Parakeet Hero (God Is In The Details): Roy Wood's Music Book Is Released

Shazam Period

Tonight I am a hero to my parakeets.

          As I’ve previously mentioned, Skip and Flip live inCaroline’s office.  Their large birdcage is adjacent to the Mac that houses our digital music collection, but they're mostly left free to fly around, which they do all day.  The birds love music and Caroline frequently entertainsthem with tunes and sound effects thatcolor the various news stories she reads and websites she visits. 

          Skip and Flip have a distinct preference for military-style music – marchesand the like, which tend to accompany stories about the personal appearances of world leaders, e.g. Queen Elizabeth II, Hugo Chavez, Vladimir Putin.  Our birds are lively,interested -- “there and aware” -- of nature’s sounds just beyond the office's casement green glass windows.

     Roy Wood’s Music Book arrived from Amazon UKtoday.  It’s Roy’s firstsignificant record release in a very long time and signals, I guess, that this great artist has finally madepeace with EMI Records (just in time for EMI's recently announced Armageddon).

Skip and Flip

        Music Book collects Roy Wood music spanning his work in TheMove, Electric Light Orchestra (Roy’sBraniac brainchild; he abandoned and ceded the group to Jeff Lynne for still mysterious reasons aftertheir first startling, groundbreaking lp), the super-successful (in the UK only) Wizzard, and his extraordinary solo music beginning with Boulders and extending to his frame-breaking present-daybig brass band efforts.

               The anthology evencontains a couple of curious “cover” interpretations like Nancy Sinatra’s version of TheMove’s iconic (it was the first track ever played on BBCRadio One and the subject of a successful libel suit by then-Prime Minister Harold Wilson) “FlowersIn The Rain” and Status Quo’s excellent take on the pivotalearly Move single “I Can Hear The Grass Grow.”

              What the birds really love, though, are Roy’s dreamy swingy ballads – “LookThrough The Eyes Of A Fool,” “Forever,” “Any Old Time Will Do” and “This Is TheStory of My Love.”  They approveof the fact that Roy, an awesome, sometimes raunchy lead guitarist (e.g., his version ofMann-Weill’s “Don’t Make My Baby Blue” on The Move’s Shazam) eschews that typeof material here in favor of pocket symphonies like Wizzard’s “SeeMy Baby Jive,” “Ball Park Incident” and “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.”

Wizzard Roy

          Watching Skip and Flip bobbing their heads, glancing obliquely in synchronous motion at the ceiling and deliberately and slowly marching in place, I know we're all on to a goodthing.  I find myself parroting (orparakeeting) their movements.    Obviously, they’re responding to the music (including what Roy’s voice intonates and communicates,of course) and not directly to the delicate, clever lyrics, which have always painted the portrait of ahighly aestheticized, romantic man keen on keeping the stoic mask in place, butwith eyes peering through, revealing everything.  Roy Wood's music is God-in-the-decorative details come alive, ornamentation wordlessly explaining everything.

The Move (l-r: Roy, Ace, Bev, Trevor, Carl)

          Music Book is a major release (36 tracks), which will probably notreach the large audience it deserves.  Butit’s great to have this material collected in one place, beautifullyremastered, bright and new for Christmas.  It's a gift we and Roy both deserve this year.

Electric Light Orchestra (l-r: Roy, Jeff, Bev)

Confession:   

          My two most intense rock and roll memories are hearing Shazam for the firsttime (just the sound of it gripped my brain like nothing else ever has on initial acquaintance)and attending my first Roy Wood performance at Annie Haslam's War Childbenefit concert at Irving Plaza in New York sometime during the 1990s.   Long after The Move's and Wizzard's heyday, most of the audience had never seen Royplay live  before (his U.S. touring history was legendarily spotty and negligilble) and he was definitely the main event that night in Manhattan.  With Cheap Trick ablybacking him, it was fascinating to see  every other act on the bill (consisting ofkey members of Procul Harum, Yes, the Moody Blues and others) standing rapt, visiblyin the wings to witness Roy’s astonishing presentation.   That sort of thing never happens.

Boulders Roy playing everything

1.   See My Baby Jive (Wizzard Link) 

2. Fire Brigade (Move Link)

3. Green Glass Windows (Roy Wood Link)

4.  Interested parties can visit Skip and Flip bio link, line 2 above. 

367 Years Ago Today: The Battle of Marston Moor (ELO Musical Accompaniment)

     

Marston Moor battlefield today




      The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the First English Civil War of 1642–1646. The combined forces of the Scottish Covenanters under the Earl of Leven and the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester defeated the Royalists commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine and the Marquess of Newcastle.

Marston Moor

          During the summer of 1644, the Covenanters and Parliamentarians had been besieging York, which was defended by the Marquess of Newcastle. Prince Rupert had gathered an army which marched through the northwest of England to relieve the city, gathering fresh recruits on the way. The convergence of these forces made the ensuing battle the largest of the Civil Wars.

Studio of Anthony van Dyck, Portrait of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Count Palatine, 1637, National Gallery, London

     The defeat at Marston Moor was a serious blow to the Royalist cause. Prince Rupert had been decisively beaten for the first time in the war and lost his reputation for invincibility. He was deeply affected by the defeat and suffered an additional blow through the death during the battle of his dog "Boye", a rare hunting poodle, who had been a constant companion by his side throughout his campaigns. Parliamentarian propaganda made much of this, treating Boye almost as a Devil's familiar.

Prince Rupert in battle accompanied by Boye (d. July 2, 1644) -- From the 1643 Parliamentary pamphlet entitled "The Cruel Practices of Prince Rupert".

         By contrast, Oliver Cromwell's reputation as a cavalry commander was firmly established by the engagement . It was acknowledged that the discipline he had instilled into his troops and his own leadership on the battlefield had been crucial to the victory. Cromwell would later declare that Marston Moor was "an absolute victory obtained by God's blessing".  From this moment, he was to exert increasing influence both in the House of Commons and in the Parliamentarian armies in the field.

Marston Moor battlefield observed from "Cromwell's Clump"

The Electric Light Orchestra (l-r:  Bev Bevan, Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne) 


Cue:  The Battle of Marston Moor -- From Electric Light Orchestra, No Answer (Composer: Roy Wood)

The Great Larry Wallis (Pink Fairies, Police Car, Other)

Songwriter, guitarist and producer Larry Wallis is one of the most appealing, largely unsung, figures in modern rock music.  His 1977 single on the Stiff label, "Police Car", has EVERYTHING going for it -- cool, eternally relevant subject matter, sharp lyrics, a great tune and marvelous, driving musicianship.   

His work with the Pink Fairies, although appreciated by cognoscenti, deserves greater attention and praise.  He produced Wreckless Eric's first lp, including the immortal Reconnez Cherie.

An informative, funny and predictably slightly profane interview with the great man is found here.

Apparently, back problems (sciatica) have sidelined him lately.  I hope he returns to action soon.   

(Roy Wood too.) 

The world needs  (more) Larry Wallis.