ROCK & ROLL NEWS

ROCK & ROLL NEWS

Glanz, Gibb & The Grande Gang

The old Grande Ballroom is open again after some extensive interion surgery. When the ballroom closed last summer, it looked like its fifty years of use had finally caught up with it, but with over 800 lbs of plaster, a complete paint job and the help of some hard-to-find artisans, it looks better than....well, better than anyone thought it would.

The physical changes can be seen by going to the Grande as most rock 4n’ roll fiends will or have. The most important changes are in the area of booking policies.

In March, the Ballroom will begin its second phase of Michigan bookings. This phase will find the second band on the bill, if a Michigan band, billed on the ads and post cards equally with the headliner. The first band on the bill will' have to prove itself in other clubs before playing the Grande. The second band on the bill will usually play Friday and Saturday, just like the headliner. This policy will help strengthen local bands and give the good ones a chance to compete as a headliner with national acts. The Grande personnel have been rating the bands that appeared in January and those who will appear in February. This, of course, will mean that some bands will not be asked to come back until their act improves.

Ah, yes, the ballrooms, the wonderful ballrooms. Russ has reopened the Grande, Aaron Russo has beat a retreat to Chicago (recuperating for another thrust?) and Bob Bageris and Gabe Glantz are playing shoot-out at the O.K. Corrall.

It goes like this--Bob wouldn’t let Gabe take his money on January 2nd, on account of he figured that if the Grande, which Gabe owns, was open, then the contract for the merger of the Grande/Eastown was broken. So he had Gabe escorted away by real live pigs.

The. next night Gabe returned and pulled a gun which he waved around belligerently. Then he was again asked to leave by the pigs. Politely, though.

And Glantz has had the last laugh so far since courts ruled later that week that the merger was, indeed, full on.

TORONTO: Toronto’s Rock Pile has reopened as Club Foot. It has nothing to do with the former Rock Pile management but it does have something to do with Detroit. Guess who the new management is? That’s right, the long arm of Russ Gibb and boy wonder Howard Tyner has reached Ontario. Their front is John Gibb, described as a ’’Toronto boutique owner and former English musician44.

The new club features the same emcee and light show as the Rock Pile. ”We want to have a fairly strict British Blues Band policy44 according to Gibb (which one isn’t specified). According to Tyner, the club has already booked such British blues bands as Savoy Brown, Steve Miller, Led Zeppelin, Joe Cocker, the Who, the Nice, Blodwyn Pig, and Ten Years After.

The Fillmore East’s managing director, Kip Cohen, along with his wife, is off for a three month stay in India with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. .Filling in'for Kip will be Keeva Kristal.

Bill Graham’s ace partner and right hand man Paul Baratta left the Fillmore West to book a new Mexico City rock club called Los Globos.

Rock and roll is continuing its. invasion of Las Vegas Clubs. James Brown is at the International Hotel until January 25th when Elvis starts. At the

John Phillips, late of the Mamas and Papas, is writing the screen play for Mvra Breckinridge by Gore Vidal.

Both Junior Wells and Buddy Guy have split from Vanguard and are looking for new recording companies.

Hotel’s Casino Theatre, Little Richard has been booked for May, September and December.

The Insect Trust Mas moved to Atlantic from Capitol. Atlantic is becoming a sort of home for wayward groups, having already snatched up Ars Nova, Delaney and Bonnie, and of course the MC5, all from Elektra.

Billy Eckstine has left Motown tor Stax where Isacc Hayes had produced his new album.

WMP Splits Again

Wilson Mower Pursuit has gone the way of the buffalo. Skip Julius returned to the scene of the crime as pianist with Red, White and Blues again. Stoney, girl vocalist, is filling in for Kelly Greene of Frijid Pink. Kelly’s got pneumonia. After that the young Stoney will form her own group. Steve (drummer) and Jo Bedo, chick bassist, are getting together a new group that apparently won’t be called WMP.

All the Lonely People have fired their manager, Bill Galmici. And Stoney Murphy of the late Wilson Mower Pursuit, is apparently going to be joining them as lead vocalist.

