Buffy Sainte-Marie in 'Vanity Fair'

Buffy Sainte-Marie is one of the 'folk heroes' to have their portrait by Annie Liebovitz featured in the November edition of 'Vanity Fair' (out now). There are some lovely photos in the spread but the one that matters is the photo of Buffy, and here it is...

The photo is taken outdoors in a scout camp on Staten Island (which suggests the photo was taken in July when Buffy played New York and the Clearwater Festival), holding hands with Richie Havens. The caption reads 'The Trailblazers' and then gives a potted biography of both of them, friends since Greenwich Village in the '60s. Apologies for the shine in the photo I took of the pages but you get the idea.

Buffy's looking good, looking into the camera, blanket over one shoulder and feathers in her hair. I'm pleased the photo-shoot was outdoors, it seems appropriate for someone who's written so many love songs to the land.

Go out and buy it and see for yourself. I've got no idea what's in the rest of the magazine and don't particularly care. But I love that photo.

'Blue Sunday' by Buffy Sainte-Marie

I heard what might, possibly, be the first public airing of a new Buffy Sainte-Marie record this morning on the radio. Before you all rush off to your local record shop to buy it (which is, let's face it, the natural reaction on hearing such news) I ought to explain that the radio station was actually in Hawaii and I was listening through the magik of the internet.

My net-chum Michael is currently working in Hawaii and had the pleasure of meeting Buffy a few weeks ago. He heard that Kaua'i Community Radio was going to play a new Buffy track in a show starting at 10pm on Thursday and alerted me. First task was to translate that time into proper time, ie 9am on Friday morning in London. That's do-able, I thought.

So I log on, download the player widget, tune in and sit at the laptop with the volume turned up. Slightly after 9am, DJ Slim starts speaking and playing rockabilly records. 'Hhmmm...' I think, how will a Buffy song fit into this? A few songs pass and I'm tapping my foot, the only name I recognise is Johnny Cash, and then Slim says the magik words and the sound of a double bass thumping away starts off 'Blue Sunday' by Buffy Sainte-Marie. I've heard it before - Buffy played it when I saw her concert in Canada with that unmistakable long 'Bluuuuuueeeeeee Sunday' in the chorus. O wow!

It was all over too quickly but I stayed at the laptop listening to Slim's show. I don't have any rockabilly records and it was a bit fun, and then at the end of his show he mentioned that in two weeks time he'd play some more new Buffy. Naturally I've put that in my diary. He also mentioned that the new album, 'Running For The Drum', is due for release in March next year. Now, I'm not going to hold my breath or anything but it's on the way and 'Blue Sunday' is the proof. I can wait a while longer.

I can wait longer because in a few weeks time there'll be new photos of Buffy to gawp at. She's had her photo taken by Annie Liebovitz for a spread about folk singers in the November edition of Vanity Fair. There are no photos online but there's a very short clip of her in the video on the Vanity Fair site (click on the video-link halfway down the page).

Can never have too much Buffy, that's what I say!

Yoko Ono: The IMAGINE PEACE TOWER

Navel Gazing

Who are you? Yes, you, dearest reader.

You might have noticed a little widget I added to this page a while ago, Sitemeter, that counts how many of you look at the page. It tells me that my readership - you lot - peaked in September. But why?

If you go into it in a bit more detail, it tells me the number of visitors by day and, in September, that peaked round about 17-18 September, with double the normal traffic on 18 September. How odd. What could that be about?

Then I look at page entries and see the volume of people who seemed to go straight for my review of the Marc Bolan Celebration that was published on 16 September. Ah. It becomes clear. That was a 'big' event and people wanted to know about it so probably ended up doing wide searches to find out what happened. It's not just Marc that people are interested in though, a lot of people seemed to find my review by coming through a Shakin' Stevens chat site. I like the idea of Shakey fans hunting down information on their hero.

So, the trick for a popular blog is to get lots of searchable items/terms/names into it so that it'll show up on Internet searches. It all sounds like hard work to me so I'll just stick with what I'm doing now, thank you very much.

Have a nice day whoever you are and wherever you're sitting right now.

'Everybody Hurts' by Amanda Palmer

Amanda was asked to record a song for a celebration of REM's 'Automatic For The People' (15 years old this year) by Stereogum and she chose 'Everybody Hurts', recording with Cormac Bride. Those lovely people at Stereogum are giving away the mp3 free, along with others from the celebration album so, naturally, I hit the download button.

