'Daylight Again' (CSN) (1982)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/news-views-and-music-issue-131-crosby.html
'Right By You' (Stills) (1984) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/stephen-stills-right-by-you-1984.html
'Innocent Eyes' (Nash) (1986) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2017/01/graham-nash-innocent-eyes-1986.html
'American Dream' (CSNY) (1988) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/crosby-stills-nash-and-young-american.html

'Oh Yes I Can!' (Crosby) (1989) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2016/07/david-crosby-oh-yes-i-can-1989.html

'Live It Up!' (CSN)  (1989)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-viedws-and-music-issue-104-crosby.html

'Stephen Stills Alone' (1991) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.nl/2016/09/stephen-stills-alone-1991.html



'CPR' (Crosby Band) (1998) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/cpr-david-crosby-band-1998.html


‘So Like Gravity (CPR, 2001) https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/cpr-just-like-gravity-2001.html

‘Songs For Survivors’ (2002)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/graham-nash-songs-for-survivors-2002.html



'Deja Vu Live' (CD) (2008) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/news-views-and-music-issue-1-crosby.html

'Deja Vu Live' (DVD) (2008)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008_09_21_archive.html

'Reflections' (Graham Nash Box Set) (2009)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/news-views-and-music-issue-22-graham.html

'Demos' (CSN) (2009)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-41-crosby.html

'Manassas: Pieces' (2010)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/news-views-and-music-issue-52-manassas.html

‘Carry On’ (Stephen Stills Box Set) (2013)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/stephen-stills-carry-on-box-set-2013.html

'Croz' (Crosby) (2014) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/david-crosby-croz-2014album-review.html
'CSNY 74' (Recorded 1974 Released 2014) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/crosby-stills-nash-and-young-csny-74.html

'This Path Tonight' (Nash) (2016) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/graham-nash-this-path-tonight-2016.html



‘Here If You Listen’ (Crosby) https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2018/10/david-crosby-and-friends-here-if-you.html

The Best Unreleased CSNY Recordings http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/csny-best-unreleased-tracks-news-views.html
Surviving TV Appearances (1969-2009) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/csny-surviving-tv-appearances-1969-09.html
Non-Album Recordings (1962-2009) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/crosby-stills-nash-and-sometimes-young_6.html
Live/Compilation/Rarities Albums Part One (1964-1980) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/crosby-stills-nash-and-sometimes-young.html
Live/Compilations/Rarities Albums Part Two (1982-2012) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/crosby-stills-nash-and-sometimes-young_20.html
Essay: The Superest Of Super Groups? https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/csny-essay-superest-of-super-groups.html
Five Landmark Concerts and Three Key Cover Versions https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/csny-five-landmark-concerts-and-three.html


Friday, 14 August 2009

News, Views and Music Issue 40 (Intro)




August 14:                 

♫ Wow, 40 issues of ‘news, views and music’, who’d have thought it? Well, us, actually – after all, you can’t have too much of a good thing can you? And it was always our intention to keep this site going for as long as is physically possible. But still, here we are, three weeks short of a year since our first issue and what a long time ago it seems already. Back then George Bush was still in power, Gordon Brown was still vaguely popular, the banks actually had more money than we did and Michael Jackson was seen as a child molesting weirdo that everyone hated. How times change. Anyway in order to celebrate our anniversary, we’ve decided to...put some plans in place to celebrate our 50th issue in a few months’ time. You see, our hits have begin drying up lately and we’re still trying to spruce up the site a bit (not that the useless ‘Mr Site’ CD-Rom I bought the other week has helped at all, seeing as it’s crashed on me seven times already). At long last I should have a quieter week this week so will do my best to put things right. So, till our 50th issue, expect the same round-up of musical delights to excite your eyes and ears as in every other edition. Now on with the news!



                                         

♫ Beatles News: Three bits of titbits of news for you this week. Firstly, it was the 40th anniversary of the ‘Abbey Road’ cover last week and several fans decided to celebrate, holding up traffic for hours in good ole’ fab four tradition (this is the band who delayed everybody’s lunch hours in Jan 1969 with the Rooftop concert after all).