Moby Grape is totally on the rocks. While Don Stevenson and Jerry Miller have formed a new band, the Rhythm Dukes (rhythm and blues, my man) Bob Mosley is performing as a janitor somewhere in the wilds of San Diego and Peter Lewis is moving furniture for his grandmother.

Grand Funk Railroad and their protege, the young Terry Knight, who used to be a disc jockey on several area stations, gratuitously donated $1000 to the Atlanta, Georgia ACLU because of ’’high ticket prices44.

Don Brewer, GFRR drummer, sums up the group’s feelings, ’’Face it, sometimes when there’s a bust some innocent kids may get picked up. I mean they* have long hair, so they get nailed along with the guilty ones44. Of course, those creeps who really smoke dope deserve to get their heads busted.

Herbie Mann has his own label, Embryo, which is being distributed by Atlantic. He’s recording new albums by Sonny Sharrock, Pharoah Sanders’ guitarist (which is out on Vortex, and produced by Mann, and bassist Ron Carter. Also signed to the new label were the jazz/rock band Brute Force*

Pauline Rivelli, publisher of Jazz and Pop, has formed Jazz and Pop Records. They plan on producing eight lps a year, with production by such Jazz and Pop staffers as Frank Kofsky, Nat Hentoff and Jay Ruby.

Fame Studios, owned by Rick Hall, is opening a Memphis branch. All previous Fame work was done in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

B.B. King has gone commercial, doing ads for everyone from Proctor and Gamble (Axion, dishsoap) to Pepsi-Cola to giant AT&T. The AT&T gig was for a Bell Telephone Hour theme.

Mike Bloomfield has changed his name, at least temporarily, to cut a Moog album. Known as Fast Fingers Finkelstein, the super-star guitarist calls the album Moogie Woogie. A single release is planned, What’d I Say b/w Even Pigs Like To Boogie. Indeed.

WKNR-FM will soon be on the air 24 hours a day. John Small has been appointed Station Manager of FM, and has hired a new full time disc jockey, Paul Greiner. Dan Carlisle will retain his night time spot. Since the sale of WKNR Paul Cannon, Program Director of AM has resigned. There will no doubt be new personnel on AM. WKNR-FM will also be unveiling some new daily programs which are yet to be announced. There are to be two visitors to WKNR-FM in the next couple of weeks. One is Tom Donohue, formerly of KMPX-FM and later, someone from Metro Media FM in New York. The reason for the visit is not known.

Cont. Next Page

Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, featuring Eric Clapton on lead guitar, will be here February 13th for two shows, at 7:15 and 10:30 at Ford Auditorium (which seats only 2,600). And maybe, just maybe George Harrison will be with them, if he can get in the country, that is.

The show, which includes the Rationals and Sunday Funnies, is being promoted by Robin Seymour and the notorious (to say the least) Ron Sunshine. (Sunshine has landed the Friends for ten shows across the country) Robin, since he lost his TV show due to the archaic policies of Channel 50, has been really getting his concert promotions together. His next promotion will be at the old Michigan Theater downtown with the MC5, Frijid Pink and the Rumor, along with some W.C. Fields or Charlie Chaplin revival type films. ,

This is apparently merely the first in a series of concerts that Seymour plans to book into the Michigan. Tickets are priced at $3.50 and $4.50, which presumably means they’ll be sitdown concerts instead of ballroom affairs. Saturday matinees will be at 4 p.m. with Friday and Saturday shows at 7 and 10 p.m. Sunday the first show is from 2-5 p.m. and later at 8 p.m. Coming attractions include B.B. King, Savoy Brown, Nice, Small Faces and Little Richard. All of which means that Detroit has that much more rock and roll, which is out of sight. It will stand. The Frost, having blown some good gigs including one" at the Fillmore East have decided to instead vacation in Florida. And Dick Wagner is talking of renting halls around Michigan to put on Frost concerts. Not that they’re not over-exposed here already.

