There hasn’t been an issue of Natural Progressions, our Eagles magazine, for the better of part of two years.
There has been a whole range of reasons for this and the future of the whole publication is under review.
In the meantime, here is an update about what is happening in the world of the Eagles:
Today, I spent much of the day with Bernie Leadon (formerly of the Eagles) and Glyn Johns (producer with Eagles, Rolling Stones,The Who). There are worse ways to pass a few hours.
This week Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane in Sarah Jane Adventures) and Roger Nichols (sound engineer with Steely Dan) passed from this world. They will be missed.
I haven’t had chance to post anything on here recently but I promise to keep the journal busy over the next few weeks. What’s been happening?
1. I have a new website. The writing side of my work has become busy enough to encourage me to promote it further and one of my publishers were happy to help me do it as they get more work too if I’m busy. If you’re inclined to take a look, it’s here: www.darrenhirst.com
2. One of the bands that I have been working with have attracted interest from Sony/BMG which has meant some high flown meetings which seem to have gone well.
3. You can read all about my work with Sad Cafe on the new version of their website which I believe is going live today. I’m impressed with the design of this one. It was done by a company called project42 who are very talented and very efficient. You can see the site here: www.sadcafe.co.uk
4. The new issue of Natural Progressions which I edit will go to the printers on Monday. That looks good too.
5. The RSC has a new group of productions. The first is King Lear and a review of this excellent performance should be on this site in a few days time.
6. Some of my favourite artists are doing gigs in the next few weeks and I’ll do reviews which will eventually find their way here. I’ll be writing about Panic Room, Timothy B. Schmit, John Foxx and Swarf.
7. I’ve been involved in negotiations with John Foxx’s manager, Steve Malins, with a view to staging an exhibition of John’s art in Stratford-Upon-Avon. This has been frustrating and may come to nothing.
8. Baseball Spring Training has begun and I’m going to be writing an analysis of the Yankees’ Spring squad which will also eventually find it’s way here.
Busy, busy, busy………..
Bob Dylan learned everything he knows about film-making on the set of Sam Peckinpah’s "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid".
That’s not to say that Dylan is a good film-maker and certainly not to imply that he is the equal of Peckinpah. But the episodic nature of Dylan’s two feature films is drawn from Peckinpah’s masterpiece. Dylan appears as the mysterious and enigmatic "Alias" in the 1973 Western – a film where there is no narrative and our understanding of the film’s plot requires the outside knowledge of the Billy the Kid story to help us follow the plot development. In Dylan’s two cinematic efforts – 1978’s messy "Renaldo and Clara" and 2003’s beautiful mess "Masked and Anonymous" – we do not know the progression of the story and so we go away with more questions than answers.
James Coburn’s magisterial performance as Pat Garrett is at the heart of so much that is good about "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" which I viewed once more this evening as part of the British Film Institute’s Peckinpah series. His Garrett is a man in transition. In his younger life, he has trod the same road as William Bonney (Billy the Kid) but now as the West is changing, he has taken the shilling of the rich landowners and become a sheriff on their behalf to track down Bonney, played here by Kris Kristofferson. It is Garrett desire to survive the changes that is society is going through and to live to a good old age but he has failed to calculate how much this will cost him. At the culmination of the film when the Sheriff shoots Bonney in cold blood, he is panicked and also shoots at his reflection in a mirror as he sees something move. The inference is obvious – in killing Bonney, he has killed himself. We see nothing else of his life but know that he, himself, is ambushed and killed in like manner several years later. The landowners’ tolerate murder and rape and something inside of Garrett has died long before he takes that bullet. Garrett has become their man, their servant, their hired hand.
This is seen in two telling scenes near to the conclusion of the film. In short span, we see Garrett in bed with four prostitutes in a scene that is titilating but without love. A sexual longing is fulfilled but there is nothing more. By contrast, Bonney is involved in a scene of real tenderness and passion with the woman he holds dear. He is true to himself and still able to feel.
It is a film where the Sheriff doesn’t wear a white hat and the villain is not in black. The West is inhuman and murderous but Bonney is the one with some signs of redemption still sparking within him. Garrett will be the one to survive for a time but he has ceased to live.
