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PLAYING OUT LOUD!
ARTICLES
GIG OF THE MONTH
RONNIE SPECTOR & THE RONETTES, THE BROOK, SOUTHAMPTON –
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25.
 While
her ex-husand Phil Spector awaits retrial for murder, Ronnie gets on with what
she does best, performing with her group The Ronettes, and fans in Southampton
are in for a real treat at The Brook.
Ronnie Spector was born Veronica Yvette Bennett and raised in Upper Manhattan.
She formed The Ronettes while in her teens and released her first records in
1961 on the Colpix label. The Ronettes were discovered by legendary disc jockey
Murray The K, who saw them performing at New York’s Peppermint Lounge. He
promptly hired them as dancers for his Brooklyn Fox Theater rock and roll
revues.
The Ronettes’ chart success began in 1963, with Ronnie now lead singer with the
group. A string of classic pop hits followed in quick succession – “Walking In
The Rain,” Baby I Love You” and the international No 1 smash “Be My Baby.” The
latter hit firmly established record producer Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” and
made The Ronettes the ultimate girl group of the time.
The Beatles personally requested that The Ronettes played on their final US tour
in August 1966, and later that year talented young comedian Richard Pryor was
the opening act for The Ronettes’ final live performance.
Ronnie was married to Phil Spector from 1968 to 1974, finally divorcing him
because of his increasingly domineering attitude. Reemerging as a solo singer,
Ronnie cut some tracks with the E Street Band, Eddie Money, and The Bangles,
also releasing two albums of her own “Siren” and “Unfinished Business” in the
1980s. In 1990 Ronnie published her autobiography “Be My Baby: How I Survived
Mascara, Miniskirts and Madness” which documented her troubled union with Phil
Spector.
In 2007 The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Ronnie has
since continued her career as a live performer and now lives in Connecticut with
her husband and manager Jonathan Greenfield and their two sons.
JERIMIAH MARQUES. BLUES AT THE FORT,
FORT PURBROOK, PORTSMOUTH - FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 19
 Jerimiah
Marques & The Blue Aces are just one of half a dozen great blues bands playing
at this annual two-night event at Fort Purbrook later this month.
Jeremiah and his band are unique in the blues field as they switch effortlessly
between deep Chicago blues and roots reggae. The key to this great combination
is the charismatic Jerimiah Marques, a vocal master of both musical styles and
an electrifying live performer. But the emphasis of the band’s act is on Chicago
blues, which transports the listener to the blues heyday of the 1950,s and the
magic sounds of Howling Wolf and Muddy Waters.
Jerimiah is accompanied by a team of musicians who represent the cream of
European blues talent. On guitar is Lewis Fielding, with Pete Nash on piano and
slide guitar and Wes Weston on harmonica. The rhythm section is Mike Thorne on
drums and Matt Radford on double bass. Lewis Fielding joined the band in 2002
after playing on their “This is Hip!” CD, his unique guitar style blended
perfectly with their music. Formerly Lewis played with bands including Big Joe
Turners Memphis Blues Caravan, Lazy Lester and Dana Gillespie. Wes Weston played
harp on the band’s first CD '' The Marques Brothers - The Chess Sessions”
released in 1998, and ''This Is Hip! '' Wes gained his reputation as a top class
harp player with bands like Big Joe Louis, Bigtown Playboys and Eddie Taylor Jr
and also has his own band Wes Weston’s Bluesonics.
Pete Nash started playing blues in the early 1960s when he joined up with Steve
Marriott to form Steve Marriott’s Moments. They played with Jimmy Reed and Sonny
Boy Williamson and later went on to form the Small Faces. Nash met up with
Jerimiah in1985, who was in a reggae band at the time called Invasion; they
formed a band together called Booze & Blooze, who went on to be voted Best Blues
Band 1989, and toured the UK with Chuck Berry. 1995 Jerimiah and Nash got
together with Gypie Mayo Dr Feelgood’s guitarist, and formed The Marques
Brothers, Gypie later went on to join The Yardbirds and his place was taken by
Geoff Shaw.
