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Had to double-check the recent issue of Rolling Stone magazine featurting the TOP 250 guitarists wasn't a special April 1st issue. To me there were several omissions, most notably Bill, but others spring to mind. Was it the best guitarist or the most popular pole ? Also several wacky entries in it. Were the authors musicians or critics ? to me , it more like ill-advised critics ? And were they paid for certain entries to appear ? Has Rolling Stone got any relevance these days anyway in this area ? Wouldn't the list be more appropriate/authoritative coming from a guitar magazine rather than multimedia magazine with probably watered-down musical knowledge. The list is a total irrelevance.

'Venus swims amongst the fishes Far beyond the rings of Saturn' -- Luna On The Beach from The Dreamshire Chronicles 2012

It seems that Bill is only actively posting to his Facebook page. I say 'seems' because it cannot be accessed without logging into Facebook. Now, I have absolutely no intention of ever having a Facebook account. Even to keep up with Bill. The interweb and it's masters already know way too much about me. So, I am wondering if the posts can be embedded into Dreamsville? That way anti-social old gits, such as myself, can keep up to date without have to supply Meta with any more data about ourselves*? * Probably too late. I expect Meta already knows everything about me 😪

Paul Reubens aka Pee Wee Herman dead at 70. Thanks for all the laughs.

will bill nelson do a collab with mj will he do it.

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy and healthy 2022, full of creativity and positive thinking.

The ubiquitous Alan Hawkshaw was the best-known British composer you’d never heard of Michael Hann The late musician’s track The Champ was sampled on more than 700 other records, while others pop up everywhere from Jay-Z songs to Milk Tray ads. What links them all is his compositional joy and irreverence Alan Hawkshaw, Countdown and Grange Hill composer, dies aged 84 ‘I asked my daughter who Jay Zed was’ … Alan Hawkshaw. Photograph: c/o DNA Music Mon 18 Oct 2021 02.00 EDT lan Hawkshaw’s late-life status as a funky hero to American hip-hop producers came as something of a surprise to him. “I remember getting an email asking for clearance for a piece,” he told me a few years ago. “And I rang my daughter asking who ‘Jay Zed’ was.” Jay-Z was not alone: whosampled.com lists 205 tracks that sample Hawkshaw’s music, right back to the dawn of hip-hop, when the Sugarhill Gang used part of Here Comes That Sound Again, a track by his project Love De-Luxe, in the intro of Rapper’s Delight in 1979. Even then, Hawkshaw – who has died aged 84 – was something of a veteran. His music career began in the early 60s when, as a member of Emile Ford and the Checkmates, he played on bills with the Beatles and the Stones. In the 70s, he joined the Shadows. But the vast majority of his work was undertaken away from the stage. As a session player, he appeared on more than 7,000 tracks, often playing Hammond organ. And as a composer of library music (compositions written and recorded to a brief, to be later licensed for commercial purposes) his music travelled the world over the opening credits of TV shows – though not always in the expected manner: what was written as a news theme might (and would) appear accompanying a sports broadcast, for example. Library composers had no control over where their music went. Hawkshaw worked for most of the big library music companies but is most closely associated with KPM, for whom he produced theme after theme after theme, all written and recorded to tight deadlines and budgets, with minimum fuss. In later years, he and other KPM writers were able to form a band to play live, the KPM All Stars. But even within the strictures of producing music to order, Hawkshaw found freedom.

Hello, need your help. Sometime in the early eighties, a cassette was made available attached to a magazine or paper. It was a collaboration with Bill and Richard Jobson. Can’t remember the title or the tracks. Possibly Leyasu? Always grateful. Martin p.s. did these tracks appear elsewhere?

Has become my favourite album of late. The title track in particular seems so brilliantly audacious, that if the music critics thought it was by some new young act, they'd be falling over themselves to sing its praises as the major work of an emerging new genius they'd just discovered... ----------------------------------------------------------------- (EDIT: I prompted illustrative AI with lyrics "Starlight Stories, fabled futures, history's mystery, tales to tell" to see what it'd come up. Not bad, but not as good as it seemed to look last night).

