https://ffanzeen.blogspot.com/2015/06/robby-krieger-beyond-doors-1983.html
Nedra Tally Ross of The Ronettes TOURED with Bobby Hebb and the Beatles on August 12, 1966!
Nedra Ross of The Ronettes toured with Bobby Hebb and the Beatles on August 12, 1966, 54 years ago today in Chicago…here’s my review of Nedra (don’t call her Diana) Ross! on AllMusic:
Hear Full Circle here: https://youtu.be/palAfVCU7mg
https://www.allmusic.com/album/full-circle-mw0000892548
AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione [-]
Full Circle is a difficult album by Nedra Ross, formerly of the Ronettes. On one hand, she gave up show business for the Lord, yet show business is the biggest selling point here — the information about Ross’ time with the legendary girl group, a reprint of an article from the November 1968 Ebony magazine, a photo of Ross with Ronette Estelle Bennett and Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison, a reprint of the “Be My Baby” disc label — all on the inner sleeve. If the Lord is displeased with the borderline deceptive advertising, He may be less pleased with the music inside, as Ross and her producer/husband Scott create an album with less inspiration than her God-given talents deserve. “Gonna Keep My Mind (Stayed on You” is a funky Chaka Khan-type tune with religious overtones. “Unchanging Love for You” is pretty enough, but there is something about the lyrics that make the song awkward. The Bible talks about praying in secret, and God may be more happy with an artist singing pop tunes that brought her fame than forced musical statements about Him — and fans would be more pleased not to have to endure the preaching. When Dan Peek left the group America for fame and fortune as a Christian artist, he was blatant about it. Christian rockers Stryper had celebrity on their mind, yet the former Nedra Talley says here that she recorded Full Circle to make a statement. The best statement this artist could make, the best use of her God-given gifts, would be a solid gospel album or the popular music she was blessed to sing. The title track on Full Circle, “Unchanging Love for You,” “I Know I Love You,” and “Lean on Me” are the best tracks here. (“Lean on Me” is not the Bill Withers tune; the hook is actually stronger, and the performance is superb.) It is too bad the rest of the album does not equal these performances. Backing vocals and horns swell under Ross’ expressive voice, creating some magnificence that is missing on most of Full Circle. https://www.allmusic.com/album/full-circle-mw0000892548
Another Full Circle review, the CBS artist produced by my good, good friend Wayne Wadhams
Visual Radio In Print
Radio That You Read
The History Of New England Music, Boston Rock & Roll
CHAPTER 21, BOSTON ROCK & ROLL ANTHOLOGY SERIES Hear the Anthology
HEAR THE ANTHOLOGY ON MIXCLOUD — Chapter #21 on Mixcloud: https://tinyurl.com/Anthchapter21 We’re just finalizing the booklet and working on the promotion
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Boston Rock & Roll Anthology Chapter #21
This is the first of our thirty compilation albums where every artist on the
disc and their music have been promoted by my media company. It is a free
service for musicians who give me the honor of representing their music to
radio, print and online publications as well as critics and DJs spanning the
globe. It is truly “double exposure” as the songs that we
have been working find themselves on a fixed medium, inside a booklet, with the
advance knowledge that this music has already been played on multiple terrestrial
and online radio stations.
Yes, many of these artists have been on the rock and roll highways with me for
two, three or four decades. As publicist for Club Bohemia @ the Cantab
the weekly postings keep me apprised of who is out there in the trenches
working to entertain. It’s been twenty-three years since Boston Rock & Roll
Anthology Vol #20 so my one regret as that I didn’t keep this up on an annual
basis. Let’s plan to do that now!
___________________________________________________________________________
Greg Walsh’s New Ghosts feature the drummer from Pop Gun and Huck
2. Huck 2 worked with me in the 1990s and Pop Gun appeared with my
band at the C Note when we played the past eight or so years for Michael
Weddle’s Rat Reunions.
Phil DaRosa met me out in Springfield when Jimmy Miller’s daughter, Deena,
performed with Maxine Nightingale at the Big “E” – it was many years
ago and Phil’s “Faraday” is remarkable, inspired and quite different
from the music that he performs live.
