Johnnie Walker's Long-Players episode 1 (BBC Radio 2) 2nd Feb 2012 *****************************
In the first of five programmes, Johnnie Walker looks at some favourite classic albums. This week it's David Bowie's Hunky Dory and the follow up to Ziggy Stardust - 'Aladdin Sane'. Both produced by Ken Scott (with help from Bowie as the 'actor' on 'Hunky Dory' and arrangements by Mick Ronson on 'Aladdin Sane') at the legendary Trident Studios during 1971 & 1972, 'Hunky Dory' was the first album to feature the subsequent Spiders From Mars line up and 'Aladdin Sane' followed the breakthrough 'Ziggy Stardust' album and fitted between legs of the famous tour. Very much a fan favourite, the first album combines the huge hits 'Changes' and 'Life On Mars' with cult classics like 'Kooks' and 'The Bewlay Brothers' and pays sideways tribute to heroes like Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground. 'Aladdin Sane' is a tougher sound with 'Drive In Saturday', 'Panic in Detroit', a cover of 'Let's Spend The Night Together' and 'The Jean Genie' being the stand out tracks. The programme will feature highlights of the albums, with comment and cultural history from Johnnie and broadcaster and critic David Hepworth alongside archive interviews with many of the key players. Music played (full songs) : Changes, Oh You Pretty Things, Life On Mars, Kooks, Andy Warhol, Watch That Man, Panic In Detroit, Drive In Saturday, The Jean Genie
Johnnie Walker's Long-Players episode 2
(BBC Radio 2) 9th Feb 2012
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In the second of five programmes, Johnnie Walker looks at favourite classic albums. This week it's Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' from 1973.
Elton's seventh studio album was produced by Gus Dudgeon at the Honky Chateau in France, with some preparation and recording in Kingston, Jamaica.
It features the famous Marilyn Monroe tribute, 'Candle in the Wind', as well as three successful singles: 'Bennie and the Jets', 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road', and 'Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting' alongside cult favourites like 'Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding'.
The programme will feature highlights from the double album with comment and cultural history from Johnnie and broadcaster and critic David Hepworth alongside archive interviews with many of the key players.
Music played (full songs) :
Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Jamaica Jerk-Off
Candle In The Wind
Grey Seal
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
Sweet Painted Lady
Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock'N'Roll)
Roy Rogers
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Johnnie Walker's Long-Players episode 3
(BBC Radio 2) 16th Feb 2012
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Johnnie Walker looks at his favourite classic albums. This week it's Lou Reed's 'Transformer' from 1972 and Paul Simon's 'Still Crazy After All These Years' from 1975.
'Transformer' was produced by Mick Ronson and David Bowie (both of whom were influenced by the Velvet Underground) and contains some of Reed's best work - 'Walk on the Wild Side', 'Perfect Day' and 'Satellite of Love', some written in the VU days. Novices could be forgiven for thinking it was Lou Reed's 'Greatest Hits'.
'Still Crazy' was Paul Simon's fourth solo studio album, winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1976. It also reunited him with his former partner Art Garfunkel (on the track 'My Little Town') for the first time since 1970.
Simon also recruited a veritable 'Who's Who' of english speaking (and Belgian) world class players and singers (including Patti Austin, Toots Thielemans, Valerie Simpson, Tony Levin, Ralph McDonald, Phoebe Snow, David Sanborn, Hugh McCracken, Bob James and Michael Brecker) for the tracks which included '50 Ways To Leave Your Lover' and 'Gone At Last'.
The programme will feature highlights from the albums with comment and cultural history from Johnnie and broadcaster and critic David Hepworth alongside archive interviews with many of the key players.
Johnnie Walker's Long-Players episode 4
(BBC Radio 2) 23rd Feb 2012
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As this short series continues, Johnnie Walker highlights more favourite LPs. This week it's Cat Stevens' 'Tea For The Tillerman' and Van Morrison's 'Moondance'.
