« Friends of the Stars in Activity Shocker | Home | Lighting & Electrical - Free Download #2 - “Sharpening a Blade” »
The Peel Sessions Book
By Craig | November 5, 2007
So, there’s this book out about John Peel Sessions.
“This is a story of teenage dreams, which, as any Peel fan knows, are hard to beat. Between 1967 and 2004 John Peel picked over 2000 bands to come and record over 4000 sessions to be played on his radio show. Many were young and had never been in a recording studio before, for some it was the start of an illustrious career, for others it was the only recognition their musical talent ever got. For over 35 years the cream of British musical talent made the journey to the BBC’s studio in Maida Vale, from Pink Floyd to Pulp, The Small Faces to The Smiths. And because John Peel was so respected his sessions took on a legendary status - they were a rite of passage that every new band wanted to go through. Unfettered by commerical pressure the Peel sessions were a unique british institution - an archive of music that reflects one man’s passion for finding and encouraging new music. This book includes a full sessionography listing songs, band members and broadcast dates.”
We’ll feature twice in the book having recorded two sessions for the show and although I’ve yet to have a gander at it, I’m guessing we will more than likely feature in two seperate entries because between the recording of our two sessions we went through a name change, from Buick 6 to The Toques….and all this was before we became Friends of the Stars.
Incidentally, drummer Phil Robinson will probably feature 3 (Three!!) times in the book as he also recorded a session with his previous band, Novak a few years before he joined up with us. Phil must therefore be something a rarity since I can’t imagine there are many people out there who recorded 3 Peel sessions with 3 different bands….or maybe someone can claim to have done 4 or more??….but if there isn’t, then you should remember his name, because he might just win you a Pub Quiz one day.
Anyhow…Click here to buy the book from Amazon.
So, I’ve been meaning to post up some of the sessions tracks for some time but have never got around to it, and this seems as good a time as any to kick off the giveaways. In true arse-about-face fashion, the first track up is taken from the second session.
The second session was a lot of fun, and not least because we were less nervous having already broken our duck the previous year, but also because we roped in some friends to come and play with us and became a 9-piece for the day, with Grand Drive’s Julian Wilson on Hammond organ and occasional Willard Grant Conspiracy member Simon Alpin on dobro helping make up the numbers.
It had been suggested by several people (including John) that for the 2nd one we record a session of cover versions and whilst we were up for that, we decided that the last thing we wanted to do was to record anything that was remotely ‘country’ in origin. We felt that recording the type of songs that people would have expected us to be would have been far too obvious and, being the obstinate and stubborn bunch we are, we of course went 15 miles in the other direction and decided to pick very deliberately non-country songs and interpret them in our own way.
I recall that we argued a lot before deciding on the 4 songs we eventually plumped for, and that I was desperately lobbying for “Teardrops” by Womack & Womack, which is a song I thought we would have done fabulous things with.
Anyhow, of the 4 tunes we eventually chose, ”Jealous Again” by The Black Crowes was probably the only ‘original’ song that was close to our musical neighbourhood but we tried to stay well clear of that Southern Rock sound.
The Toques - Peel Session #2 - Jealous Again
Listen
Over the two sessions we recorded a total of 9 songs, and the other 8 will be posted here over time. The versions given away here are those that we recorded from the radio when the shows were actually transmitted, not versions from the BBC-owned master tapes.
Oh, and here’s how The Black Crowes would no doubt prefer you to hear their song.
Topics: Uncategorized |
November 14th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Close, Phil Robinson, but no cigar. Yes, your earlier session appearance wiht Novcak is noted. But guitarist Damian O’Neill recorded a total of 13 Peel Sessions, with no less than 5 different acts, successively The Undertones, Eleven, Dawn Chorus & The Blue Tits, That Petrol Emotion, Ash, and The Undertones again. This info is in my book. As is a link between your two sessions under different names, after my friend Andrew Dubber of UCE pointed this out to me at the Radio Conference in Lincoln this summer, just before I went to press. Thanks for the plug - ken
November 14th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
you do good work Ken