Secondly, Radio Four decided to celebrate the, err, 41st anniversary of George Harrison’s trip to Bombay to record his under-rated ‘Wonderwall’ soundtrack album. It’s probably still available on i-player for a while, so give it a listen if you like this Beatles spin-off project as much as I do – lots of the album’s Bombay session players spoke for the first time.

Thirdly, and most worryingly, Paul McCartney has announced his decision to retire from concerts at the end of next year. For some reason this huge bombshell has gone largely nun-noticed by most of the media (and its big news –barring Grace Slick in 1989 this is the first AAA member ever to announce retirement from touring and could set a worrying precedent where the only concerts we have to look forward to are by a reformed Jackson 5 and a reformed Spice Girls). Macca will still be recording, however, and promises an epic farewell featuring concerts at some suitably weird and memorable places. Very sad news indeed but, on behalf of the millions of fans who’ve seen Macca in concert, thanks for all the great tours over the years Paul, we’ll truly miss you. More news if and when we hear it.       

♫ CSNY News: Happier news for you now. I’m not sure how long its been out but the best kept secret of the year is that the ‘other’ fab four’s legendary concert at Wembley Stadium in 1974 in front of a then record-breaking 72,000 people is out on DVD. A German company has released the three-hour footage on a DVD entitled ‘A Long Long Time Ago’ and it features the complete unedited concert recorded at the climax of CSNY’s re union that year. Amazingly, there’s no sign of the bad blood between the foursome that’s about to erupt in the studio about a month or so later and nor is there much evidence of the ‘off-key singing’ and ‘wild playing’ that CSNY have always claimed have prevented them from releasing the set in the past (Nash, especially has been critical about this tour in general and this concert specifically). It’s hard to see what all the criticisms are about, however – for the most part this show is stunning with Stills on especially strong form and the foursome perform several songs rare to CSNY shows and four only available on bootleg. It is the earliest footage of all four men together available – at least it is until Neil agrees to release the CSNY woodstock footage properly!

Full Track listing: Love The One You’re With/Wooden Ships/Immigration Man/Helpless/Military Madness/Johnny’s Garden (a rare treat with 4-way harmonies!)/ Traces (Unreleased Neil Young song)/Almost Cut My Hair/Teach Your Children/Only Love Can Break Your Heart/The Lee Shore/Time After Time (two years before it’s appearance on record!)/It’s Alright (a ridiculous six years before its appearance on record!)/Another Sleep Song (with a guesting Joni Mitchell as per the record)/Our House/Hawaiian Sunrise (another unreleased Neil Young song)/Star Of Bethlehem (with its original third verse, three years before its appearance on record)/Love Art Blues (another unreleased Neil Young song with its memorable opening line ‘my songs are all so long and my songs are all so sad...’)/Old Man/Change Partners/Blackbird/Myth Of Sisyphus (a year before its appearance on record!)/Word Game/Suite: Judy Blue Eyes/Deja Vu/First Things First (a year before its appearance on record!)/Don’t Be Denied/Black Queen/ Pushed It Over The End (the legendary unreleased Neil Young song available (semi) officially at last!!)/Pre-Road Downs/a stunning elongated version of Carry On/Ohio. 

Other CSN News – BBC4 are celebrating the 40th anniversary of Woodstock (see our ‘anniversary’ column) on Saturday, August 15th, with a showing of the director’s cut of the film plus a re-screening of the ‘Hotel California’ documentary dominated by CSNY footage and the sixth screening in 18 months of the Crosby/Nash ‘In Concert’ footage from 1970.