Here’s my musical journey for 2024:  Albums bought which were released this year:  Army Of Moths - The Chaos Emporium  Berries - Berries  Deerhoof - The Free Triple Live Album  Stephen EvEns - Here Come The Lights  Stephen EvEns - Weekend At Bernie’s 2  Field Music - Limits Of Language Gurgles - Sogs And Songs  Halo Maud - Celebrate  The Joy Formidable - Live At Clapham Grand  Jinjer - Live in Los Angeles (DVD + CD)  Kugelschreiber - Cheerleaders  Paul Morricone - Go Sanction Yourself  Bill Nelson - Powertron  NewDad - Madra  Omni - Souvenir  Pepe Deluxé - Phantom Cabinet Vol. 2: Comix Sonix  Plantoid - Terrapath  Pom Poko - Champion  St Vincent - All Born Screaming  Greg Saunier - We Sang - Therefore We Were  The The - Ensoulment  Kavus Torabi - The Banishing  Jane Weaver - Love In Constant Spectacle  Most recent albums by new discoveries who didn’t have albums out this year:  Adwaith - Bato Mato  a.P.A.t.T. - We  Dilettante - Tantrum  Supermilk - Four By Three Other albums bought: Adwaith - Melyn a.P.A.t.T. - Fun With Music Army Of Moths - Sorry To Disturb You Army Of Moths - By Word Of Moth Dilettante - Hatesongs Foo Fighters - Concrete And Gold Gurgles - Gurglefirst? Halo Maud - Je Suis Une Île Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mountain Flame Mid-Air Thief - 공중도덕 (Gongjoongdoduk) (Public Morality) Omni - Deluxe Omni - Multi-task Omni - Networker Jean-Luc Ponty - Individual Choice Punishment Of Luxury - Revolution By Numbers Rumskib - Previously Unreleased Sad13 - Slugger Sad13 - Haunted Painting Speedy Ortiz - Rabbit Rabbit Supermilk - Death Is The Best Thing For You Now Stomu Yamash'ta - Sea & Sky

Way back in 2008 (seems like it was only a couple of years ago), Bill released a trilogy of guitar-based instrumental albums. The first was 'Silvertone Fountains' - and has now been made available from Bill's Bandcamp page! The second and third albums: 'Illuminated At Dusk' and 'Mazda Kaleidoscope', will be released as digital downloads in February and March.

(Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff) The torch signing, 50s-60s dream girl turns 97 today! I really enjoyed some of her movies. And she certainly was not hard on the eyes!

Released on this date, in 1995. One of the few Bill Nelson discs I don’t have. .

by Robert Berkvist | New York Times March 9, 2020 | Updated 1:54 p.m. ET Max von Sydow, the tall, blond Swedish actor who cut a striking figure in American movies but was most identified with the signature work of a fellow Swede, the director Ingmar Bergman, died on Sunday. He was 90. His wife, Catherine von Sydow, confirmed the death in an emailed statement. No cause was given. Widely hailed as one of the finest actors of his generation, Mr. von Sydow became an elder pop culture star in his later years, appearing in a “Star Wars” movie in 2015 as well as in the sixth season of the HBO fantasy-adventure series “Game of Thrones.”He even lent his deep, rich voice to “The Simpsons.” By then he had become a familiarly austere presence in popular movies like William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report,” Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters” and, more recently, Julian Schnabel’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” But to film lovers the world over he was most enduringly associated with Bergman. If ever an actor was born to inhabit the World According to Bergman, it was Mr. von Sydow. Angular and lanky at 6-foot-3, possessing a gaunt face and hooded, icy blue eyes, he not only radiated power but also registered a deep sense of Nordic angst, helping to give flesh to Bergman’s often bleak but hopeful and sometimes comic vision of the human condition in classics like “The Seventh Seal” and “The Virgin Spring.” more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/09/movies/max-von-sydow-dead.html

Sir Ringo turns 80 today. Maybe not the most respected of the Beatles but they wouldn't have been the same without him What else?