The former broke Yusuf Islam (then known as Cat Stevens) in the United States and has created many well known cover versions. His second album of 1970 included 'Where Do the Children Play?', 'Hard Headed Woman', 'Wild World', 'Sad Lisa' and 'Father and Son'.
Van Morrison's third solo album followed his move to Woodstock, New York with his family. He wrote the album in the months following the release of 'Astral Weeks' and it was recorded in New York City in 1969 and released in 1970. The track listing is a wonder in itself, tracks included 'Into The Mystic', 'And It Stoned Me', the title song, 'Glad Tidings' and 'Crazy Love'.
Johnnie Walker's Long-Players episode 5
(BBC Radio 2) 1st Mar 2012
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Johnnie Walker looks at his favourite classic albums. This week it's Rod Stewart's third solo album Every Picture Tells A Story, released in 1971 and Some Girls by the Rolling Stones.
Rod persuaded his friends from the Faces to play on the album, according to the rather vague sleeve credits, along with great characters such as Danny Thompson, Madeline Bell and Long John Baldry. Highlights were Reason To Believe, Maggie May and Mandolin Wind.
Ronnie Wood, as well as writing Rod's title track, later took up a role in The Rolling Stones. In 1978 their 14th album, Some Girls, marked his first appearance as a full member. Guests on the record, which featured Beast of Burden, Respectable and Miss You, included another Face Ian McLagan, Don Was and John Fogerty.
The programme will feature highlights from the albums with comment and cultural history from Johnnie and broadcaster and critic David Hepworth alongside archive interviews with many of the key players.
Johnnie Walker's Long-Players - Series 2
BBC Radio 2
Peter Gabriel's So
Series 2 Episode 1 of 6
57 minutes
First broadcast:
Tuesday 02 October 2012
In the first of a new series Peter Gabriel talks exclusively to Johnnie about the 1986 landmark album that changed his life, transforming him from prog rock cult artist into an MTV generation worldwide superstar, pioneer of World Music and hugely respected cultural and political figure.
So combined huge hits (backed up by ground breaking videos and concepts) with extraordinarily personal, experimental, haunting and memorable pieces such as In Your Eyes, Red Rain and Mercy Street. Peter talks about the unexpected recording history behind Sledgehammer and the endurance test that was the video shoot, with the talented team who went on to make Wallace & Gromit.
Peter describes the creation of the songs and the change to his previous thoughts, techniques and style; it was the first of his solo recordings to have a title (albeit it just one simple word) and an unadulterated portrait on the cover. He was also delighted to bring world music and artists such as Youssou N'Dour to a much wider audience.
Johnnie and Peter talk about the Otis Redding gig, which they both attended in Brixton in the 1960s and which made such a huge impression on everyone in the room, as well as the influence that the Stax sound had on some of the songs on the album.
Peter also plays some of the early demo versions and tracks that didn't make it onto the final release, discusses his live stage work and highlights the freedom that the success of So gave him.
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Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, and Don Henley's The End of the Innocence
Series 2 Episode 2 of 6
First broadcast:
Tuesday 09 October 2012
Bruce Springsteen's seventh album from 1984 Born In The USA was a million miles away from its dark predecessor Nebraska, in terms of sound, if not politics and themes. It changed his reputation forever and encouraged him to embrace video promotion and a larger stadium performance ethic.
The programme features highlights from the albums, with interview clips, comment and cultural history from Johnnie and broadcaster and critic David Hepworth, both of whom have spent time with the Boss and the E Street Band.
Don Henley linked up with his friends JD Souther, Sheryl Crow, Edie Brickell, Jim Keltner, Patty Smyth & Bruce Hornsby for his third solo album The End Of The Innocence in 1989 and it became his biggest seller outside The Eagles. Listen out for Don's archive interview with the late Roger Scott for BBC Radio, recorded soon after the album's release.
