Freedom to Music
Posts tagged Tony Ashton
Green Bullfrog – Green Bullfrog Sessions (1970) (@256)
10 Jun 2010
(Review from allmusic, wikipedia)
Carved firmly in the mold of the superstar jam sessions that fascinated the rock cognoscenti during the late ’60s/early ’70s, Green Bullfrog was an album resulting from a one-off studio project and recorded between February and May 1970. The album was the idea of producer Derek Lawrence who assembled a group of musicians with whom he had worked in the 1960s. For contractual reasons, the musicians were billed under pseudonyms.
A few originals (penned by Lawrence) were played, as well as many blues-inflected covers of rock songs. With Blackmore, Sullivan, and Lee involved, it is naturally a guitar-heavy event, and there’s certainly some searing playing to be found amid the good-time grooves and loose-limbed energies; the seven-minute title track is a particular tour de force.
Line-up:
- Rod Alexander (Vicar) / Guitar
- Tony Ashton (Bevy) / Keyboards
- Ritchie Blackmore (Boots) / Guitar
- Matthew Fisher (Sorry) / Keyboards
- Charles “Chas” Hodges (Sleepy) / Bass
- Earl Jordan (Jordan) / Vocals
- Albert Lee (Pinta) / Guitar
- Ian Paice (Speedy) / Drums
- Big Jim Sullivan (Boss) / Guitar
Track List:
01. Ain’t Nobody Home – 4:17
02. Bullfrog – 7:13
03. Walk A Mile In My Shoes – 3:47
04. My Baby Left Me – 3:18
05. Makin’ Time – 3:00
06. Lawdy Miss Clawdy – 3:18
07. I’m A Free Man – 4:37
08. Lovin’ You Is Good For Me Baby – 4:53
09. I Want You – 3:52
10. Louisiana Man – 4:10
11. Who Do You Love – 3:59
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Tony Ashton & Friends – Live At Abbey Road (2000) (@256)
27 Dec 2009
(Review from allmusic)
Coming together to honour and celebrate the career of Tony Ashton, musical guests from all eras of his work perform a blistering set of classics from Tony Ashton’s career, Whitesnake and Paice-Ashton-Lord.
Sound quality is top notch and energy levels are high. ‘Hey, this is live,’ comments Bernie Marsden after a slightly wobbly break, and this album really is vibrant with real live musical excellence.
The concert begins with the band Mash, followed by Johnny Johnson and Dave Williams. A Hardin and York (Eddie Hardin, Pete York) reunion follows which includes Geoff Whitehorn, Chris Barber, Jaz Lochrie. Zoot Money, and Eddie’s daughter Emma is up next. They are followed by Angel. Wrapping up the first half of the event is a short set of Rock (and Who) classics performed by John Entwistle, Zak Starkey, John Rabbit Bundrick and Gary Nuttall.
The second half opens with Tony Ashton himself, followed by a short acoustic set by Mickey Moody and Bernie Marsden. Afterward, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Neil Murray and Robert Hart joins them for a short set of Whitesnake songs. The finale is a mini Paice-Ashton-Lord reunion set, which includes Bernie Marsden and Howie Casey.
Line-up:
- Tony Ashton / Keyboards, Vocals
with
- Chris Barber / Trombone
- John “Rabbit” Bundrick / Keyboards
- Howie Casey / Saxophone
- John Entwistle / Bass
- Robert Hart / Vocals
- Jon Lord / Organ, Saxophone
- Bernie Marsden / Guitar, Saxophone, Vocals
- Micky Moody / Guitar
- Neil Murray / Bass, Saxophone
- Gary Nuttall / Guitar, Vocals
- Ian Paice / Drums, Saxophone
- Nigel Portman Smith / Bass
- Zak Starkey / Drums
- Geoff Whitehorn / Guitar
- Laurie Wisefield / Guitar
- Pete York / Drums
- Jeanette McKinley / Back Vocals
- Sheila McKinley / Back Vocals
Track List:
01. Introduction – 1:52
02. One Room Country Shack – 8:11
03. Mercy Mercy – 5:07
04. No Money Down – 6:35
05. Shake Rattle and Roll – 3:22
06. Ain’t Gonna Cry No More – 5:04
07. Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues – 4:56
08. Ready An Willing (Sweet Satisfaction) – 4:48
09. Ain’t No Love (In The Heart Of The City) – 7:56
10. Here I Go Again – 5:51
11. Ghost Story – 5:36
12. Sneaky Private Lee – 8:32
13. Resurrection Shuffle – 9:50
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Family – BBC Radio Volume 2 (1971-73) (@256)
22 Sep 2009
(Info from cduniverse.com)
This is the second of two volumes including Family’s previously unreleased BBC Radio 1 sessions. Covering the period from early 1971 up to mid 1973, these recorded sessions are mastered from the original BBC transcription tapes and feature one of Britain’s finest bands playing in the studio, but with an extra edge that is normally only captured at live performances.
