2023 seems to have flown by. We’ve already made it to December, and that can mean only one thing. It’s time for The Real Gone Advent Calendar!
As is traditional, over the next twenty four days, we’ll be posting a new link. It might be a video. It might be audio only. It might be an old favourite. It might be something brand new and unfamiliar. The only way to find out is by coming back each day and opening a new window!
The Band’s Robbie Robertson left the world today. He was a true legend, and along with Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman and Bernie Leadon, a man who could probably claim to have laid the foundations for country rock. The Band’s rootsy sound and image was completely out of step with the psychedelic scene in which they first found fame, but Robertson’s songwriting – along with that of bandmates Rick Danko and Richard Manuel – had a timeless quality that will outlive everyone. His songs had heart, and often a massive sense of narrative, and his gift for a great melody carried right through a career spanning several decades.
Come hither, children. Put on your plimsolls, sit on the mat and cross your legs. It’s time for a story.
Cherry Red’s hard rock subsidiary label, HNE Recordings, is no stranger to plundering the Atlantic Records archives for material. Over the years, they’ve reissued much-loved albums by Ratt, White Lion, Back Street Crawler and more to bring affordable box set reissues to the masses. ‘In The New Age’ follows suit by pulling together most of the recordings that King’s X made for the legendary label and re-presents them in a basic clam shell box.
Jeff Beck was one of the finest guitarists to ever emerge from the British music scene. Between his early work with The Yardbirds – a band in which he replaced Eric Clapton and worked, briefly, in tandem with Jimmy Page – and his own Jeff Beck Group giving Rod Stewart his first massive break, Beck would’ve likely achieved hero status, but his career ran far deeper.
He was often considered a “guitarist’s guitarist”, and it’s not hard to see why. Jeff was equally adept at whatever style he chose to play. Far greater than many of the blues practitioners within his peer circle, Beck’s solo career took in heady jazz fusion, rock, and even more experimental textures.