Nick Ferraro started out as an Elvis tribute act around his native Philadelphia in 1986. On October 19, 2009, wearing his full Vegas Elvis costume, he went to see Bruce Springsteen at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Spotting Ferraro in the crowd, Springsteen launched into “All Shook Up” before pulling him on stage to join in. As the song finished, Ferraro – perhaps enjoying his moment of glory a little too much – started singing “Blue Suede Shoes” before Springsteen politely took the mic off him, ushering him off stage with the legend, “Elvis has left the building.”
I would have bought the issue of Melody Maker in which I first read about Bruce Springsteen on my way into the art school in Newport, where in March 1973 I was in my last term, only a few months away from moving to London and not long after that fetching up on MM as a junior reporter/feature writer, a turn of events that was wholly unexpected and still seems somewhat unreal. Anyway, that was all to come. That Thursday morning, as ever in those days, I picked up a copy of MM at the paper shop at the top of Stow Hill, then eagerly devoured it on the bus into town.
Seeing as how Matthew E White and his band are on tour in the UK this week (I’m seeing him play in London tomorrow), it seemed a good time to post the feature about my visit to Richmond a couple of months ago. I’ve put a few links to stuff in here, too, so you can get a taste of the really interesting music coming out of the scene that revolves around White. Long read, this one…
In this month's Audience With Sinéad O'Connor, she's asked about her traumatic appearance at the all-star bash at New York's Madison Square Garden, put on by Columbia Records to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Dylan's debut album for the label.
A new Jimi Hendrix album of previously unreleased material is set to be released in 2013.
The LP entitled People, Hell And Angels was recorded in 1968 and 1969. The songs were meant for First Days Of The New Rising Sun, the follow up to Electric Ladyland that Hendrix was working on when he passed away. It is set for release in the US on March 5, 2013 according to Rolling Stone. A UK release date is yet to be set for the new record.
Tracks on the record apparently feature Hendrix experimenting with horns, keyboards, percussion and a second guitar.
There’s a feature in the new issue of Uncut by Andy Gill on the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, where he gets to see a couple of extended shows in Cleveland, and I can’t recall the last time I felt so jealous of one of our writers.