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Joni Mitchell's Blue, and Jackson Browne's Running on Empty
Series 2 Episode 3 of 6
Duration:
57 minutes
First broadcast:
Tuesday 16 October 2012
In perhaps the first and only live album about life on the road Jackson Browne broke many rules and confounded his critics - no live versions of previous hit singles (although a cover did hit the UK singles chart), backstage secrets and tricks of the trade brought out into the open, and concert performances alongside rough and vibrant recordings from hotel rooms and tour buses.
Johnnie and critic David Hepworth remind us of Jackson's fifth album recorded in 1977 - Running On Empty, featuring his friends (and world renowned) musicians Rosemary Butler, Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and David Lindley.
It became one of his biggest sellers. As David says touring can be like a return to adolescence - simultaneously "the most boring and the most exciting time of your life".
Russ Kinkel also plays on Joni Mitchell's fourth album and perhaps her most honest masterpiece, Blue, from 1971. Johnnie and David hear from Joni herself, who feels she may have given too much away on the album, alongside contemporaries and friends like Graham Nash and David Crosby who both feel she changed the art of songwriting and performing forever.
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U2's The Joshua Tree and REM's Automatic for the People
Series 2 Episode 4 of 6
Duration:
57 minutes
First broadcast:
Tuesday 23 October 2012
U2's fifth studio album The Joshua Tree is a love letter to America and part of their journey to discover real blues, soul and rock'n'roll music. It is also full of references to Irish roots music and social and political lyrics relating to Britain, Ireland, Africa and (North and South) America. Released in 1987 The Joshua Tree topped the charts in more than 20 countries. As Johnnie and David mention the album opened with three of the strongest singles ever released. At the time this was somewhat unusual and credit should go to the late Kirsty MacColl who, although not a great fan, agreed to her then husband Steve Lillywhite's request to help with the track sequencing. She reportedly claimed that it was easy, all she did was put her favourite song at the beginning, then her next favourite song, and so on...
Like many of the albums in the series Johnnie and David realised that although they love the R.E.M. singles you hear on the radio every day, it's been a while since they listened to the whole of Automatic For The People. In a similar vein to The Joshua Tree, the album, released in 1992, yielded many hit singles - Drive, Man On The Moon, The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, Everybody Hurts and Nightswimming as well a mixture of unpredictable tracks, haunting hymns and hard political rock songs. Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones added beautiful orchestral arrangements.
The programme features highlights from the albums, with interview clips, comment and cultural history from Johnnie and broadcaster and critic David Hepworth. In 1994 Johnnie introduced U2 live on the BBC from the RDS in Dublin and David introduced R.E.M. on Whistle Test in the early days of their career.
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The Who's 'Who's Next' and Neil Young's 'After the Gold Rush'
Series 2 Episode 5 of 6
Duration:
57 minutes
First broadcast:
Tuesday 30 October 2012
This week two albums which changed from soundtrack & stage projects to career defining highs.
Johnnie and David discuss The Who from 1971 and Neil Young from 1970. With both artists it's hard to choose their finest albums, but Who's Next and After The Goldrush must be high up on most lists.
The programme includes archive clips from Pete Townshend and Neil Young and includes Baba O'Reilly, Won't Get Fooled Again, After The Goldrush , Southern Man and Only Love Can Break Your Heart.
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Annie Lennox's Diva and Carole King's Tapestry
Series 2 Episode 6 of 6
Duration:
57 minutes
First broadcast:
Tuesday 06 November 2012
In the final part of this series Johnnie Walker and critic David Hepworth look at two extraordinary female singer songwriters.
David believes that 1971 is the annus mirabilis for the rock album, as proved by previous programmes on Who's Next and Hunky Dory. It also saw the release of the flagship album for confessional songs from the flagship writer at New York's Brill Building. As David says "a bit like the scriptwriter becoming the lead actor", the then 29 year old Carole King decided to perform many of the love songs she had written (and co-written), for artists like Aretha Franklin and The Shirelles, on her own album.