♫ Small Faces News: Very few fans know that the Faces were meant to break ‘big’ onto the mainstream courtesy of their appearance in the film ‘Dateline Diamonds’. In the event the film – released in 1965 – died a death and the band broke big courtesy of their #1 hit ‘All Or Nothing’ instead. ‘Dateline Diamonds’ has been released before but has been out of catalogue for a while so its re-release last month is very welcome news for collectors like myself who have never seen it. The film was very much part of the ‘Hard Day’s Night’ cash-in brigade of 1964-65, but unlike most films it had one plus – Steve Mariott had been a genuine child actor before turning to pop and had made a big splash playing the ‘Artful Dodger’ on-stage in ‘Oliver!’

♫ Woodstock News: Just in case you hadn’t read the news above, BBC4 are celebrating tonight’s Woodstock anniversary with a screening of the whole four-hour director’s cut (the first time the 4 hour edit has been shown on terrestrial British TV, I think), followed by various themed programmes including ‘Crosby/Nash’ in concert, ‘Santana in concert’ and the oft-showed ‘Hotel California’ documentary this Saturday (August 15th). Should be a good night in!



                           

♫ Anniversaries (August 14-20th): Happy present-unwrapping to AAA artist David Crosby (Guitarist with The Byrds 1965-68 and CSNY/CSN/CN and solo (sporadically) 1969-present) who turns 68 on August 14th  and Carl Wayne (singer with The Hollies 1997-02) who would have been 65 on August 18th. Anniversaries of events include: the Beatles’ famous gig at baseball venue Shea Stadium to a then-record 56,000 fans (a record first beaten by CSNY) on August 15th 1965; another famous concert takes place on the same day four years later with the first of three love-filled days of music and mud at Woodstock; and on the same day in 1991 Paul Simon performs to similarly huge numbers during his ‘Concert in Central Park; the Beatles sack Pete Best in favour of Ringo on August 16th 1962, just two months before release of their first single ; almost two years to the day earlier – August 17th 1960 – the Beats start their career-changing run at Hamburg’s Indra Club, their first show outside Liverpool; the Rolling Stones release the single that is – to my ears – their best, the legal-system-taunting ‘We Love You’ (August 18th 1967); the Beatles follow up their ‘Ed Sullivan’ TV appearance earlier in the year with their first American tour, opening with a show at San Francisco’s ‘Cow Palace’ theatre on August 19th 1964; the Stones release legendary single ‘Satisfaction’ on August 20th 1965 and finally, on the same day in 1965, Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham announces a new record label named ‘Immediate’ – the Small Faces will make the label a household name for record collectors over the next three years.      

News, Views and Music Issue 40 (Top Five): AAA TV Stations We'd Most Like To See




♫ And so welcome once again to our top five. This week we’ve come up with the five television channels that AAA members would most like to change:

5) Dave Deja Vu: When I first saw this in the TV listings I couldn’t believe it – surely this could be no other than Dave Crosby who wrote the very magical song Deja Vu’? Well, sadly it isn’t, it’s just an excuse for more old comedy programmes that don’t sell enough on dvd to make money, but just picture it – 24 hours of old Byrds/CSNY/solo clips. The ratings would sour. Possibly.

4) Santana Sports – No wonder this channel went bust – 24 hours of footballer players grooving to ‘soul sacrifice’ (or ‘penalties’ as its better known) whilst passing the ball to a centre-forward guitarist who just doesn’t know when to stop noodling!

3) Beatle Broadcasting Corporation: 24 hours of Beatle videos, a little like MTV. But better because the Spice Girls aren’t on it every other minute (yep, that will tell you how long ago I last saw MTV!)

2) CSN News: 24-hour scrolling news channel. Well, how else are we meant to keep up to date with whose fallen out with who in the CSNY camp? And, as a bonus, they’d be showing episodes of CSNY: Laurel Canyon as well (I reckon David McCallum as Graham Nash, what do you think?)

1) Lucy On The Sky News Hour With Diamond Logo: The psychedelic news channel for people who think the ‘other’ news station is just too ‘far out’. Picture yourself on a boat on a river, with plasticine newsmen with looking-glass ties. Suddenly someone is there at the turnstiles, the weathergirl with kaleidoscope eyes. Newspaper reports of yellow and green towering over your head. Look for the page three girl with The Sun in your eyes and you’re gone.