The Nice, chamber/rock stars, will be on the Bell Telephone Hour February 14th. Gigging with them will be Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. What are we coming to?

In Concert, a series of shows devoted to one major group has started production of its first show, to feature Creedence Clearwater Revival. Tom Donahue, ex-KSAN dj is the associate producer of the series.

Along with the Fort Lauderdale crowd that gathers yearly in Florida, this year will find another bunch of rock and roll freaks congregated on a 42,000 acre Seminole Indian Reservation for a three-day Seminole Rock Revival. The festival is still in the planning stages, with the Hog Farmers coming in to help. The proceeds from the festival will go to the Seminole Indians.

The Frost have the new manager they’ve been looking for. Not a fat, baldheaded New Yorker at all, but Detroit’s own Mike Quatro. The difference is merely in accent.

Mossport, amid rumors of it’s imminent demise, appears to be going on almost as scheduled. Hugh Curry, who’s doing much of the arrangements for the festival, said that, contrary to very persistent rumors, the Mossport festival was still on. A meeting with Mossport city officials on the 21st, according to Curry, went “really good. It was an informal meeting. There are an almost insurmountable number of hassles, but Mossport is definitely going to go on.”

Noel Redding was married in London prior to Christmas. Redding is presently Fat Matress’ lead guitarist and, before that, played bass with Jimi Hendrix’ Experience.

The Newport Folk Festival which suffered financial losses is being cut back to a one day benefit to replenish the organization’s funds. The Jazz Festival continues to have financial success though there was a great deal of hassle last summer due to the presentation of rock groups. Wein hopes to present “groups featuring the better element of rock equating to Jazz”. Whatever that means.

The Newport Jazz Festival, traditionally held on the 4th of July weekend, has requested a postponement of one week to July 10-12. Promoter George Wein has petitioned the Newport City Council for a change to those dates.

Golden Holly

Buddy Holly, dead for twelve years, has received two gold records for his single That’ll Be The Day (recorded with the Crickets) and his album The Buddy Holly Story. Decca which owns Coral Records who Buddy recorded for, is also releasing a tape called Rock and Roll Survival. The tape features Holly along with the Shirelles, Bill Haley, and the Comets and. Len Barry. The tapes will be released in album form in February;

Another Coven? Witchcraft and rock are mixed once again with the projected (astrally?) appearance of The Seven Deadly Sins by the Plus on Probe. “A rock excursion into the black arts and occult”, Plus is a British group cutting with Simon Napier Bell and Ray Singer.

A&M and Phil Spector have parted after releasing two Spector produced albums, the Checkmates Ltd., which featured a hit single Black Pearl and the Ike and Tina Turner classic album, River Deep/Mountain High. Spector will form his own company, with the old Spector name, Philles.

Rock Babies

Detroit rock and roll people have been experiencing a set of births. On January seventeenth, Leni Sinclair, wife of the imprisoned John Sinclair, gave birth to Celia Sanchez Mao Sinclair. And, later on the same day, John Badanjek, Mich Ryder’s ace drummer, and his wife Dorothy became the proud parents of a baby boy. It’s the second child for both families, though Badanjek is rumored to be in possession of a veritable swarm of killer toads.

Joan Baez Harris gave birth to her first child, a boy, December 2nd. The Harrises (Joan’s husband David is presently doing time for draft resistance) named their son Gabriel.

Gosh! A real rock and roll revival?!!? A 1950’s Rock and Roll Revival! Yes, indeed, right here in Motown, the home of Jack Scott, on February 27th. Yes, with the Drifters and Shanana, Bill Haley and his Comets, The Coasters and the Shirelles. Robin Seymour, feels the show will be ’’just like a big party“. For $4.50, $5.50 and $6.50, it may be a real big party.

Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels made a killer return to the local ballroom scene at the Eastown, January 16th. It was a killer bill for Bob Bageris anyway. The supporting acts, Tea, Jack Burning Tree and Heads Over Heels were all excellent with Heads Over Heels making their presence felt especially heavily. Heads appears to be a group to watch, having just signed with Herb Cohen for personal management.

