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Willerby album - 1991 The Rhythm Sisters Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Producer, Guitar, Sitar and Keyboard. Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Marvellous Realms Bill Nelson album - 13 January 2023 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this CD Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Nevernoon 02) Marvellous Realms 03) The Way Of The World 04) The Gold Beyond The Blue 05) The Weather Song 06) Signalling As We Go 07) Some Jiggery Pokery 08) Here On Earth 09) Whoops! I'm Going Back In Time 10) It's A Long Time Between Dreams 11) The Mystic 12) Imaginary Music 13) The Illuminator 14) Heaven Is A State Of Mind 15) A Thought In Passing 16) Your Magic Man In The Sky 17) Bonus Track: The Weather Song (Monitor Mix) ALBUM NOTES: Marvellous Realms is an album comprising a mixture of song based and instrumental material issued on the Sonoluxe label in a limited edition of 1000 copies. The bulk of the material was recorded between November 2021 and May 2022, initially being seen as a natural follow up to Mixed Up Kid . The first mention of the album, then called 'Man of Dreams', came in a Dreamsville Forum post on 18 December 2021. At this early stage Nelson had completed all but a couple of tracks for the proposed album, and in a follow up forum post, on 28 December 2021, went as far as saying that the album was "almost complete" promising a track listing soon. However, as with many of his projects, time would see those plans significantly change over the next six months or so. On 5 January 2022, in a further forum post Nelson revealed a list of thirteen songs destined for 'Man of Dreams', while also stating that the album title may change. Nelson decided that 'Man of Dreams' was too similar to his 1987 release Map of Dreams and suggested that two alternative titles, 'All the Fun of the Fair' or 'Signalling As We Go', were now being considered. From that initial list of tracks, just three would make it to the completed album... 'Some Jiggery Pokery', 'Signalling As We Go' and 'The Weather Song'. Further details emerged in a Dreamsville Forum post on 11 March 2022 in which Nelson announced that the 'Man of Dreams' album had developed into two separate projects, Marvellous Realms being the first album, and a second then called 'Here on Earth'. A total of 33 tracks were listed as being currently recorded and mixed for the project with no indication at that stage as to what tracks would feature where. Comparing this list with the final track running order reveals that a total of seven songs would make the final cut of Marvellous Realms . Further progress on the album was reported on 1 June 2022, when Nelson posted in the Dreamsville Journal that he had by then completed a total of 53 tracks from the new album projects, again without revealing what tracks would appear where. In fact, he had by then completed a total of 13 tracks that would eventually make up the Marvellous Realms album, the remaining three tracks - ' Heaven Is A State O f Mind' , ' A Thought I n Passing' and ' Your Magic Man I n T he Sky' , being completed in the intervening months. Marvellous Realms was mastered at Fairview Studios by John Spence week commencing 21 November 2022 with the artwork, prepared by Martin Bostock as usual, already underway. Pre-orders for Marvellous Realms were announced by Burning Shed on 2 December 2022, with a release date for both the physical CD and Bandcamp digital download on 13 January 2023. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Marvellous Realms emerges from another intensive, almost perpetual, recording session. The studio is my favoured outlet for my creative endeavours (and perhaps has always been so), especially having now forsaken live performances due to various unwelcome health concerns . Creating music in my modest home studio is an absolute joy, never a chore. I'm constantly exploring an evolving and very personal universe of sounds, concepts, thoughts and whimsical imaginings. Dreaming whilst awake perhaps, ongoing real time fantasias, embracing both the past and the future with equal enthusiasm. From the latest batch of 80 or so new recordings comes this album, Marvellous Realms , a meditation on time and impermanence, wonder and mystery, magic and melancholy, all familiar themes to those who are attuned to my music, but with their own peculiar twist and distinctive flavour. So, sit back and enjoy the view, on the musical journey that never ends…" Albums Menu Future Past

Sister Surprise single - 1983 Gary Numan Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Co-Producer on b-side, "Poetry and Power". Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Readers of this journal may be wondering why I haven’t posted an entry for quite some time. The last time I wrote was in June 2022 which, even for me, is a heck of a long time ago. The reason for the journal’s absence is rather complicated to explain. Obviously, much has happened that would now take several pages to recount, if I could even remember it all. But let me attempt to at least dance around my existentialist handbag, whilst avoiding emptying its messy contents all over the ballroom floor. To be honest, I think I’ve been feeling rather low for some time. Depressed? Well, maybe, though I’ve always fought against that possibility. But several things have pushed me in that direction of late. I caught some sort of prolonged cold/flu virus a few weeks ago which left me feeling weak. Still not fully recovered. Thought it might have been Covid at first but a test proved negative, so some other bug perhaps. Another thing that I’ve found hard to deal with is the news of so many musician’s deaths these last few months: Jeff Beck, David Crosby, Terry Hall, Jet Black of The Stranglers, Angelo Badalamenti, Alan Rankine, Charlie Gracie, Yukihero Takahashi, and today the sad news of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s passing. The last two names have a personal poignancy for me as I worked with both Yuki and Ryuichi in Yellow Magic Orchestra in the ‘80s and also with Yuki on his, (and my,) solo projects back then. Yuki was also my wife Emiko’s ex-husband. Both Yuki and Ryuichi had valiantly battled with cancer for some time but, in the end, defeating it was no longer possible. We had been in touch with Ryuichi via email on occasion during his last few years so knew that things were deteriorating to some degree, but this morning’s sad news came as a real blow. Emiko had known Yuki and Ryuichi since they were students at University in Tokyo in the 1960s and she was witness to the formation of YMO after Yuki’s time as drummer for The Sadistic Mika Band in the ‘70s. It’s fair to say that YMO were the biggest band in Japan back then, a remarkable three-piece who took the Kraftwerk template to another level entirely. Working with them was a wonderful experience for me, as was later touring Japan in Yuki’s band and having him play on my ‘Chimera’ album. The joint rhythm section of Yuki on drums and the late Mick Karn on Bass gave that album so much punch. Sad too, the sudden passing of Jeff Beck. I attended his concert in York last summer as a VIP guest, (thanks to a generous gift of tickets from the Nelsonica Team.) Jeff was on good form and very loud. He played a great version of Link Wray’s ‘Rumble’ which took me back to my teenage years of listening to American guitar instrumental music. Jeff, like me, had a fondness for that stuff. Coming away from that concert, I had no idea that in less than a year, Jeff would be gone. I first heard him in the ‘60s, when he was with The Yardbirds and first saw him with that group on the ’60s TV show ‘Ready, Steady, Go’ playing the song ‘Shapes Of Things.’ His Indian influenced solo on that performance made a great impression on me, akin to later seeing Jimi Hendrix’s first TV appearance, (also on ‘Ready, Steady, Go.’ ) Jeff always had his own unique tone and touch, especially with his sensitive use of the guitar’s vibrato arm. I’ve noted elsewhere in my journal entries how I met him briefly at a Classic Rock Magazine’s Awards Ceremony. It was good to shake his hand and thank him for his inspiration. Another thing adding to my low mood of late has been the further deterioration of my eye sight. On top of my Diabetes related and age related macular degeneration, I now have been diagnosed with Glaucoma. My driving licence came up for renewal and I had to take a DVLA sight test to get the licence renewed. Unfortunately, my eyesight was not up to scratch so I can no longer legally drive. I’ve been driving since I was old enough, way back in the ’60s so the loss of my licence has dealt me a really low blow. I’ve always enjoyed driving but have now lost the freedom and independence that owning a car allows. Now I have to rely on Emiko to take me anywhere, though I have to accept that sometimes she may not always be available to do so. Emi hates driving anyway, whilst I loved it. One of life’s ironies, I guess. To try and keep my mind off darker thoughts, I continue to pursue my endless recording session. The list of completed tracks now far exceeds the list I posted in last year’s journal entry. I’ve been on a roll, recording both vocal and instrumental tracks. A huge amount of work done and I need to start selecting and assembling tracks into some sort of coherent album form. The newest album I’m working on will be titled ‘Guitars Of Tomorrow.’ The title speaks for itself. But I also have tracks set aside for an album called ‘Starlight Stories’ and one titled ‘Fables Of The Future.’ However, the next release this year will be ‘All The Fun Of The Fair’ which I completed towards the end of last year. It awaits packaging artwork which I have been somewhat lax in preparing but plan to make a start on this very soon. But there are still a handful of albums from the last five or so years which have yet to see the light of day. Again, artwork has to be prepared for these before they can be scheduled for release. Lots to do. Bought a new microphone a couple of months ago. It’s called ‘The Amethyst’ and is made by the JZ microphone company. It’s got a lovely warm vintage sound and I’m very impressed by it. Have been reading, (with great difficulty due to my impaired eyesight, ) Bill Frisell’s biography ‘Beautiful Dreamer’ which I’ve enjoyed and found it resonating with my own life. I’ve also recently bought a biography of Merle Travis which I will attempt to read soon. Now I must end here as typing is increasingly difficult, even using an enlarged font size. But, as always as the evening begins, I will be switching on my studio and engaging with my music. A life saver in many ways. Tonight I’m mixing a new track titled ‘Mr Wizard Takes A Trip.’ This one will be allocated to the ‘Guitars Of Tomorrow’ album. All for now. I’ll try not to leave it so long ’till next time.