1999 saw the birth of Jerimiah Marques & The Blue Aces who recorded “This Is
Hip!” and went on to become great favourites on the UK blues circuit and also
played festivals in Mustique, Blues To Bop in Switzerland, Bansko Jazz Fest
inBulgaria, Populart Madrid and many more festivals.
RADU LUPU, TURNER SIMS CONCERT HALL,
SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY – SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 30
 The
Turner Sims are proud to present one of the greatest pianists of all time.
Romanian Radu Lupu will be playing works by Beethoven and Schumann at his
concert on Southampton University campus.
Radu was born in Galabi, the son of Meyer Lupu and Ana Gabor. He began playing
piano when he was six, taught by Lia Busuioceanu, making his public debut at the
age of twelve in a concert featuring his own compositions. After completing high
school in Galaþi, and graduating from the Popular School for the Arts, Lupu
continued his studies at the Bucharest Conservatory with Florica Musicescu and
Cella Delavrancea. In 1961, he was awarded a scholarship to the Moscow PI
Tchaikovsky State Conservatory, where he studied with Galina Eghyazarova,
Heinrich Neuhaus and Stanislave Neuhaus.
Radu made his American deubut in 1972 with the Cleveland Orchestra, with Daniel
Barenboim conducting in New York City and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra,
conducted by Carlo Maria Guilini. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in
1974, when he performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto. In 1984 he was featured in the
Peerless Pianists series of the Lincoln Center Great Performers programme in New
York.
Lupu's concert appearances and recordings for Decca, though not frequent,
consisting of a limited repertoire, have been consistently acclaimed. Although
trained in the Russian pianistic tradition, he is particularly noted for
lyrical, deeply felt interpretations of the great 19th century German and
Austrian composers, especially Schubert, Brahms, Beethoven and Mozart.
Although Radu has performed with all of the major orchestras of the world and at
major music festivals, he is a somewhat reclusive figure. He has regularly
refused to grant interviews to journalists for over 30 years. In one rare
published interview, originally from 1991, Lupu expressed his philosophy of
music-making as follows: "Everyone tells a story differently, and that story
should be told compellingly and spontaneously. If it is not compelling and
convincing, it is without value."
He currently resides in Lausanne, Switzerland.
HERBIE GOINS, CELLARS AT EASTNEY,
SOUTHSEA – TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 30
 Herbie
Goins, a man who I saw playing at the old Concorde Club at The Bassett in
Southampton way back in 1964 with his band The Night-Timers is still belting out
the blues and plays at the Cellars at the end of the month with The Norman
Beaker Band.
Herbie Goins started singing in the Baptist Church of his town in Florida when
he was a little boy alongside his mother who was a gospel singer. He was still a
teenager when he formed his first blues group, The Teen Kings, and he enjoyed
success in Florida and in other southern states. Some years later he moved to
New York, and started his real musical apprenticeship, travelling all over the
States and playing concerts with some of the greats, including B.B. King, Bobby
Bland and Sam Cook. After military service in Germany, Herbie was engaged by the
great English bandleader Eric Delaney and moved to England. Later, he left Eric
Delaney to join the Chris Barber Jazz Orchestra.
The call of the blues was too strong for Herbie, so he became the official
singer of Blues Incorporated, Alexis Korner’s Band, considered the father of
White Blues, who had assembled a lineup containing such luminaries as Dick
Heckstall Smith, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Danny Thompson, Phil Seaman, and many
others. After some years with Alexis Korner, Herbie formed his own group, The
Night-Timers and concentrated on the type of Rhythm and Blues which he helped
shape into what we now call Northern Soul. Once again his band included talented
musicians like John Mc Laughlin on the guitar, and they found immediate success.
Herbie became one of the favourite singers of the Mod movement. They followed
him around all the famous London clubs including The Flamingo and The Marquee.
His song “Number One in Your Heart” became a Mod hymn. EMI Records signed him
and his records entered the charts in most European countries; these releases as
still saught by collectors of rare records. During this time, there were
memorable jam sessions with Otis Redding, John Lee Hooker and Jimi Hendrix,
still unknown and present at the Blaises Club in London every Monday to catch
Herbie’s set. One of the biggest fans of Herbie Goins was a young Robert Plant,
who, even today, still remembers every word of his songs.
