soul kitchen connection
Leonard Cohen: Songs From A Room
By Harvey Kubernik © 2019
April 7, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of Leonard Cohen’s second Columbia Records album, Songs From A Room in 1969. It reached No.
Courtesy of Sony Music
63 on the US Billboard Top LPs and No. 2 on the UK charts.
“Initially, Songs From A Room felt like a trespass,” suggested writer Marina Muhlfriedel. “How dare Leonard Cohen dilute the sacred incursion his first album, forged into my being? For some reason, I never considered the possibility of a follow-up. Songs of Leonard Cohen was so personal, so monolithic, I assumed it to be a singular event.
“It took a friend planting me on a couch, cranking up the speakers and demanding I listen. Before ‘Bird On the Wire’ was over, tears flowed. It was so damn beautiful — a hymn, a confession, a deep bow of humility striking a nearly unbearable nerve. Leonard seemed a bit older, wearier, less embellished, but once again that trickster sunk right into my soul.”
“Leonard wrote songs because he had to, and because he wanted to get laid,” observed author, record producer and deejay Andrew Loog Oldham in a 2014 interview we conducted. “Later he wrote songs because he wanted to get paid. That’s when I decided he had something to say.”
I was on the UCLA campus in Westwood, California when Cohen debuted in 1970 at Royce Hall. Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas was one of Leonard’s singers that evening. Mama Cass Elliot had already covered “You Know Who I Am” from Cohen’s Songs From A Room on her 1968 album Dream a Little Dream. Continue reading
MUSIC’S BIGGEST STARS HONOR “THE KING OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL” IN ‘ELVIS ALL-STAR TRIBUTE’
AIRING SUNDAY, FEB. 17 ON NBC; Elvis Presley ’68 NBC-TV Comeback Special Celebrated with Definitive 50th Anniversary Box Set Release Deluxe 5CD, 2 Blu-ray Disc Set
By Harvey Kubernik © 2019
Elvis Presley’s landmark ’68 Comeback Special, initially aired on NBC-TV in December 1968, was recently celebrated with the retail release
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment
of a deluxe box set by RCA/Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, on Friday, November 30.
Elvis Presley-’69 Comeback Special (50th Anniversary Edition) is the definitive chronicle of one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll performances ever televised: Elvis Presley at the peak of his powers. For the first time ever, all previously-released audio and newly-restored video from the taping of the special will be available in one package – including unused performances and studio outtakes that spotlight the real Elvis. The package contains an entire disc showcasing the legendary sessions for the special recorded with Elvis and the west coast members of the Wrecking Crew.
This 5CD, 2 Blu-ray disc deluxe package also includes an 80-page book featuring rare photographs and ephemera and a new oral history on the special, crafted from interviews conducted for Thom Zimny’s 2018 documentary, Elvis Presley: The Searcher.
The anniversary of this electrifying moment in rock n’ roll history further continues into 2019 when NBC-TV and Ken Ehrlich Productions team up for a 2-hour primetime television tribute to the original special which airs Sunday, February 17th from 9-11 p.m. (ET/PT) on NBC-TV. Continue reading
It WAS 50 YEARS AGO TODAY THAT JOHNNY CASH TAUGHT THE WORLD HOW TO SLAY
Johnny Cash Live At San Quentin Album
Johnny Cash “A Boy Named Sue”
The Johnny Cash Show Television Series
New Book The Man Who Carried Cash: Saul Holiff, Johnny Cash and the Making of an American Icon
By Harvey Kubernik © 2018
“A Boy Named Sue,” written by humorist, poet, and singer/songwriter Shel Silverstein became a popular hit record during 1969 by Johnny
Courtesy of Sony Music
Cash.
On February 24, 1969, two days before he turned 37, Cash recorded the song live in concert at California’s San Quentin State Prison for his Johnny Cash At San Quentin album produced by Bob Johnston, issued on Columbia Records June 26, 1969.
Born Sheldon Allan “Shel” Silverstein in Chicago in 1930, Silverstein was known for his cartoons, songs, children’s books and contributions to Playboy magazine.
During 1969 Silverstein’s own recording of “Boy Named Sue,” a 45 RPM on the LP Boy Named Sue (And His other Country Songs),was produced by Chet Atkins and Felton Jarvis.
It has been said that Silverstein’s inspiration for the song’s title came from a man named Sue K. Hicks, who was a judge in the state of Tennessee. Silverstein heard Hicks speak at an event, and was intrigued by the name of Sue for a man. Apparently it was the father of Sue Hicks who named the boy after his mother, Susanna Hicks, who died during hospital birth. Continue reading
Tina Turner Meets Harvey Kubernik
Tina Musical Coming to Broadway In 2019
By Harvey Kubernik © 2018
Tina- The Tina Turner Musical based on the life story of Tina Turner, which opened on London’s West end in April 2018, that starred
Photo by Henry Diltz
Adrienne Warren, will be coming to Broadway in the fall of 2019.
The acclaimed West End show was directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!). Playwright Katori Hall (The Mountaintop) collaborated on the book with Frank Katelaar and Kees Prins.
Tina Turner is associated with the production. On her official website, Turner displayed a statement about Tina.
“It’s really important to me to have the chance to share my full story. This musical is not about my stardom. It is about the journey I took to get there. Each night I want audiences to take away from the theatre that you can turn poison into medicine.” Continue reading
THE MOODY BLUES IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD (50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
Commemorative Releases Available In 3CD/2DVD Box Set, Deluxe and Standard Digital Collections, CD, and Vinyl LP Packages
By Harvey Kubernik c 2018
On November 2, Polydor/Republic/UMe released the 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of The Moody Blues’ classic third album, In Search of
Courtesy of UMe
the Lost Chord.
The deluxe format is a 3CD/2DVD box set, featuring the album’s remastered original stereo mix and new stereo mix, plus rare and unreleased tracks, including a never-before-heard mono version of Legend of a Mind. There are BBC Radio One John Peel Top Gear and Afternoon Pop Show sessions, as well as mono mixes of the related Deram single A and B sides.
DVD1 (Audio) contains In Search of the Lost Chord 96kHz/24-bit 5.1 surround mix, new stereo mix, and original stereo mix.
DVD2 (Video) comprises BBC TV Colour Me Pop: In Search of the Lost Chord (14th September 1968); Ce Soir On Danse: The Moody Blues – ORTF French TV (13th July 1968, previously unreleased) and Carte d’Or – ORTF French TV (29th October 1968, previously unreleased).
A 76-page book is also included, with extensive sleeve notes by compiler Mark Powell, plus a host of rare photos and memorabilia images. Continue reading
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