Ex Fleetwood Mac guitarist Bob Weston passed away on Tuesday January 3rd after suffering an internal gastric haemorrhage and cirrhosis of the liver.
Weston played with Fleetwood Mac as second guitarist in 1972, appearing on their ‘Penguin’ and ‘Mystery To Me’ albums, both of which were released in the US in 1973. His work with the band is often overlooked, since neither of the albums on which Weston appeared received a UK release at the time, appearing only as reissues after the band’s big 1975 comeback with Lindsey Buckhingham and Stevie Nicks.
As two of the best albums released during Mac’s “wilderness” period, Weston’s contribution to the band should not be overlooked, especially since he contributed both great playing and occasional writing. This is especially true of ‘Penguin’ which stands among the band’s best releases.
Weston’s tenure within Fleetwood Mac was relatively short. During a tour for ‘Mystery To Me’, it emerged that he was having an affair with Mick Fleetwood’s wife, Jenny.
Although it is for his work with Fleetwood Mac Weston is best remembered, he went on to record with Steve Marriott’s All Star Band, before making three solo records of his own – the last of which, ‘There’s a Heaven’, was released as a private pressing in 1999.
World renowned songwriter Jerry Leiber passed away on August 22nd, at the age of 78. The official cause of death was cardiopulmonary failure.
Leiber, with regular writing partner Mike Stoller, penned many of Elvis Presley’s early recordings including ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and ‘Hound Dog’, as well as many other well known tunes from the Rock ‘n’ Roll boom of the 1950s. Considered one of the best songwriters from a “pre-Lennon and McCartney” era, Leiber also wrote hits for The Drifters, The Coasters and The Clovers. Many of Leiber’s compositions are now considered standards within the rock ‘n’ roll genre.
‘Hound Dog’ became Leiber and Stoller’s first published work when it was recorded by Willie Mae Thornton in 1953. Although Elvis Presley’s 1956 version is often seen to be the definitive take of the song, it is said that Leiber himself did not especially like Presley’s recording.
Alongside ‘Hound Dog’, Leiber’s most enduring recording is ‘Stand By Me’, a number he co-wrote with Stoller and Ben E King, who recorded the generation-spanning classic, which has now been recorded in over four hundred versions, including covers by John Lennon, Elton John, Seal and US punk band Pennywise.
In 1985, Leiber was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, followed by an induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame two years later. He also gained various other accolades for his song writing, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994 (shared with Mike Stoller, naturally), and a “Lifetime Acievement Award” from the National Academy of Songwriters in 1996.
To celebrate the legacy of Jerry Leiber, below are a handful of Leiber/Stoller songs, played in familiar – and some not so familiar ways.
Former Warrant singer Jani Lane passed away on 11th August 2011. He was found dead in a hotel in Los Angeles. Sometime after his death, investigators found a half-empty bottle of vodka and prescription medication at the scene.
Lane, 47, was one of the key figures in the glam metal movement and Warrant’s first three albums are considered genre classics, while the second – 1990’s ‘Cherry Pie’ – contained MTV favourites in ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’, ‘I Saw Red’ and the title track.
While Warrant’s third album -1991’s ‘Dog Eat Dog’ – isn’t always as fondly remembered, at the time of release, it was Lane’s favourite Warrant album to date. In an interview for rock music TV show ‘Raw Power’ (shown in the UK in the small hours of Saturday mornings), Lane stated “it was the first Warrant album [he] was really happy with”, before going on to say he wanted to “burn the first record and completely re-do the second”.
After touring ‘Dog Eat Dog’, Lane left the band, although his absence was only temporary – he returned just a few months later. After his return, the band’s popularity began to fade but they continued to record and release albums. In many respects, the slightly alternative sounding ‘Ultraphobic’ from 1994 showcased the band in their most assured musical roles. Although there were moments where the newer Warrant had a hint of King’s X and the songwriting often showed a whole new maturity, Lane’s vocals remained very distinctive and totally professional. Speaking in a largely unread interview with Fastlane Magazine at the time of the album’s release, Lane said of ‘Ultraphobic’: “the record is getting lots of great reviews in places we wouldn’t expect. I’m having my faith restored.”
