Showing posts with label Faces. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faces. Show all posts

CD Review: Tesla – Simplicity

CD Review: Tesla – Simplicity
Tesla Electric Company Recording
All Access Rating: A-

Tesla - Simplicity 2014
Don't tell Tesla that technology has made our lives better. What's so great about it anyway? It's only brought more complications and increased anxiety, not to mention inferior "MP3" digital recordings, embraced for their convenience but reviled for their sonic limitations. 

It seems Tesla, then, wasn't made for these times. Then again, their brand of honest and earthy songwriting, informed by the '70s classic rock of Montrose and Humble Pie, seemed almost completely out of touch with the glamorous, roaring '80s, and they sold records by the truckloads if memory serves.

Doggedly forging ahead in this social-media driven age, the Tesla of 2014 longs for Simplicity, which is not only the title of their latest album but also the word that best defines the straightforward, no-holds-barred sound of these scruffy, hard-rock mutts. Speaking the unvarnished truth of rock 'n' roll, with grit and big-hearted melodies, the well-crafted Simplicity is a heady distillation of all those raw elements that have made Tesla so beloved, as solid hooks and rugged grooves emerge from a rough mix of tastefully executed electric and acoustic guitar interplay to make the crunching, ballsy hard rock of "Ricochet" and "Break of Dawn." Just as spirited and even more timeless are rustic, emotionally spent power ballads, such as the soaring "So Divine ..." and the cathartic "Honestly," that, in Tesla's capable hands, manage to avoid the honey trap of being too saccharine or overly sentimental. The scratched-up, wildcat vocals of Jeff Keith make sure that never happens.

On Simplicity, though, Tesla speaks its mind in songs that have real teeth and jaws of steel. Taking on a world overrun by computer devices and their bastard offspring, "MP3" is the stomping opening track, and it's a gnarly, defiant Luddite's lament that wants its phonograph back and despite its sneering guitars, is slow to anger, pretty string arrangements lending their righteous argument heightened drama. In similar fashion, the creeping "Rise and Fall" gradually develops, its grungy churn warning of trouble ahead.

Above all, however, what really sparkles on Simplicity is "Cross My Heart," a charming, sun-dappled Southern rock ditty reminiscent of both The Faces and The Black Crowes, with golden acoustic shine and beautiful, rambling piano courtesy of a multi-instrumentalist marvel in guitarist Frank Hannon. Due out June 10, there's nothing fussy or pretentious about Simplicity. It is what the title says it is. What's in a name? When it comes to Tesla, it's everything.  
– Peter Lindblad

The Rock 'n Pop Summer 2011 Auction

Backstage Auctions Offers Up Investment Opportunity with Photos, Image Rights
By Patrick Prince

One of the main attractions at Backstage Auctions’ Rock ‘n’ Pop Summer Auction on June 4-12, 2011, will be more than 350 auction lots of negatives and slides — classic rock artists ranging from Eric Clapton to The Doors — with a full transfer of rights.

Ted Nugent 
One hundred auction lots will be from the archives of rock ‘n’ roll photographer and author Philip Kamin. Backstage Auctions claims that Kamin only sold his photographs to the bands he toured with, the bands’ managers, their public relations firms, record companies, or bands’ merchandisers. The Kamin images up for auction have never been sold to newspapers, magazines or photo agencies. As a result, these photographs and their original rights have remained in Kamin’s possession for decades.

“I have had a lot of time to enjoy these images,” Kamin says, “and I want to make sure they end up in the hands of individuals who will cherish them as much as I have. Bringing them to avid collectors seems to make the most sense.”

The real golden nugget of this auction is that all of these images will be offered with a full transfer of image rights. According to Backstage Auctions, purchasing photographs, negatives and slides with the transfer of rights is becoming increasingly popular, as it represents a fantastic investment opportunity for any music collector.

Bob Dylan
“We have customers that have purchased similar lots from us in the past to produce limited prints for resale, larger-scale book projects in concert with the artists and hosting of the images with various agencies, such as Getty and Corbis,” says Jacques van Gool, founder of Backstage Auctions.

What should not be overlooked is the inclusion of negatives and slides (with full transfer of rights, of course) of lesser-known photographers, such as the late Jim Townsend and the late Larry E. Lent. And many of these images have never been used.

“Jim Townsend and Larry E. Lent were both Houston-based, independent, concert photographers, who were mostly active during the 1970s and 1980s,” van Gool explains, “and are locally best known for their contributions to Music News, Houston’s longest running local music magazine.”

Some of the Houston venues where Townsend and Lent took photos were Hofheinz Pavilion, Sam Houston Coliseum, Music Hall, The Summit, Astrodome and Rockefeller’s. 

Faces
“In the ’70s, concert photos were typically used by the existing music press,” van Gool says, “and all of those magazines — whether it was Creem or Hit Parader or Rolling Stone — either had offices on the East Coast or West Coast, and as a result, live photos that were used were typically from East or West Coast venues. Photos from venues in the middle (of America) were hardly used or seen, for that matter. These two photographers in Houston were really the only two who archived almost every band that came through town — and every major band made a stop in Houston just as much as they stopped in any other major city. The irony and the sad part of it was that there was no outlet for it. The Houston media was hardly interested in it. I would say that a good 99 percent of these images had never been seen.”

The auction also will include a number of vintage concert posters and signed memorabilia, including signed artwork by The Rolling Stones’ Ron Wood.

Other types of music memorabilia featured in the auction include:

Artist Signed Items
Concert Photos, Negatives and Slides
1960s & 1970s Concert Posters
Recording Reels & Dat Recordings
Record Awards & Plaques
Vintage Amps, 1960s Gibson-EB Bass Guitar
Unique Woodstock 1969 Memorabilia
Acetates, Test Pressings, Vintage Vinyl
Amazing collection of Ron Wood signed Rolling Stones Artwork

The line up of artist memorabilia reads like the who's who of rock and roll royalty, including but not limited to Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, The Who, Janis Joplin, The Doors, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Aerosmith, Yardbirds, Kiss, Ted Nugent, Journey, Boston, Kansas, Styx, Molly Hatchet, Rory Gallagher, Van Halen, Fleetwood Mac, Johnny & Edgar Winter, Jethro Tull and 100s more legendary 1960s, 1970s and 1980s artists and bands. Even the 1990s is represented by A-list pop artists such as Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez.

For more information about the auction or to obtain your VIP All Access pass, visit our auction page on our site. http://www.backstageauctions.com/catalog/auction.php

(This article originally featured on the Goldmine Magazine website. To view the original follow the link: http://www.goldminemag.com/?s=backstage+auctions&x=0&y=0 )