Three days ago, (Sunday 3rd July,) I spent just over seven hours in the accident and emergency department of our local hospital after suffering a very nasty fall. It was just before 1 am on Sunday morning when Emiko brought my attention to a large moth which had settled on one of her flower arrangements in our dining room. Not wanting to harm it I carefully caught it and ran to the front door to release it outside. In my haste and in the dark, I tripped over the door step and found myself hurtling to the ground where I hit my head violently on the stone flags outside the door. I felt my head crack and immediately blood gushed from the top of my head like a fountain, cascading over my face. The blood flow was profuse and frightening. Emiko rushed to my aide helping me to get up off the ground and brought kitchen towels to apply to the wound but the blood kept flowing, soaking towel after towel and refused to stop. A 999 call was made to summon an ambulance and I was told to apply a wet towel to the wound and to press down hard on it until the ambulance could get to me. A 40 minute wait was what we were told to expect but the ambulance turned up after 30 minutes. The crew checked my blood pressure and heart rate with a portable monitor. The right side of my upper lip had swollen up and my teeth at that side hurt as a result of bruising to my gums. I had badly grazed my right forearm and elbow and sprained my right wrist. The little finger on my right hand also hurt and I had grazes to my right thigh and knee. The ambulance crew said that I needed to go to the hospital’s A+E department but that I should be prepared for a wait of several hours. Emiko asked if she could come with me but they said no, so I walked shakily to the ambulance, still clutching a wet towel to my head. As the ambulance drove to the hospital, various details were logged onto the computer by one of the crew. Soon, the ambulance arrived at the hospital and I was taken into the reception of the A+E department and told to sit with other patients awaiting treatment. After a couple of hours I decided to ask at the reception desk how much longer I would have to wait to see a doctor. They told me that it probably would be another six hours. I said that my wound was still bleeding so they called a nurse who taped a gauze pad to the top of my head. Time dragged on. More casualties of different kinds arrived and sat in the waiting area, mostly young people who looked the worse for wear after a Saturday night of substance abuse or fighting. Eventually, some hours later, a doctor called my name and I followed him to his consultation room. He was a very pleasant, youngish guy who carefully inspected my wounds and put me through various tests to assess any brain injuries. He then told me that he would try to pull the head wound together with a special ‘glue’ but needed a second opinion. He left the room and returned with a lady who examined my head wound and said that there was not enough loose skin to pull the sides of the wound together but suggested trying to seal it with ‘steri-strips.’ The doctor then went to get these strips, cut them to size and carefully stuck them to the top of my head, apologising for the pain I experienced while he did so. A gauze pad was then taped on top of this before he said that I was free to go. I ’phoned Emiko who drove to the hospital to pick me up and take me home. It was around 20 past 8 am when I walked through the door where I had fallen just before 1 am. There was dried blood on the stone paving slab, on the carpet in the hall and on the dining room and kitchen floor. I was tired and suffering from the after shock of the whole thing. Next day, Emi changed the gauze pad on the top of my head for a clean one. There was still some bleeding going on but nowhere as much as when it first happened. The pad has been changed every day. I now have a GP appointment on Friday for the wound to be checked. My lip is still a little swollen and eating is somewhat painful because of the soreness in my teeth but I’ve been told that this will subside in time. I’ve had some mild headaches and bursts of pain from the would but have taken Paracetamol as instructed by the doctor. My wrist has almost recovered. I’m not allowed to wash my hair though so it is still matted with dried blood. The experience was a shock to me and thinking of it now brings a shiver, but I suppose it could have been worse. It certainly came at a bad time as I was supposed to be doing an interview with Mojo magazine tomorrow but it will have to be postponed until my GP checks the healing process and gives me the all clear. I haven’t been able to work in my studio since the accident, having been told to rest and avoid stress. Four days without touching a guitar is not like me at all. But I have a great deal of material ‘in the can’, even more than that noted in my previous journal entry, so it’s not like I need to record at the moment. There's much more I’d like to comment on, particularly the debacle surrounding Boris ‘Greasy Pig’ Johnson who is such a pathetic cretin, but all that will have to wait until next time. I’m going back to the sofa to watch tv and take more Paracetamol.