This is a tour-de-force of a film which whilst you are unlikely to catch it in a cinema as I had the pleasure tonight, is well-worth picking up the Director’s cut on DVD. It is one of the truly great artistic moments which reflects on the transition from civil war to the Old West. In rock and country music, there is the Eagles’ Desperado and Paul Kennerley’s White Mansions and Legend of Jesse James (which interestingly both feature prominently the Eagles’ Bernie Leadon). On TV and much more light-heartedly, there is Alias Smith and Jones which can now be found on DVD. In film, there is Gods and Generals (for the Civil War) and …. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (for the Old West).
Meanwhile, watching carefully and observing is the curiously out-of-place figure of Bob Dylan, who produces a soundtrack which has all the sentimentality for the Old West which the film lacks. Perhaps, the actor goes away and broods until the day he can produce his own cinematic vision…. albeit with less consistency and recognition.
Natural Progressions is a magazine that I edit and also write for. You won’t see it in your newsagents as it is mail order only. It will appeal to people who like a certain kind of music. Issue 38 is now available.
It features:
Full coverage and reviews of the Eagles on tour.
Coverage of recent interviews with Don Henley and Joe Walsh
An interview with Poco founder and solo artist, Richie Furay
Bernie Leadon of the Eagles and Flying Burrito Brothers writing about the rivalry between his band and Poco
An interview with Michael Georgiades of the Bernie Leadon – Michael Georgiades band and Zoe
44 pages, colour when appropriate.
Drop me a line if you want more details or a subscription.
It’s been a good month for getting to talking to some of my favourite musicians. As I have mentioned before I’ve been working hard on an interview project with Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, solo career etc. etc.) We had just about finished this when I mentioned to Richie, it would be nice to get an alternative view on some of the key periods in his life. We came up with the idea of getting Bernie Leadon (Hearts and Flowers, Flying Burrito Brothers, Eagles, Bernie Leadon-Michael Georgiades Band, solo career etc. etc.) to comment on rivalry and admiration between Poco and the early Eagles. I was expecting a few words, enough to mould into a paragraph of the article. Bernie went to town and has written an article of his own about his admiration of Poco. Great stuff!
I’m also hoping for a contribution from Al Perkins who played a particularly important role in developing Richie’s musical and spiritual life.
Next up to the plate is Michael Georgiades who was Bernie’s partner-in-crime in the aforementioned Bernie Leadon-Michael Georgiades band and in the short-lived spin-off, Zoe. I’m going to be speaking to him next Saturday. His album, Natural Progressions, is a particular favourite of mine and interviewing him is the realisation of a long-held ambition.
Looks likely then that the next stage in the on-going project that I have rolling with Mr Leadon will be in August as we talk about his period with Hearts & Flowers.
These articles will appear in Cross Rhythms magazine and Natural Progressions Magazine. The first of these can be located on the web, subscription information on the second can be obtained from me.
No, not the guys who dress in black. Guys who dress in black can actually be quite approachable.
I’m thinking about Titus Andronicus at the moment. I’m sure it has something to say about Empire and its nature but I’m still trying to work all this out.
Titus Andronicus, for those who don’t know, is a neglected play by that little known writer William Shakespeare. I’m only joking about Shakespeare being little known. Titus Andronicus is a neglected play. Principally, I think, because, it is probably Shakespeare’s most violent play. It includes someone having her tongue cut out, being raped, having her hand cut off. You get the idea. You can do that in the cinema and say nothing but if it’s Shakespearean drama and it has something to say you’d better look forward to it seldom being performed.
But what does it have to say? Now there’s the question. The Romans and the Goths are at war. The General Titus Andronicus returns victorious but with 21 of his 25 sons sacrificed in the battles. He decides to humiliate the Goth prisoners who return to Rome in his train. The Goths in their midst become more cultured during their stay in Rome. The Romans display the barbarism they had until now associated with the Goths. By the end of the play, Titus Andronicus’ son has ascended to the throne and he is enabled to achieve this goal by the Goths that his father had sought to humiliate.