In characteristic style, Amanda gives the briefest of background to recording the track:

I had just landed from the UK and got an email from Stereogum at around 5 pm that they wanted a cover of an REM song. It sounded like fun, but they had a deadline, and I was only in town for two more days. I said yes anyway and then about 13 minutes later Cormac called randomly to say 'hi,' so I asked if he would come over at night with his guitar, but the computer was being weird and we only had two working tracks, and we wanted to record it totally live, and I didn't know how to fix it, and so we called Noah, who was at the Columbus having drinks with Troy, and he didn't want to come back to fix it right then, so I called Vessela next door to see if maybe she wanted to come over and record a track of names of people she had hurt in her Bulgarian accent because I thought that would be great and we would add Max with a people he had hurt in his British accent and Lee would add a list with Lee in his Montana accent and Cormac and I would both do a hurt list too and then we'd have this great jumble of names of hurt people .... and Vessela said sure and Max said sure and Lee said sure and I told them we were waiting for Noah to come back and fix the computer and Vessela said maybe troy could fix it and I said but he's with Noah at the bar. And Noah finally came home and we finally recorded it at 2:30 in the morning, and then we were done and everybody who was going to record names of people they had wronged had gone to bed so we didn't get to do that part. Don't throw your hand.

Click the album cover to go to the Stereogum minisite to download the tracks or the whole album.

Kiki Dee at IndigO2

Back to the IndigO2 with Chris for the Bedford Bandstand evening comprising Beth Rowley (great voice), Mamas Gun (the funkiest band I've seen in an age), Nick Hall (another singer-songwritery type) and the marvelous Kiki Dee & Carmelo Luggeri. Of course, we were there to see the Kikster but it was a pleasure to listen to Beth's powerful voice and experience the non-stop funk of Mamas Gun.

Kiki Dee has been around forever, recording for Motown in the late '60s and helping Elton John get his first UK number one with the duet, 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' (a song I've never been keen on). I liked her solo work and got some of her records in the mid '70s. Her Motown album was finally released on CD a couple of years ago. She vanished from my radar for a couple of decades but she's still been singing and creating music and when I saw she was playing the IndigO2 headlining the Bedford Bandstand evening, I jumped at tickets. I needn't have jumped so quickly since the venue was far from sold out, but I heartily approve of the concept behind the evening.

Anyway, on comes Carmelo to the stripped down stage to tune his guitar and sort out the electricals while the host talks and then, when all is ready, out strolls Kiki Dee, herself and in person. That alone, is a thrill. Her voice is rich and velvety, she's looking good and they launch into the first of a series of songs I've never heard since they're all from their albums over the past decade or so, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy them, and I do. New age-y, mainly guitar and vocals augmented by occasional keyboards and electro gizmos to boost up the sound, far from ambient (thankfully). Some lovely songs, but it's really Kiki's voice I'm listening to. They did an interesting version of Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill'.

Much as I enjoyed their set, sufficient to buy their latest CD afterwards, it was the last song that lifted my heart and made a grin appear on my face - 'I Got The Music In Me'! O yes, a guitar version of that great song, no pounding bass or drums, just Carmelo's guitar and Kiki's wonderful voice driving it along to completion. Now, that was worth seeing and hearing, her voice effortless and controlled, a song she must have sung thousands of times but still putting her all into it. Cor!

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Kiki and Carmelo, and the other acts - hearing good music played live is a positive experience. It even makes the long trek home from Greenwich worth it. Thank you for a great evening.

'Awake And Sing!' at The Almeida

Tonight I went to see 'Awake And Sing!' by Clifford Odets at The Almeida Theatre with Chris, a play I'd never seen or heard of in a theatre I'd never been to before by a playwrite I've never heard of. On a Monday evening struggling through crowded tube chaos, sore back and no food. I wasn't in the mood for a play in which acting was measured by vocal decibels. Bear that in mind, huh?

It's set in the Bronx in the '30s so the first hurdle to get over is the array of accents, some of which were just stereotypes (but I suppose stereotypes have to come from somewhere). I sat for the entire first half wondering what I was actually seeing, what was I really seeing, not just a family having dinner and then shouting at each other - what was really happening, what was the metaphor, what was this representing? I couldn't fathom it so decided it was just a family shouting at each other and shouting is the normal state for this family so shouting doesn't mean anything.

A strong mother, a weak father who does as he's told, two children who feably try to rebel against their lot and their parents, a grandfather who lives with them, a lodger (I think?) all living together in a small apartment and the mother's brother who owns a dress factory. Immediately this reeks of claustrophobia and tension, the over-bearing mother ruling her roost. The twisted morality of the upstanding family is instantly on view when the mother contrives to marry the daughter to a poor immigrant when she becomes pregnant, better a loveless marriage than a child out of wedlock.

