The Beatles produced an abundance of music in the time they were together, but die-hard fans knew there was even more material that had long remained unreleased. In the nineties, finally, it seemed like the band’s archives broke open like a rock ‘n’ roll piñata, yielding three double-disc volumes to accompany the similarly epic Anthology documentary, which was preceded by a collection teeming with performances The Beatles gave at the BBC. Indeed 1994’s Live at the BBC was so profuse—listening to it in its entirety often felt like an interminable (albeit enjoyable) experience—the possibility of there being additional BBC recordings seemed all but unfathomable.
Apparently, though, that first volume barely scratched the surface. With the release of On Air - Live at the BBC, Volume 2 comes another 37 performances as well as nearly two dozen tracks of conversation, interviews, and banter by John, Paul, George, and Ringo on such BBC programs as Saturday Club and their own Pop Go The Beatles.
Write on Music readers now have the opportunity to win a copy of the new two-CD set, On Air - Live at the BBC Volume 2, along with a magnet, mug, and key chain bearing the album cover art. Just follow the instructions in the widget below. U.S. entries only, please. The winner will be notified on Monday, December 16, 2013.
The Beatles: On Air - Live at the BBC Volume 2 is available now at retail and digital outlets.
In April of this year Eric Clapton staged his fourth Crossroads Guitar Festival over back-to-back days at Madison Square Garden, marking the first time the all-star benefit (in support of the Crossroads Centre at Antigua) was held in New York City. In another first, while all four festivals to date (including preceding ones from Dallas and twice from Chicago) are documented on assorted video formats, Crossroads 2013 is also chronicled on a double-disc live album.
Having serious musical chops is no doubt the prime prerequisite to receiving Clapton’s invitation to this event. Yet even the most proficient artists seem to have upped their game when it came time to play, yielding standout performances from the likes of Gary Clark, Jr. (“When My Train Pulls In”), John Mayer and Keith Urban covering The Beatles (“Don’t Let Me Down”), and the Allman Brothers Band, Warren Hayes, and Derek Trucks covering Neil Young (“The Needle and the Damage Done”). Clapton seems to have upped his game as well, whether in shuffling cool through “Lay Down Sally” with Vince Gill or undulating the blues of “Key to the Highway” with Keith Richards. He summons his most potent moments, though, on Derek & The Dominoes classics “Got to Get Better in a Little While” and “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad,” the latter with the Allmans. On the whole it’s a wonder that past Crossroads Festivals haven’t found their way onto live albums such as this, but Crossroads 2013 nevertheless has made for a most-enjoyable one.
Among the scores of artists expected to release new music next year is singer/songwriter Priscilla Ahn, who with her third LP, This is Where We Are (due February 25 on SQE Music), looks to bring new dimensions to her already winsome music.
Early impressions of the album suggest Ahn embracing a lo-fi electronica sound, signaling somewhat of a shift from the primarily acoustic-folk distinctions of her prior two albums, 2008’s A Good Day and 2011’s When You Grow Up. With the album’s lead single, “Leave It Open,” which was released on October 29 to digital outlets, Ahn’s evolution is not only evident but striking.
“For me, this album was about finally finding my voice again as a songwriter and a singer,” says Ahn in a recent press release. “This Is Where We Are portrays who I am now and another side of myself that I’d never really been able to show in other albums.”
Ahn is slated to tour North America in March and April of next year, including a stop at the perennial SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas.
On the heels of arguably her finest album to date, Ketevan, singer/songwriter Katie Melua is set to embark upon what is being billed as the “Simplified” tour, starting March 29th in Esbjerg, Denmark. Accompanied only by bassist Tim Harries and keyboardist Mark Edwards, Melua will perform bare-bones versions of material from the new album along with selections spanning her entire catalog to date.
“I know this will test me as a musician like never before,” said Melua in a recent statement, “but I love the purity and nakedness of performing with hardly any accompaniment. I have always included one or two stripped down songs in my previous gigs but never a whole tour like this. There is nothing to hide behind.”