That’s it for another week, dear viewers, see you next time!


A NOW COMPLETE List Of Top Five/Top Ten/TOP TWENTY  Entries 2008-2019
1) Chronic Fatigue songs http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/news-views-and-music-issue-1-top-five.html

2) Songs For The Face Of Bo
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-2-top-five.html

3) Credit Crunch Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-3-top-five.html

4) Songs For The Autumn
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-4-top-five.html

5) National Wombat Week
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-top-five-national.html

6) AAA Box Sets
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-6-top-five.html

7) Virus Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issue-7-top-five.html

8) Worst AAA-Related DVDs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issu-8-top-five.html

9) Self-Punctuating Superstar Classics
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issue-9-top-five.html

10) Ways To Know You Have Turned Into A Collector
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issue-9-top-five.html

11) Political Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/news-views-and-music-issue-11-top-five.html

12) Totally Bonkers Concept Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/news-views-and-music-top-five-totally.html

13) Celebrating 40 Years Of The Beatles' White Album
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/top-five-issue-13-40-years-of-beatles.html

14) Still Celebrating 40 Years Of The Beatles' White Album
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-14-top-five.html

15) AAA Existential Questions
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-15-top-five.html

16) Releases Of The Year 2008
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-16-top-five.html

17) Top AAA Xmas Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-17-top-five.html

18) Notable AAA Gigs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/news-views-and-music-issue-19-top-five.html

19) All things '20' related for our 20th issue
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/news-views-and-music-issue-20-aaa-songs.html

20) Romantic odes for Valentine's Day
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/news-views-and-music-issue-22-top-five.html

21) Hollies B sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-23-top-five.html

22) 'Other' BBC Session Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-24-top-five.html

23) Beach Boys Rarities Still Not Available On CD
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-25-top-five.html

24) Songs John, Paul and George wrote for Ringo's solo albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-26-top-five.html

25) 5 of the Best Rock 'n' Roll Tracks From The Pre-Beatles Era
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/news-views-and-music-issue-27-top-five.html

26) AAA Autobiographies
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/news-views-and-music-issue-28-top-five.html

27) Rolling Stones B-sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/news-views-and-music-issue-29-top-five.html

28) Beatles B-Sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-30-top-five.html

29) The lllloooonnngggeesssttt AAA songs of all time
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-31-top-five.html

30) Kinks B-Sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-32-top-five.html

31) Abandoned CSNY projects 'wasted on the way'
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-33-top-five.html

32) Best AAA Rarities and Outtakes Sets
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/news-views-and-music-issue-34-top-five.html

33) News We've Missed While We've Been Away
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-35-top-five.html

34) Birthday Songs for our 1st Anniversary
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-37-top-five.html

35) Brightest Album Covers
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-37-top-five.html

36) Biggest Recorded Arguments
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-38-top-five.html

37) Songs About Superheroes
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-39-top-five.html

38) AAA TV Networks That Should Exist
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-40-top-five.html

39) AAA Woodtsock Moments
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-41-top-five.html

40) Top Moments Of The Past Year As Voted For By Readers
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-42-top-five.html

41) Music Segues
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/news-views-and-music-issue-43-top-five.html

42) AAA Foreign Language Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/news-views-and-music-issue-44-top-five.html

43) 'Other' Groups In Need Of Re-Mastering
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/news-views-and-music-issue-45-top-five.html

44) The Kinks Preservation Rock Opera - Was It Really About The Forthcoming UK General Election?
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-46-top-five.html

45) Mono and Stereo Mixes - Biggest Differences
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-47-top-five.html

46) Weirdest Things To Do When A Band Member Leaves
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/nerws-views-and-music-issue-48-top-five.html

47) Video Clips Exclusive To Youtube (#1)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-49-top-five.html

48) Top AAA Releases Of 2009
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/news-views-and-music-issue-50-top-five.html

