A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
AS if it were not enough to be a virtuoso on guitar, piano and accordion, and a decent singer to boot, today’s subject played a mean trampoline. Nils Lofgren has … Continue readingWorld Exclusive: Nils Lofgren – the interview
OUR destination this week is the Land of Prog – a magical country whose population includes a woman in evening gown with the head of a fox, blood-drinking snakes and … Continue readingGenesis – when Prog ruled the Earth
LAST week we saw Lou Reed quitting the Velvet Underground in 1970, dismayed at their lack of commercial success – just as their talents were about to be acknowledged. So … Continue readingLou walks on the wild side
THE Velvet Underground received a cursory mention in my profile of Nicopublished almost a year ago. Obviously, such a historically significant band deserve a column of their own, so here goes … Continue readingTipping the Velvets
OUR subject this week was rejected in 1980s Nashville as being ‘too rock for country’ and in Los Angeles as being ‘too country for rock’. I don’t give a hoot … Continue readingSausage seller makes good
LAST week we left Richard and Linda Thompson preparing to make their third album together, to fulfil a contract with Island Records. The self-styled ‘sheik’ who led their Sufi Muslim … Continue readingThompson v Thompson
WHEN founder member Richard Thompson left Fairport Convention shortly after the release of the Full House album in July 1970, he announced that he would be concentrating on a solo career. Yet … Continue readingWhen Richard met Linda
WE left Fairport Convention last week at Farley House, a rented Hampshire country mansion where, battered and bruised, they began their recovery following the motorway crash in May 1969 that killed drummer … Continue readingFairport’s golden years, Part 2
ALTHOUGH Fairport Convention got mentions in previous pieces on Sandy Denny, Ian Matthews and Steeleye Span, I didn’t come near to doing them justice. So here’s a tribute to an act … Continue readingFairport’s Golden Years (Part One)
APART from the long, greasy hair, bumfluff sideburns, RAF-surplus greatcoat and purulent complexion, there was one essential item of appearance for the teenager-about-town in early-Seventies Lancashire. At least one LP, … Continue readingNice Beaver