But the energy really came down heavy when Mitch and the band came out; the crowd was on their feet from the beginning. It seemed that every drummer in town was in the audience to hear the Wheels drummer John Badanjek who is an unqualified bitch. An ace homecoming.

Gary Quackenbush has rejoined SRC. He replaces Ray Goodman who quit to join Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels whose former guitarist, Joe Kubert is, by his own choice, odd man out.

Pharoah: Alive and, Well...

Pharoah Sanders, just over a bout with hepatitis is back in New York. His new Impulse album Jewel is about ready for release, featuring the cosmically beautiful Umala. He’s accepted a teaching position in Cleveland and, hopefully, we’ll be able to bring you the full story on the giant of jazz.

Pharoah Sanders vocalist, Leon Thomas (who does those weird voice things on Karma) is putting out his own album on Bob Thiele’s Flying Dutchman label. Thomas has been appearing live with the Sanders’ group on its infrequent public appearances.

It’s a travesty that the genius of so many black musicians is wasted due to the cloistered booking policies of the poprock promoters. After all, Sanders and friends certainly blew back a whole number of people when they played the Fillmore West with B.B. King this fall.

Recent Records

New Record Releases:

Gato Barbieri, the longhaired Argentine saxophonist, recorded his first album for Flying Dutchman. It’s called The Third World

Au French independent record company, Byg, is planning to release a ten-volume History of Jazz. The set will feature artists *in historical sequence from King Oliver to the young Archie Shepp.

Sort this out; Keef Hartley has a new album coming out on Deram which features Mick Taylor, formerly with John Mayall and now, of course, a Rolling Stone. John May all’s last record on London will feature taped interviews, Mick Taylor and Miller Anderson of the Keef Hartley group. And, also on a London label, Champion Jack Dupree’s new record features Eric Clapton, John Mayall and Keff Hartley. Well, then...

Jim Morrison is busy even though the Doors fifth album (which we await with bated breath) is delayed. He’s got two new flicks coming out - Highway and St. Nicholas. And his book of poetry, Lords and New Creatures (about Lizard Kings and such) will be released in the spring by Simon and Schuster.

The Iron Butterfly have dared to record their first live album at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the San Diego International Sports Arena. And you thought all southern California had to offer was Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys and the Doors.

Dave Mason is signed to Blue Thumb and is presently gathering a group to record an album due out in March. Mason was one of the first people to latch onto the Delaney and Bonnie craze, touring with them and Blind Faith this summer. Before that, he belonged to Traffic.

Wilson Picket, with a new record out, has resigned with Atlantic Records in what was termed an “unprecedented” deal. Right on, brother.

Mary Hopkins, on Apple, with a Mickey Most tune called Temma Harbour...Freddy and the Dreamers, whose single is called Bingo Bingo...Del Shannon on Dunhill...Hot Tuna (Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady of the Jefferson Airplane) on RCA at the end of the month...Eric Clapton, whose first solo Bramlett (of Dalbum is being recorded in Muscle Shoals, produced by Delaney Bramlett (of Delaney and Bonnie)...David Porter, songwriter with Isacc Hayes of about half of Stax/Volt’s hits, a new album on Enterprise with Hayes producing...Tracy Nelson and Mother Earth, presently working in

Nashville on their fourth album...Lesley Gore on Crewe (Lesley Gore?) (on Crewe?)... Sam Lay, former Paul Butterfield Blues Band drummer; called Sammy Lay in Bluesland the record was produced by Mike Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites...Tyrannosauraus Rex; the album is called Beard of Stars and features new Ty. Rex member Mickey Finn, who replaces Steve Peregrin Took and was scored by Bilbo Baggins...

Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds, which panicked people thirty years ago before such a war was a good possibility, is being re-released on London’s Stereo-Dimension series.

Bob Crewe has also been busy, what with signing up Leslie*Gore and all. He’s also snatched up a British band, Fox and is releasing the Rationals new album, this week. And, from out of the past, The Greatest Of Mitch Ryders’ Greatest.

