My Generation of 17 July 2016: The Flowerpot Men, Shakey Vick [Ed’s Show 2016-29]

Specials The Flowerpot Men, Shakey Vick ** Roland 1971-72, The Growing Concern, Grapefruit ** 
SHOWTIME CET (Brussels) Sundays 12:00 noon  > 16:00 hrs ** Repeated 16:00 > 20:00 hrs, 20:00 hrs > 24:000 hrs midnight and 24:000 hrs midnight > 04:00 hrs Monday Morning.
SHOWTIME GMT (London) Sundays 11 a.m. > 3 p.m. ** Repeated 3 p.m. > 7 p.m., 7 p.m. 11 p.m. and 11 p.m. > 3 a.m. UK Monday morning.

MY GENERATION  & BLUESIDE: THE PLAYLISTS

MY GENERATION (new show)
SPECIAL:  THE FLOWERPOT MEN “PEACE ALBUM”  (1969)** AND ALSO: OTIS REDDING ** THE MICKEY FINN ** THREESOME:  VAN MORRISON, THEM ** NUCLEUS, 1969 **  WHITE PLAINS ** LONGPAYING: THE SOFT MACHINE **  Voice: ADRIAN MITCHELL

MY GENERATION BLUESIDE (new show)
SHAKEY VICK SPECIAL  pt1. feat. SHAKEY VICK ** Exclusive Radio 68 Interview Snippets ** CHRIS BARBER with Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, James Cotton, Keith Scott, Alexis Korner  ** SONNIE & BROWNIE * CHAMPION JACK DUPREE with Brownie McGhee ** ARTHUR CRUDUP ** JOHNNY SHINES ** BIG WALTER HORTON ** ** AND ALSO: JIMMY DAWKINS ** HOWLIN’ WOLF **

MY GENERATION (repeated) 
SPECIALS:  THE GROWING CONCERN  (1968) ** ROLAND  (“A Tune For You”,  1971, re-release by Starman Records   2016 **   AND ALSO: MUNGO JERRY ** THE ROLLING STONES ** THE COUNT FIVE ** THE DAVE CLARK 5 ** BUFFY SAINTE MARIE ** DAVID McWILLIAMS ** THE FOOL ** THE FUGS ** JOHN B. SEBASTIAN **

MY GENERATION BLUESIDE (repeated)
SPECIAL: ROLAND One  Step  At A Time re-release, 1972, re-release Starman Records 2016 )**  GRAPEFRUIT: DEEP WATER, 1969 ** AND ALSO:  ALBERT COLLINS ** JOHNNY WINTER (1969)  ** RUTHIE FOSTER ** GEORGIE FAME ** GINGER BAKER’S AIR FORCE ** THE MOVE ** Voices: Crosby & Nash: Occupy Wall Street * Antifascisme France 1973 *

MY GENERATION, incl. BLUESIDE: THE SHOW 
MY GENERATION / BLUESIDE is a four-hour show. Each week, a new 60 minute episode followed by the previous show, totalling two hours of all the sounds and the voices that shaped the 60s. Each show includes a special highlighting one artist, release, topic or trend. BLUESIDE: a new 60 minute episode every week, followed by the previous show, totalling two hours of the blues that influenced and inspired the sounds of the sixties – from the originators till the present day. Each show includes a special highlighting one artist, release, topic or trend.

SPECIALS BACKGROUND

THE FLOWER POT MEN: PEACE

On the one hand, The Flower Pot Men were a fraud. Master composers John Carter and Ken Lewis (the brains of The Ivy League) could write songs in any light pop genre style and, therefore, were able to take advantage of new trends. In 1967, with Hippie at its height, the duo wrote “Let’s Go to San Francisco” and within weeks had to cope with a serious problem: The Flower Pot Men were in the charts but didn’t actually exist – it was just one of many vehicles for their songs (like The White Plains). On the other hand, Carter and Lewis were masters of harmony, wrote fine lyrics and worked with the best singers and musicians. The duo developed one particular type of ‘hippie’ music: the soft, slow, melodious songs with unusual instruments (such as bells and harpsichords) and lyrics about heavens, new dimensions and, of course, love and peace. The fabulous follow-up ‘Take A Walk in the Sky’ flopped, but Carter and Lewis persisted and wrote a concept album titled ‘Peace’ in 1969. Their record company refused to release it and the whole project was shelved for decades. Whether they believed in Hippie or not, ‘Peace’ is a fine concept album with eight songs about peace, love, freedom and Vietnam framed between a Prologue and an Epilogue. The only non-original is the weakest track of all (Donovan’s ‘Colours’). The wonderful harmonies are supported by great playing: Mickey Keen on guitar, John Ford on bass and Richard Hudson on drums (yes,  Hudson and Ford of Strawbs fame!).

