Concert Review : Stephen Stills - A Man Alive!

Short of being able to see Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (which I'm not holding my breath to happen anytime soon near enough to where I stay) I completed the set last night by seeing Stephen Stills perform a solo performance at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow.

This was the final performance in a short British tour and it would be fair to say that I, along with many other members of the audience, approached this with a degree of trepidation. Stills' contributions to CSN (and occasionally Y) over the past twenty years have been more than patchy. His guitar playing remained more than fine, but his vocals were largely shot and his songwriting contributions often no more than perfunctory.



Indeed, when it was announced last year that Stills was suffering from prostate cancer it must have seemed that this would draw a conclusion to a long career but where his significant contribution (and it was extremely significant) was largely restricted to the decade from 1966 through to 1975.

However, he successfully came through surgery and, whether directly or indirectly, this has resulted in something of a transformation in Stills. He's lost a lot of weight - no longer the bloated musician that appears in the recent CSNY Deja Vu movie - and has started wearing hearing aids which has resulted in the return of his voice to something much more functional than has been in evidence in the past twenty years even if it is still not quite the voice that you might remember from the classic tracks. Nevertheless it's a voice ingrained with experiences both good and bad and, whilst sometimes struggling to hit some notes, it's gratifying to hear some of the notes that he goes for and hits with some aplomb.

The show was played to a reasonably full house although clearly not sold out. The audience was fairly restrained - almost as if they had turned up to see someone perform on a tightrope and weren't looking to make too much noise in case it interrupted the concentration of the man hovering above the abyss below.


The first half kicked off with the band present for the opener which was Helplessly Hoping from the debut CSN album. Stills was then left alone and played a number of fine songs on his acoustic guitar including such classics as 4 + 20, Treetop Flyer, Daylight Again, Change Partners and closing with Suite : Judy Blue Eyes with the band returning for the climax of the song.

There was a twenty minute interval after which returned with the band to perform an electric set - no more wooden music here!! Starting with Isn't It About Time from the underrated second Manassas album Down The Road it was clear that Stills meant business. His guitar was loud - it's no wonder he's as deaf as a post - but this was a man in full control of his destiny. A hard rocking Rock And Roll Woman from Buffalo Springfield days followed, and then a Tom Petty cover from the recent Mudcrutch album.

All evening Stills' soloing was sharp and inventive from slow blues through to the fiercest of rockers. What I wasn't expecting though was for him to play a song from the largely unloved Stills-Young Band album but we were treated to Make Love To You.

Encoring with Love The One You're With and returning one more time for Dark Star the audience were finally roused from their torpor and gave a hearty cheer to the departing musicians.

Hopefully, Stills can take this forward and turn this experience into some new songs whether these appear as a solo effort or as a contribution to a future CSN album. I, for one, will be looking forward to his songs in a way that I haven't truly been doing for some time

Richard Wright 1943 - 2008

The news of Richard Wright's death came as something of a shock as there had been no prior indication that he was ill.

He was undoubtedly a key figure in the development of the Pink Floyd both in the Barrett-era and afterwards. As a musician, he has long been sadly underrated - listening over the last day or so to Wish You Were Here with almost a new pair of ears showed how he almost dominates the album musically. I'm clearly just as guilty of underestimating his contribution myself, as I don't believe I would have described the album in that manner before now.

As a writer, he was responsible for some of the iconic Floyd moments, most noticably The Great Gig In The Sky and Us And Them from Dark Side Of The Moon. His vocals, particularly the harmony work alongside Gilmour (most singularly demonstrated on Echoes) was sublime.

There has always been a languid, melancholic streak to the music of the Floyd (and which is very easily mistaken for blandness) which I think can largely be attributed to Wright. It's no coincidence that the more Wright was marginalised in the band (and for which I, for one, remain disinclined to forgive Waters notwithstanding his recent recantations on some of his tomfoolery) the less they sounded like the Floyd. It was precisely the mix of the hard-bitten message behind the sweet melodies that gave the Floyd it's power and impact - too much of The Wall and The Final Cut amounts to bombast which hits you straight in the face but is all the more ineffective for that.

David Gilmour's tribute to his friend and colleague was warm, loving and well-measured. I will watch the soon to be released Live In Gdansk concert with an added interest along with a touch of regret that it will represent Richard's last musical contribution to us.

Texas Boogie Rools....

After some delays the new edition of ZZ Top's Eliminator has now hit the streets. Of all their albums, this is the one that will be most recognised containing as it does the songs that catapulted the band to mega status with the iconic imagery and the accompanying videos.