Tapestry features her friends James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Russ Kunkel and Danny Kortchmar and has sold more than 25 million copies across the world.
Twenty one years on, the independent and inventive Annie Lennox decided to record her solo debut at home, with a producer well known for his work with the Art Of Noise, the Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Grace Jones - Steve Lipson. The resulting album Diva, although more electronic and dependent on new technology than Tapestry, was just as well received by a new generation and successful in an equally crowded market.
Join Johnnie and David for a new series of Long Players in the spring.
Johnnie Walker's Long-Players - Series 03
Crowded House and the Beach Boys
Series 3 Episode 1 of 6
Duration: 57 minutes
First broadcast: Thursday 14 March 2013
David Hepworth joins Johnnie to listen to the classic albums Woodface and Pet Sounds with archive clips from those involved in the performance and production of the releases.
Brian Wilson's masterpiece came out of his desire to emulate The Beatles and Crowded House finally got the audience acclaim they deserved, although this particular fraternal partnership between the Finn brothers was not to last long.
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Dusty in Memphis and Otis Blue
Series 3 Episode 2 of 6
Duration: 57 minutes
First broadcast: Thursday 21 March 2013
Two exceptional albums tonight, both with links to Memphis.
Otis Redding recorded Otis Blue over a weekend in 1965 for Stax with Steve Cropper, Donald Duck Dunn, Wayne Jackson and Al Jackson.
Dusty Springfield recorded Dusty in Memphis for Jerry Wexler in 1968, although the title maybe somewhat misleading, as we will discover. The latter featured Dusty's meticulously chosen song list from Goffin & King, Randy Newman (who will feature in a later programme), Bacharach & David and Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, amongst others.
David Hepworth and Johnnie Walker have different views on the albums but adore the great tracks including Son Of A Preacher Man, Breakfast in Bed, So Much Love, Respeect, I've Been Loving You Too Long and Satisfaction.
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Abbey Road and All Things Must Pass
Series 3 Episode 3 of 6
Duration: 57 minutes
First broadcast: Thursday 28 March 2013
The end of The Beatles but the start of solo careers with Abbey Road and All Things Must Pass tonight. Johnnie and David Hepworth introduce tracks and archive interviews from Sir George Martin, Sir Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George and Olivia Harrison and production engineers Chris Thomas and Geoff Emerick.
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Carly Simon and Randy Newman
Series 3 Episode 4 of 6
Duration: 57 minutes
First broadcast: Thursday 04 April 2013
Johnnie Walker looks at classic albums by Carly Simon and Randy Newman.
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Face Value and Hounds of Love
Series 3 Episode 5 of 6
Duration: 57 minutes
First broadcast: Thursday 11 April 2013
Both artists tonight forged new sounds on tracks like In The Air Tonight and Running Up That Hill. They also enjoyed producing, writing and performing on their own terms.
Johnnie and David listen to The Hounds Of Love, Kate Bush's most successful album to date, last heard memorably at the Olympic Stadium last summer and the first solo effort from the Genesis drummer Phil Collins, hugely successful but performed with his heart on his sleeve.
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Sheryl Crow and Linda Ronstadt
Series 3 Episode 6 of 6
Duration: 57 minutes
First broadcast: Thursday 18 April 2013
Johnnie and David round off the series with Sheryl Crow's Tuesday Night Music Club, which came out of a weekly jam session of musicians in L.A. (plus the shelving of Sheryl's first album) and the unsung heroes (Linda Ronstadt herself, the multi talented Andrew Gold and the great British producer/collaborator and manager Peter Asher) on Heart Like A Wheel.
Replies
Whew!! Rick, Take a Break!!!! Thanks!!!! :)
You're welcome Abby. The only chore was waiting for them to upload. LOL ------------------- R