Media Watch: PROG issue 78

Announced today, the cover story in the latest issue of PROG concerns the state(s) of Yes, with interviews from all involved parties.  It is described in the advance publicity thus:

We take a look at the current state of play with YES (official) and YES featuring ARW. What really went on at the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame? What's going on with the band name? And will there ever be a new album from either?

Here's Prog 78. What's going on with @yesofficial and @YESfeaturingARW? + @amplifierband, @bentkneemusic, Tim Blake, FaUSt. On sale Friday pic.twitter.com/LX2JIQf1RW

— Prog (@ProgMagazineUK) June 27, 2017

road warrior, part two

With only three days off between the final Take That performance (for now) and last night's gig at Sheffield Arena with Jeff Lynne's ELO, Lee has been a busy man as usual.  There are three more UK dates for this ensemble and then our intrepid bassist hits the road again with Our Guys on July 13th.  Can't keep an excellent player down, I always say...

Jeff Lynne & ELO

A post shared by Tonito (@tonitob) on Jun 21, 2017 at 12:39pm PDT

Thank you, Sheffield!@SheffieldArena #JeffLynnesELO pic.twitter.com/98g2LTaAXN

— Jeff Lynne's ELO (@JeffLynnesELO) June 21, 2017

The Man of a Thousand Credits: nascent projects

One of a continuing series in regards to the myriad variety of Trevor’s discography.

As long-time fans are aware, during the period of time in which Trevor first relocated to Los Angeles he worked with a number of people related to his Geffen development deal.  A couple days ago one of those people, singer/songwriter Micki Free, provided us a piece of possibly previously-unheard history courtesy of his radio show Micki's Free Ride on Flagstaff, AZ station KMGN.

I assume Free is referring to the period of time prior to his joining Shalimar, and whether or not that material was actually released is not clear.  It's interesting to me that John Kalodner seemed to be intent on getting Trevor to work on anything but his own music - on the other hand, Trevor was adept at producing for other artists and commented in at least one interview that he had to start turning down studio work in order to focus on his writing.

#tbt: Totally rad!

Spotted on Instagram: photographer Laura Levine posted this blast from the past today, the boys backstage at their Madison Square Garden gig on May 14th, 1984.  And yes, Chris and Alan's outfits continue to be a source of unintended hilarity, but it was the '80s after all...

Since prog rock is in the news this week...here's a flashback to the day I spent with YES in 1984. Shooting their soundcheck, photographing Jon Anderson in his limo, and this backstage photo. Should we discuss the sartorial choices of the bookends, or shall we just move on? YES, backstage at MSG, NYC, 1984 © Laura Levine. #progrock #prog #yes #jonanderson #trevorrabin #80smusic #70smusic #arenarock #lauralevine #musicphotography #rockphotography

A post shared by Laura Levine (@lauralevinepix) on Jun 15, 2017 at 4:33am PDT

Media Watch: new Guitar Player interview

Here's an interview published last week - so some of you may have already read it - regarding the making of 90125.  Content-wise there's not much which isn't already known.

http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/1013/trevor-rabin-checking-in-with-the-yes-man/62922

#tbt: a bit of a twang

Long-time readers may be familiar with my entry regarding one of Trevor's musical identities back in the South African era - that of Trevor Terblanche, playing the hits of the day for a series of releases which basically amounted to a sort of Afrikaaners K-Tel label.  But if you'd like to hear an example of Trevor playing honest-to-goodness Country music, then look no further than his take on this crossover classic song.

Most of the Lekker Kitaar releases feature rather corny (for the time) arrangements of popular songs and local hits, but I actually quite like his playing on "Take Me Home, Country Roads" as yet another example of Trevor's versatility and technical ease when it comes to different genres.  Trevor also brings an entirely Country-fied vibe to the jazz standard "Misty" (most people are more familiar with Johnny Mathias' 1959 cover version).  To me it's reminiscent of what he did with "Georgia On My Mind" from 2014.

Media Watch: new interview

A new interview with the Japanese online magazine Muse On Muse was published today, and that reminds me they published an interview with Trevor last year as well which some might not have seen previously.  Judging from what I understand of the current interview it appears that work continues on the new music, though Trevor's not quite ready to commit to a completion date.

Although of course it loses something in translation for the rest of us, here are the links if you are so inclined to read these exchanges.

http://www.museonmuse.jp/?p=8331

http://www.museonmuse.jp/?p=8815

ARW en Francais

On the official website one can spy another European date: on July 20th the boys will headline the Guitare En Scene festival in France (though there's no official update regarding the Italy dates).  July is looking busy now, and I'm happy that fans in Europe will have a chance to see the band this year.

Media Watch: Rabbitt rewind

Uploaded today - with thanks to YouTube user (and compendium of South African musical history) Leon Rossouw - is a great find: one of the rare Rabbitt singles which spanned the period of time between Rabbitt's debut in 1972 and the release of their first album Boys Will Be Boys! in 1975, which were only released in South Africa.  It appears none of these songs were successful, only their cover of "Locomotive Breath" actually charted.  This single was the follow-up to "Locomotive Breath," released in 1973.  It's my belief that as far as these singles are concerned, Trevor performed vocals on the A-side but not the B-side, as in 1972-74 Rabbitt was more of a studio-based ensemble than an actual band.

                                       Side A: "Backdoor Of My Heart"

Side B: "Share The Loving Things"