Sonically, the new package packs a powerful punch and the extra live tracks show that the band were able to match the power of the recordings in the live arena. We do have to suffer the 12-inch mix of Legs, but that's what the programmable facilities on your CD handset are for!!

There's also an additional DVD containing, inevitably, the videos for the singles from the album as well as live footage from their appearance on The Tube, including the song they played after the credits had rolled.



This is the third part of a reissue programme for the Top's albums with Warner Bros - Tres Hombres (with the sublime La Grange) and the half-live Fandango (disappointing live side undercutting a series of exceptional studio tracks including Tush) have already been released. Hopefully, the other albums will follow in short order.

I'd also recommend the recently released DVD Live In Texas which shows that the trio still have what it takes to rock the joint in the noughties

Mott The Hoople Reunion?

My mailbox has been bulging this week with suggestions that the original Mott the Hoople line-up (Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs, Overend Watts, Buffin and Verden Allen) have been discussing some gigs in 2009 to celebrate their 40th Anniversary.

This would be excellent news not least as it would allow those who are only familiar with the post-Dudes version of the band to be reminded that before their fateful dalliance with Bowie they were one of the coolest rock and roll bands in the land.


Their four Island albums contained a mixture of original songs and well-chosen covers (introducing me to the likes of Jesse Colin Young, Danny Whitten and Doug Sahm through their covers of Darkness, Darkness, Downtown and At The Crossroads respectively). And via Hunter's vocals and Allen's organ managed to do a decent job of being Dylan without the Bobster being present - check out Backsliding Fearlessly from the first album.

Throw in some priceless rockers - Rock'N'Roll Queen, Thunderbuck Ram, Walking With A Mountain, The Moon Upstairs - plus awesome epics in the shape of The Journey and Half Moon Bay to demonstrate that there's a whole priceless back catalogue worthy of investigation before the dudes were born, never mind being young.

I had the pleasure of seeing Mott twice at the legendary Green's Playhouse in Glasgow including on the iconic Rock'N'Roll Circus tour and they were the first gigs I can recall where the audience and the band were as one. Terrific memories.

All of the Island albums have been reissued on Angel Air Records and are worthy of investigation. If you were only able to buy just the one then make it Brain Capers.



As for Dudes itself, it was a great single but it wasn't Mott The Hoople and the album that shared its' name was very weak. The later albums were good but much more mannered and missing that spark that crept out the door when Verden Allen left the band; the door was slammed tightly shut when Mick Ralphs jumped ship to join Bad Company (a band not fit to lick the bootlaces of any of its' predecessors). Nevertheless, what proved to be the farewell single, Saturday Gigs, was a classic and a fine way to close that chapter on the bands' history after which Ian Hunter moved onto his solo career and his long term but occasional partnership with Mick Ronson. The rest of the band regrouped as Mott and then refashioned themselves as the British Lions along with John Fiddler, late of Medicine Head.

The clip is a promo for an Island-era single which failed to trouble the charts but did have the band appearing on Top Of The Pops.



Worth going to see almost forty years on? Bring it on!!!!

Remembering 10cc......

Having caught up with listening to new purchases, I'm now sitting listening to the debut album by 10cc. It's the first time I've listened to it for a while but it's still an astonishing album that sounds as fresh as the day it was released.





Now I was at school when Donna first trickled into the charts. As if admitting to enjoying something in the charts wasn't bad enough, this was an era where if you weren't wandering the corridor with the latest Mahavishnu Orchestra album firmly in your grasp you were clearly some kind of uncultured yobbo.

Now a single bathed in retro humour that snuggled safely in the top 5 and which was released on, horror of horrors, Jonathan King's record label had to suggest I had taken leave of my senses. However, it was a damned fine record then and still is. Not sure what to say about Mr King these days though!

Rubber Bullets was a home run for me and I was delighted to see it soar to top position in the charts.

Being a confirmed fan I was looking forward to an album and it didn't disappoint. What was incredibly amusing was the endorsement by John Peel on the album sleeve which had my hipper than hip schoolchums in quite a quandry!

The album's a delight from top to botton and provided further single success with the sublime The Dean And I. It's all entirely open to the charge of being a bit too clever for its' own good, but that's never stood in the way of the tremendous quality of the music.

The band went onto make a series of good albums but I'm not convinced they ever managed to top their debut effort. The loss of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme disrupted the magical chemistry of the original quartet and neither grouping was as strong apart as they were together.