49) Songs About Trains
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/news-views-and-music-issue-51-top-five.html

50) Songs about Winter
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/news-views-and-music-issue-52-top-five.html

51) Songs about astrology plus horoscopes for selected AAA members
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/news-views-and-music-issue-53-top-five.html

52) The Worst Five Groups Ever!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/news-views-and-music-issue-54-top-five.html

53) The Most Over-Rated AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/news-views-and-music-issue-56-top-five.html

54) Top AAA Rarities Exclusive To EPs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/news-views-and-music-issue-57-top-five.html

55) Random Recent Purchases (#1)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/news-views-and-music-issue-58-top-five.html

56) AAA Party Political Slogans
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/news-views-and-music-issue-60-top-five.html

57) Songs To Celebrate 'Rock Sunday'
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/news-views-and-music-issue-61-top-five_21.html

58) Strange But True (?) AAA Ghost Stories
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/news-views-and-music-issue-61-top-five.html

59) AAA Artists In Song
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/news-views-and-music-issue-63-top-five.html

60) Songs About Dogs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/news-views-and-music-issue-65-top-five.html

61) Sunshiney Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-views-and-music-issue-67-top-five.html

62) The AAA Staff Play Their Own Version Of Monoploy/Mornington Crescent!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-views-and-music-issue-68-top-forty.html

63) What 'Other' British Invasion DVDs We'd Like To See
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-views-and-music-issue-69-top-five.html

64) What We Want To Place In Our AAA Time Capsule
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/news-views-and-music-issue-70-top-five.html

65) AAA Conspiracy Theroies
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/news-views-and-music-issue-72-top-ten.html

66) Weirdest Things To Do Before - And After - Becoming A Star
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/news-views-and-music-top-ten-aaa-stars.html

67) Songs To Tweet To
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/news-views-and-music-issue-74-top-five.html

68) Greatest Ever AAA Solos
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/news-views-and-music-issue-75-top-ten.html

69) John Lennon Musical Tributes
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/news-views-and-music-issue-77-top-five.html

70) Songs For Halloween
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/news-views-and-music-issue-78-top-five.html

71) Earliest Examples Of Psychedelia
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-79-top-five.html

72) Purely Instrumental Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-81-top-five.html

73) AAA Utopias

74) AAA Imaginary Bands
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-82-top-five.html

75) Unexpected AAA Cover Versions
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/news-views-and-music-issue-83-top-five.html

76) Top Releases of 2010
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/news-views-and-music-issue-84-top-five.html

77) Songs About Snow
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/news-views-and-music-issue-85-top-five.html

78) Predictions For 2011
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_01_02_archive.html

79) AAA Fugitives

80) AAA Home Towns
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/news-views-and-music-issue-88-home.html

81) The Biggest Non-Musical Influences On The 1960s
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/news-views-and-music-issue-89-top-five.html

82) AAA Groups Covering Other AAA Groups
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/news-views-and-music-issue-90-top.html

83) Strange Censorship Decisions
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/news-views-and-music-issue-91-top-ten.html

84) AAA Albums Still Unreleased on CD
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/news-views-and-music-issue-92-top-five.html

85) Random Recent Purchases (#2)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/news-views-and-music-issue-93-top-ten.html

86) Top AAA Music Videos
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-94-top-ten.html

87) 30 Day Facebook Music Challenge
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-95-top.html

88) AAA Documentaries
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-top-five-aaa.html

89) Unfinished and 'Lost' AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-97-top-ten.html

90) Strangest AAA Album Covers
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/newsa-views-and-music-issue-98-top-ten.html

91) AAA Performers Live From Mars (!)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-99-top-ten.html

92) Songs Including The Number '100' for our 100th Issue
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-100-top-five.html

93) Most Songs Recorded In A Single Day
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-101-top-five.html

94) Most Revealing AAA Interviews
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/news-views-and-music-issue-102-top-five.html