Empire is a very current idea. The Americans and assorted allies invade Iraq to remove a corrupt leader but also to export democracy. The kind of rights that are traditionally associated with democracy are meanwhile denied those who are prisoners-of-war at Guantanamo Bay.
Heather James in her important essay, “Cultural disintegration in Titus Andronicus” has this to say:
“the founding acts of Empire turn out to contain the seeds of its destruction”
Something like this is afoot in the world at the moment. The Chinese seem to be exporting their Empire to Africa by stealth and by financial interest. Examine what’s happening in Congo and Ethiopia. Sell us your resources and we will build you roads and train lines. Ships of Chinese weapons are stopped at South Africa en route to Robert Mugabe. Meanwhile, China stifles Tibet back home. Beware of Empire-makers bearing gifts. Africa needs to wake up before it gives away the little it has left……..
GK Chesterton said , in “The Flying Inn”, that the great destiny of Empire was in 4 acts. “Victory Over Barbarians. Employment of Barbarians. Alliance with Barbarians. Conquest by Barbarians.”
There is a theme here somewhere. Something about the fact that on order to create your Empire you must defeat your enemy, and in order to defeat your enemy, you must stoop to the level of those you came to enrich, to exploit and make wiser. In order to build your Empire you must become worse than those you came to improve. This is certainly true of the Romans in Titus Andronicus and perhaps of all attempts at Empire.
There are, of course, those who rise above and survive. Speaking of the people of God, Bob Dylan reminded us “every empire that enslaved him is gone – Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon” (Neighbourhood Bully, 1983).
Even the Eagles remind us on their new record that the “road to Empire is a bloody stupid waste” (Long Road out of Eden, 2007). Despite all these great voices ranged around to remind us, the wise ones still try to build empires to export their ways. It cost Titus Andronicus his sanity and the Romans the world they had re-created. It might cost us more, if we don’t learn the lessons of this play and our history.
I think this is well-written:
It’s comin’ on the end of August
Another summer’s promise almost gone
And though I heard some wise man say
That every dog will have his day
He never mentioned that these dog days get so long
I don’t know when I realized the dream was over
Well, there was no particular hour, no given day
You know, it didn’t go down in flame
There was no final scene, no frozen frame
I just watched it slowly fade away
And I’ve been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for my time to come around again
Hope is floating on the breeze
Carrying my soul high up above the ground
I’ve been keepin’ to myself
Knowin’ that the seasons are slowly changing you
And though you’re with somebody else
He’ll never love you like I do
I’ve been biding time with the crows and sparrows
While peacocks prance and strut upon the stage
If finding love is just a dance
Proximity and chance
You will excuse me if I skip the masquerade
And I’ve been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for the dust to settle down along the
Back roads running through the fields
Lying on the outskirts of this lonesome town
And I imagine sunlight in your hair
You’re at the county fair
You’re holding hands and laughing
And now the Ferris wheel has stopped
You’re swinging on the top
Suspended there with him
And he’s the darling of the chic
The flavor of the week is melting
Down your pretty summer dress
Baby, what a mess you’re making
I’ve been stumbling through some dark places
But I’m following the plow
I know I’ve fallen out of your good graces
It’s alright now
And I’ve been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for the summer rain to fall upon the
Wild birds scattering the seeds
Answering the calling of the tide’s eternal tune
The phases of the moon
The chambers of the heart
The egg and dart
A small gray spider spinning in the dark
In spite of all the times the web is torn apart
And I’ve been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for the time to come around again and
Hope is floating on the breeze
Carrying my soul high up above the ground and
I’ve been keepin’ to myself
Knowing that the seasons are slowly changing you
And though you’re with somebody else
He’ll never love you like I do
So I searched the broadsheets for an honest review but I found none. I didn’t want a good review but just a review that made me feel like the writer had actually been there. But I found none. If a solo artist continues to tour into his dotage, we applaud him (or her) for perseverance and call him the grand old man of rock or blues or some such. If a band does the same, we say that they’re only doing it for the money and we trot out the same old lines.