Wonderful Radio One!!

Have you seen the advert playing in cinemas that supposedly is helping to promote our wonderful national radio station?



It's way too long and most peoples' interest has waned before you get halfway through. But what really strikes me is how some of the DJ's make a great and persuasive case for the enjoyment of dance music in the clubs. Just a pity that in doing so, they totally illustrate why it's entirely inappropriate to have this on a radio show!!

Out of all the "talent" on show there's only two that say anything that I can empathise with. The rest I wouldn't trust to entertain my granny.

In Praise Of Esoteric Recordings....

Esoteric Recordings are a fine record label which has focused on reissuing old classics largely from the early 1970's, as well as helping some of these older bands in their current activities. Put together by Mark Powell who should be a name familiar to finely remastered versions of similar bands on other labels, it caters for the less obvious choices and, as such, is making many lost gems available to a new audience as well as reminding us old fogies of the great music around in those days.

I was especially pleased that they took on the United Artists back catalogue of Man and an excellent job they did of it as well. I'd like to hope that they will be able to get the rights to the later EMI recordings as well as access to the master tapes. Indeed, The Welsh Connection is an album that would benefit considerably from a remix as opposed to a digital buffing up of the tapes. (Unrelated to the Esoteric series, Mark and his team have also been involved in the issue of the complete Greasy Truckers concert. These have been fully remixed although, certainly as far as Man, are concerned is an unusual occurrence where it hasn't really hit the mark (sic) as the guitars - and principally that of Micky Jones - seems buried within the rest of the music)

The quality control is very good to the extent that I'm buying albums that I'm not familiar with but am more than happy to take a risk on in the full (and, as yet, untainted) expectation that it will be more than worth my while.

Perhaps their piece de resistance is the Jack Bruce boxset, Can You Follow. Bruce's career is mapped out over six discs and makes a strong case for his being regarded as one of the major talents to have graced our shores over the decades. That he is from Glasgow is just the icing no the cake!! Foregoing any over-emphasis on his days in Cream, the range and quality of material from his career is simply staggering. A highly recommended set.



Esoteric are now linked with Cherry Red and this seems to have given them a more stable existence. Clearly, nothing that they are selling is likely to be troubling the top of the album charts but they are performing a valuable service to music connoisseurs. A labour of love it may largely be, but one that is greatly appreciated by me.

Music Review : Foo Fighters - Live At Wembley Stadium

Just received this DVD the other day in my mailbox and spent last night watching the gig.

Whilst there's probably nothing on here to make you like the Foo Fighters if you don't do so already, for converts this is a simply awesome gig. Grohl's chatty demeanor on stage runs the risk of being swamped in a venue as large as Wembley but it's clear that the crowd are with him and the band all the way. Indeed, I'd go so far as to suggest that the last band that had a Wembley crowd with them so much was Queen.



The main point of interest for many music fans will be the appearance of Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones as part of the encore. Grohl plays drums on a version of Rock And Roll and absolutely nails it, whilst he returns to stage front and demonstrates that whilst he does a damned good Bonham he's no Robert Plant on a version of Ramble On.

But perhaps the surprise of the show (for me at least) is at the end of Taylor Hawkin's drum solo on Stacked Actors when the band dive into, of all things, Hocus Pocus. No yodelling though!


Grohl is very visibly moved by the whole occasion and close to tears (in fact, beyond that - on the breakdown in the closing Best Of You he's definitely wiping tears and not sweat from his eyes) . He more then lives up to his reputation as the nicest man in rock, and unlike many of his peers, you only get a sense of enjoyment and gratitude from the man for being there.

Oh yes, and the lady who plays violin with the band is very foxy indeed!

Life In The Old Beast?

Really!! The last post on here was on 31 March 2008? Time does indeed march on.

Things have been somewhat hectic on the personal front although this has now settled down, so I might just see if I can revert to some more regular postings.

There's been much done, and much to come that is worthy of comment. I just need to get my ass into gear and DO IT!!!!

Concert Review : Never Say Nups To A Trip To Swansea

It takes a certain kind of madness to normalise in your way of thinking that a trip from Paisley in the West Of Scotland down to Swansea in South Wales as a short and perfectly manageable trip. That being the case, the madness is deep within me!

Last weekend saw another trip down to catch Man on the final date of their UK tour. A carful of four means that the petrol worked at £35 per head - plus the cost of a couple of rooms in the Travel Inn and food and drink............hell, it's cheap at the price, isn't it.