95) Top 10 Pre-Fame Recordings
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/news-views-and-music-issue-103-top-ten.html

96) The Shortest And Longest AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-104-top-ten.html


97) The AAA Allstars Ultimate Band Line-Up
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-105-top.html

98) Top Songs About Sports
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-106-top-ten.html

99) AAA Conversations With God
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-107-top-ten.html

100) AAA Managers: The Good, The Bad and the Financially Ugly
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-108-top-ten.html

101) Unexpected AAA Cameos
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-109-top-ten.html

102) AAA Words You can Type Into A Caluclator
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-110-top-five.html

103) AAA Court Cases
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-111-top-five.html

104) Postmodern Songs About Songwriting
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-112-top-five.html

105) Biggest Stylistic Leaps Between Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-113-top-ten.html

106) 20 Reasons Why Cameron Should Go!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-114-top.html

107) The AAA Pun-Filled Cookbook
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-115-top-five.html

108) Classic Debut Releases
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-116-top-five.html

109) Five Uses Of Bird Sound Effects
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-118-top-five.html

110) AAA Classic Youtube Clips Part #1
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-119-top.html

111) Part #2
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-120-top.html

112) Part #3
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-121-top.html

113) AAA Facts You Might Not Know
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-122-top-ten.html

114) The 20 Rarest AAA Records
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-123-top.html

115) AAA Instrumental Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_04_archive.html

116) Musical Tarot
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/news-views-and-music-issue-125-top-23-i.html

117) Christmas Carols
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_18_archive.html

118) Top AAA Releases Of 2011
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_25_archive.html

119) AAA Bands In The Beano/The Dandy
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/news-views-and-music-issue-128-top-five.html

120) Top 20 Guitarists #1
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/news-views-and-music-issue-129-top-ten.html

121) #2
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_15_archive.html

122) 'Shorty' Nomination Award Questionairre
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_22_archive.html

123) Top Best-Selling AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_29_archive.html

124) AAA Songs Featuring Bagpipes

125) A (Hopefully) Complete List Of AAA Musicians On Twitter
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_19_archive.html

126) Beatles Albums That Might Have Been 1970-74 and 1980
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_26_archive.html

127) DVD/Computer Games We've Just Invented
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_11_archive.html

128) The AAA Albums With The Most Weeks At #1 in the UK
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_18_archive.html

129) The AAA Singles With The Most Weeks At #1 in the UK
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_25_archive.html

130) Lyric Competition (Questions)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_04_15_archive.html

131) Top Crooning Classics
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_04_22_archive.html

132) Funeral Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/news-views-and-music-issue-142-top-five.html

133) AAA Songs For When Your Phone Is On Hold
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-143-top-five.html

134) Random Recent Purchases (#3)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-144-top-five.html

135) Lyric Competition (Answers)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-146-top.html http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-145-top-five.html

136) Bee Gees Songs/AAA Goes Disco!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/news-views-and-music-issue-147-top-five.html

137) The Best AAA Sleevenotes (And Worst)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/news-views-and-music-issue-148-top-ten.html

138) A Short Precise Of The Years 1962-70
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/news-views-and-music-149-top-eight.html

139) More Wacky AAA-Related Films And Their Soundtracks
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/top-five-for-news-views-and-music-150.html

140) AAA Appearances On Desert Island Discs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/top-eight-aaa-desert-island-discs.html

141) Songs Exclusive To Live Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/news-views-and-music-issue-153-top-10.html

142) More AAA Songs About Armageddon
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/aaa-armageddon-songsalbums-top-5-for.html

What difference does a name make? Arguably not much if you’re already a collector of a certain group, for whom the names on the album sleeves just...

This week’s top ten honours the humble motor car. The death trap on wheels, the metaphor for freedom, the put-down of capitalism, a source of...

This week we’re going to have a look at the 10 AAA singles that spent the most weeks at number on the American chart ‘Billboard’ – and it makes for...

Following on from last issue’s study of the American Billboard charts, here’s a look at which AAA albums spent the most weeks on the chart. The...

