Comments on: Glass Hammer Cheers

By: diskojoe

diskojoe — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:55:12 +0000

S.T., you’re quite right about the quality of those BBC songs from back in the day. One example is the version of “Maggie Mae” that Rod Stewart did w/the Faces that appeared in the Faces box set, which I enjoy even though I’ve heard the original millions of times. I have a few “At The BBC” albums in my collection from acts like the Kinks, Move, the Small Faces, T. Rex & Marianne Faithfull, the latter being rather lovely indeed.

I did borrow the CD version of the 40th Anniversary of Odessey & Oracle from my local library (where I work part-time) & was impressed on how well it came out. I will get the DVD soon.

By: S. T. Karnick

S. T. Karnick — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:24:12 +0000

Also, Joe, do you have the 40th Anniversary Concert performance of "Oddesey and Oracle"? It's absolutely terrific. All the surviving members of the band got together for the concert in March 2008, along with additional musicians and background singers. Rod Argent is at the top of his form, and after the first couple of songs Colin Blunstone is superb. Blunstone's voice hardened quite a bit after the band broke up, but his mature voice works well once he gets going in the concert. The concert reminds one of how brilliant each of the Zombies was as a performer, and what great songwriters they were. "Odessey and Oracle" is one of the greatest of rock albums, and their concert performance of it is spot-on. Argent, in particular, shows that his skills on keyboards remain near the very top of all rock performers to this day. In my view, he was just behind Wakey and Emerson during the late '60s and early '70s. The concert reminds one also of how likable these people were and remain--so different from the weirdos and obviously disturbed individuals who infest today's music industry. Rod Argent's song introductions and other comments are enjoyable and informative. I highly recommend the DVD.

By: S. T. Karnick

S. T. Karnick — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:59:01 +0000

Thanks, Joe. The Zombies are among my favorites from the late 1960s. I still have to get Zombie Heaven. There’s a surprising number of really good songs in the band’s catalog beyond the three or four big hits they had in the United States, and I have many from their various albums and collections. And the BBC live tracks I’ve heard by other bands–such as the Kinks and the Move–have been quite impressive. They’re not like what one ordinarily thinks of live tracks as being, as the sound quality is nearly as good as most studio records.

Boy, they could record well back in those days, before computers. How odd.

I do have Into the Afterlife. It is indeed a terrific compilation, and I’ve just popped it into my cd player and am clicking on boxes to rip songs to my computer. NP: “She’s Not There,” by Neal MacArthur. A sparkling track. Clicking on “Rip.”

By: diskojoe

diskojoe — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:39:00 +0000

A very good article, S.T., & since you name-dropped the Zombies several times, are you aware of their excellent box set called Zombie Heaven, which has almost everything they did including BBC sessions? Another Zombies related album I would recommend is Into The Afterlife, a complation of solo work from the various members from the late 1960s, including Colin Brumstone’s solo version of She’s Not There, done under the name of Neil MacArthur.