Kitoto Sunshine Love is the daughter of our good friend Bobby Hebb (his
birthday July 26, just yesterday.) Bobby released a disco song about his
roots, “Proud Soul Heritage,” and Kitoto performs it with a
blues/Gospel feel, yours truly producing. On drums is the amazing Steve Holley
from Elton John/McCartney – Wings/Ian Hunter-Mott the Hoople, Thomas Hebb –
Bobby’s nephew, and the wonderful choir!
Kitoto’s second track, “Love You,” features Peter Calo (Carly Simon’s
music director) who is actually performing “Love You” in his live
sets; the late David Maxwell on piano in what might have been one of his final
sessions and I only wish Bobby could hear his daughter singing these amazing
songs in such a touching way.
Heidi Jo Hines and Nicola Barchiesi are Karma Car. Heidi is the daughter
of the late Jo Jo Laine and Wings’ guitarist Denny Laine. Their two songs are
unique and expressive with Beatles’ flavors the frosting on the cake.
Which is why I put “Downtime” by the Complaints next to “As It
Is,” listen to the Beatles influences on Dean Petrella – though the song
is still distinctive and original.
Michele Gear Cole wrote “Guardian Angel” for her dad and it has hooks
galore and her amazing vocal. Michele worked with Jimmy Miller in the
1980s and has the distinction of bringing both Marvin Hagler and Miller onstage
during a packed and stunning show at the Paradise Theater. Billy and
Michele have that show on tape! And got Jimmy to sing “Gimme
Shelter” with them at Syncro Sound, the Cars studio on Newbury St.
Around that time Jimmy brought me to a Keith Richards session in New
York. Keith said “Joe, you have to meet Rob Fraboni.”
Working for Rob it was my honor to promote Alvin Lee featuring George Harrison
and Jon Lord of Deep Purple for the CD ZOOM featuring “Real Life
Blues.” Rob has remastered the Bob Marley collection, has a Grammy
with Keith for a Hank Williams tribute, and engineered Goats Head Soup with
Jimmy Miller while co-producing Bridges to Babylon.
Rob spent enormous hours mastering this album over the past four days. It
shows! I love every track. From 3d, who debuted on Boston RR
Anthology #8 back in the 1980s to Fire in the Field and Empty County Band who
met me at Club Bohemia, these artists are very special to me, and their music
is – at some points – overwhelmingly beautiful.
My dear friend Pamela Ruby Russell came out to the Middle East June 1, 2019 and
met Andy Pratt (who was amazing with Mach Bell on drums and Larry Newman on
bass.) Andy introduced Pamela to Mario Gil who worked with Pamela on
“Space And Time.” It and “Walk Thru Fire” (from her Highway
of Dreams album) bring a texture to the album that complements the other
artists. Peter Calo co-produced Highway of Dreams.
Dalia Davis has been making a splash on Lowbudget Records with her Dylan
tribute to “My Back Pages” and her very creative “Beatles
Bridges,” which is a mix of bridges of Beatles songs. [Have you noticed
yet our affinity for the Stones and the Fab Four?] I asked Dalia for the folk
track, “Eleven and a Half,” as it rounds the album out nicely, though
her “Power of One” is starting to get attention at online radio.
Tom Mich’s “Table Scraps” is uniquely different and creative – I
adore it – and not because he was guitar tech for Terry Kath, the late
guitarist of the band Chicago, or the fact that he was my roommate at the dawn
of the 1980s. Matt O’Connor’s “Ballad of a Rock Star” is
a take-off, he tells me, on an unpublished song of mine, “Are You a Rock
Star Yet?” Like Mich, Matty O lived with me too, and that we’re all
still speaking speaks volumes, does it not? Love the “Sympathy for
the Devil” vocals in Rock Star!
Legendary Kenne Highland of The Gizmos is also a long-time guitarist with yours
truly. He’s also in Mad Painter, a Club Bohemia band for sure, but it was
Kenne who introduced me to Alex Gitlin. They have Mott the Hoople
influences and since our album has Steve Holley from Mott the Hoople AND Wings,
well, you can see we are writing like our heroes AND appearing on CDs with
them.
