Tag Archives: interview

Bob Dylan, The Band

Garth Hudson talking about the Big Pink sessions with Bob Dylan in 1967 (videos)

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Garth Hudson

 

Hudson was just as crucial to the very different sounds made in the Basement the year afterwards: especially since in large part it was Garth who tape-recorded those unique, informal sessions, and had the sense to look after, afterwards, all the dozens of unknown-about extra ones beyond those of immediate interest to Dylan’s music publisher, and which only began to circulate decades later.
~Michael Gray (The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia)

It’s Garth Hudson’s 77th birthday today.

Here is a nice interview with Hudson from youtube (prismfilms) where he’s talking about the conception of “The Basement Tapes” (all the wonderful music Bob Dylan & The Band made in June-October 1967 in the basement of Big Pink)

basement tapes

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Great albums, Interview, The South

The South …The Further Out You Get a review with interview

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the further out you get
A slightly altered cover of …The Further Out You Get

Johannasvisions: What would you say is the biggest difference from the previous album?
Alexander Pettersen: I guess you could call it “the evil twin”…

The follow-up to The South’s 2013 album “The Further Inside You Go…” is a more demanding affair, but also an even more rewarding one. It opens with the 11 minute song, No Escape/Don’t Let Go, a track that is quite a departure for the band.

We’re no longer in the southern parts of the USA (well, not all the time anyway) it sounds like an Alan Parsons produced english band from around 1973. It swirls and changes its course as we listen, and this is something that we will encounter on the following songs as well. It starts off with gentle guitar and vocal, the sound is very delicate. The vocals are repeated and doubled, we get a subtle choir.  The mood gets darker, but at about 2:40 into the song the drums and electric guitar lifts us up. The Keyboard echoes the melody. The pedal steel comes in, but it has no country-twang, it is airy and elegant. What a great start!

JV: The country-sound is all but gone, is this a conscious choice or did it “just happen”?
AP: It is not something we decided, it is a natural progression for us, I think.

I write the songs I do, the only decision-making concerns choosing songs for the record, and the way we put them together to form a complete album. 

This time I wanted to do something new, something else than before. And we did, we managed to pull off something special, something “more” than we’ve done before. I think we have succeeded in this, especially on the tracks, 1,2/3,5 and 6. 

The South you get_alexander-1
The South, Mono, Oslo, 2013

Desert Sounds takes us into more familiar territory, to the breezy Californian coast line. It starts off with a strumming acoustic guitar and then a beautiful melody hovers over the acoustic. The guitar is doubled and the keyboard fills in. It is a very finely arranged intro to the track, Glimpse of what we had. The South is in no hurry, they take their time and it builds up wonderfully. I see it as one song.
The second part of the track has a more up-beat melody, but the lyrics are filled with longing for past times and are bittersweet in tone.  The electric guitar in the song is an Allman Brothers/Grateful Dead mix, but new and fresh and not retro in feel at all. The bass is subtly restrained and incredibly well played.

Glimpse of what we had (Spotify):

Now, The South takes us for a ride into, well, “The South” as in the musical landscape of the Southern US. They give us a superb Muscle Shoals sounding song, We Got Lucky. A lover reassure his girlfriend that all will be all right and we believe him. The track has some very fine horn arrangements (by Bendik Brænne) and both The Band and Little Feat would have been proud to include it in their catalogue.

Then we’re back on the road, we get a rousing boogie/Texas shuffle in the raw, Psb6u-blues. A steady “motor rhythm” of an accord on el-guitar lays the foundation, and we get a playful guitar that’s just “all over the place” above the steady beat. And then more guitar and keyboard. It reminds me of driving or taking the train, traveling. The vocal starts at 3:35(!) and it is no sweet blues, it is aggressive and insisting. It ends in a wild crescendo and I long to see it in a live setting. It is just fabulous, so far this is my favorite song on the record along with the last track, …The Further Out You Get.

