From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V12 #398 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Monday, October 27 2003 Volume 12 : Number 398 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: carry on [grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan)] MP3 of Fatman's Son ["Gene Hopstetter, Jr." ] Re: magic & sciences - what Fric thinks [Jason Thornton ] RE: carry on [Dr John Halewood ] Re: Tears (of Rage) in Heaven [barbara soutar ] Re: Tears (of Rage) in Heaven [Jeff Dwarf ] Re: Tears (of Rage) in Heaven [Aaron Mandel ] Re: Tears (of Rage) in Heaven [Jeff Dwarf ] [Ebmaniax] BBR [Eb ] PS [Eb ] Re: Tears (of Rage) in Heaven [Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey ] Guilty! [Eb ] RE: yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip [Michael R Godwin Admittedly, I do have this weakly tested theory that, with the >exception of the same-named CSNY song, pretty much every song which >contains the lyric "carry on" is kinda lame. No? Well, despite it's overplaying over the years, I still have a soft spot for "Bohemian Rhapsody". And there's a Crowded House one called "Can't carry on" (not one of their best, but, hey, it's Crowded House!). There's also the classic "Lean on me". And the Stone Roses "Waterfall", maybe. Other than that though, there does seem to be a lot of crap with that phrase in it. A quick scan through Google brings up songs by Christina Aguilera, Shaggy, Ace of Base, Whitney Houston, Chris de Burgh, ELO, NSYNC, Mariah Carey, Air Supply, Justin Timberlake... the best of the rest might actually be Abba's "SOS"! James James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.- =-.-=-.-=-.- You talk to me as if from a distance .-=-.-=-.-=-. -=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time .-=- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 12:08:11 -0600 From: "Gene Hopstetter, Jr." Subject: MP3 of Fatman's Son My Can of Bees CD is flawed, and I can't play the Fatman's Son cut. I want to make a best-of Soft Boys CD, and I need that cut. If someone could email/ftp/carrier pigeon it to me, preferably in a high-res format, I'd appreciate it. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 11:33:29 -0800 From: Jason Thornton Subject: Re: magic & sciences - what Fric thinks On Friday, October 18, 2002, at 07:59 PM, Fric Chaud wrote: > I couldn't agree with you more! All I know is that I received a fortune cookie yesterday that prophesied that "people find it difficult to resist your persuasive manner." Make of that what you will. By the way, I've redefined "Soft Boys" to mean "my testicles." Any further discussion on this subject is idiotic. So, be advised that in the future when you mention that you are "going to see The Soft Boys," you are all from now on talking about viewing my nuts. Enjoy! - --Jasonecromancy ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 12:01:28 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: carry on > >Admittedly, I do have this weakly tested theory that, with the >>exception of the same-named CSNY song, pretty much every song which >>contains the lyric "carry on" is kinda lame. No? > >Well, despite it's overplaying over the years, I still have a soft spot for >"Bohemian Rhapsody". I mentioned "Bohemian Rhapsody" in a PS to the above comment. > And there's a Crowded House one called "Can't carry >on" (not one of their best, but, hey, it's Crowded House!). Forgot about that one...though I can't remember how the song goes right now. Checking my database, I also find "Carry On" by Soul Asylum and "Carry On Till Tomorrow" by Badfinger. Hmm, OK...well, I did say my theory was weakly tested. ;) >Other than that though, there does seem to be a lot of crap with that >phrase in it. A quick scan through Google brings up songs by Christina >Aguilera, Shaggy, Ace of Base, Whitney Houston, Chris de Burgh, ELO, NSYNC, >Mariah Carey, Air Supply, Justin Timberlake... Yup...a whole lot of crap. It seems to be a guaranteed phrase in any formulaic top-40 ballad about getting over a breakup. Which is why I developed my theory. The theory that I have and which is mine and what it is, too. Elk PS Not long ago, I speculated that the only calamities left to occur in 2003 were the Pope's death and a major earthquake. Well, instead we got Elliott Smith's death and major fires. Close enough? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 20:14:11 -0000 From: Dr John Halewood Subject: RE: carry on Eb (ElBroome@earthlink.net) scribbled: > Yup...a whole lot of crap. It seems to be a guaranteed phrase in any > formulaic top-40 ballad about getting over a breakup. Which is why I > developed my theory. The theory that I have and which is mine and > what it is, too. I'm suprised nobody's mentioned "Carry on my Wayward Son" by Kansas yet... > PS Not long ago, I speculated that the only calamities left to occur > in 2003 were the Pope's death and a major earthquake. Well, instead > we got Elliott Smith's death and major fires. Close enough? Don't the two major earthquakes in China yesterday count? cheers john ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 12:46:19 -0800 From: barbara soutar Subject: Re: Tears (of Rage) in Heaven Well. Those people who have accused Eric Clapton of gleefully making money on the death of his child have really upset me. I don't know about the other women and men with children, but it's enough to drive you off the site. That song was not up to his usual standards but came from the heart. He shared his grief with us, just as people here have communicated their grief upon losing close family members. The son's death was spectacularly sad and stunned me at the time. Making money from it? Clapton probably was barely clinging to sanity at the time. I empathize. My daughter jumped off her dresser pretending to be Peter Pan and slit her nostril. I imagine that Clapton's son merrily leaping out a 50th storey window to his death was just a little bit worse. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 13:25:54 -0800 (PST) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: Tears (of Rage) in Heaven barbara soutar wrote: > That song was not up to his usual standards but came from > the heart. Well, actually, I thought it sucked less than pretty much everything else he's done since "Layla." "Wonderful Tonight" -- now there's a truly awful song. > He shared his grief with us, just as people here have > communicated their grief upon losing close family > members. The son's death was spectacularly sad and > stunned me at the time. Making money from it? Clapton > probably was barely clinging to sanity at the time. We should also note that Clapton's friends were worried enough about him that George Harrison actually dragged him and his (EC) band out to tour Japan, and Harrison enjoyed touring only slightly more than opening an umbrella up his own ass. As mercenary as some popstars and record company executives are, the idea that Clapton and the Warner execs (which would have been Lenny Waronker and the Ostins still at this point, right?) were conspiring to figure out the best angles with which to make money off Conor Clapton's death is Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion/black helicopters territory in terms of sheer paranoiac inanity. Some of their marketing decisions (of which I remember none) may have been tacky or lame but that doesn't make them guilty of setting out to exploit a kid's death, it makes them guilty of not having any taste. ===== "Pentagon officials says Americanizing Iraq is difficult because Iraqis have had little to no reliable information for the past 35 years, and have lived on a diet of innuendo, rumor, conspiracy theories, fear, and propaganda. Sounds like the problem is they're too Americanized." -- Bill Maher "Being accused of hating America by people like Ann Coulter or Laura Ingraham is like being accused of hating children by Michael Jackson or (Cardinal) Bernard Law." -- anonymous . __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears http://launch.yahoo.com/promos/britneyspears/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 17:27:24 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: Tears (of Rage) in Heaven On Sat, 25 Oct 2003, Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey wrote: > BTW, you'll note that Clapton didn't write the lyrics: he had Will > Jennings, hired gun, pen them for him. Really? That seems to make the whole thing much more lame, to me. If someone else wrote the words, then it's not "about" his reaction to his son's death except insofar as he declares it to be. That's not to say he didn't sincerely dedicate the song to his son in some way... I mean, when couples think of a favorite tune as "their song" then, duh, just because they didn't write it doesn't mean it doesn't then have some extra emotional power for them; I imagine that even if Clapton had somehow decided that "God Bless America" or "Summer Of '69" was connected to his son's death, he would have had an extra layer of emotion in his performances of those songs. Had he performed them. But if he didn't write the words, I don't know, man. a ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 15:21:00 -0800 (PST) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: Tears (of Rage) in Heaven Aaron