Mike Quatro informs us that he is working on a series of an undisclosed number ot albums for an undisclosed record company with an undisclosed number of friends. Though he did drop a sly hint that the former Welk pianist would be recording with Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix. What an ashtray!

The Bump have a single out, Sing Into The Wind. Sing is also the song (and maybe the title) of a soundtrack of a film they’ve scored for a Ford Motor Company entry into some film festival or another.

All Shook Up

Procul Harum isn’t dead yet. At least, not quite. Bassist David Knights and organist Matthew Fisher have left the group (though Fisher will continue to produce their records). Knights has been replaced by Chris Coppo, who can also play organ and Fisher will be replaced by the one member of Procul Harum who had never played live, Keith Reid. Reid won’t be with the group all the time, however, just when essential. Robin Trower, Gary Brooker and B.J. Wilson are all o.k.

Even more bands on the rocks: Peter Frampton is either leaving or has left Humble Pie due to a rift between he and Steve Marriot. And Noel Redding, the ex-Hendrix Experience bass player, is without a job. Fat Mattress has broken up.

Rhinoceros has regrouped. Three of the old members, Michael Fonfaraa, Danny Weis and John Finley have found Peter Hodgson and Larry Leishman to assist them. Their new drummer is named the Duke of Prunes.

One of the Bee Gees (not a Gibb brother presumably) is forming a group with Alan Bown and an ex-member of the Herd. Who could be Peter Frampton if the Humble Pie are really all through.

Arthur Lee broke up Love again (for the umpteenth time) and is planning a European tour for early January.

Henry Vestine calls his new band Sun. The reason, explains the ex-Canned Heat lead guitarist, is that the Sun is "the source of all energy".

Musical Cruise

Love Promotions is sponsoring a musical cruise to the Bahamas from New York, March 20-26. Groups booked include Catfish, Love Cry Want, Paul Siebel, Tractor and Cherry People. The bands do three sets, one during the cruise, one while docked in Freeport and one on the way back. And all this for only $210 to $350, depending on whether or not you want front row Dick Keelan and Cedric Smith, legendary Detroit folkies, have been making irregular appearances in Toronto. They feature occasional electric backup from a Toronto group called the Perth Country Conspiracy. Which ain’t the Spikedrivers, but it’ll do, I guess.

Revolutionary radio suffered another blow, this time on the West Coast. Black disc jockey, Roland Young of KSAN in San Francisco was offed for broadcasting a suggestion over the phone that those who support David Hillard, Black Panther chief of staff, remarks about Presidentpig Nixon, send telegrams which said so to the White House. Thus causing the KSAN station manager to be subpoenaed to appear before a Federal Grand Jury. Hillard told a Moratorium Day crowd in San Francisco ”We will kill Richard Nixon. We will kill any motherfucker that stands in the way of freedom“ Young had to quit at least once before because of KSAN’s corporate structure. He felt that his firing reflected Nixon/Agnew’s plan to ’’tighten up on dissent in the media“.

In Chicago, our old buddy, the Righteous Rudnick started his show on WGLD-FM, December 5th. Not without some hassle. Replacing all ethnic broadcasting the hassidic healer picked the former Irish hour to play a tape of a Black Panther press conference

featuring Bobby Rush. Which, since ’’all those people speak English" according to Rudnick, caused the switchboard to light up, a potential sponsor to cancel (saying ’’This isn’t a music show, it’s a political show") and fulminations about FCC investigations and all that to be rumored.

WGLD, by the way, also features Big Bill Hill, the announcer at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, on its midnight shft. Super soul radio.

Elvis Presley rented an entire night club, TJ’s in Memphis, for his New Year’s Eve bash. The New Year’s Eve parties have become a Presley tradition.

Beatles...

The Beatles are busy. Their new 45 should be Let It Be and the new album will be called Beatles Again. It features old Beatles singles which haven’t found their way to albums yet. Tunes include Lady Madonna, Can’t Buy Me Love, Paperback. Writer, I Should Have Known Better, Rain, Revolution (electric version), Old Brown Shoe, Don’t Let Me Down and the Ballad of John and Yoko. Expect it out in mid-February.