The answer is a resounding yes when you catch sight of the mighty Manband in the sort of imperious form that they were in on Saturday evening. Having failed to manage to venture further north than Leeds on this tour (and with that date proving not possible for us travelling Scots) the ecstatic reviews that had greeted the return of Phil Ryan to the ranks meant that not making the trip to catch the final night of the tour was simply an unacceptable compromise to a man's right to rock.

Having landed in Swansea at about 4.30 pm (having left Glasgow at the back of nine) we made sure that we knew where the venue was. Being a little familiar with Swansea I knew roughly where it was - too roughly it turned out as I turned off the shopping area too soon and in the wrong direction. Now if I'd just had the wit to walk a further 100 yards down the road and then headed left we'd have found it without a roundabout trip.

Having established where we'd be going, we then consulted on what our choice of food was going to be. A curry seemed to be the majority view so I led our small but perfectly formed party in the direction of a rather nice Indian restaurant where we'd enjoyed a fine meal in December when I was last in Swansea. We got there at just after 5.30 pm to discover they didn't open until 6 o'clock. Call this civilisation? Anyway, we repaired to the local Wetherspoons and enjoyed an ale until opening time rolled round and we returned to the restaurant for another fine meal. Very good quality but not quite what I would call Glasgow portions!

We headed to the venue at about half past seven (which would prove to be about two hours too early given that the band didn't appear until 10 o'clock) to find the Milkwood Jam a rather nice club. The room is quite small but the stage was reasonably sizable in comparison and it looked like it was well designed to cater for bands. And unlike at Sin City in December, the music being played still allowed pleasant conversation whilst drinks were enjoyed.

As noted, the wait was rather long and we could always tell that the band were not about to be starting given the presence of various members at the bar. Bob Richards was the last to make an appearance but I'm sure they all managed a further pint or two after that.

Now don't mistake that for any suggestion that they were the worse for wear when they took the stage. Far from it, as Bob's powerhouse drums led the band into an incredibly powerful version of Love Your Life. I had known that this was going to be the opening number but, even so, there was still a need to pinch myself that this number was being played after so many years.

This was followed by Something Is Happening which is a Phil Ryan song from the album The Welsh Connection. A bit harder hitting than the album version but with great harmonies. Sterling stuff.

It was clear that Phil's return has re-energised the band (although they were still mightily impressive as a four piece) and the more significant role that he takes in the overall sound both added to the overall quality of the sound and the individual contributions - everyone seemed to have raised their game.

With the absence of both Micky Jones and Deke Leonard the band seemed to have achieved the impossible and found themselves a comfortable area in which they can respect their heritage and also introduce their new material. A difficult trick to pull off and one which, to be honest, I would have doubted possible a couple of years back.

This was aptly demonstrated by the next number which was All Alone from the Diamonds And Coal album. Phil's presence meant the organ riff took its prominent position again, and the number featured a solo from the organ which was not present previously in either the live or studio versions of the song.

The rest of the set was a balance of the new (Man Of Misery, Freedom Fries), the prehistoric but still fresh sounding early numbers (Sudden Life, Shit On The World) and some well worn classics (C'Mon, Many Are Called...., Romain, Manillo, Bananas, Spunk Rock). Without exception, all were immaculate and considerably enhanced by Phil's presence.

This is not to downplay the contributions of the others. George played as well as I have seen him, and I think seems to find it more comfortable to play with the keyboards as part of the set up. Josh now looks very comfortable on stage and although he didn't solo as much as George, his contributions were notable. Bob seems to have upped the ante and produced even more of a powerhouse performance than I've come to expect. And Martin was........well, Martin. I don't think anything more needs to be said, does it. Thankfully, he was back to the boilersuit tonight. (And I thought his tribute to the late Ray Williams was one of the nicest points of the evening).

The only downside to the night was the fact that the clocks went forward one hour so we lost an hour's sleep that would have been much appreciated. After a large breakfast we headed back north on Sunday morning arriving back home at about six o'clock.

I do hope that this last month can be a springboard for the band from which they can come up with new material for a new album, as well as investigating some of the lesser played parts of their back catalogue for the live set. What price Keep On Crinting or Never Say Nups To Nepalese?

So when's the next trip? I can hardly wait!

Concert Review : Neil Young

Neil Young's Continental Tour '08 tour rolled into Edinburgh on Sunday 3rd March and it was with some anticipation that we headed through to our capital city.