There are many dying arts in our modern world: incorruptible politicians, faith that things are going to get better and the ability to make decent...

This week we’ve decided to dedicate our top ten to those unsung heroes of music, the session musicians, whose playing often brings AAA artists (and...

Naturally we hold our AAA bands in high esteem in these articles: after all, without their good taste, intelligence and humanity we’d have nothing to...

What do you do when you’ve left a multi-million selling band and yet you still feel the pull of the road and the tours and the playing to audiences...

‘The ATOS Song’ (You’re Not Fit To Live)’ (Mini-Review) Dear readers, we don’t often feature reviews of singles over albums or musicians who aren’t...

In honour of this week’s review of an album released to cash in on a movie soundtrack (only one of these songs actually appears in ‘Easy Rider’...and...

Hic! Everyone raise a glass to the rock stars of the past and to this week’s feature...songs about alcolholic beverages! Yes that’s right, everything...

154) The human singing voice carries with it a vast array of emotions, thoughts that cannot be expressed in any other way except opening the lungs and...

Everyone has a spiritual home, even if they don’t actually live there. Mine is in a windy, rainy city where the weather is always awful but the...

Having a family does funny things to some musicians, as we’ve already seen in this week’s review (surely the only AAA album actually written around...

Some artists just have no idea what their best work really is. One thing that amazes me as a collector is how consistently excellent many of the...

159) A (Not That) Short Guide To The 15 Best Non-AAA Bands http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/a-not-that-short-guide-to-15-of-best.html%20%0d160
160) The Greatest AAA Drum Solos (Or Near Solos!) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-greatest-aaa-drum-solos-or-near.html%20%0d161
161) AAA Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame Acceptance Speeches http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/aaa-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame.html%20%0d162
162) AAA Re-Recordings Of Past Songs http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/aaa-re-recordings-of-past-songs-news.html%20%0d163
163) A Coalition Christmas (A Fairy Tale) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/a-coalition-christmas-news-views-and.html%20%0d164
164) AAA Songs About Islands http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/aaa-songs-about-islands-news-views-and.html%20%0d165
165) The AAA Review Of The Year 2012 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-aaa-review-of-year-2012-news-views.html



166) The Best AAA Concerts I Attended
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-best-aaa-concerts-i-attended-news.html
167) Tributes To The 10 AAA Stars Who Died The Youngest http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/tributes-to-10-aaa-stars-who-died.html



168) The First 10 AAA Songs Listed Alphabetically
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-first-10-aaa-songs-if-listed.html


171) The 10 Best Songs From The Psychedelia Box-Sets ‘Nuggets’ and ‘Nuggets Two’ http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-best-of-two-nuggets-psychedelia.html%20%0d172

172) The 20 Most Common Girl’s Names In AAA Song Titles (With Definitions) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/girls-names-in-aaa-song-titles-from.html 








180) First Recordings By Future AAA Stars http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/first-





185) A Tribute To Storm Thorgerson Via The Five AAA Bands He Worked With http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-tribute-to-hipgnosis-via-five-aaa.html



188) Surprise! Celebrating 300 Album Reviews With The Biggest 'Surprises' Of The Past Five Years Of Alan's Album Archives! http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/celebrating-300-album-reviews-10.html


190) Comparatively Obscure First Compositions By AAA Stars http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/comparatively-obscure-debut.html



193) Evolution Of A Band: Comparing First Lyric With Last Lyric: http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/evolution-of-band-comparing-1st-lyric.html







200) The Monkees In Relation To Postmodernism (University Dissertation) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/university-dissertation-monkees-in.html


202) Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain': Was It About One Of The AAA Crew? http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/carly-simons-youre-so-vain-was-it-about.html















217) AAA 'Christmas Presents' we'd most like to have next year http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/aaa-christmas-presents-wed-most-like-to.html




221) Dr Who and the AAA (Five Musical Links) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/01/dr-who-and-five-musical-links-to-alans.html