Only now discovered that Emitt Rhodes has passed away. I loved his song 'Live 'Till You Die' and bought the album it came from when it was first released many years ago now. A wonderfully talented singer, instrumentalist and songwriter, sadly overlooked by the media these days but a special talent nonetheless. Rest in peace. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/emitt-rhodes-rip-tv-producer-004336731.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFqHC8ijeHugQxzoZTEgiVUuU52yOOdfeHAF-jfRNeMW-CsirWSMr4n-H-SKtlzQD5DjrTtpRTVlRG4NPq_Bqo3_Re2j1ZtQSNKszdj_nhmni63LhmBteIxZ8v0972fOjScpLxJDxe-H5t8DbsYpJxlfxPJb4rmSm29y50gEXRVD

Hi, this is my first post so be gentle :-) I first saw Be Bop Deluxe at a working mens club in Askern near Doncaster round about 1973. As I recall there were only about half a dozen people there. I even bought a copy of Teenage Archangel on the Smile label. I think the club was called Mather Lane. Does anyone have a list of gig dates, in particular for this one? Many thanks, Keith

Was not online yesterday, so I missed a shout-out by one day. Hope you had a great b’day yesterday, Peter. cheers! .

Sun 6 Oct 2019 06.34 EDT | Ben Beaumont-Thomas | The Guardian Ginger Baker, one of the most brilliant, versatile and turbulent drummers in the history of British music, has died aged 80. His family had previously made it public that he was critically ill and asked fans to “please keep him in your prayers”. His Facebook page said he “passed away peacefully” on Sunday morning. Paul McCartney was among those paying tribute, writing on Twitter: “Great drummer, wild and lovely guy … Sad to hear that he died but the memories never will.” Baker was born in 1939 in Lewisham, south London, and grew up amid the blitz; his father was killed in action in 1943. He began drumming in his mid-teens, remembering in 2009: “I’d never sat behind a kit before, but I sat down – and I could play! One of the musicians turned round and said, ‘Bloody hell, we’ve got a drummer’, and I thought, ‘Bloody hell, I’m a drummer!’” Early work came with the jazz guitarist Diz Disley – which ended when an 18-year-old Baker set fire to a hotel while on tour in Europe – and with bandleader Terry Lightfoot. He played blues in Blues Incorporated – including guest appearances with an early incarnation of the Rolling Stones – and US R&B with the Graham Bond Organisation, both alongside Jack Bruce on bass guitar. Despite considerable friction between Baker and Bruce, the pair in 1966 formed Cream with Eric Clapton, who had previously played with the Yardbirds and John Mayall. Cream helped define the psychedelic rock sound of the decade, with Baker bringing both a jazz sensibility – Toad, from debut album Fresh Cream, features one of the first ever drum solos in rock – and a hard-hitting style, using two bass drums, that pointed towards heavy metal. Cream sold more than 15m records worldwide and had hits including Sunshine of Your Love, Strange Brew and White Room; three of their four albums reached both the US and UK top five. The band split in 1968, releasing a final album in 1969. A reunion in 2005 ended in animosity, with Baker and Bruce shouting at each other on stage in New York. In 1969, Baker and Clapton formed the short-lived band Blind Faith with Steve Winwood and Ric Grech, and the latter pair joined Baker in his next project, jazz-rock band Ginger Baker’s Air Force. Baker moved to Nigeria in 1971 and set up the Batakota recording studio in Lagos, which hosted local musicians as well as established stars (McCartney’s band Wings recorded part of Band on the Run there). He performed with Nigerian star Fela Kuti – “he understands the African beat more than any other westerner,” said Kuti’s drummer Tony Allen – and went on to collaborate or perform with a hugely varied array of musicians: Public Image Ltd, Hawkwind, hard rock band Baker Gurvitz Army, and jazz performers Max Roach, Art Blakey and Elvin Jones. In 1994, he formed a jazz trio with Charlie Haden and Bill Frisell. He had spells living in Italy, California, Colorado and South Africa, and developed a passion for polo. In 2008, when living in South Africa, he was defrauded of more than £30,000 by a bank clerk he had hired as a personal assistant. He also suffered from various health issues, including respiratory illness and osteoarthritis, and underwent open heart surgery in 2016. “God is punishing me for my past wickedness by keeping me alive and in as much pain as he can,” he said in 2009. That wickedness perhaps included his notorious temper – “I used to be mean – I’d deliberately mess up recording sessions with my temper and go mad at the slightest thing,” he said in 1970. He was married four times – “If a plane went down and there was one survivor, it would be Ginger. The devil takes care of his own,” first wife Elizabeth Ann Baker said in 2009 – and used heroin on and off since the mid-60s: he told the Guardian in 2013 that he relapsed “something like 29 times”. A documentary, Beware of Mr Baker, was made about his life in 2012. He is survived by his three children, Kofi, Leda and Ginette.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-13118290