Joe Black has been working with me since the 1980s, like many on this disc.
“Blackenstein” (instrumental) may be the ultimate of many Joe Black
songs, and features Artie Knyff of L-88, the band I got to book into the
Worcester Centrum with Blue Oyster Cult all those years ago.
When our good friend Little Joe Cook was checking out Scott Couper at the
Cantab he didn’t know that Scott and his brother Jay worked with me for
years. They also backed up Denny Laine on tour. Well, recently I
couldn’t find a master tape of mine from 1979 that was missing from the Varulven
inventory. Lo and behold Jay and Scott shipped me 8 or 9 DVDs with about
EIGHT HOURS of Count music…live shows and many, many unreleased tunes.
It had the 1979 track, don’t know how they got ahold of it but they did! And
thank the good Lord, the missing tape is retrieved. “I Thought
About You” here on this album is a track from my soon-to-be released
Secret Things album that Jay produced and Scott arranged. They are
brilliant. And when Little Joe left the Cantab the brothers became the house
band for quite some time.
This is a very special album, and to be with all my friends on this disc is an
ultimate party on plastic!
Special thanks to Kenny Selcer for post production and assembling. His
resume’ is amazing doing sound for Magic Dick, Aztec Two Step, Eric Andersen
and performing in a duo with Steve Gilligan of Fox Pass and The Stompers. We
are all one big family and if you listen to this album two or three times
you’ll understand why the Boston music community is one of the greatest in the
world. The previous anthologies are fetching nice prices on eBay…you have the
privilege of hearing the future right now.
Onward
Joe Viglione
Producer, Creator The Boston Rock & Roll Anthology Series
P.O. Box 2392, Woburn, MA 01888 tel 617 899 5926
Demodeal @ yahoo.com
_____________________________________________________________________
THE HISTORY OF BOSTON ROCK AND ROLL ON FIXED MEDIA
The Boston Rock & Roll Anthology Series started in 1983 with the first
Anthology rolling off the truck and Producer Jimmy Miller marveling at a
compilation of area music. “What a great idea” Jimmy said as I
cracked open the first box and showed him
Volume 1 before anyone else in the world!
In 1979 we started off with The Boston Bootleg and 1981 The Boston Bootleg 2
which featured the beautiful legs of my graphic artist, Billie Perry. Chapter
#20 arrived in 1997 with four volumes of the Demo That Got The Deal (TM) radio
show continuing the legacy, Chapter 4 in 2014.
In between we had the U.S. Anthology #1, the Boston Jazz Anthology and the Mass
Metal album.
This will be our THIRTIETH COMPILATION of local music with many more to come.
The CD comes with a booklet, the story of the anthology series and information
on each track with the music in the back of the booklet. Produced and directed
by Joe Viglione, Varulven Records P.O. Box 2392, Woburn MA 01888 Co-sequencing
and assembling: Kenny Selcer. Mastered by Rob Fraboni.
https://www.mixcloud.com/joe-viglione/boston-rock-roll-anthology-chapter-21-on-the-joe-vig-pop-explosion-radio-show/
1 Everything But Peace – 3D 3:41
2 Space And Time – Pamela Ruby Russell
4:28
3 As It Is Karma Car 4:58
4 Downtime-The Complaints 4:36
5 Faraday – Phil daRosa 5:56
6 Proud Soul Heritage – Kitoto Sunshine Love
3:44
7 Guardian Angel – Slapback Band 4:37
8 Until The End – Empty County Band 4:09
9 Blackenstein-Joe Black 4:24
10 Table Scraps-Tom Mich Jr. 2:59
11 Counting Down to Zero (From 1) – Greg Walsh’s New Ghosts 3:19
12 The Letter – Mad Painter 2:55
13 Monster-Joe Black 4:18
14 Skeptical – Empty County Band 2:54
15 Walk Thru Fire – Pamela Ruby Russell
4:27
16 Love You – Kitoto Sunshine Love
2:45
17 Who’s Foolin’ Who – Karman Car 3:24
18 I Thought About You-Joe Viglione 2:43
19 Eleven and a Half – Dalia Davis 2:52
20)Bossman Fire in the Field
21)Ballad of a Rock Star – Matty O 2:23
July 27 is the 208th day of the year (209th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. 157 days remain until the end of the year. Carly Simon Was Right, we were in “the good old days” and here’s the proof.