Now the Eagles (there is no question on this one!) are doing it for the money but not only for that. All those reviews that said they phoned in their performance and went through tired old licks are simply not true. Yes, these are the guys who recorded “Peaceful Easy Feeling” and “Take it Easy” on their first album but just writing the word “easy” over and over again doesn’t make a review just lazy journalism.
Anyway, I don’t think they’re going to worry too much about the critics and I really didn’t expect any positive write-ups so no-one’s truly disappointed.
I’d be the first to admit that when I saw the Eagles in 2006 at Twickenham, I was still impressed by their polish and professionalism and, oh, those harmonies and the manic Joe Walsh but, hey, I felt like I’d seen it all before and I genuinely didn’t know whether I’d be back to take it to the limit, one more time….. But these shows in 2008 see a band re-invigorated. Still polished, still a little too professional, still over-priced but with a whole bunch of new songs and new energy. This meant that when the harmonies were spot on, they were just a little more impressive. This meant that when Joe Walsh was manic (when isn’t Joe Walsh manic!), he was just a little funnier. This guy is 15 years sober but he’s still the funniest drunk in rock and that is some acting.
“Long Road Out of Eden” (the song) is a critique of U.S. overseas policy which you either agree with or you don’t but there’s no question in my mind that on Saturday it included the most wonderful guitar solo I’ve heard in a long time. Not over-indulgent, not over-long but just great music. And that’s why I came… the music. And on that score the Eagles were convincing. They were de-mob happy playing their last overseas date on this tour and that added just a little more energy, a little more mischief. So it was a good night but even on the lukewarm nights, it is passion I hear in the songwriting and in the delivery. And on that score the Eagles won!
So last week produced two concerts in two days. One reasonably new band deserving success, one old band reinvigorated from a new album with 20 new songs to perform if they wish. Both gigs involved leaving my home (of course!), making the short walk to the tube station (I’ve lived here 6 months and I still can’t believe how short that walk is!) and hopping on the district line. Both gigs involved leaving said train at Westminster and changing for the Jubilee line.
Are you with me so far? This is where the contrasts begin.
Friday night, I get off at Canning Town. Saturday night, I leave one stop earlier at North Greenwich.
Friday, I leave the tube station and a guy in an orange jacket asks me if I like live music. I joke with him and say “yes, but tonight I’m already going somewhere”. I know from the sign on his back he’s pushing the Swarf gig and eventually we laugh.
Saturday, I just follow the crowds heading from the tube station to that odd shaped collection of buildings we used to call the “Millennium Dome” but now call the o2 arena. It looks the same but people want to go there now.
Friday, its into a deserted industrial estate, past the local car pound and tramping onward following the red and white signs for “BH2”. Thankfully there are plenty of them.
Saturday, it’s up an escalator in order to go down an escalator. Who designed this place?
Friday, the only lights in sight are the local MOT centre which is curiously still lit up at this time of night. You’ve guessed it, the club is in the other half of the building and apparently run by the same people.
Saturday, a nice steward clears my credentials and guides me to my seat, past the endless supply of merchandise I don’t need (okay, I bought a t-shirt).
Friday, I order a Corona. They don’t have a Corona. So I end up with a beer I normally only drink in Indian take-aways.
Saturday, I really don’t want one of their nasty lukewarm drinks so I wait in my seat and wait for the lights to go down. When the lights on stage go up, it’s evident that they’ve spent a fortune on the stage-lighting but at these ticket prices (hey, I got in free!) they can afford it.
Friday, when the lights go down, they never seem to light the stage and there are moments when it is difficult to see clearly.
And on Friday, there were thirty people in that place, all gathered together, loving the music.
And on Saturday, there were twenty thousand people in that place, all gathered together, loving the music.
Friday, I stumble out into the cold night having seen a show I will remember a long time, full of great songs and energy. Back on to the train for my journey home.
Saturday, I stumble out into the cold night having seen a show I will remember a long time, full of great songs and energy. Back on to the train for my journey home.
I really love this city!!
twilightdawning 