After some years with the Night-Timers, Herbie started to collaborate as a
composer of songs for other artists and worked extensively for television.
Leaving England for Italy, his home to this day, he found the friendship of
Italian Bluesman Guido Toffoletti. They recorded an album together called “Keep
it Simple.” Finally at the end of the 1980s he returned full time to the music
scene. He tours, not only in Italy but all over Europe and also across the
United States, playing clubs and numerous festivals. For the Cellars gig Herbie
will be playing with The Norman Beaker Band, well known for their work with
Chris Farlowe and Alexis Korner.
AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB, RAILWAY INN,
WINCHESTER – TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 16
 SXSC
have lined up another great evening of Americana at The Railway. This time it’s
American Music Club, Mark Eitzels band, which has seen many lineup changes over
the years. Only last year AMC announced a new lineup connected to the band's
base of operations moving to Los Angeles. Mark Eitzel and Vudi remain, while
Mooney and Pearson stayed behind in San Francisco. They are replaced by bassist
Sean Hoffman and drummer Steve Didelot.
Although born in California, Mark Eitzel spent his formative years in Great
Britain and Ohio before returning to the Bay Area in 1981. After a brief stint
with the band The Naked Skinnies he founded American Music Club in San Francisco
in 1982 with guitarist Scott Alexander, drummer Greg Bonnell and bass player
Brad Johnson. The band went through many personnel changes before arriving at a
stable line up of guitarist Vudi, bassist Dan Pearson, keyboardist Brad Johnson
and drummer Matt Norelli. This lineup would change over the next several years,
but Eitzel always remained the core of the band in terms of its vocals, lyrics
and thematic focus.
AMC’s 1985 debut, “The Restless Stranger” offers a rough outline of their
increasingly eclectic sound and firmly established Eitzel's worldview, a
harrowing vision of life as seen through the bottom of a shot glass. 1987's
“Engine” honed the formula: the addition of producer Tom Mallon as a full-time
member expanded the group's sonic palette. American Music Club earned a solid
cult following on the strength of 1988's “California.” Their nextt LP, 1989's
“United Kingdom” appeared only in the nation which lent the record its name and
consisted of leftover material and live tracks.
In 1991 American Music Club emerged with the record that is widely considered
their masterpiece, “Everclear.” Critical acclaim attracted the attention of
several major labels. Eventually AMC -- now consisting of Eitzel, Vudi, Pearson,
multi-instrumentalist Bruce Kaphan and drummer Tim Mooney signed with Reprise in
the US and Virgin throughout the rest of the world.
“Mercury” followed in 1993 and, despite positive reviews the album fared poorly
on the charts and earned virtually no recognition from radio or MTV. In 1994,
AMC issued “San Francisco” which balanced confessional tunes like "Fearless" and
"The Thorn in My Side Is Gone" alongside more accessible offerings such as "Wish
the World Away," one of the band's biggest hits.
The band disbanded soon after “San Francisco” was released and reunited in 2003
to record a new album, “Love Songs For Patriots,” which was described by
reviewer Mark Deming as "a stronger and more coherent effort than the group's
last set, 1994's “San Francisco,” and while it's too early to tell if this is a
new start or a last hurrah for AMC, it at least shows that their formula still
yields potent results.”
AMC's latest record, entitled The Golden Age, was released in the UK on February
4, 2008 on Cooking Vinyl and in the US on Merge Records on February 19.
ANNABELLE CHVOSTEK, FOREST ARTS CENTRE,
NEW MILTON – FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 12
& ASHCROFT ARTS CENTRE, FAREHAM – SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 13.
 Canadian
musician and singer Annabelle, who replaced Cara Luft in The folk-roots trio The
Wailin’Jennies, plays a couple of dates in Hampshire this month. We should say
multi-instrumentalist, as Annabelle plays guitar, mandolin, violin, organ and
accordion, though not at the same time!