Jethro Tull, 1972
The Suffolk Journal Review by Joe Viglione
Ok, a little history. I graduated high school in the spring of 1972. I was Features Editor of the Chronicle by that time. Tonight I found a 1971 article (17 years of age) that the school paper under my favorite teacher, Pauline Schiel, published about drugs and doing something about it. Fast forward to my Jethro Tull review in the Suffolk Journal in college in 1972…but in the meantime I did publish music stuff in the Chronicle, reviews of Bloodrock (Capitol Records, managed by Terry Knight) and some brass band that imitated Chicago that played at AHS (Arlington High School). Also got to cover the Maysles Brothers at their Boston debut of GIMME SHELTER. So here’s my first interview, teacher Mrs. Picione before I got to go to the Charles Cinema and have a “roundtable” with the Maysles Brothers.
Then and Now, from humble beginnings with Varulven Magazine at the age of 15, to the Chronicle at Arlington High School at 17, to Suffolk University newspaper at 18 and…voila, national Goldmine and Discoveries (see Jim Kale article) and international AllMusic.com
Danny Kirwan, Fleetwood Mac Reviews by Joe V
Second Chapter – Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org › wiki › Second_Chapter
Second Chapter is the debut solo album by British blues rock musician Danny Kirwan, released … Allmusic critic Joe Viglione declared that Second Chapter was a feather in the cap for Kirwan as well as producer Martin Rushent. Drawing …
SECOND CHAPTER AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione [-]
The first solo album from Fleetwood Mac singer/songwriter Daniel David Kirwan has the future producer for Human League and Buzzcocks, Martin Rushent, utilizing those skills here, as well as engineering. The sound is crystal clear, and a feather in the cap for Rushent as well as Kirwan. It starts off with an uncharacteristic “Ram Jam City,” which has more Lindsey Buckingham sounds than one would expect, especially since the two guitarists come from two different musical worlds. “Odds and Ends” is more lighthearted, the kind of music Paul McCartney toyed with on The White Album‘s “Rocky Raccoon.” What Second Chapter immediately sets forth is the importance of Kirwan as a pop artist, and how, despite Fleetwood Mac‘s success after he left, his sounds could still have been beneficial to that supergroup. “Hot Summers Day” is a fine example of that, a beautiful song that could offset Buckingham‘s gritty ramblings. It would have made a nice counterpoint as Stevie Nicks complemented Christine McVie‘s tunes with her adventures, bringing an important change of pace to that popular band’s hits. The jacket looks like a dusty old family album-style book holding Kirwan‘s Second Chapter. And the music reflects that old-world feel in titles like “Skip a Dee Doo” and “Falling in Love with You.” Three of the best songs on this excellent outing are “Love Can Always Bring You Happiness,” “Second Chapter,” and a sleepy and beautiful number called “Silver Streams.” Kirwan‘s tune is haunting as well with its lilting “all you need is love to show you the way from here” chorus. As on a follow-up album, he tends to sound a little like the group America, the vocals with that same America tone and warmth. They very well could have covered “Silver Stream” or “Cascades,” the album’s final track. This material was crafted right in the middle of America‘s run of hits, and maybe they should have replaced Dan Peek with Dan D. Kirwan? The artist’s three solo discs cut in the ’70s make for a very pleasant and thought-provoking listening experience, and that this collection is so good only shows he kicked his departure from the big band off with a vengeance. Collapse ↑
https://www.allmusic.com/album/second-chapter-mw0000583888 SECOND CHAPTER by Danny Kirwan
Danny Kirwan Midnight in San Juan https://www.allmusic.com/album/danny-kirwan-mw0001878717
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_in_San_Juan_(Danny_Kirwan_album
AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione [-]