The “Simplified” tour itinerary:
Sat 29th Mar Denmark, Esbjerg at Musikhuset
Sun 30th Mar Denmark, Copenhagen at DR Concerthouse
Tue 1st Apr Germany, Braunschweig at Stadhalle
Wed 2nd Apr Germany, Bremen at Musical Theatre
Thu 3rd April Poland, Zabrze at DMIT
Sun 6th Apr Austria, Innsbruck at Congress
Mon 7th Apr Austria, Brengenz at Festpielhaus
Fri 11th Apr Belgium, Brussels at Cirque Royal
Sun 13th Apr UK, London at Union Chapel
Thu 17th Apr Spain, Barcelona at St.Jordi Club
Fri 18th Apr Spain, San Sebastian at Teatro Kursaal
Sat 19th Apr Spain, Madrid at Palacio Vistalegre
For additional information on Katie Melua, visit the artist’s official website.
The level of enthusiasm Bruce Springsteen inspires in his audience is one with which only a few other music legends could empathize and with which even fewer have sustained for as long. From the songwriting that gives life to his albums to the showmanship that gives life to his epic-length concerts, the Boss has spent the past 40 years living up to his own conceived mythologies and—more importantly—giving listeners their own reasons to believe.
Springsteen & I, which debuted in theaters this past July and was released on October 29 by Eagle Rock on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital video, is at once an affirmation and a celebration of this singular passion. Directed by Baillie Walsh, the documentary tells of the effect of Springsteen’s music on his fans from the perspective of the fans themselves. And there’s a certain poignancy, in fact, to the ways in which those profiled in this film describe how Springsteen’s music has influenced and in some ways even shaped their day-to-day lives, making for an ultimately uplifting exposition on the profound power of music overall.
For those who are still baffled by such passion of the faithful, the extras include a sampling of live footage, recorded last year in London, of Springsteen and the E Street Band in action before a thoroughly enamored, massive festival crowd. The moments of Springsteen playing “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Twist and Shout” with special guest Paul McCartney, which ended the show before concert officials literally pulled the plug on it, illustrate that passion wonderfully coming full circle.
As far as songwriting was concerned the way it worked in Squeeze had always suited Glenn Tilbrook just fine, namely that he’d compose the music after co-conspirator Chris Difford had penned the lyrics. Sufficed to say the arrangement proved a propitious one, as Squeeze emerged out of the Punk/New Wave era with a small fleet of fantastic albums like Cool For Cats, Argybargy, and the Elvis Costello-produced East Side Story, along with a spate of hit singles—“Take Me I’m Yours,” “Up The Junction,” “Black Coffee in Bed,” and “Tempted” among them—to become one of England’s most beloved bands.
However, by the end of the nineties tensions within the band and in particular between Squeeze’s two principal songwriters reached a breaking point, prompting Difford to depart while effectively rendering Tilbrook a solo artist in dire need of brushing up on his lyric-writing chops. “It was a pretty rude shock to the system to find myself in a position where I needed to start writing,” says Tilbrook, “but it was a really good kick up the arse for me.”
After two well-received solo albums and a few other musical diversions, Tilbrook has no doubt developed his own distinctive voice as a lyricist while also, as of 2010, having revived his partnership with Difford and indeed the Squeeze legacy. Now splitting his time between both enterprises, Tilbrook, who is currently on a solo tour in the UK, looks to tour again next year with Squeeze following the release of his third solo album, Happy Ending, an acoustic set which illustrates his musicality and sense of craft are as vibrant as ever.
What was the catalyst for you making Happy Ending, particularly in presenting its songs in an acoustic setting?
There was a group called Tyrannosaurus Rex, which came before T-Rex, with just acoustic guitar and bongos. I really used that as my starting point for how I wanted my album to be—I didn’t want any electric guitars or drums on it. So taking that as my starting point, I worked up from there. I’d never made an acoustic album before, and I was really intrigued by what one sounds like.