Mandel wrote: > Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey wrote: > > > BTW, you'll note that Clapton didn't write the > > lyrics: he had Will > > Jennings, hired gun, pen them for him. > > Really? That seems to make the whole thing much more > lame, to me. If someone else wrote the words, then > it's not "about" his reaction to his son's death > except insofar as he declares it to be. Is "Elegia" not "about" Ian Curtis then? The music is kind of a big part of a song after all; without the tune, the words would just be a poem. since Clapton's strength (such as it is) has always been instrumental rather than lyrical, it doesn't strike me as odd that Clapton would be more capable of channeling his feelings through his guitar than his mouth. Meaning in songs is not only conveyed via lyrics. > That's not to say he didn't sincerely dedicate the > song to his son in some way... I mean, when couples > think of a favorite tune as "their song" then, > duh, just because they didn't write it doesn't mean > it doesn't then have some extra emotional power for > them; I imagine that even if Clapton had somehow > decided that "God Bless America" or "Summer > Of '69" was connected to his son's death, he would > have had an extra layer of emotion in his > performances of those songs. Had he performed them. Since when did Clapton write the music to either "God Bless America" and "Summer of '69"? (That would certainly explain those songs being Irving Berlin's worst and Bryan Adams's best though.) > But if he didn't write the words, I don't know, man. But he DID write the music. And while Jennings would have been involved in writing the lyrics -- it is his background -- the only credits I saw here just read Clapton and Jennings, not Music: Clapton/Lyrics: Jennings; do we know that Jennings wrote all the words or did he come in later after Clapton either couldn't finish the words or decided that the words he had written were completely inadequate? ===== "Pentagon officials says Americanizing Iraq is difficult because Iraqis have had little to no reliable information for the past 35 years, and have lived on a diet of innuendo, rumor, conspiracy theories, fear, and propaganda. Sounds like the problem is they're too Americanized." -- Bill Maher "Being accused of hating America by people like Ann Coulter or Laura Ingraham is like being accused of hating children by Michael Jackson or (Cardinal) Bernard Law." -- anonymous . __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears http://launch.yahoo.com/promos/britneyspears/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 15:34:02 -0800 From: Eb Subject: [Ebmaniax] BBR Had a fun night on Saturday...despite the horror of the local firestorms. I can't recall any local fire(s) *ever* which caused so much damage to homes, as opposed to acres of dry brush. The helicopter footage of whole *neighborhoods* in flames was shocking to behold. In any case.... I had given up on ever seeing the terminally studio-bound Black Box Recorder, so I was excited to hear they were booked at the Knitting Factory (one of only FOUR dates on their entire US tour...the other three were across the country in New York and New Jersey). That said, I was a little disappointed with the show. The opening bands were the Temporary Thing and Run, Run, Run. I missed the former, and only saw about four songs from the latter. I've seen Run, Run, Run before -- they're local, and not too bad. Atmospheric alt-rock with a mild shoegaze influence. Seems like I saw them once before and thought of Straitjacket Fits, though that comparison didn't strike me last night. In an unwitting touch of supreme morbid irony, the band used a smoke machine as part of their act. Ooh, good timing, fellas! I met the lead singer once -- he also works at the House of Blues. Nice guy. Black Box Recorder began playing around 10:20pm, and my pre-show fears were instantly confirmed: *lots* of pre-programmed accompaniment. This instantly drops a show down to a "B" grade for me. There were four people onstage: the group's central trio (guitarists Luke Haines and John Moore, singer Sarah Nixey) plus a younger, slacker-looking drummer who didn't visually fit with the other players. Moore must have missed the wardrobe memo because he was just wearing a tweedish jacket over any old shirt and pants, whereas Haines and Nixey were costumed to match the new album's dapper artwork. Haines wore an all-white suit with a hot pink shirt underneath, whereas Nixey wore the same outfit seen in the photo under the new album's CD tray. For those who haven't bought Passionoia, this means she was also wearing a white suit, but hers