From: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org (avalon-digest) To: avalon-digest@smoe.org Subject: avalon-digest V15 #1071 Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org Sender: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk avalon-digest Sunday, June 26 2016 Volume 15 : Number 1071 Today's Subjects: ----------------- RE: [AVALON] The Bride Stripped Bare; Chris Difford [Andrew Shearer Subject: RE: [AVALON] The Bride Stripped Bare; Chris Difford Hi Chris, thanks for that, you've filled in some details there which I was unsure about. Cheers, Andrew www.andrewshearer.com Twitter & Facebook: @shearermusic > From: cbturner@gmail.com > Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2016 17:41:50 +0100 > Subject: Re: [AVALON] The Bride Stripped Bare; Chris Difford > To: shearerandrew@hotmail.com; avalon@smoe.org > > Ferry lived in Bel Air for a while in 1976 between his two US tours. It's a > ten mile drive through Beverley Hills to Hollywood. Jerry Hall talked about > having good times there, and told some tales about hanging out with Joan > Collins, Bette Midler and the like, but also told of some personality > differences with The Commander. He certainly wrote some interesting stuff > while out there, more consciously American in style and content like Tokyo > Joe. This is Tomorrow, Sign of the Times, All Night Operator and Can't Let > Go. Working with American session players must have helped the vibe. > > Difford said he wrote 'for a considerable period of time' with BF in > 1997-1998 on the material that eventually became Frantic, mainly provided > by Dave Stewart. This stuff was shelved while BF did 'As Time Goes By', as > was his Dylan project, started in 2000 and later to become Dylanesque. > Personally I think Difford's mark is all over Frantic. Cruel is the prime > example. BF worried about the hole in the ozone layer? Native American > imagery? I think not. Goddess of Love, Fool For Love and I Thought all > sound like they have been tweaked to my tin ear. BF said he found an old > suitcase filled with lyrics, lost since Avalon days, which included > alternate verses for Dream Home, and which became the basis for San Simeon. > I presume CD worked on that too. There are songs on Olympia and even > Avonmore that date from that time too. > > It wouldn't be the first time the Cool Ruler has failed to credit a > co-writer. Remember he coughed up to having had Dr Puxley's help concocting > Mother of Pearl. BF was also supposed to have written with Richard Fortus > at this time. Fortus joined Guns and Roses in 2001. Working with BF must > have been great preparation for spending seven years finishing 'Chinese > Democracy' with a megalomaniac lead singer. Just kidding. > > If Difford has an axe to grind with The Commander he's certainly been > hiding it well. He described BF as 'a lovely man' and 'the best person I've > ever worked with' in interviews after he got his P45. Incidentally I spoke > to Difford on the phone a few times back in the day and I remember he > always referred to Ferry as 'BF'. He was a pleasant guy to deal with. I > imagine that Ferry would say that he gave Difford a decent opening at a > time when Squeeze were in meltdown (a ten year hiatus) and CD was bankrupt > (the first time) and post-rehab. > > Worth pointing out that Difford managed BF's day to day affairs during a > period when The Commander produced ATGB, seen as a return to form and > Grammy nominated; the reformation and success of Roxy Music; and the > recording of pub-rock classic Frantic, probably the best of his recent > albums. All in four years. Compare that with the mess BF was in after > Mamouna and, dare I say it, has been in recently? Looks like he could get > things done. > > Chris > > > > On 22 June 2016 at 10:38, Andrew Shearer wrote: > > > Sunday, I had quite a long car drive by myself and I had TBSB on repeat. It > > occurred to me (particularly with Can't Let Go) what a blast it must have > > been > > for BF to be living in LA (was he actually in Hollywood?) when you consider > > the influence of film on him. The boy did good basically, though by all > > accounts it wasn't what he had hoped for. > > > > Last night I was lucky enough to be selected (just by name - nothing to do > > with talent etc) to attend a lyric writing masterclass with Chris Difford > > from > > Squeeze up at The Guardian offices. Really it didn't have much to do with > > lyric-writing (apart from some of the questions in the Q&A) and more a > > "life > > story" type gig but it was entertaining nevertheless and quite a treat to > > hear > > Cool For Cats, Up The Junction and Take Me I'm Yours played to about 100 > > of us > > in a small conference room. Anyway, in the Q&A I asked in what way did he > > help > > BF back in the 90s/ 2000s. > > > > Basically he was employed (in addition to being a manager at some point) > > as a > > "lyric doctor" (on a weekly wage) and was allowed to go through filing > > cabinets of bits and pieces and to see what he could make of them. I got > > the > > impression there was some disappointment that he wasn't ever credited with > > the songs that he worked on and that the arrangement didn't end well. He > > says > > we'll have to buy his autobiography next year to find out why etc. He did > > say > > however he did discover some beautiful gems in his searches. > > > > Thought you'd be interested. Hope all is well with you all. :) > > > > > > > > > > Andrew > > > > > > www.andrewshearer.com > > Twitter & Facebook: @shearermusic > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > > To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ End of avalon-digest V15 #1071 ****************************** ======================================================================== For further info, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info avalon-digest