In an effort to “enable me to move about anonymously”, John Lennon has cut his hair and shaved his beard. In a ritual performed by 27 year-old Aase Haudrogh in an old barn on a Danish farm, Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono and her daughter, Kyoko, five, were also crew-cutted. Also participating in the shearing according to London newspapers, were Yoko’s former husband Anthony Cox and his Danish wife, Belinda. It actually is not known how close Lennon’s hair was cut; some reported that he looked like a “skinhead”, others that he had the military/atheletic crew cut appearance of a decade ago. Lennon refused to allow any pictures to be taken.

Trials and tribulations for Robert Stigwood. Eric Clapton continues to tour with Delaney and Bonnie, Steve Winwood is producing an album with the remnants of Traffic, to finish off his United Artists contract and Ginger Baker has formed his own Air Force.

Ginger’s band, called Air Force, is about ten or twelve members strong. It is supposedly going to include both Steve Winwood and Rick Grech of Blind Faith. Baker and Winwood had reportedly been so antagonistic towards each other by the end of the h oBlind Faith tour that they were never going to speak to each other.

Winwood will probably tour the U.S. this year with some kind of group, either with or without his faithful friends. And of course, the Stigwood organization still claims that Blind Faith will be with us forever.

John and G.eorge are having, a hassle with immigration (J. Edgar Hoover versus Ed Sullivan?) and Paul’s been here for a couple of weeks they say. And George either isn’t going to Play with Delaney and Bonnie at the Fillmore or else he’s not...but Eric Clapton definitely is. Yoko is being Yoko, of course.

A later conversation with Alan Pariser of Group Three Management, and Delaney and Bonnie’s personal manager, put things up in the air again. According to Pariser, it’s up to the U.S. Government whether George plays or not.

Ten thousand Finnish rock creeps have voted the Beatles number one group in the world. So what else is new?

John Lennon’s ex-wife, Cynthia, is planning to marry Roberto Rossini, an Italian jetsetter soon.

Magic Christian

Commonwealth United Records is releasing The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr, with music by Paul McCartney. They also have a supergroup of sorts coming out with a single Come and Get It,: featuring Rick Grech of Blind Faith (reaping the first of many benefits from his brief association with Clapton and Co.), Mike Kelly of Spooky Tooth, Danny Lane and Trevor Burton of the Move and some of the people from Britain’s Fairport Convention. The Film and album are both being released in February.

The label has also announced the signing of Jimmy Miller, producer of the Stones, Traffic and Blind Faith to an exclusive production agreement. The first group he’s producing will include ex-Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell. Who is incredible.

They’ve also snapped up Cissy Houston, who used to back up Aretha in the Sweet Inspirations.

Beatles Monthly, the Beatles fan club magazine of another era entirely, has folded. Paul is maybe gonna do a new one, with fresh ideas and all but don’t count on it. None of the other Beatles really cares and John is probably opposed since the old one never had anything good to say about him since his tryst with Yoko began. Beatlemania trudges on.

Leopolds, Berkeley, California’s student owned record shop, are boycotting the new Beatles album. Beatles Again, which is composed of previously released singles, will have a list price of $6.98 as did Abbey Road, formerly the most expensive single pop album. In a letter to the Beatles, the Leopold’s people explained the boycott was not gainst the Beatles as people or musicians, but against the exorbitant prices“In fact”, the letter said, “if at all possible we will obtain the British version of Beatles Again and sell it to our customers at cost.” The British versions of the albums sell at normal (British) list prices. 3

O.K., let’s see if we’ve got this straight. The Beatles are going to be on Ed Sullivan’s TV show in early February, not to sing or play but just to walk out and take a bow. They’re certainly too well-known to sit in the audience and just stand up out there, huh? And might get ripped off since Beatlemania still exists out there somewhere? Anyways...

Steve Winwood