On his follow-up to 1975’s Second Chapter, his first solo disc after being such an important element of Fleetwood Mac, Danny Kirwan gives fans another taste of Bare Trees with the lovely song “Castaway,” which ends the album, and the instrumental “Rolling Hills,” which could be a sequel to the sublime “Sunny Side of Heaven,” a treat both when Fleetwood Mac performed it live and when it appeared on Bare Trees. Kirwan‘s personality shines on those tracks, and this album is chock-full of quality material — there isn’t a bad track on it musically. Where followers of this artist might have a problem is that it seems to be a conscious effort to go off in the commercial direction taken by the folk band America, of all people. Both tracks which open side one and two, “I Can Tell” and “Misty River” respectively, would have perfectly fit in America‘s “Sister Golden Hair,” “Don’t Cross the River,” and “Ventura Highway” set list. This is decidedly different music from the slick pop of 1979’s Hello There Big Boy, which retained only pianist John Cook from these sessions. That episode had him sounding more like his ex-Fleetwood Mac mate Bob Welch, no surprise since Welch actually charted in 1977 with his Bare Trees track “Sentimental Lady.” “Life Machine” on this disc actually sounds like a Bob Welch track, and it is too bad the two artists didn’t join forces at this point in time. The strange one here is a reggae version of “Let It Be,” which, in its brashness, becomes a nice turning point for the disc, showing real personality. Too many artists cover the Beatles note for note while Kirwan gives the world ten new originals and a creative reworking of a classic hit by “the Fab Four.” This album was titled Danny Kirwan in North America, while the British release took its name from the other instrumental track, a synthesized journey called “Midnight in San Juan.” “Angel’s Delight” and “Windy Autumn Day” sound like Fleetwood Mac meets the band America, a very saleable commodity if you think about it, the Beatles-style ending to “Windy Autumn Day” driving the point home. Dick James Records really should have gotten more solidly behind this artist — there’s no doubt the talent for Top 40 success here was enormous. https://www.allmusic.com/album/danny-kirwan-mw0001878717
https://www.allmusic.com/album/danny-kirwan-mw0001878717
AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione [-]
Hear the album here: https://youtu.be/0pwHWM8QYW4
This is not just a tremendous album by Danny Kirwan, this is an extraordinary set of recordings that makes one wonder “what if?” What if Fleetwood Mac had talents like Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan, Dave Walker, and Bob Welch come back to the fold for different projects? This is light pop on a mission, and it is perfectly produced by, of all people, Clifford Davis (though one should consider Kirwan’s excellent production work on The Legendary Christine Perfect Album and wonder if the manager wasn’t just putting his name on Kirwan’s creative ideas). There’s no denying that each tune here, from “End Up Crying” (which sounds like the soft rock Fleetwood Mac) to the final track, “Summer Days and Summer Nights,” is superior pop music — intricate guitar lines, a double-barrel keyboard approach by John Cook and Kevin Kitchen which is just lovely, and sterling vocals by Kirwan. The track “California” is more accessible than some of the popular versions of Fleetwood Mac, and given Bob Welch’s success with French Kiss two years before the release of Hello There Big Boy!, it is surprising this was not embraced by both Top 40 and FM radio. “Spaceman” continues the smooth ’70s pop that”California” introduced the listener to, the guitars more eerie, harking back to the Bare Trees period of Fleetwood Mac seven years earlier (which had so much of Kirwan’s identity all over it). There was life before Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, and this cohesive work is proof of that; covering Randy Edelman’s “You” is actually quite clever, the exiles of Mac having reputations more as singer/songwriters than as interpreters. This may be Danny Kirwan produced by Clifford Davis, the man who put the fake Fleetwood Mac onstage, but it is no fluke and it is no fake. Hello There Big Boy! is a great album from the singer/guitarist who, according to Mick Fleetwood’s book My Twenty Five Years in Fleetwood Mac, “went beserk…smashed his head against the wall…(and)…was fired.” Sounds like genius, and it is here on this recording for all to see — and hear. A truly great comeback that sadly got lost in the shuffle of life. On AllMusic.com https://www.allmusic.com/album/hello-there-big-boy%21-mw0000845773