Included here is a rare session by Family as a 4 piece, previewing songs such as ‘Save Some For Thee’, using a synthesizer in place of bass guitar.
Line-up:
- Roger Chapman / vocals, harmonica, percussion
- John ‘Poli’ Palmer / flute, piano, vibes (1-11)
- Rob Townsend / drums, percussion
- John ‘Charlie’ Whitney / guitars, keyboards
- John Weider / bass, violin, guitars (1-5)
- John Wetton / bass, guitars, vocals (10-11)
- Tony Ashton / piano, Hammond organ (12-14)
- Jim Cregan / bass, guitars, vocals (12-14)
Track List:
01. Strange Band – 2:45
02. Hometown – 3:49
03. Procession – 4:56
04. Part Of The Load – 9:52
05. Lives And Ladies – 8:13
06. Buming Bridges – 3:49
07. Save Some For Thee – 3:08
08. In My Own Town – 3:01
09. Seasons – 2:12
10. Children – 2:12
11. Between Blue & Me – 5:04
12. Boom Band – 3:03
13. Buffet Tea For Two – 5:20
14. Check Out – 5:14
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Family – BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert (1973) (@256)
21 Sep 2009
(Review from starling.rinet.ru)
This live album was the only recording of the album till the “Live” album surfaced only a few years back. As it frequently happened back then, it was recorded for live retransmission on the BBC airwaves. The album has an additional audience overdub (which can be annoying).
It is January 1973, Poli Palmer and John Wetton had already quit, and the band stepped into its last incarnation with Cregan on bass and Ashton on keyboards – in fact, they are actually previewing one of the songs from their future “It’s Only A Movie” album on here (‘Buffet Tea For Two’, here entitled simply ‘Buffet Tea’).
From the very opening chords – they rip into action with ‘Burlesque’ – it’s obvious that Family follow the standard classic-rock trick of discarding the smooth edges in concert and concentrating on energizing the audiences with everything loud, distorted and aggressive. Whitney’s guitar suddenly starts sounding gruffer and rougher than ever, he definitely goes out of his way to provide Family with a noble hard rock background in a live setting. In the meantime, Tony Ashton adds all kinds of nifty touches on the keyboards, bashing on the keys as if he were hammering in an enemy’s head, adding Emerson-like distortion effects to his organ parts.
Many of the songs are significantly extended in concert, or just as significantly modified. There’s the matter of lengthy intros with Whitney soloing and Chappo following him with his wailings, or occasionally they just give Roger additional time about his vocal gymnastics. The band knows well the stunning power of teasing the audience with slow soft passages suddenly crashing into loud and gruff ones and back – ‘Top Of The Hill’, for one thing, does it all the time, finally exploding in the biggest climax of the record. Of course, no show can pass without a couple “softies” to illustrate the band’s sensitive side; the minimalistic, drum-less ‘My Friend The Sun’ does the job nicely. ‘Buffet Tea For Two’ is notable for Ashton’s jazzy piano solo.
‘Glove’ is also particularly good, a bit slowed down from the studio version, but conveying the same sense of “weird majesty”, and ‘Ready To Go’ rocks harder than the original, mostly due to Whitney’s broken ‘ragged’ distorted chords in between the verses and wah-wah soloing. And on a less pompous note, they finish the show with a blistering version of the barroom classic ‘Rockin’ Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu’ – done in classic Family half-sloppy style, incorporating audience singalongs and the band just giving it all away, remembering their roots and boots.
The last three tracks come from 1970/1971 “BBC in Concert” performances (obviously with a different line-up). Out of the three, ‘Part Of The Load’ is a real stunner, and no mistake about it: ten minutes of ferocious avantgarde rock’n'roll, with everybody soloing like a pack of stray demons and I can only imagine the inhumane convulsions rattling Chappo’s body while the band were doing this.
Line-up:
- Roger Chapman / vocals, percussion
- John “Charlie” Whitney / guitars
- Tony Ashton / organ, piano
- Rob Townshend / drums, percussion
- Jim Cregan / bass, guitar, vocals
Track List:
01. Burlesque – 5:47
02. Sat’dy Barfly – 4:49
03. Top Of The Hill – 7:48
04. My Friend The Sun – 4:10
05. Buffet Tea – 4:37
06. Children – 3:02
07. Glove – 6:00
08. Ready To Go – 7:04
09. Holding The Compass – 4:53
10. Rockin’ Pneumonia And Boogie Woogie Flu – 6:08
11. In My Own Time (Bonus 1970-71) – 3:46
12. Weaver’s Answer (Bonus 1970-71) – 8:22
13. Part Of The Load (Bonus 1970-71) – 9:59
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Family – It's Only A Movie (1973) (@256)
19 Feb 2008
(Review from allmusic, amazon)
Alas, the last Family album. At the end of an incredible run of creativity and intensity, they turned out their loosest, funkiest effort. For a swan song, this is pretty a good one. Generally, at this point in a band’s career, when personnel changes become more frequent, live shows become more unpredictable, and substance use seems to become more central to the band than singing and songwriting, you would think that Family would simply cough up a final piece of dreck and say so long. But Movie is a relaxed, funny and funky record, almost sunny in disposition. This set is full of wit, invention, surprise and punch-in-the-gut rocking.