To make an album like this would seem to require a rather regimented discipline, as you’re not using all the tools in your toolbox, so to speak. Was that a challenge?
Well, yes and no. What I’ve tried to do is just to strip my writing back to guitar or piano and really start out from there. Whether I play things live or not is sort of beside the point. The point is that everything can be done on piano or guitar.
This album is acoustic, but it’s not sparse.
No, it’s not. One of the next goals I have is to make a sparse record because I’m very good at putting in very detailed intonation and stuff. I just like doing it.
One of my favorite songs on the album is “Persephone,” particularly how the strings sort of guide the verses but then bolster the chorus—the dynamics of it are intriguing.
I’m really proud of that song. I guess that one really sprung most directly out of the Tyrannosaurus Rex influence. They had a song called “Debora,” which has exactly the same tempo and feel. Every now and then as a songwriter I like… It’s like riffing on someone else’s song and then coming up with your own, in the style of. We did that with Squeeze, with “In Quintessence” on Eastside Story; that came off Booker T. & The MG’s “Time is Tight.”
It’s inspired by someone else, but it comes through your aesthetic.
Yeah, that’s it. That’s what happens. I love that process. I love seeing how it can end up.
Another song that stands out for me is “Rupert.” What made you want to write a song about Rupert Murdoch?
The inspiration was [from] watching something called the Leveson Inquiry over here where people were grilled about their ethics and what they’d done as far as hacking into people’s phones, the sort of huge damage wrought on people’s lives from doing that. When I watched Rupert Murdoch and I watched James Murdoch and I watched Rebekah Brooks give their evidence, I think it was a pretty shameful performance by all three of them. I felt compelled to write about it because all this stuff gets forgotten and then they just carry on as if nothing’s happened. I think that’s such a shame.
Is any topic fair game to write about within the context of a pop song?
The more complex a lyric is the more you have to sweeten the pill. I think both “Rupert” and, let’s say, “Everybody Sometimes” are very poppy songs and for that reason, because the subject matter is very serious.
Can you see any arc to how you’ve evolved as a songwriter on your solo albums?
Yeah, lyrics are becoming more and more important to me. I think this is the first album I’ve written all the lyrics just as a way to convey ideas. I’m not the most articulate of people, so to have that time and space to say exactly what I want to say and the way I want to say it is really brilliant. I’m relishing that opportunity more and more.
I interviewed Neil Finn a couple years back about his songwriting and he said something to the effect that, in his view, as an artist you have to be engaged in your craft in order for inspiration to hit. You can’t just wait for it to arrive. What’s your take on that? Do you find that you have to be working in order to yield inspiration?
Most of the time it’s about being prepared to catch those moments, because inspiration does strike and sometimes things can emerge almost fully formed if you’re in the right mood to catch them. But you’ve got to be able to sit down with a guitar or write something down at sometimes the most inconvenient moments for that to work. The rest of the time I completely agree with what Neil said. It’s about putting yourself in a situation where inspiration can kick in once you’ve maybe been playing about with an idea and you’re not inspired. Something happens, something switches, and you get an idea. That’s when things begin to flow.
For more information on Glenn Tilbrook, please visit the artist’s official website.
In anticipation of her fourth LP, Blood/Lines (which is slated for release on November 19 on Important Records), singer/songwriter Emily Jane White offers “Faster Than the Devil” as the album’s first single. In a striking confluence of shadow and light, the song contrasts a menacing, gothic vibe to White’s silken lead vocal and an angelic-sounding choir, with singer/songwriter Marissa Nadler complementing the latter, more sublime choral moments. Altogether, it’s an intriguing song and a remarkable preview of the full album to come.
Apparently, though, that first volume barely scratched the surface. With the release of On Air - Live at the BBC, Volume 2 comes another 37 performances as well as nearly two dozen tracks of conversation, interviews, and banter by John, Paul, George, and Ringo on such BBC programs as Saturday Club and their own Pop Go The Beatles. 
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