Dana Countryman Vincent “Vinnie” Bell, 1935-2019 Passing of a Recording Session Legend 7 HOURS AGO · PUBLIC An electric guitar legend has passed away. Vincent “Vinnie” Bell died in his sleep, just after midnight on October 3rd, 2019, in Tenafly, NJ, according to his wife, Bonnie. He had been suffering from the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease for several years. The average person might not know the name, “Vinnie Bell”, but they certainly have heard his guitar on hit records from the ‘60s and ‘70s, by artists as diverse such as The Four Seasons, Frank Sinatra, Dionne Warwick, Herman’s Hermits, Bing Crosby, The Cowsills, Perry Como, The Drifters, Bob Dylan, The Shangri-Las, Rupert Holmes, Jean-Jacques Perrey, and Quincy Jones. As a “first-call” session guitarist, Vincent Bell played on hundreds of commercials, and on scores of film soundtracks. His film score work ranged from “The Godfather”, to “The Devil in Miss Jones”, and even “The Muppet’s Christmas Carol”. In the very early 60’s, he started out as a member of the bands, The Ramrods, and The Gallahads. Shortly after that, he was briefly a member of the highly successful The Three Suns. After starting a family, he decided to only do session work, mostly working out of New York City, but also sometimes flying to Los Angeles for sessions, when producers there specifically requested him. It was not uncommon for Bell to play on 3-5 recording sessions a day, at the height of his success. In 1965, Bell played electric guitar on Simon and Garfunkle’s “The Sounds of Silence”, a recording that actually helped launch their remarkable musical career. Throughout the years, Bell occasionally did live club and stage work with artists such as Peggy Lee, Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and others. Besides being known for being a guitarist, Bell also helped re-invent the instrument. Working with Danelectro Guitars, Bell is credited in inventing the first electric 12-string guitar for them, as well as the Coral Electric Sitar (a cross between an Indian sitar, and the electric guitar). His electric sitar sound, (usually played by Bell himself, but sometimes by others) can be heard on hits by The Lemon Pipers’ (“Green Tambourine”), B.J. Thomas’ (“Hooked on a Feeling”), Freda Payne’s (“Band of Gold”), and The Box Tops’ (“Cry Like a Baby”). When he wasn’t in the studio, he was in his home workshop, experimenting with electronics, and inventing his own unique guitar pedals. This was at a time when guitar pedals were not for sale, commercially. He pioneered the Wah-Wah pedal, and invented his own fuzztone pedals. By using these unique effects on recording sessions, Bell became in high demand by ‘60s record producers who were constantly looking for new sounds to feature on their records. Bell’s most unique sound effect of them all, was his spooky “Watery” guitar sound. That particular sound (which is hard to describe, but sounds most similar to musical drops of water) was Vinnie’s most jealously-guarded professional secret. The effect was only played in recording sessions by Bell himself, and can be heard on records by the Four Seasons (“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”), the Shangri-Las (“I Can Never Go Home Anymore”), to name just two hits. He played this “water” guitar sound in the early 70’s on the song “Midnight Cowboy”, which became a Top 40 hit for pianists Ferrante and Teicher. For that hit, he was awarded a Gold Record. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition in 1971, while Bell was nominated for Best Instrumental Performance. He also had a hit record in 1971 with “Airport Love Theme”, https://youtu.be/S0CGy2ioSdQ which was a staple that year on Adult Contemporary Radio. In addition to recording albums of his own, Bell’s guitar work was admired by artists as diverse as Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa. Hendrix once called Bell at home to ask how he achieved his many unusual guitar effects. Hendrix told Bell that he loved his electric sitar sound and soon after, Bell personally supervised a custom left-handed electric sitar, made