had loose elephant sleeves which were cut up to the elbow. Under the one-buttoned jacket, she was only wearing a hot-pink bra. Chic. Sexy. Yes, the jacket stayed on throughout the set. That said, Nixey is the type who looks really beautiful from about 40 feet away, but becomes less so as you move closer. Up close, she develops a bit of an Italian-featured, Magenta-from-Rocky-Horror look which you might not give a second look on the street. The *good* news was that she sang well onstage, which I wasn't necessarily expecting. Breathy voices like hers are prone to sound lousy in performance, but she sounded just fine. What was most troubling is that she just didn't have the required performance charisma. Given the cynical, almost dominatrix-like ambience of her recordings, I was expecting sort of a Marlene Dietrich presentation. Cool and icy, haughty smiles to the side, well-crafted stage movements...there was none of that. She gripped the microphone stand with her left hand, the microphone with her right hand, and that was just about the extent of her persona. Few smiles, except occasionally during band chatter between songs, and her expressionless eyes were just casually blank. She just didn't give the audience anything to look at -- well, beyond the hot-pink bra. Most disappointing. As for the others, Moore's most outstanding feature was his bright-red guitar, which had a novel rectangular body. He rarely caught my eye, but Haines had a bit more flair as a performer. He mostly played electric guitar (the same guitar throughout, I believe?), but also fumbled a tiny one-finger keyboard for one track. All other keyboard parts were pre-programmed, as were even some backing voices. The drums were heavily programmed too, and it often seemed as if the onstage drummer was simply "decorating" the recorded tracks rather than driving the beat himself. Note: Some terribly foolish woman I know claims that I *look* like Luke Haines, but I'd say he's more of a cross between actor Jeffrey Jones and a bleached-blond Van Morrison. Tsk. I can't recite a setlist, and indeed, I haven't fully digested Passionoia yet so I can't recognize most of the songs. The new album has more of a disco flavor than the previous two, which I don't mind so much, but I do mind that the lyrics are less resonant for me. They're heavy on the sex-kitten whispering, and light on the past bitchiness and social critiques. It's a softer, more romantic tone, and not as distinctive. In any case, the night's older songs included "England Made Me," "Straight Life" (I kept picturing Bryan Ferry singing this), "The Facts of Life" (on record, just about the sexiest song I've ever heard...onstage, not so much), "The English Motorway System" and the semi-infamous "Child Psychology." The latter's repeated refrain of "Life is unfair/Kill yourself or get over it" didn't sit very well with me, during the week of Elliott Smith's demise. One final demerit: The set was unusually short. Minus the one-song encore ("Child Psychology," I think?), the main set's body was only about 45 minutes. No time for any surprises or witty cover songs. No starf*cking to report, beyond getting the gang to sign my Passionoia CD. The house was only about a third full, which was disappointing since the group is, well, *good* and had never performed here before. Blame the fire. Indeed, Feg Jason Thornton had promised to come and didn't show, and I can only assume that he was kept at home by the San Diego conflagration. After the show, I drove over to a bar called 3 of Clubs, where the elusive Lawndart spins records on Saturdays. He had been bugging me to come by for weeks, but this was the first time that I obliged. Nothing especially newsworthy to report here, beyond getting a most unlikely neck/arm massage from the beefy son of actor Mike Farrell. I was there for quite awhile, though (well past the Daylight Savings Time switch). The DJ from the second room kept putting beers in my hand, and I had a couple more beers than usual. Woo. And Lawndart balanced the tedium of Ozzy's "Crazy Train" by playing me a rare Beastie Boys cover of "I'm Down" which kicked serious ass. All aboard...ha ha. Bedtime: around 5:30am, if you don't count the time change. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 15:42:49 -0800 From: Eb Subject: PS This is the first day that I've ever cancelled running because the air is simply *unbreathable*. I probably couldn't last four minutes out there. It's like breathing with your face buried in a rotting sofa cushion. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 17:48:49 -0600 From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: Re: Tears (of Rage) in Heaven Quoting Jeff Dwarf : > barbara soutar wrote: > > He shared his grief with us, just as people here have > > communicated their grief upon losing close family > > members. The son's death was spectacularly sad and > > stunned me at the time. Making money from it? Clapton > > probably was barely clinging to sanity at the time. > As mercenary as some popstars and record company executives > are, the idea that Clapton and the Warner execs (which > would have been Lenny Waronker and the Ostins still at this > point, right?) were conspiring to figure out the best > angles with which to make money off Conor Clapton's death > is Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion/black > helicopters territory in terms of sheer paranoiac inanity. > Some of their marketing decisions (of which I remember > none) may have been tacky or lame but that doesn't make > them guilty of setting out to exploit a kid's death, it > makes them guilty of not having any taste. Which, I think, is what I was accusing them of. I'm thinking of it like this: if I had written a song under such circumstances, I'd have to think very long and very hard about releasing it - and if I did, I certainly wouldn't want it to be an emphasis track, featured in a movie, etc. Why? Because that cheapens it: 90% of the people hearing it most likely aren't going to pay it any more attention than they do to anything else in popular media. The idea that my intensely heartfelt song about the most traumatic incident in my life would be sandwiched between ads for The Gap and the latest faux-diva histrionics would make me rather ill. As for the marketing angle, re Waronker & Ostin etc.: I at least never claimed that the whole thing was cynical, unfelt, etc. But consider what you're saying, and what you're attempting to ward off with the thought-killing buzzwords about Protocols/black helicopters, etc.: the song *was marketed*. Do you deny that? Do you think Warner Bros., as a favor to Clapton, decided to just leave its fate in the market untouched? No, of course not: they had to figure out *how* to market the song, having made the decision to make it an emphasis track. And somewhere along the line, a decision was made to incorporate Conor Clapton's death into that marketing. This cannot be denied: the fact of his death was simply there, in various promotional materials. Whatever Clapton's motivations, there's either a lapse of judgment here (which, under the circumstances, I could understand) or (or "and") a serious lack of taste among the marketing people. Let's excuse Clapton himself - it would surprise me not at all if (as Barbara suggests) he were in a daze and in no condition to think through such decisions. This leaves the blame of tastelessness on the record company, etc. The truly sad thing is, no one was there to say to them, "have you considered what it might mean to Clapton to hear *this* song babbled over by 'happy-talk' DJs as lead-ins to promotions for wet t-shirt contests? Maybe you should promote another song, and let this one speak its meaning in the privacy of listeners' living rooms, as they hear the entire album." So maybe Clapton gets a pass on this one, out of grief. But not Warners, not the marketers. Look - I *know* music has to be marketed. And I know that no one, not even the lowest-level home recordist, can escape that if they want their music to be heard by anyone but their friends and their pets. However, that doesn't mean there's no difference between the sort of low-key acknowledgement of its personal origins that surrounds Robyn and "The Yip Song," and the full-blown marshalling of the promotional apparatus overwhelming Clapton's song. And it's that last - that the marketing ultimately, inevitably, overwhelms the song, once it becomes a huge hit - that makes the thing so stinky to me. I'm sorry Barbara was offended enough by this discussion to consider unsub'ing. But Barbara, perhaps you should consider, when examining the infinitely smaller grief you felt when your child was injured, how you'd feel in a situation like Clapton's, when that outpouring of your grief gets turned into just another piece of dross on the airwaves, just another object by which commercial radio ensures that you don't change channels so you hear their ads. *That*, to me, is far more upsetting than the fact that some people on the list question the taste of "Tears in Heaven." ..Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ :: we make everything you need, and you need everything we make :: ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 00:19:56 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Guilty! Off and on recently, I've been amusing myself by compiling a list of my all-time "guilty pleasures." As with the '70s and '80s threads, I limited the list to one album per artist, because otherwise certain names (Longet, the Moody Blues, Shonen Knife?) might have deserved *several* spots on the list. It took no time at all to narrow down a list of 55 or 60 items...cutting it further required some extra reference spins. I tried to rank these releases in order of "guilt" rather than sheer quality. In other words, the gap between how much I like them and how much I "should" like them. But weighing those two elusive variables was pretty difficult, and I'm tempted to re-juggle the order every time I glance at the list. So, assume that there's a decent margin of error here. It strikes me that I fully embrace very few of these albums. Maybe only five or six (mostly in the #31-#40 range). I guess this suggests that I'm fairly confident about the stuff which I *really* like. In any case...have fun rolling your eyes. Or just submit your own picks, of course. I really should "explain" each entry, but jeez...too much time required. :) 1. Supertramp/Breakfast in America (1979) 2. Claudine Longet/Love Is Blue (1968) 3. Jesus Jones/Liquidizer (1989) 4. The Soup Dragons/This Is Our Art (1988) 5. Milla/The Divine Comedy (1994) 6. Eric Burdon & the Animals/The Greatest Hits of Eric Burdon & the Animals (1969) 7. Mono/Formica Blues (1997) 8. Red Box/The Circle & the Square (1986) 9. Oliver/Good Morning Starshine (1969) 10. The Partridge Family/Greatest Hits (1989) 11. The Beach Boys/The Beach Boys Love You (1977) 12. The Lemon Pipers/Green Tambourine (1967) 13. The Cowsills/Captain Sad and His Ship of Fools (1968) 14. The Cavedogs/Soul Martini (1992) 15. Jane Siberry/No Borders Here (1984) 16. Plasticland/Wonder Wonderful Wonderland (1985) 17. Rick Wakeman/The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1973) 18. Brian Stevens/Prettier Than You (1996) 19. Emerson, Lake & Palmer/Tarkus (1971) 20. Stump/A Fierce Pancake (1988) 21. Mary Hopkin/Postcard (1969) 22. The Moody Blues/On the Threshold of a Dream (1969) 23. Ride/Tarantula (1996) 24. Chickasaw Mudd Puppies/8 Track Stomp (1991) 25. Mike Oldfield/Tubular Bells (1973) 26. Petula Clark/Petula Clark's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1968) 27. Eric Carmen/Eric Carmen (1975) 28. The Moog Cookbook/The Moog Cookbook (1996) 29. The Cleaners from Venus/Going to England (1987) 30. The Wonder Stuff/The Eight Legged Groove Machine (1988) 31. Virginia Astley/Hope in a Darkened Heart (1986) 32. Shonen Knife/Happy Hour (1998) 33. Roger McGuinn/Back from Rio (1991) 34. Donovan/Donovan's Greatest Hits (1969) 35. Bis/The New Transistor Heroes (1997) 36. The Kinks/UK Jive (1989) 37. Blur/Leisure (1991) 38. Alanis Morissette/Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998) 39. Wondermints/Bali (1998) 40. Giles, Giles & Fripp/The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp (1968) Eb ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 13:11:49 +0000 (GMT) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: RE: yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip On Fri, 24 Oct 2003, Catherine Simpson wrote: > Boys, please, the deceased equine has been thorougly flagellated. I'll just chip in briefly, then. I was watching the John Mayall 70th birthday gig on TV last Friday, and EC got up on stage with him for the first time in (apparently) 38 years. They started with a guitar/piano duo like those old Purdah things, then 'All your love', 'Tore Down' (EC-vcl), 'Hoochie Coochie Man' (EC-vcl) and 'Have you heard', which you will recall is the stand-out slow blues on the Beano album. Most of the stuff was OK, but EC really ripped it out on 'Have you heard'. Mayall's current guitar player did a competent, all round the fretboard solo and handed over to Clapton, who just started off very quiet and twiddly, and played a splendidly authoritative 3 choruses. Just super, and it would have raised the roof in 1966 as high as it did in 2003. But as far as I'm concerned, that's what Clapton does. The last LP I bought was '461' and I haven't heard the song everyone is talking about (I did hum along to 'Wonderful Tonight', however). - - Mike Godwin PS You may remember him doing the same with Robbie Robertson in 'The Last Waltz'. Stunning brief guitar solos, that's Eric Clapton. Give him too much room and he starts to noodle. PPS I don't rate Will Jennings from what I've heard, which is mainly lyrics for Winwood. Is he really any good? ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V12 #398 ********************************