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The neck of my Guitar

The PS Songbook Gets First U.S. Release

from Masud , 2004-02-04
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NEW YORK (Billboard) - An album Paul Simon recorded in 1965 that has never seen the light of day in America will get its first official release here this spring.

´The Paul Simon Songbook,´ previously only available as an import and long out-of-print even in that form, is due March 23 via Columbia/Legacy.

The original 12-track album was recorded in the wake of the lukewarm response afforded Simon & Garfunkel´s 1964 debut, ´Wednesday Morning 3 A.M.´ Simon moved to London, building an audience while honing his material at coffeehouse performances. Entering the studio in June 1965 with producers Stanley West and Reginald Warburton, he offered solo acoustic takes on such future staples as ´I Am a Rock,´ ´April Come She Will´ and ´The Sounds of Silence.´

The resulting ´Songbook´ was issued by CBS Records in England but was never released in North America, reportedly due to Simon´s dissatisfaction with the finished product. However, a number of the songs from the set were promptly re-cut with Garfunkel and an overdubbed backing band for the pair´s second album, 1966´s ´The Sounds of Silence.´

´This LP contains 12 of the songs that I have written over the past two years,´ Simon wrote at the time. ´There are some here that I would not write today. I don´t believe in them as I once did. I have included them because they played an important role in the transition. It is discomforting, almost painful, to look back over something someone else created and realize that someone else was you.´

The upcoming edition adds previously unreleased alternate takes of ´I Am a Rock´ and ´A Church Is Burning,´ the latter utilizing six-string guitar instead of the album version´s 12-string performance. It also reproduces Simon´s extensive original liner notes, partially written in the form of a script.

Simon & Garfunkel are eyeing a new leg of summer dates for their wildly successful Old Friends reunion tour, the first run of which wrapped in late December.

Reuters/Billboard


DVD release Born At The Right Time

from Ans Koenen , 2004-02-05
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ROUNDER RECORDS WOULD RELEASE BORN AT THE RIGHT TIME AS HYBRID DVD

Rounder Records has forged an exclusive deal with PBS´ New York station Thirteen/WNET to release films from the ´American Masters´ documentaries on the DVD Plus hybrid CD/DVD format, Billboard.biz reports.

Broadcast nationally on PBS, ´American Masters´ has produced award-winning films on the lives of artists such as Joni Mitchell, Ray Charles, Lou Reed, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Ella Fitzgerald, Richard Rogers, Paul Simon, Muddy Waters, Charlie Parker, Leonard Bernstein, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Bob Marley. The series, currently in its 18th season, has won 12 Emmy Awards, five Peabody Awards, a Grammy and an Oscar.

DVD Plus was developed by Dieter Dierks, founder and co-CEO of DVD Plus International, based in Stommeln, Germany, and Sydney, Australia. DVD Plus International is the global license holder of DVD Plus patents.

As previously reported, Rounder Records released Kathleen Edwards´ ´Live From the Bowery Ballroom´ on a DVD Plus disc in November. That disc featured three audio-only tracks on one side and two videos on the other.


Art Garfunkel Pleads Guilty To Pot

from Brandy , 2004-02-18
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Art Garfunkel pleads guilty to marijuana charge
Thursday 12 February, 2004 16:48

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Singer Art Garfunkel has pleaded guilty to marijuana possession and paid a $100 (52 pound) fine in a small New York town after his arrest last month in his speeding limousine, court officials say.

Garfunkel´s attorney entered the guilty plea on February 4 and Garfunkel paid a $100 fine and $100 in costs in the Hurley Town Court, 90 miles north of New York City, court clerk Leanne Warren said on Thursday.

Warren said the lawyer had originally been scheduled to appear on Garfunkel´s behalf on Wednesday, but instead entered the plea a week earlier. The lawyer and Garfunkel´s representatives in New York have not commented on the case.

Garfunkel, 62, half of the ´60s duo Simon and Garfunkel, was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana when his limousine was pulled over for speeding near Hurley on January 17.

The state trooper who stopped the vehicle found a bag of marijuana containing 6 grams (0.2116 ounce) of marijuana in the star´s jacket pocket, police said.

Police said the arresting officer did not recognize Garfunkel, who with singing partner Paul Simon recorded five albums in the 1960s. They are famous for songs such as ´Mrs. Robinson,´ ´Bridge Over Troubled Water,´ and ´The Sound of Silence.´

The duo completed a reunion concert tour of the United States in December, their first in 20 years.

The driver of the limousine received a ticket for driving 61 mph in a 45-mph zone.



The Montreux sounds on DVD

from Jesse , 2004-02-19
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Eagle Vision Presents
Montreux Jazz Festival

Eagle Vision is proud to announce a deal to represent the Montreux Sounds catalogue. Montreux Sounds is the label which controls the archive of the celebrated Montreux Jazz Festival, which is now preparing for its 38th edition from July 3-18, 2004.

Founded in 1967 by Claude Nobs, who continues as its CEO today, the Montreux Jazz Festival has established itself as one of the most prestigious annual music events in the world.

The list of artists who have performed at the festival over the years is extraordinary. A random sampling includes David Bowie, Paul Simon, Jamiroquai, Isaac Hayes, Basement Jaxx, David Gray, George Benson, Diana Krall, Deep Purple, R.E.M., Pat Metheny, Bob Dylan, Santana, Bjork, Eric Clapton, The Corrs, Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, ZZ Top, George Clinton, Simply Red, James Taylor Quartet, Ice T, B.B. King, Van Morrison, Johnny Cash, Fats Domino, Miles Davis, Phil Collins, Courtney Pine, Elvis Costello, Dizzy Gillespie, Hugh Masekela, Garbage, Buddy Guy, Ella Fitzgerald, John Lee Hooker, Count Basie and Stevie Ray Vaughan – and that still leaves out a host of stars from across the musical spectrum.

Eagle Vision is delighted to be representing this entire catalogue, including the 2004 Festival, for TV sales on a worldwide basis. In addition we will be making selected titles available on DVD.

Geoff Kempin, Chief Operating Officer for Eagle Vision worldwide, said “Montreux is one of the world’s truly superb music television catalogues, particularly notable for Claude’s early vision in producing so many shows in Hi Definition since 1991. Terry Shand, Executive Chairman of Eagle Rock Entertainment Ltd, and myself are delighted to be working with Claude and his partners on a catalogue that, on both artistic and technical levels, is of such uniformly high quality and depth that it will enrich all media.”

Claude Nobs said “Eagle has the qualities that Montreux Sounds needs in a worldwide distributor and we look forward to a long and rewarding relationship.”