The South – Psb6u-blues (audio with pictures from the recording of the album):
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Great albums, Southern rock

The South – The Further Inside You Go… New album and interview

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the south

Finally we’re getting new music from The South! We have listened extensively to the album since we got it and we had a little talk with Alexander Pettersen about the record and music in general.

The South (photo from Facebook)
The South (photo from Facebook)

What do you see as the biggest difference on this album from the last one?
The main difference is how fast we did it. We started recording the last album in December 2010, but we didn’t release it until March 2012. The new record was done in January 2013 and was actually ready for release in June this year (even if we waited until October)

Musically they’re even more at “the west-coast” of USA this time, the country aspect is toned down (but there are traces of it still – great steel-guitar and some honky-tonk piano, I like that they haven’t abandoned it all.) It has that very recognizable guitar sound (“The South-sound”), but it has more “space” and is more dreamy in a way.

When we talked to The South at Bergenfest in 2012, they told us that producer Bent Sæther (Motorpsycho) gave them music to listen to, to get inspired by.

What did Bent Sæther think you should listen to this time?
We didn’t have that specific discussion this time, we told him a bit about what we wanted, in what direction we would like to go. “A bigger canvas” was an expression that came about early on. We wanted not to rush it, to give the songs more time.

The Further Inside You Go… (Album teaser):

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Bergenfest, Øyafestivalen, Soul

Charles Bradley in Norway 2012

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Charles Bradley 2012-1

Charles Bradley made a huge impression on us in 2012. We saw him in concert three times, all tremendous shows. We also got to meet him in person two times. We had a little chat with him and we got a hug after his concert at  Oyafestival in Oslo (Paste Magazine rated it among the 10 best festival moments in 2012). The best thing however was when we met Mr. Charles Bradley at Bergenfest.

Charles Bradley at Bergenfest 2012 part1
Charles Bradley at Bergenfest 2012 part2
Charles Bradley at Bergenfest 2012 part3
Charles Bradley at Oyafestival 2012

Also check out Bergenfest and Oyafestival online.

The Press guys at Bergenfest called us just an hour before the meet, and said that we could get an interview with Charles Bradley if we were interested. We were thrilled!

We (JV) met in a hotel lobby close to the Bergenfest area, Charles Bradley (CB)  had just arrived in Bergen, he was a bit tired, but very friendly and open.

We are not experienced journalists, we are fans and the talk we had, kind of reflects that, Charles Bradley talked most of the time and we listened to this fantastic soul singer telling his story.

JV: It’s an honor to meet you Mr. Bradley.

Charles Bradley smiles, shakes our hand and appologises for beeing late.

 CB: Sorry to keep you guys waiting, we just arrived two hours ago and needed some time to freshen up. We had to jump in a car and drive real fast to get here to you. Just had to get myself a bit together before I met you.

We introduced ourselves and explained that we write for Johannasvisions.

JV: We started The Johanna’s Visions web site 6 months ago, we love music, especially American roots music, soul, jazz, folk, blues and rock’n roll. We’ve had a deep passion for this music most of our life. We are getting quite a lot of visits on the web site.

(At the time we had about 50 000 page views a week, now we have well over 200 000 a week.)

CB: You just gotta do it!JV: Yes!

cb_post2

CB: Well I can tell you some stories that I don’t think you’ve heard before.
I can say, I’m 63 years old, I’ve been back as far as the segregation days when you couldn’t say what was on your mind. You had to run to a baptist church just to let it all out, and it was all soulful hurt and pain put in to music.

JV: You have been on tour for some time now and you said you could tell us some stories…

CB: Yes

JV: …do you see any differences from Europe and USA?

CB: Europe, oh yes! In Europe I have been treated more fairly, more honestly, people show me more love. Now that I’ve been coming over to European countries and playing shows I get a lot of respect. It is hard to see that, you have to get out of you country and then come back to get some kind of respect.

JV: It is a terrible thing, but it is nice that you are treated so well over here.

CB: Yes, but I gotta say, oh my God, your country keeps me in tears of joy, not of hurt, of joy, the love that I’ve received from people, and I say this from the depth of my heart.