Born and raised in a musical family in Toronto, Annabelle made her professional
debut with the Canadian Opera Company at the age of 7, and appeared in La Boheme
at 8. She has been performing ever since. In the mid 1990s, Annabelle moved to
Montreal to, as she puts it, "live like a bohemian." There, she earned a degree
in interdisciplinary fine arts at Concordia, composed for dance and film, played
in bands that ranged from old-time to electronica, and served as a percussionist
for dance classes. She also travelled in India and Japan and did work as a
journalist, camera girl and multimedia tech – all the while writing songs and
performing them on the Montreal-Ontario-New York circuit.
She released her solo debut “1am to 5am” in 1997 and followed it up with “Full
Stop” in 2000 and “Water” in 2003. In 2004, she released the EP, “Burned My Ass”
which contained the first version of the soon-to-be Jennys' favourite "Devil's
Paintbrush Road." It topped the campus radio folk charts. By the time she joined
the Jennys, Annabelle was touring North America regularly, frequently sharing
bills with acts like Po'Girl, Rae Spoon and Barlywick.
In addition to pursuing her solo music career, Annabelle continues to work in a
variety of other disciplines. Immediately prior to joining the Jennys, she
toured in Brussels, Rotterdam, Hamberg, Berlin and Vienna with her new media
performance piece "The Automated Prayer Machine," a collaboration with Anna Friz.
Most recently, she composed music for the Drastic Action Dance company piece
“Line of Descent” which debuted in New York on March 13.
WHITE TOP MOUNTAIN BAND, SQUARE &
COMPASS, WORTH MATRAVERS, DORSET – WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 24 & BOURNEMOUTH FOLK
CLUB THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 25
 WHITE
TOP MOUNTAIN BAND, SQUARE & COMPASS, WORTH MATRAVERS, DORSET – WEDNESDAY
SEPTEMBER 24 & BOURNEMOUTH FOLK CLUB THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 25
The White Top Mountain Band is a family-based band from the highest mountains of
Virginia, USA. Its’ origins date way back to the 1940s when it was formed by one
Albert Hash.
The current band lineup are keen to preserve the Whitetop mountain music legacy
of old time fiddling and banjo playing, but their versatile members also play
everything from blues to country, honky tonk, old time ballads, and gospels. A
highly energetic and entertaining band they also feature flat foot dancing!
The White Top Mountain Band is one of the most popular dance bands of the
Appalachian Mountains region, playing at square dances all over Virginia, North
Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. The band have played at venues and festivals
all over the USA, also in the UK and Australia.
The band’s current lineup is Thornton Spencer on fiddle, Emily Spencer on banjo
and vocals; their daughter Martha also plays and dances with the band. Joining
them are Jackson Cunningham who plays mandolin and guitar, Spencer Pennington,
another guitarist, and Debbie Bramer, who plays bass and also dances. All the
members help out with vocals and harmonies.
The band has also taught and been master musicians for workshops and classes in
fiddle, banjo, guitar, vocals and dance all over the USA. The band has currently
got albums available on the Arhoolie Record Label and Virginian Foundation for
the Humanities.
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RONNIE SPECTOR & THE RONETTES
THE BROOK, SOUTHAMPTON
WED SEPTEMBER 25
JERIMIAH MARQUES &
THE BLUE ACES BLUES AT THE FORT, FORT PURBROOK, PORTSMOUTH
FRI SEPTEMBER 19
RADU LUPU
TURNER SIMS CONCERT HALL SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY
SAT SEPTEMBER 30
HERBIE GOINS &
THE NORMAN BEAKER BAND CELLARS AT EASTNEY, SOUTHSEA
TUES SEPTEMBER 30
AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB
RAILWAY INN, WINCHESTER
TUES SEPTEMBER 16
ANNABELLE CHVOSTEK
FOREST ARTS CENTRE
NEW MILTON
FRI SEPTEMBER 12
& ASHCROFT ARTS CENTRE
FAREHAM
SAT SEPTEMBER 13
WHITE TOP MOUNTAIN BAND SQUARE & COMPASS
WORTH MATRAVERS DORSET
WED SEPTEMBER 24 & BOURNEMOUTH FOLK CLUB
THUR SEPTEMBER 25 |
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