The streamlining left them tougher and fully able to tackle material that ranges from the honky-tonk ofthe title track and the sassy balladry of “Leroy”, to the steamroller of “Boom Bang” and the funky “Sweet Desiree”.
Rare is the band that can close the book on their own career with an album ending song called “Check Out”. It’ll spin your head around in your own living room. You’ll be standing on your couch crying for more, but that was all they wrote. We still miss them.
Line-up:
- Roger Chapman / Vocals, Guitars, Percussion
- John ‘Charlie’ Whitney / Guitars, Mandolin, Percussion
- Jim Cregan / Bass, guitar
- Tony Ashton / Keyboards
- Robert Townsend / Drums, Percussion
Track List:
01. It’s Only A Movie (5:06)
02. Leroy (5:39)
03. Buffet Tea For Two (5:20)
04. Boom Bang (3:01)
05. Boots ‘N Roots (5:00)
06. Banger (3:05)
07. Sweet Desiree (3:40)
08. Suspicion (3:21)
09. Check Out (4:29)
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Paice Ashton Lord – Malice in Wonderland (1976) (@256)
08 Feb 2007
(Info from purplerecords.net)
Ashton and Lord first met in 1970, and ended up writing and playing together on a number of projects over the next few years, including the “First Of The Big Bands” album released in 1974; in many ways a prototype for the PAL project. Following Purple Mk 4’s demised in March 1976, Paice Ashton Lord emerged amidst much fanfare.
Mysterious adverts in the music papers gave some hint of what was going on: “British Band Requires British Bass Player and Lead Guitarist for formation of new rock band by three established musicians.” Paul Martinez, then in Stretch, got the bass player’s job, guitarist Bernie Marsden (then with Babe Ruth) completed the band. The line-up was made official on August 21st 1976 and by September they were in the Musicland studios, Munich, recording.
By now, Howie Casey was part of the band on saxophone, having previously played with Wings, along with a brass quartet. The horns helped give the band their unique sound. The line-up was completed by two girl singers. The band stayed at an Arabella Hotel in Munich, home to the drunken American who, in trying to pronounce Alice In Wonderland, gave Jon the idea for the album title, to which Tony provided the lyrics. There was a lot more freedom within the band for Jon, with the guitar used more as a rhythm instrument. With Martin Birch (who had been producing Purple for many years) at the helm, the album took just ten days to lay down. Ian Paice feels they’d cut a good album, “PAL was trying to do something ahead of its time, the sort of thing Level 42 became, a cross between jazz and rock”.
The post-recording period saw the construction of a large stage set at Pinewood put together by the guy who had done the stages for the “Spy Who Loved Me” movie. They also announced that a film about the band was being produced. The album release was eventually put back to March 4th 1977. “One of those rare combinations of musicians which catches fire and becomes something really exciting”, wrote Beat Instrumental. A tour of selected cities across Europe was dropped leaving just the UK dates intact.
The group made their debut on the BBC TV show “Sight & Sound In Concert” on Saturday March 19th. A week later they opened their tour at the Birmingham Odeon supported by Bandit. Musically the band were at times a force to be reckoned with, turning out some ferocious r’n b flavoured rock, with a great duel keyboard style which was very adventurous. What it needed was something to build on top of this, Tony wasn’t at all happy fronting such a large band. Once the tour was over, the group returned to Germany to begin work on their second album. This was 75% completed, when sometime in early 1978 they came to a decision to fold the band. Bernie Marsden joined David Coverdale in Whitesnake. Tony Ashton returned to his role as a producer. Paice, Lord and Martinez went off to back Maggie Bell, formerly of Stone The Crows but the project didn’t last long and the following month Jon Lord also joined Whitesnake.
Paice Ashton Lord were undoubtably overambitious but the album is one that grows on the listener. Ian Paice looks back on the band without regrets. “PAL was a brave experiment! It was an experiment that cost Jon and I a fortune but I’m glad we did it”.
Track List:
01. Ghost Story
02. Remember the Good Times
03. Arabella [Oh Tell Me]
04. Silas and Jerome
05. Dance With Me Baby
06. On the Road Again, Again
07. Sneaky Private Lee
08. I’m Gonna Stop Drinking Again
09. Malice in Wonderland
10. Ghost Story (Live) (Bonus)
11. Streamroller Blues (Live) (Bonus)
12. Ballad of Mr Giver (Live) (Bonus)
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