The advance notices of the tour had highlighted that Young was playing a set with a considerable smattering of old and unreleased songs from some of his now legendary "missing" albums. Ironically, none from the original Chrome Dreams but that is as typical as he seems to get.

Split between an acoustic set and an electric set, he certainly did his best to provide value for the considerable price of the tickets. To be honest, though, I'd have gladly sacrificed his wife's opening set for a further 20-30 minutes of classic Neil. If we're being blunt, Pegi wouldn't have a hope of progressing beyond the bars and club of her locale if left to her own devices and without the obviously good connections.

Young was spectacular in his own quiet way during his acoustic set, and I am pleased to say that his version of Ambulance Blues was well up to its' prior billing. One of his classic songs. The rest of set was split between the familiar (After The Goldrush, Heart Of Gold, Old Man) and the less so (Sad Movies, Try, Love Art Blues) plus some genuine surprises like Harvest and A Man Needs A Maid played with Young going between solo piano and electric strings. It was also intriguing to hear Old Man, a song written by a 24 year old man, being sung now by Young when he is at or near the age of the titular individual. "Old man, take a look at my life - I'm a lot like you are" seems to have different meaning when sung in 1972 from the 2008 version.

The electric set was a little less good largely because the current band just isn't Crazy Horse. Some of the songs were excellent (Oh Lonesome Me, Too Far Gone and No Holding Back being particular standouts) but the Horse classics whilst well-played only seemed to emphasise that Talbot and Sampedro weren't part of the current touring line-up. Not that they were bad, but Crazy Horse are such a force of nature and the players stamp their authority on the numbers that it is always a little challenging to hear them attempted by others (who might be superior players in some objective fashion).

One disappointment from the US leg of the tour was that Bad Fog Of Loneliness and Winterlong had been dropped from the set in favour of Down By The River and Hey Hey My My. Given my previous comments, I would probably have preferred to hear the less well known numbers, and would probably have had a greater appreciation of the band as a consequence.

These, however, are quibbles. Neil Young is one of the supreme artists of our time and part of the thrill is to hear him mix up his considerable repertoire. It's a sign of a true artist that he's willing to take such risks, and also to accept that some things don't quite work as a quid quo pro for finding that others excel.

Haste ye back, Neil

Concert Review : Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash

I mentioned in a previous post about the current situation with two Wishbone Ash's treading the boards. There's the band led by Andy Powell who go out as Wishbone Ash and the one led by bassist Martin Turner who are advertised as Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash (MTWA).

Turner was the principal (if not the sole) writer in the band in their 1970's heyday and was always the best and most distinctive singer. He also had a recognisable and perhaps unique bass style which helped to make the classic Ash sound alongside the twin guitars of Powell and, in turn, Ted Turner (no relation) and Laurie Wisefield.

Turner left (or was he pushed) Wishbone in 1980 over a disagreement with his colleague over the direction that band should go in - they seemed somewhat anxious, if not desperate, to do something that would increase their commercial standing and, amongst other ideas had been toying with the idea of bringing in a lead singer which resulted in Turner upping and leaving. After that, they released the workmanlike Number The Brave (which featured an underused John Wetton who also apparently offered the band Heat Of The Moment - oops!!) and the increasingly mediocre Twin Barrels Burning and Raw To The Bone.

The original quartet reconvened in 1989 for the instrumental album Nouveau Calls (see what they did there!) followed by two studio albums in Here To Hear and Strange Affair after which Turner decamped again. By this time drummer Upton had left and, over the next couple of years, the band was down to solely Andy Powell as last man standing from the original line-up.

1996 brought a Powell-led Ash album called Illuminations which was reminiscent of previous glories even if, in some cases, there may have been too much of a sense of pastiche about the material.

However, Tony Kishman who had sung on the album was unable to commit to a UK tour and he was replaced by none other than Martin Turner!! The tour was a memorable one and there is a particularly good bootleg called Depths Of Winter which captures the band in fine form.

Needless to say, though, whatever it is that irks these two individuals reared its head again and the partnership foundered after these gigs.

Since then Powell has lead Wishbone Ash through a succession of albums, second guitarists and a couple of drummers to the present day. The albums range from excellent (Bona Fide) to the very good (Clan Destiny) to the frankly mediocre (The Power Of Eternity). They have played regularly mixing old classics with new materials to the faithful rounds the clubs of Europe and the USA. However, there was always just a certain something lacking.........