especially for Hendrix. In the ‘70s, Bell was personally requested to play on recording sessions for Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, and in the 80’s, for the band Anthrax. In 2007, Vinnie Bell earned another Gold Record for his guitar work on the theme to David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks”. Bell worked on many film score sessions for Woody Allen’s favorite film composer, Dick Hyman, and also for “Twin Peaks” composer Angelo Badalamenti. Badalamenti says, “Vinnie and I were born and raised, a few blocks from each other in an Italian section of Bensonhurst- Brooklyn, and we went to the same Jr. High School. Vinnie played on my very first recording session, as well as just about every session I ever had. His unique contribution on Twin Peaks series, is beyond words. I loved Vinnie dearly.” Bell was voted Most Valuable Player on Electric Guitar seven times by the New York chapter of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), and was given their Emeritus award in the late 80’s. By the ‘90s, he had played guitar or banjo in the Macy’s annual New Year’s Day Parade, for over 20 years. On a personal note, I can tell you that Vinnie was one of the sweetest and most humble musicians I have ever met. We became fast friends after I interviewed him for a book I was researching on the life of French electronic music pioneer, Jean-Jacques Perrey. During that interview, we quickly hit it off as friends, and later would chat about music on the phone, regularly for hours, many, many times. In 2004, Vinnie invited me to come visit him and his wife in New Jersey, and I spent a week as a guest in their house. During my visit there, I volunteered to create a web site for him, and he was actively involved in helping create the site. (http://www.vinniebell.com). A musician myself, Vinnie did me the great honor of playing guitar for me in a New Jersey recording studio. We recorded a song I had written especially for Vinnie, “Vinnie’s Theme”, (https://youtu.be/aQ5OGZDO7T8). It is probably the final time that Vinnie played both his “water” guitar and electric sitar in a recording session. Vinnie had great stories about his musical adventures, which he shared with me. Unfortunately, for his own personal reasons, he would never agree to have his life story put into a biography, although I repeatedly begged him to do so. A few of these stories, however, are archived on his web site, and also in a fine book by Doug Tulloch, “Neptune Bound - The Ultimate Danelectro Guitar Guide”. I will miss Vinnie’s stories and his sense of humor. He was a very loving guy, and during our conversations, he never failed to ask about my family. He always ended his phone conversations to me with a sincere, “I love you guys!” Vinnie was truly one-of-a-kind, not only as a musician and inventor, but also as a dear friend. Getting back to that “Water” guitar sound of Vinnie’s, musicians have been in awe of that unique sound for many decades. As Vinnie’s webmaster, I have been contacted many times, with people inquiring how he achieved that special sound. It was a proprietary secret that Vinnie kept from even his closest friends, even me. He was hounded time after time by guitar pedal manufacturers to sell them the secret, but he always steadfastly refused. Vinnie once recalled to me how Les Paul went to his grave, asking Vinnie what the secret to the water sound was. Well, Vinnie kept the musical secret to himself to the very end, and it shall remain Vinnie’s trademark secret. Thank you, Vinnie for your friendship over the last 15 years, and for leaving behind such a treasure trove of great, unforgettable music. I will really miss you, my friend. And by the way, Vinnie, I love you, too. Dana Countryman Everett, WA October 3rd, 2019

Why not have an open song, a bit like an open mike, a group of musicians playing and you can walk in and play with them... link it with GUINESS Records... sort of Play along with Bill.... a backing track could be put out a few weeks earlier so you can slot in for your 5 minutes of fame... Panic in the Yorkshire Landscape.... ? would be my vamp.