SHAKEY VICK

Born in 1937, Graham Vickery aka Shakey Vick for most of us, was among the lucky and privileged few who attended the first gigs by those famous American blues musicians who were being flown over to the UK at the end of the fifties and the beginning of the sixties. He picked up the harmonica his brother-in-law had given him for his ninth (!) birthday and formed his first group with singer-guitarist Chris Youlden in 1963. Although Shakey Vick would never equal the success of bands like The Yardbirds, he did record an entire album for Pye in 1969. Youlden eventually joined Savoy Brown and Shakey’s guitarist Rod Price found fame with Foghat. Being a bit of rebel who hates being told what to do, he stuck to his love for Chicago blues and the harmonica. In his own words: “Getting nowhere, but enjoying myself”. Or: “My blues life has been about me doing my direction and other people coming along with me, but not coerced”. It certainly did not stop him from recording and from touring the UK, Europe and the US. At the age of 78, Shakey can still be found playing Chicago blues at local venues in London. Radio 68 interviewed this modest and true British blues phenomenon in December 2015.
in Part 1, you can listen to interview snippets, tracks form the first album (Little Woman You’re So Sweet) and the 2005 cd  Greek Street, plus many of Shakey’s heroes. Watch out for part two with Chris Youlden solo and Savoy Brown.

SPECIAL: ROLAND 
“Roland Van Campenhout is zonder twijfel één van de meest unieke Belgische artiesten.  Sinds de sixties  heeft Roland een uitgebreide en zeer indrukwekkende en eclectische discografie opgebouwd. Meer dan 20 albums waarop folk, blues, rock, world music… samen feest vieren in een vernieuwende muzikale dimensie eigen aan de absoluut  vrije muzikale geest  die Roland héél zeker is.

Starman Records bracht reeds Roland’s “Snowblind” uit 1981terug uit op vinyl en brengt nu voor de allereerste keer de twee eerste soloalbums van Roland terug op vinyl uit: “A Tune For You” uit 1971 en “One Step At The Time” uit 1972. (…) Wat deze uitgaven nog unieker maakt zijn de in totaal 8 bonus tracks, vanonder het stof gehaald uit de VRT-archieven. Deze songs werden in 1970 live opgenomen, solo en met The Bluesworkshop (inclusief Jean Blaute), en werden op één uitzondering nooit later hernomen in de studio” (Bron: Starman Records, www.starmanrecords.com)

GROWING CONCERN

“(…) However, the band was a different proposition altogether with its emphasis on beautiful vocal harmonies and fantastic guitar and organ work (…) All in all, this is a fine album. The support of vocalists Bonnie MacDonald and  Mary Gartski are an intrinsic part of the band’s distinctive sound, and the songs contributed by organist Dan Passaglia, bassist JohnPedley and guitarist Ralph Toms are more than equal to the offerings from more illustrious contemporaries such as Mike Hugg (“Mister You’re A Better Man Than I”) or Stephen Stills  (“Sit Down I Think I Love You”). The album, which is brilliantly recorded, is of a consistently high musical quality” (Source: http://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/growing-concern-the-the-growing-concern-lp/ASH.3020LP.html)

GRAPEFUIT: DEEP WATER

Remembered for some fine singles combining harmonious pop, clever arrangements and some psych (e.g. “Deep Water”), Grapefruit nevertheless recorded some heavier material and even some fine blues and R&B, though not necessarily in its pure format. We picked three songs from their second LP and maybe it’s no coincidence that these three were not penned by George Alexander who usually provided most of the material…
Check out http://rockasteria.blogspot.com.es/2011/12/grapefruit-deep-water-1969-uk-excellent.html