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EC was here

My rudimentary knowledge of Elvis Costello has always lead me to believe that whenever he picks up a guitar, sparks will fly. That was certainly the case in 1977, the year he unleashed his debut album My Aim is True: a tour de force, for sure, and a platter I remember featuring  during our Vinyl Sessions at the Carousel.

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Likewise in February 1989 during the  course of a mere three songs (all from 'Spike') he sets out his intent from the get go and delivers a quite staggering session for Dutch radio.

Amarillo

A huge regret of mine is never having seen Michael Nesmith (with or without his trademark woolly hat); when the Monkees got back together for the first time in the late 80s (riding high on the wave of an MTV revival of their 60s TV show) I was lucky enough to see them live - with a full band but sans Nesmith - at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham. I still have the programme somewhere.

If you haven't already, his solo work is well worth digging out: you won't be disappointed. I love this next song. I also love its title. If you don't know what propinquity means, look it up (it's fascinating. And far reaching). Nesmith's song explores the propinquity effect. It's been covered loads, not least by fellow Monkee Micky Dolenz, but Nesmith's rendition (below) is utterly beguiling.

Michael Nesmith - Propinquity (1971)

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Michael Nesmith (1942-2021)

Kimanjano

In September 1970, shortly after leaving the Impressions, Curtis Mayfield released his first solo album. Simply titled Curtis it documented the social changes that were happening around that time; music historians will note that it predated (by over six months) Marvin Gaye's What's Going On? - a platter that plowed a similar political furrow. But Curtis had a groove all its own. How could it not? An edited version of this next song dominated the charts and over 50 years later remains a bona fide soul classic. However, this is how it was meant to be heard...

Curtis Mayfield - Move on Up (Extended Version)

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Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999)

Galbinus (somewhat yellow)

Reading Charity Chic's guest1 blog the other day I was taken with the photograph of August Darnell wearing a rather snazzy yellow jacket. It put me in mind of the guy whose photo I took a couple of weeks ago at #Pride in Nottingham. The coolest dude I'd seen all day, by a country mile.

Not many men can get away with wearing yellow; a while ago now I took a series of selfies of me in a yellow shirt standing in front of various yellow doors. I really must pick that one up again - it was great fun. But I digress. So who can get away with yellow? Well, for me, it all comes down to one2 man. And that man is Mick Jagger.

The above photo was taken in 1974 with his then ball & chain, Mrs. Bianca Jagger. They were married in 1971 but hit the rocks in '78; rumour has it they got joint custody of the wardrobe. 

Here he is wearing more garments that are neither custard nor mustard. Suit you, sir! 

1. I very nearly submitted this to the great CC, but I've already promised him that my first guest spot will be when I finally get round to recounting my Rocket from the Crypt story and the time I saw them at King Tut's in Glasgow.

2. Not Freddie bloody Mercury in his Live Aid bolero jacket.

Indestructable?

Unlike a certain Paul Metcalfe a.k.a. Captain Scarlet I am fully aware of my mortality, my mortalness. But if you know me then you'll also know I don't dwell on the big stuff (conquest, war, famine, death), instead I tend to get bogged down in the weeds of triviality and nonsense: my obsession with all things 70s and this blog, 'Are We There Yet?', for example, being perfect distractions from a lot of the heavier (darker, even) stuff that may or may not be lurking around the next corner. But pretty soon I am going to have to address something pretty big, something even more important than much of what lies in the left hand margin of this blog. I'll leave it at that for now. It is the weekend after all and the sun is shinning; let's not bring the mood down. At least not today.

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And it was only today I learned that Ray Davies name-checks Captain Scarlet on the Village Green Preservation Society album. I must have known that before. Mustn't I?

The Kinks - Daylight (1968)