Pick Up the Pieces: Hamish Stuart Levels Abuse Charges at Paul McCartney

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Feb 272007
 

Former Paul McCartney sideman and Average White Band leader Hamish Stuart ended years of silence following his dismissal from McCartney’s band, leveling charges of musical and emotional abuse and threatening to petition for full custody of the Hofner “Beatle” bass they shared during the Flowers in the Dirt tour.

The charges were contained in an addendum to a 13-page court document filed previously by Mr. Stuart, said London’s Daily Mail. A copy of the original document was faxed to news organizations by an anonymous source Monday night. Details of the addendum were leaked to the Daily Mail yesterday.

In the original 13-page document Mr. Stuart claimed that Mr. McCartney had forced him to cancel a crucial hair salon appointment because the appointment would have interfered with Mr. McCartney’s planned rehearsal of “Live and Let Die” with pyrotechnics. Mr. Stuart also charged that Mr. McCartney had refused to let him keep a spittoon by the side of the stage.

“I don’t want that stinking thing up here because it makes the stage smell like a f*ck*ng old man’s home,” Mr. McCartney is alleged to have said when Mr. Stuart pleaded with him to let him use the spittoon.
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Albums You Let Your Friends Buy

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Feb 272007
 

Are there albums you let your friends buy?
When you’re young and short on money, when you’ve got plenty of free time to hang out with friends and tape (as we did) or burn/load (as The Kids do) stuff from your friends’ collections, there are some albums you let your friends buy.

From my own experience – I’m sure you have your own and are chomping at the bit to share – let’s start with 3 albums by artists I loved and had been loyal to…to a point:

  • Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Almost Blue
  • The Jam, The Gift
  • The Rolling Stones, Tattoo You

I had to bypass Almost Blue. I was afraid of country music, and I was afraid of hearing my favorite band waste their time and mine playing cowboys. My friend Andy, who liked country music less than I did couldn’t resist and bought Almost Blue. I appreciated his friendship and the money I saved on an album I would never love.
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128-String Guitar

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Feb 272007
 


An amalgamation of the 12-string guitar, the high-strung guitar, improvements in acoustic guitar circuitry, and burgeoning ’80s cult worship of The Byrds and Big Star. In short, the 128-string guitar represented every Southern jangle-pop fan’s wet dream.

The style probably has its roots in George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass album. Think of songs like “My Sweet Lord”, with producer Phil Spector layering lord knows how many guitars to push along that simple progression.

Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey, “Geometry” (from Mavericks, as broadcast on WFMU)

As a device, the 128-string guitar came to prominence in the early ’90s, spanning mainstream country-pop through alternative jangle-pop artists. The 128-string guitar dominated the sound of the highly anticipated, among rock nerds, Chris Stamey-Peter Holsapple reunion, Mavericks. For some, this album was a godsend, with every possible jangly guitar tone encompassed in each deliberately strummed chord. For others, this album was a major letdown, with the 128-string guitar negating any overtones and interesting rhythms that might interfere with the listener’s appreciation of each and every lush chord.

The 128-string guitar would also make its appearance on gentle songs by the likes of Matthew Sweet, Bill Lloyd, Tommy Keene, and Teenage Fanclub as well as infiltrate the huge radio hits of Tom Petty. Although the 128-string guitar has proven itself a useful and effective tool, the watchdog organization Rock Town Hall cautions against its abuse.

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In Defense of The Rolling Stones’ Tattoo You

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Feb 262007
 

Townswoman Citizen Mom, inspired by the taunting of Rock Town Hall’s anti-Ron Wood stance, decided to defend the band’s Tattoo You album. For fear of being excomunicated from the Halls of Rock, Citizen Mom originally published this piece in econoculture.com. After reassurances that any stance is worth taking on Rock Town Hall, she decided to come forward and share her views with us. For this, we thank you!

Journey with me, if you will, back to a time not so long ago – a time when The Rolling Stones were still a viable rock band, before they just started sending the fossilized remains out on tour every few years. Before Keith Richards had shit growing out of his hair, before Jerry Hall finally threw Mick out for good, before they had daughters tall and gorgeous enough to be the kind of women their fathers would date.

During that dusky time, between when the sun set on disco and rose on “Thriller” and hair metal, even a bunch of castoff tracks from previous Stones albums, slapped together with a few new numbers so the band could have something to promote on an upcoming world tour, could kick ass.

That time, my friends, was 1981, and the album was Tattoo You, also known as the Last Great Rolling Stones Record and the band’s last full-length release to hit #1 on the American charts. It’s pretty well buried under the mountain of undeserved rockist scorn, but there are some damn fine songs lurking between “Start Me Up” and “Waiting On a Friend,” the two wildly successful singles that bookend the album.

Still, the snitch keep snitchin’ and the bitches keep bitchin’, and when I pitched this piece to Econo, the response I got back from my editor went like this: “I dare you to defend that crap album. ‘Waiting on a Friend’ is great. But the rest — ugh. Do we really need to hear ‘Start Me Up’ ever again?”

Yeah, we’ve all heard “Start Me Up” a million times, but should its Awesome ’80s ubiquity doom the entire album? I blame this on that friggin’ bodysuit — you know what I’m talking about:

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Lou Reed…The Way His Music Was Meant to Sound!

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Feb 262007
 

BREAKING NEWS…A ROCK TOWN HALL SPECIAL UPDATE…
Townswoman Lentinuna Edodes answers our prayers regarding the latest adventures in Lou Reed…The Way His Music Was Meant to Sound! Check this out:

An email I got today —

“Wanted to give y’all the heads-up that last week’s show of Pete Townshend and Rachel Fuller’s Attic Jam from Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater, with guests Lou Reed, J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., Amos Lee, Rachael Yamagata and Jimmy Fallon is now online for FREE viewing…I’m not sure how many days they will leave the footage up, so watch it soon.

Go to http://towsertv.petetownshend.com or check http://www.intheattic.tv

It appears they run the show continuously, and so you pick up wherever it is in the broadcast. If I remember correctly, the order of the show was:

  • Rachel Fuller
  • Jimmy Fallon
  • Amos Lee
  • Rachael Yamagata
  • J. Mascis
  • Pete Townshend
  • Lou Reed

and Pete sits in with everyone on at least one song, and Rachel F. mostly does as well. The whole show was truly amazing (Pete’s guitar playing on ‘Drowned’ is remarkable, and his collaboration on three Velvet Underground songs with Lou were truly historic. Enjoy.”

To find out more about Pete and Rachel’s series In The Attic, check out this story in today’s NY Post.

Mad props, Lentinuna, mad props!

Previously…

Townsman Al reports that Lou and friends recently sounded the way his music’s always been meant to sound…at least until his next album and tour. Until YouTube gets loaded up with live clips from this historic performance, we’ll have to settle for the above clip.

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