222) Five Random Recent Purchases http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/01/five-random-recent-purchases-news-views.html

223) AAA Grammy Nominees http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/aaa-grammy-nominees-top-twelve-news.html

224) Ten AAA songs that are better heard unedited and in full http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/ten-aaa-songs-that-are-better-unedited.html

225) The shortest gaps between AAA albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-shortest-gaps-between-aaa-albums.html

226) The longest gaps between AAA albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-longest-gaps-between-aaa-albums.html

227) Top ten AAA drummers http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/03/top-ten-aaa-drummers-news-views-and.html

228) Top Ten AAA Singles (In Terms of 'A' and 'B' Sides) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/top-ten-aaa-singles-and-b-sides-news.html

229) The Stories Behind Six AAA Logos http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/the-stories-behind-six-aaa-logos.html

230) AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! The Best Ten AAA Screams http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-best-aaa-screams-top-ten-news-views.html

231) An AAA Pack Of Horses http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aaa-songs-about-horses-top-ten-news.html

232) AAA Granamas - Sorry, Anagrams! http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aaa-anagrams-news-views-and-music-issue.html

233) AAA Surnames and Their Meanings http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aaa-surnames-and-their-meanings-news.html

234) 20 Erroneous AAA Album Titles http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/twenty-erroneous-aaa-album-titles-news.html

235) The Best AAA Orchestral Arrangements http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/fifteen-great-aaa-string-parts-news.html

236) Top 30 Hilariously Misheard Album Titles/Lyrics http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/top-thirty-hilariously-misheard-aaa.html

237) Ten controversial AAA sackings - and whether they were right http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/ten-controversial-aaa-sackings-news.html

238) A Critique On Critiquing - In Response To Brian Wilson http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/a-critique-on-critiquing-in-response-to.html

239) The Ten MusicianS Who've Played On The Most AAA Albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/the-ten-musicians-whove-played-on-most.html

240) Thoughts on #CameronMustGo http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/thoughts-on-cameronmustgo.html

241) Random Recent Purchases (Kinks/Grateful Dead/Nils Lofgren/Rolling Stones/Hollies) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/six-random-recent-purchases-kinksg.html 

242) AAA Christmas Number Ones http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/aaa-christmas-number-ones.html 

243) AAA Review Of The Year 2014 (Top Releases/Re-issues/Documentaries/DVDs/Books/Songs/ Articles  plus worst releases of the year) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/aaa-review-of-year-2014.html

244) Me/CFS Awareness Week 2015 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/mecfs-awareness-week-at-alans-album.html

245) Why The Tory 2015 Victory Seems A Little...Suspicious http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/why-tory-victory-seems-deeply.html

246) A Plea For Peace and Tolerance After The Attacks on Paris - and Syria http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/a-plea-for-peace-and-toleration.html

247) AAA Review Of The Year 2015 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-aaa-review-of-year-2015.html

248) The Fifty Most Read AAA Articles (as of December 31st 2015) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/the-fifty-most-read-aaa-posts-2008-2015.html

249) The Revised AAA Crossword! http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2016_07_10_archive.html


251) Half-A-Dozen Berries Plus One (An AAA Tribute To Chuck Berry) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/an-aaa-covers-tribute-to-chuck-berry.html

252) Guest Post: ‘The Skids – Joy’ (1981) by Kenny Brown  https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/guest-post-skids-joy-1981.html


254) Guest Post: ‘Supertramp – Some Things Never Change’ by Kenny Brown https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2018/06/guest-review-supertramp-some-things.html

255) AAA Review Of The Year 2018 https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-aaa-review-of-year-2018.html

256) AAA Review Of The Year 2019 plus Review Of The Decade 2010-2019 https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-alans-album-archives-review-of-year.html



257) Tiermaker https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2019/06/alans-album-archives-on-tiermaker.html

258) #Coronastock https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2020/04/coronastock.html

259) #Coronadocstock https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2020/05/coronadocstock.html