JV: This is the same story the Stax artists told in the 60s, but it is a long time ago, surely it must be different now?

CB: I will say, America is more hush, hush, the roles that they play, you can see it and you know they do it, now it’s more quiet but they still do it.

…and just because we have a black president, who says he’s gonna change things? It is just a front, that’s my opinion. You can feel when somebody hug you,the sincerness in their heart, you can feel when somebody hug you, if it’s false.

JV…the same with the smiles, when people smile at you.

CB: Yeah. That’s what it’s about, man. It is that, do you understand what I’m saying.

JV:  Yes.

Charles Bradley 2012-2

JV: You are going to play two concerts here in Bergen, we’re seeing both. Plus, we are going to see you in Oslo in August, how do you compare the large stage festival shows to the smaller venues in clubs?

CB: You know, it’s like, me, the audience, compassion, we all hug, cry together, the love is infinite. Oh man, i think I’m on a mission, I think I’m out to do something good, because with all the trials and tribulations I’ve been through…

…and now when I meet all the people that open their hearts to me, it talks to me. A man, last night, he said,”Charles, man, I’m 52 years old, and you just made my day” (laughter), “you made me realize that there is still hope for me!” Isn’t that incredible? I just broke down and cried!

I say, My God! That is what makes me want to keep my heart and be clean, the way I just can tell them. Show them.

Like, this one kid, this was over in Canada. He came over to us and he told me about himself, and he said, “I wanna talk to Charles Bradley”.

So they said to him, “We’re gonna talk to Charles Bradley to see if he can talk to you”. They told me about this 18 year old kid and I said yes, get him on stage, he was standing right by the stage.

He said, “Charles Bradley, please talk to me”. I said, “Young man, what am I gonna say to you?” He said, ” I just lost my Ma”. I said, “How old was your Ma?”, she was 51, I said,”Oh my God!”

What am I gonna say to this kid? God, give me something to say to him. And then I remembered back to when I was a kid, when this… this baby only about six months. It was in a crib and he died. I remembered that someone told me that when a baby dies young, they only came into our world to give something great to us, and then the child would leave. God said your work is done. So I said, ” Son, your mother was 51 years old, she brought a beautiful boy into this world, and she put all the love that she knew inside that boy”, “and that was you!” “What she gave you, you take it out into this world”.

JV: We can understand why he came to you, because your own story is so inspirational

Charles Bradley 2012-3
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Bergenfest, Featured Articles, Great Bands, Interview, Tom Petty

The Rise of The South – Bergenfest 2012 – a talk and some pictures

All photos by Hallgeir (click on them to get better quality, if you want even better resolution, feel free to contact us)

Concert review from Bergenfest 2012

From their official Facebook page:

A band calling themselves “The South” in spite of being from Trondheim, Norway need to have their compass in order

When you hear The South’s self titled second album, produced by Bent Sæther of Motorpsycho, it becomes clear that this sextet has a remarkable grip on their rock history, both the map and the terrain.
They actually lift what many hold to be the zenith of rock, the music of Little Feat, Grateful Dead and The Band from the first half of the 1970’s, into our time.

Bringing with them marvellous songs, the tightness of a good oldfashioned BAND and vocal harmonies to die for.

When we decided to go to Bergenfest this year we decided to try to get an interview with The South, they’re so obviousley right up our alley, they embody most of the musical styles that JV is about. They use the rich musical past to create fresh new songs. The press people at Bergenfest said we could get a 15 minute talk, we were happy just to get an interview.

We met in the “lounge” at the hotel where both The South and we stayed. We talked for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

I’ll be the one:

The South are:

Alexander Pettersen – Vocals, guitar
Terje Uv – guitar, steelguitar
Stein Spjelkavik – Guitar, Keys, vocals
Sander Olsen – Keys
Pål Brekkås – Bass, vocals
Stian Lundberg – Drums, vocals

Continue reading The Rise of The South – Bergenfest 2012 – a talk and some pictures →