In the past couple of year, Martin Turner clearly found his playing boots lying at the back of his wardrobe. Needless to say, his own name in itself would not suffice to attract the punters and, following some level of discussion and agreement with Powell, went out as Martin Turner's Wishbone. This didn't last long and some promoters went ahead and billed them as MTWA and this is how it now stands.

The band have released a couple of excellent live albums and, in a bizarre and risky move, have rerecorded the classic Argus album. They are currently touring playing this in its' entirety alongside other Ash material (many of which have not been played live for years or at all).

My son and I took a trip down to Stanley in Co. Durham to catch them on 23rd February. The show was excellent and it was great to see Martin's considerable presence on stage again. The material was well played and sung and, it has to be said, had more of a distinctive Ash feel to things in a way the Powell-led band can't touch. That's largely down to Martin's bass-playing and singing. They are hopefully playing in Glasgow in June and I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

Meantime, Wishbone Ash will be in Glasgow on 10th April and I'll be along to the Ferry to catch them. I'm one of those who is happy to have both bands in circulation, but it's still clear to me at least that the combination of Andy and Martin would provide something more substantial together than they are perhaps likely to be able to to do apart.

Next year is the band's 40th Anniversary and Martin has made some conciliatory noises and hoping that differences can be put aside to allow some sort of celebration involving the original band as a one-off event (or, hopefully, series of events) allowing those concerned to follow their own paths thereafter. Let's hope something that can come of this - I'll be there for it.

Music Review : God Walked Past - A History of the Manband

It's been a while since I've posted anything - the original intention of finding something to spend 20 minutes a night to share my thoughts with the outside world (or the three people who actually check out this site, whichever is the lesser!) lapsed into a case of leaving it until manana. And we know where that leads....and has lead. Anyway, occasionally something happens to break that spell and make it seem absolutely imperative to power up the laptop, log on and type furiously. Such an occasion was the receipt in the post today of God Walking Past which is Part One of a history of Man covering the period from 1968 to 1972. Jeez, still 36 years to go to the present day - just how many volumes will there be?!?!

As my acquaintances will be well aware, I am more than capable of talking at tedious length about the Manband....and occasionally for even longer than that!!! The good news for them is that all I'll need to do in future is to point them in the direction of this DVD (and its' successors) for this truly does provide the answer. The film is 3 hours and 6 minutes long with interviews with most of the major protagonists (but, sadly, not the mighty Terry Williams), footage of the band past and present playing the numbers from the early albums plus excerpts from footage of the seemingly ever-present camcorder owned by Bob Richard from the 1999 German tour. Mind you, that probably counts as a European Tour as they also venture into Switzerland.

Lovingly put together by the team at Effigy Music the films shows how the band developed out of The Bystanders and the other rising bands in the Welsh scene to become one of the pioneering and ground-breaking acts of the latter days of the 1960's and on into the 1970's. It covers the recording of the first four albums leaving the tale with the release of Do You Like It Here Now? Are You Settling In? which is one of the definitive cornerstones of the Man canon and one which I'll happily go head to head with all comers to defend.

Support is provided by many talking heads well known to Manfans including Michael Heatley, Ron Sanchez and Pete Feenstra as well as appearances from uberfan Tweke Lewis and John McKenzie who were in later versions of the band (and who will doubtless appear in the next volume which can't appear soon enough) along with a brief appearance by George Jones. I was a little surprised to hear Pete being just a little equivocal about Do You Like It Here Now, and impressed by Michael's marvellous ability to speak and hold up a copy of the CD at the same time - what a man!! I tended to agree entirely with what Ron had to say, whilst trying to make out what books or CD's he had on the shelf behind him! There's also a bit of a love-fest between the Manband and Nektar as each recall their time together in Germany in the early 1970's.

The interviews with Micky, Deke, Martin and Clive were warm, humorous and informative and depicted a bunch of very longstanding friends and colleagues with an immense amount of respect for one another and their contributions to the history of the band.

Bob's videodiaries of the 1999 tour just demonstrate the ability of the band to just keep on keeping on. It's amazing to think that they can survive each other day to day whilst travelling about in the van - six guys plus all the gear. It reminded of the last time Man played at the Ferry in Glasgow - in discussion with Martin my wife said she couldn't understand why they still travelled up and down the country to play gigs. Martin's response was definitive - "It's what we do". And long may they do so.

If you're a fan of the band, chances are you'll already be planning to get this - you won't be disappointed and you'll end up with a feeling of well-being about the world and a daft grin as I have at this point. If you're not a fan of the band, then a sample of this will point out the error of your ways in fine fashion.