I can appreciate some of this play but it wasn't very satisfying. Some of the plot turns were a bit obvious (such as the fates of the grandfather and the daughter), the acting was a bit patchy and the writing was odd in places, using the play's title to exhort the son to live his life, stand up for himself and make something of himself. Or am I missing something? It was nice to see Stockard Channing, who played the mother, but she looked thin to me. I thought she was magnificent as Sunny in 'The Exonerated' and that's how I'll think of her.

Oh, and to make matters worse, the chip shop round the corner had closed early tonight so the longing I'd had all the way down the Northern Line from the Angel was left unfulfilled... I was so looking forward to chips...

Two Fillums

Chris took me to see two films over the weekend - well, it's an opportunity to sit in the dark scoffing piles of popcorn and drinking gallons of diet coke without feelings of guilt, so who am I to say 'no'?

The first, on Saturday, was 'Atonement' at Streatham Odeon. Well, I say Streatham Odeon but it was in screen 8 which seemed like a two mile walk round twist and turny corridors so I suspect the actual screening room was somewhere in Crystal Palace. Anyway, I'd not heard anything about it and haven't read the book so I went with an open mind. It was ok, nicely shot and some very nice scenes (such as the long, apparently single shot that took in the sweep of a retreating army on the Dunkirk beach) but it didn't tweak the heart-strings or the brain.

The first half of the film gradually started annoying me, the set-up scenes taking too long, the jumping back and forward in time, Keira Knightly's overly clipt (as opposed to clipped) accent grated. Then there were the war scenes which were less annoying but the hospital bits dragged a bit. I'm being quite negative, aren't I? I don't mean to be, I didn't dislike it, but I doubt I'll get the DVD. I might get the book, though.

The power really came at the end with Vanessa Redgrave playing the girl from the first half all grown up and old and dying of cancer. The shocks came thick and fast but I won't say what they were in case you haven't seen it. And a long close-up of Vanessa's face as she talks was wonderful. My first thought was, 'she used to be beautiful' as I gazed on the lined and wrinkled face and my second thought was 'she still is beautiful'. A powerful and unafraid performance. Well done.

The second film was on Sunday lunchtime at the Brixton Ritzy, John Waters' 'This Filthy World'. Oh so subtley different from the film the previous night..

It's a film of one of his speaking engagements or solo shows where he just talks for nearly 1 1/2 hours, an excellent raconteur with a rude tale - nay, filthy and vulgar tale - for every situation. But it's not just a series of expletives, it's well constructed and intelligent. I couldn't help giggling like a loon at some of his observations and tales of his films and people he's worked with. It's an endless stream of one-liners that I'd love to repeat here but I've forgotten most of them. The best line for me was when he overheard a little child talking to its father, 'Dad, why's Mom crying' and the Dad replying 'Because you're such as asshole'. It doesn't have the same impact as him saying it but the incongruity of it makes it the perfect opening line for a future film, as he himself noted. Go on, go and see it if you can - you'll be rolling in the aisles - or buy the DVD when it's available.

Something I was touched by was that he always referred to Divine as Divine and never as John or Frank or Herbert or whatever his birth-name was (I have no idea). Even growing up, Divine was Divine and that says a lot about Divine, about John and about their relationship. He's clearly maintaining the mythology around Divine but who cares?

A final observation - why are there so many adverts and trailers in films these days? I always finish the popcorn before the film starts...

If it ain't Stiff...

I accidentally went into the HMV at Covent Garden yesterday after 'Lord of the Rings' and accidentally bought product. I couldn't help myself when I saw the new box set of Stiff records released by Salvo, 'The Big Stiff Box Set' with its tasteful cover.

Stiff was one of the saviours of pop music in the late '70s and part of the whole 'do it yourself' thing that came with punk - have an idea, record it and release it within days. Cheap 'n' cheerful and you never knew what kind of music would feature in the next release, but always worth watching out for. I think my first Stiff single was 'One Chord Wonders' by The Adverts (who can forget Gaye Adverts panda-eyes staring through the screen on 'Top of the Pops' when they played 'Gary Gilmore's Eyes'? and she played bass too). I went to see the 'Be Stiff Tour' with the marvellous Lene Lovich and Rachel Sweet which was a wonder to behold, half a dozen acts all playing on the same stage in the space of two hours.