A fair, (or unfair,) amount of time has passed since my previous journal entry back in January. So much has happened since then, not least the devastating war in Ukraine due to the illegal invasion by Russia. The barbaric atrocities of the Russian army trample on all notions of honour or humanity. It’s heartbreaking to witness the suffering of the Ukrainian people on television news channels night after night. Russia’s Putin is a man without a soul, feeding outrageous lies to his people, an insidious, sly monster for our times. Where this will all end is impossible to predict, but I pray it ends with Ukraine being able to retain its independence and sovereignty. We can only hope. Went to Wakefield cemetery to lay flowers on my Mum’s mini-grave on the second anniversary of her passing in April. It’s now two years since she left us. And still she features in my dreams almost every night. My brother too passed away in April, in 2006. Their loss, along with the loss of all my early family, haunts me constantly. I still find it hard to come to terms with. The eye surgery I mentioned in my previous journal entry has been completed. My left eye was operated on in January and my right eye also underwent surgery in late February. The operations were surreal affairs, with local anaesthetic so I was aware of the whole process being performed. It wasn’t particularly painful, but certainly uncomfortable and very stressful. Any improvement to my vision is only slight but may become a little better when I’m allowed to get new prescription glasses. Have to wait for the go-ahead for that from the eye clinic. I’ve had three eye injection sessions since the operation, the first of which was incredibly painful. Horrific in fact. They’ve been very careful to administer extra aesthetic drops ever since. Emiko and I have, unfortunately, contracted Covid recently, though we are now, finally, testing negative. I caught it first, and Emiko caught it from me three days later. Where I picked it up from I have absolutely no idea. We’ve both been incredibly careful to avoid it and have steered clear of catching it through the entire first two years of the pandemic, always wearing our face masks, always using hand sanitiser and trying to keep our distance from people. But the Government has, (prematurely in my opinion,) relaxed the restrictions and people now seem to be not taking proper care anymore, foolishly acting as if it’s all over, which it clearly isn’t. At the supermarket we are among only a handful of people still wearing our masks, the majority are simply acting as if the virus is non existent. Perhaps that’s where I picked it up? Anyway, we had a very rough few days suffering with it, despite being fully vaccinated, and it took us a couple of weeks before we shook it off and eventually tested negative. We still have some lingering effects from it though, particularly fatigue. I’m hoping this isn’t ‘long Covid.’ But it’s not like me to fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon, but that’s what has been happening. My energy seems very low for part of the day, though I’m managing to continue working in my studio at night when I feel up to it. And on that level there has been a lot of productivity with 53 new tracks completed so far. Some of these have been set aside for two new albums: ‘Marvellous Realms’ and ‘All The Fun Of The Fair.’ But the running orders are still undergoing changes and will probably remain in flux right up until the last moment. At some point in the near future I will have to decide how to deal with the remaining tracks from these sessions. There are definitely enough tracks left over for at least another couple of albums. I still, of course, have several unreleased albums sitting in my archives from the last five or six years. ‘Electra’ will be the first of these to see the light of day. It was meant to be released last month but my Covid infection delayed me being able to take the tracks over to John Spence at Fairview studio for mastering. (John also had a Covid infection a little earlier than myself.) However, I have now tomorrow afternoon booked with John at the studio and, once the album tracks are transferred to Fairview’s computer, they can be mastered and hopefully delivered to the factory for manufacture in the coming week or so, (once this extended Jubilee bank holiday is over.) Had a brief listen to a couple of the other of my archived albums today, ‘Phantom Fuzzbox’ and ‘Stupid-Serious.’ I was surprised by how good they sound. I haven’t heard them for a few years so it was like coming to them with the ears of a stranger. I think ‘Stupid Serious’ might be the next archive release, after the release of the newer ‘Marvellous Realms’ album . It’s fair to say that I really could sit back and not record anything more for quite a while as there is so much material awaiting release...but that would be frustrating and no fun for me at all. I simply love and embrace the recording process, and the unbounded creative dreaming that goes with it. Every day, my guitars seem to call out to me, the studio does too. I can’t imagine a day going by when I wouldn’t want to ‘make a mark’ on the virtual recording tape. It’s a joyous thing, though somewhat demanding of time and thought. But, if it’s sometimes difficult, it’s always deeply rewarding and fulfilling. It’s what I live to do. Lots of domestic duties constantly bringing this creativity down to Earth though. Django needing a vet’s very expensive attentions, car troubles, exterior house painting requiring setting up, increasing cost of living issues, guitar repairs in need of doing, etc, etc. Maintaining the creative lifestyle of a musician is not always plain sailing, though I’ve been lucky enough, (so far) in my career. And that despite some distressing and difficult moments over the years. But I’m blessed to have been able to follow my dreams for so long and to, hopefully, have those dreams continue and resonate with others. Music is a wonderful, magic thing... I could write more, particularly about this country’s lame duck/greased pig prime minister who seems to follow the old Trump style of governing this nation, albeit with added bluster, buffoonery and witlessness. But I’ll end here as I have more work to accomplish in areas that might hopefully be more kind and beneficial. So here is a list of the 53 tracks I’ve recorded in recent months and which will eventually reach the ears of those who care to hear: 1: ‘BEAMS OF LIGHT.’ 2: ‘SOME JIGGERY POKERY.’ 3: ‘A COMPASS IN MY MIND.’ 4: ‘IN THE BRIGHT TWILIGHT SKY.’ 5: ‘ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR.’ 6: ‘A MAGIC FRAME OF MIND.’ 7: ‘FAST FORWARD, SLO-MO.’ 8: ‘RUNNING FROM MY OWN SHADOW.’ 9: ‘MAN OF DREAMS.’ 10: ‘SHAPE SHIFTER.’ 11: ‘SIGNALLING AS WE GO.’ 12: ‘THE WEATHER SONG.’ 13: ‘STARS AND HALOES.’ 14: ‘BEEP BEEP BEEP.’ 15: ‘THE CLOUD ENGINEER.’ 16: ‘A DISTANT MEMORY.’ 17: ‘THIS MAY SOUND STRANGE.’ 18: ‘A LITTLE WOOZY.’ 19: ‘THE WAY OF THE WORLD.’ 20: ‘ATOMIC CORAL.’ 21: ‘MEMORIES AND RECOLLECTIONS.’ 22: ‘PUSH THE BUTTON, SPIN THE DIAL.’ 23: ‘ELEVATOR TRANSCENDANT.’ 24: ‘CHELSEA FLASH.’ 25: ‘IT’S A LONG TIME BETWEEN DREAMS.’ 26: ‘MADAME MIDNIGHT.’ 27: ‘THEME FROM AN ENGLISH ECHO CHAMBER.’ 28: ‘HERE ON EARTH.’ 29: ‘THE SILENT HOUR.’ 30: ‘WIND IT UP AND WATCH IT GO.’ 31: ‘AZTEC HELICOPTER.’ 32: ‘KEEP YOUR TELESCOPE FOCUSSED ON THE STARS.’ 33: ‘MARVELLOUS REALMS.’ 34: ‘ONE A.M.’ 35: ‘DRAGONFLY WINGS OVER STILL DARK WATERS.’ 36: ‘ECHO MIRROR ONE.’ 37: ‘DRIVING A BLUE CAR TO THE STARS.’ 38: ‘WHOOPS! I’M GOING BACK IN TIME.’ 39: ‘GLORIOUS MARCH TO THE GATE OF SPRING.’ 40: ‘AFTER THOUGHT.’ 41: ‘ONCE I DREW PICTURES WITH LAKELAND PENCILS.’ 42: ‘IMAGINARY MUSIC.’ 43: ‘NEVERNOON.’ 44: ‘THE GOLD BEYOND THE BLUE.’ 45: ’THE ILLUMINATOR.’ 46: ‘MONDO BRAVADO.’ 45: ‘THE INVISIBLE KID IN THE CORNER.’ 46: ‘SPOOKY DOINGS.’ 47: ‘THE HOUSE OF MORPHEUS.’ 48: ‘DANCE OF THE SONIC CULTURE GODS.’ 49: ‘THIS RIVER.’ 50: ‘THE MYSTIC.’ 51: ‘ALLOW ME TO INSIST.’ 52: ‘DOCTOR SONAR’S WAITING ROOM.’ 53: ‘IN MY IMAGINATION.’