Tuesday 27 November 2012

Benny Gallagher Milngavie Folk Club 17th Nov 2012


Stay young with your rock n rolling, Stay young keep you wheels in motion because the best things in life are free.'
Benny Gallagher was part of the successful 70s partnership of Scottish singer songwriters
Gallagher and Lyle (Graham Lyle). They had hit songs with Heart On My Sleeve, I Wanna Stay With You and When I’m Dead and Gone, and they went on to write chart songs for other artists.

Gallagher had relaxed friendly banter and as he sang he also made his guitar sing for us.  Many of us at this concert were old enough to remember Gallagher and Lyle on Tops of the Pops singing their hit song Heart on my Sleeve. He enjoyed having the audience as his backing singers and encouraged us to sing along.  He spoke about the work for the ‘Great Tapestry of Scotland’ which will be the biggest in the world when it is done. 
Benny spoke of Gallagher and Lyle’s hit song Stay Young. He said that he was over in Nashville he had heard that a country singer Don Williams had made their song Stay Young no 1  US Country charts and with over a million radio airplays. The song had sat on the shelf for over eight years. He spoke of dunniing song writing workshops where he has told young writers that songs are like birds you release and you can never know where they might land. He said that songs come out of the air. 

Set: How Come, Stay Young, When I’m Dead and Gone, Take A Chance, blues Talking, The Last One, What You Meant To Me, Break Away, Run Away, Heart On My Sleeve, Stay With You, That’s All Right Mamma, When I’m Dead and Gone, I Believe in You.
Gallagher has a soothing tenor vocal as he sang songs from his back catalogue. They are songs full of optimistic words and blues-toned melodies. What I admire in the Scots is our ability to never take ourselves too seriously and Gallagher was a good example of this.

Glasgow singer songwriter and bluesman Jim Byrne supported with his character deep vocal and stunning songs. They were introduced as Jim and Dinny – Dinny sang with her moving country voice and played several instruments. Jim’s latest cd is called The Innocent and is worth checking out. I particularly enjoyed  his song, The Handles Broken on my Cup.
 
Gallagher and Lyle was the Scottish duo singer songwriters Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle. Their first recognition came in 1968, when they were signed by The Beatles to write for Apple Records’ artists. By 1970, they formed the band McGuinness Flint and wrote UK chart hit ‘When I’m Dead and Gone’. They formed the duo Gallagher and Lyle in 1972 and their fifth album, Breakaway charted and included the hit songs "Heart on My Sleeve" and "I Wanna Stay with You." Don Williams took their song‘Stay Young’ No. 1 on US Country charts. The duo split in 1979.  Gallagher and Lyle have worked, jointly and individually, on records with among others - Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Ronnie Lane, Ronnie Wood, Joan Armatrading, Ralph McTell, Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention and Jim Diamond. Artists who have released Gallagher and Lyle songs include: Bryan Ferry, Elkie Brooks, Fairport Convention, Joe Brown, and more.

Monday 26 November 2012

Wasted Love


Award winning Fringe musical for Best Lyrics – Wasted Love was written by the Kielty brothers John and Gerry. The show was performed at the Actors church Covent garden on November 25th 2012.

The Kieltys were previously known as The Martians, and they used to busk on Edinburgh High street during the festival and perform their comedy routines with Gerry distinctive high voice.  They then won the Cameron Mackintosh prize for best new musical in 2006 for the musical The Sundowe which was performed at Eden Court theatre in Inverness..


John Kielty is an actor and writer and he has performed in shows at the Lyceum theatre Edinburgh.

John Kielty

Martians Edinburgh high street

Friday 23 November 2012

Ticket Touts


I’ve been purchasing gig tickets online for some years now and it is only recently that I have discovered what a minefield it has all become!
It is ultra confusing online with so many Ticket outlets. If you google for the artist’s gigs the links that come top of the page are not necessarily the best outlets, in fact the reverse is true!
Tips; Safest way is to purchase primary tickets via the venue or artist’s website (the advice from the Albert hall box office). Or through the main ticket sellers, which are – Ticket Master, SeeTickets, Eventim, Ticketline, Gigantic. You can’t always judge by the google ratings.

The secondary Market – Is basically those who re-sell tickets. These sites buy up a number of concet tickets at the basic price and then re-sell these tickets at inflated prices - which isn't particularly good news for the public.

Some secondary websites can be fine, but it’s very hit or miss, so be wary and read the small print. The best re-sellers are Seatwave and GetMeIn, Check how tickets will be delivered. Make sure the company behind the website provides a full address, not just a post office or mail box number. And try its UK landline number.

Some outlets online won’t be responsible for lost tickets, so store them in a safe place – and one you can remember! 
Thanks to (legitimate) websites such as Seatwave and Get Me In!, it is now simple to buy  tickets for events abroad and has led to the growing popularity of festivals such as Spain's Benicassim and others. But be aware that there are foreign illegitimate sites also that are selling sometimes non existent tickets.

Ticket re-selling probably can’t be stopped, after all true fans might buy tickets for an event only to find they are unable to attend. The best protection is that the public are kept informed over what goes on. 
Ticket reviews link – Ticket website rip off

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Kris Drever and Lau on Jools Holland

Kris Drever, Aidan O'Rourke and Lau on Jools Holland this week - it is good to see folk and indie music is alive and well! Folk/Blues Chart  - Mumford No 1. - plus Kate Rusby, Bellowhead, Paul Simon, Laura Marling, Chieftains, Neil Young. Good chart! : ))   http://www.bbc.co.uk/lau/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/joolsholland

Lau - http://pkimage.co.uk/Lau
Kris Drever PHOTOS - http://pkimage.co.uk/krisdrever 

Monday 5 November 2012

Are There Real Artists on the X Factor 2012?

What’s happened to the X Factor 2012? We now have real artists as judges - Gary Barlow successful songwriter from Take That, American singer Nicole Scherzinger, singer Talisha - apart from Louis Walsh (Westlife) who is beginning to look and sound like a musical dinosaur – rather than the A & R Label executives as it once was.
The show now even has some ‘credible’ artists on who have clearly been singing and doing music for years.  

Looking back at sixties reality tv show Opportunity Knocks the talent show was very amateurish then. What really is the difference between a manager developing new talent in London and one of these shows?

X Factor 2012.
Ella and Jehmene are both very good singers. James has true grit though and I always look for quality in a voice, and his voice has that X-tra factor! He also has character and musical intelligence about him and even a bit of attitude, always a good thing. 

One drawback these days is everything new in music simply feels too pre-ordained, perfectly synchronized, planned and worked on where nothing is left to chance.... Well yes as always its good to work hard and make careful preparations but sometimes it just feels too clinical like there are no new roads to take, no new challenges for our ears! Sometimes being an artist is about finding your own path, in the hard knocks path of life rather than being taken by the hand in the classroom. Everyone is trying so hard to make 'pleasing' tunes. But that's really not the point.

I do dislike the way these shows manipulate and then discard young people.
Art should question and offer something new, new challenges. I'm supporting James Arthur on X Factor. The trouble with the X Factor tv show is, it makes music now 'all about the voice' and the musicianship gets lost.