Lane’s solo career got off to a false start when his first solo album, provisionally titled ‘Jabberwocky’ did not receive a release. His second solo record, ‘Back Down To One’ was released on the independent British label Z Records in 2002, remaining unreleased in the US until four years later. After the album’s original release, Lane checked into rehab having suffered alcohol and drug related exhaustion.
In 2004, he officially left Warrant after legal disputes and continued his solo work. A band, Saints of the Underground, teamed Lane up with members of Ratt and Keri Kelli, who first achieved cult status with glam band Big Bang Babies, before joining Pretty Boy Floyd and Adler’s Appetite, while Lane also contributed vocals to various different metal compilations of re-recorded rock classics and tribute albums.
His last work was an appearance on VH1’s ‘That Metal Show’ – recorded on July 23rd.
Lane’s career may never again have hit the heights of his earlier years with Warrant, but with those years he left glam metal an absolutely fantastic legacy of songs.
On Saturday 9th July, former Motörhead guitarist Michael “Würzel” Burston passed away. He was 61 years old.
Joining Motörhead in 1984, replacing ex-Thin Lizzy man Brian Robertson, Würzel was a member of the band for just over a decade. He lent his guitar chops to seven of the band’s studio albums: ‘No Remorse’, ‘Orgasmatron’, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’, ‘1916’, ‘March Or Die’, ‘Bastards’ and ‘Sacrifice’. Arguably, the best of those discs is the 1991 release ‘1916’ – a release which captured Motörhead with a renewed sense of vigour after a couple of workmanlike releases at the tail end of the previous decade.
While he did not contribute to the band’s earliest (and perhaps most famous) albums, Würzel can be seen performing with the band during a performance on UK cult comedy The Young Ones – a clip which, is arguably the most commonly seen Motörhead footage in the UK (especially for those who don’t particularly follow the band).
Outside his work with Motörhead, Burston also recorded two solo albums: ‘Bess’ in 1987 and an experiemental, ambient disc, ‘Chill Out or Die’, released in 1998. His last band, Leader of Down, were set headline the Never Mind The Bullocks charity fundraiser at the end of June 2011, but the event was cancelled due to a lack of ticket sales. The band were also preparing their debut album.
The work of Bruce Springsteen seems almost omnipresent. Only yesterday whilst out shopping, I heard ‘Cover Me’ and ‘Dancing In The Dark’ playing in two different locations. Most of us know the hits. While Springsteen’s throaty growl can be seen as an acquired taste, the musical arrangements of his songs are meticulously crafted, thanks to his regular band of musicians – The E Street Band.
On Saturday 19th June 2011, that band lost, perhaps, it’s most important member. Saxophonist Clarence Clemons lost his life after suffering a stroke. His stroke followed surgery between 2010-2011 for two knee replacements between 2010-11. A strong man, he joked that he was now “almost totally bionic”.
A member of the band since 1973, first appearing on Springsteen’s often overlooked debut ‘Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ’, Clarence’s sax contributions were often pivotal to the end results. Think about ‘Born To Run’ – that huge solo, with its hugely rousing, fiery delivery; it’s the number’s most notable thing after Springsteen’s story telling. Few, if any, musicians would have played the part with even half the gravitas that Clemons bought to it; the same goes for the almost cinematic sax work featured during the epic ‘Jungleland’. Better still, take 1978’s ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’. As an album, it’s a little light on brass contributions owing to a sometimes darker nature, but when Clemons is there, he’s spectacular, his horn cutting through the arrangements like a beacon in the fog.
The E Street Band will never be the same again.
Outside his work withthe E Street Band, Clemons was also highly prolific. In addition to a solo career – spanning five studio and two live albums – he also performed a number of Zucchero albums, as well as sessions for Aretha Franklin, Todd Rundgren, The Four Tops, Roy Orbison, Joe Cocker and many others. His last recorded work can be heard on Lady Gaga’s 2011 release ‘Born This Way’.
Goodbye big man. Bill and Ted were so right when they proclaimed you to be one of “the three most important people in the universe”.