The roster of Stiff stars is incredibly varied and we should all be grateful that Stiff gave them their break. With one or two exceptions, most moved on after a single or two so Stiff never enjoyed the mega-success of some of its artists, but that's not the point really.

Some of the names on this collection are: Nick Lowe, The Damned, Elvis Costello, Motorhead, Kirsty MacColl, The Pogues, Tracey Ullman, Ian Dury, Wreckless Eric, Jona Lewie, Lene Lovitch, Rachel Sweet, Madness, Tenpole Tudor, The Adverts, The Belle Stars, Department S and Alvin Stardust. And of course the wonderful Jane Aire.

Many of the tracks are new 'uns to me and some are barely remembered, like 'What Becomes of the Broken Hearted' by Dave Stewart and Colin Bluntstone, a lovely version of the song. From punk to swing and touching on everything inbetween, the Stiff catalogue is a marvel to behold. A new gem for me is 'Religious Persuasion' by Andy White (who? but see here) and Desmond Dekker's 'Please Don't Bend' is pretty damn fab. 'Do You Believe in the Westworld' by Theatre of Hate deserves many plays. At over four hours, 98 tracks on four CDs and a 60-odd page booklet, this is a bargain indeed. Click on the link above to see the full track listing of wonders and oddities.

As they said back in the day, 'If it ain't Stiff it ain't worth a fuck'. How right they were.

'Lord of the Rings' at Drury Lane

This afternoon I went to see 'Lord of the Rings' at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. I wanted to see what they'd done to the book to turn it into a play with music and songs, especially after the films. I read the book for the first time when I was 16 and have a lot of emotional baggage associated with it. I didn't know what to expect from the play so it was a bit of a gamble.

Matinees are an interesting experience themselves - who goes to a matinee? Mainly old people and tourists it seems, and me. It's nice being served immediately at the bar for the mandatory diet coke and, for some reason, there's an exhibition of paintings by Ronnie Wood on the stairs and balconies. I walked into the theatre to find the stage infested with hobbits and some wandering round the seats in the stalls and the grand circle, chasing and catching fireflies (well, little lights, really). That kept going until the start of the play proper, which began with Bilbo's eleventy-one birthday party and where he vanishes. And he did just that, turned invisible. No idea how they did that, no sign of trapdoors or anything, he just vanished. Ooooo magik!

I won't repeat the story - you'll know it and if you don't why not and why are you reading this? When non-hobbit characters started appearing it was odd to notice that the hobbits weren't that small in comparison really. Some of the male actors wore platform boots to give them just that little bit more height, not really noticeable, and the women all (I think) seemed to wear big platforms hidden under their flowing dresses, only noticeable when they walked or bended. None of the actors really stood out as particularly good or bad, but the real star was the stage.

The stage was a big turntable that rotated and undulated at the drop of a hobbit. It was a marvel of engineering, bits raising and lowering to play the part of battlements, mountains, hills, bridges, you name an architectural feature and that stage could mimic it. Most impressive indeed (see the photo at the end for an indication of what it could do). There were also a few scenes when elves flew or floated with some nice wire-work. Orcs bounced round the stage on those 'leg extender' things that are becoming more common and Ents wandered round on huge stilts that made me feel vertiginous just watching. A nice set.

I felt a bit let down by the closing of the first act which should have been the big cliff-hanger of Gandalf fighting the Balrog in the mines of Moria. It was obviously going to be a big set piece, the wind machine starts blowing into the audience with some dry ice, 'leaves' fall from the ceiling to be blown into us and the music gets louder and wilder - great so far, but where is the light show? It cried out for some glorious pyrotechnics and we got a couple of fuzzy red spots. Or something. That could have been so much better.

Strangely enough, there was a second short interlude, the lights stayed down and it was only for a few minutes so I'm not sure what it was for. Just as hobbits invaded the theatre at the start of the play, now the orcs came into the audience to scare people. I kept my head down.

How on earth do you transform something with the broad scope of 'Lord of the Rings' into a two and half hour play? By choosing bits of the story to portray, ignoring others and merging characters and events. The bits chosen were all the more spectacular bits, as you'd expect, but it did seem like we were being moved from one set piece to another. I don't suppose there's anything they can do about that.

All in all, I enjoyed it. Nice special effects and some spectacular scenes. I wasn't keen on the speaking in Elvish - and especially not singing in Elvish which seems like a big cop out on writing good songs. I also got a bit irritated by the south west accents of the hobbits to signal they're a rural people (wonder what tourists make of that?) - they don't need accents. I can rise above the irritations.