Happy 80th Birthday Bob Dylan

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One of the world’s most influential singer/songwriters American Bob Dylan celebrates a milestone today, his 80th birthday.

Robert Zimmerman, legally changed his to Dylan in the early Sixties.

The most commonly accepted version has long been that it was a tribute to Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Later, another theory posited that his pseudonym grew out of an early appreciation for the Matt Dillon character in the TV series Gunsmoke.

The ever-enigmatic Dylan – who told Playboy in 1978 that "I just chose the name and it stuck" – was typically of no help. Long after signing the first management contracts that finalized his new identity, he claimed that Dylan was his mother's maiden name (when it was actually Stone), that there was a Dillon Road in his hometown of Hibbing, Minn., that he took it from the name of a town in Oklahoma and that he had an uncle on his mom's side of the family with a similar name.

He even took shots at Thomas along the way. "Dylan Thomas' poetry is for people that aren't really satisfied in their bed – for people who dig masculine romance," Dylan told The New York Times in 1961. "I didn't change my name in honor of Dylan Thomas: That's just a story," he told Jules Siegel during a 1966 interview quoted in Bob Dylan: The Never Ending Star. "I've done more for Dylan Thomas than he's ever done for me."

Dylan’s been a regular visitor over the years since he first strolled onto the stage in Cardiff in 1966 and left many speechless with an electric set that tested the loyalty of his diehard folk living followers.
The set for his first visit included-

Tell Me,
MommaI Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)Baby,
Let Me Follow You Down
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
One Too Many Mornings
Ballard of a Thin Man
Like a Rolling Stone

It was March 1995 when Dylan next appeared in Cardiff playing the Cardiff International Arena, nearly 30 years later and the following setlist

Setlist

Down in the Flood
Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)
All Along the Watchtower
Play Video
Just Like a Woman
Tangled Up in Blue
Born in Time
Mr. Tambourine Man
(Acoustic)
Boots of Spanish Leather
(Acoustic)
Desolation Row
(Acoustic)
Dignity
She Belongs to Me
Maggie's Farm

Encore:
Like a Rolling Stone
It Ain't Me, Babe
(Acoustic)
Highway 61 Revisited

He returned again in 1997 to the same venue.

The 2000s saw Cardiff becoming a regular on Dylan’s tour schedule with an number of visits with the last being 3 May 2017, with the following setlist

Things Have Changed
To Ramona
Highway 61 Revisited
Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
I Could Have Told You
(Frank Sinatra cover)
Pay in Blood
Melancholy Mood
(Frank Sinatra cover)
Duquesne Whistle
Stormy Weather
(Harold Arlen cover)
Tangled Up in Blue
Early Roman Kings
Spirit on the Water
Love Sick
All or Nothing at All
(Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra cover)
Desolation Row
Soon After Midnight
That Old Black Magic
(Johnny Mercer cover)
Long and Wasted Years
Autumn Leaves
(Yves Montand cover)

Encore:
Blowin' in the Wind
Ballad of a Thin Man

Bob Marley Tribute

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40 Years on from Bob Marleys Passing KCL have put together this little tribute to the Man known as a Legend.

In the summer of 2008, Cardiff City played Ajax FC in their final pre-season friendly. After the game, Ajax fans were kept seated in the away stand until the Cardiff fans had left the surrounding area.

Ky-Mani Marley Singing 3 Little Birds for Ajax Fans

The announcer at the now-demolished Ninian Park Stadium, Ali Yassine, was instructed to play music to help keep Ajax fans calm, and being a huge reggae fan, chose "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley..

The story goes that Ajax fans started dancing, clapping, and chanting the songs' lyrics; and it became Ajax's anthem.

In 2018, Bob Marley's son Ky-Mani Marley attended an Ajax game and was given the honour to perform "Three Little Birds" at the Johan Cruyff Arena at half time - with the home crowd fans singing along with him

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On the 19th June 1976, Bob Marley & the Wailers took centre stage at Ninian Park, former home of Cardiff City, in what would be a memorable occasion for attendees in the Welsh capital. 

 Despite his undeniable influence on the world of music, at the time of his gig in Cardiff he was up-and-coming; only just beginning to cross over into the mainstream. In fact, Marley was not a first-choice headliner for the concert, but when Stephen Stills pulled out, the promoters, who weren’t well known in the area, had to work against the clock to find a new headliner. Luckily, Bob Marley was touring the UK, and seemed the perfect choice to fill Ninian Park’s headline slot that night.

 Although only around 4000 filled the 20,000 capacity, many who were in the crowd that night spoke of Marley’s brilliance. One attendee, Leigh Bailey, reported his enjoyment at Marley’s show. His experiences were life-changing, ultimately influencing his musical tastes, so much so that he is now the frontman of tribute band ‘Bob Marley And The Jailers’. That inspirational night marked Bob Marley’s first concert in Wales.

 Marley’s discography included timeless classics such as ‘Three Little Birds’, ‘Jammin’, and ‘Waiting in Vain’, as well as Marley’s world-renowned album ‘Exodus’; a record that was hugely respected among the alienated punk generation across the UK in the 70s. 

 Using his music and live performances to spread the notions of Rastafarianism, Marley’s legacy across the world will live on, and that night in 1976 will be celebrated for years to come. 

Setlist: 

1. Trenchtown Rock (The Wailers cover)

2. Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)

3. Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)

4. I Shot the Sheriff (The Wailers cover)

5. Crazy Baldhead

6. Want More

7. No Woman, No Cry

8. Lively Up Yourself

9. Roots, Rock, Reggae

10. Encore: Get Up, Stand Up

Here are some Quotes from the wise man.

“Don’t trust people whose feelings change with time. Trust people whose feelings remain the same, even when the time changes.”

“Live for yourself and you will live in vain; live for others, and you will live again.”

“Love the life you live, live the life you love.”

“Me only have one ambition, y’know. I only have one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together – black, white, Chinese, everyone – that’s all.”

“The trust is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.”

“Just because you are happy it does not mean that the day is perfect but that you have looked beyond its imperfections.”

“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”

“One good thing about music—when it hits you, you feel no pain.”

“None but ourselves can free our minds.”

Chloé Ferguson Feature

Chloé Ferguson is a 27-year-old singer from North Wales.

Music came into her life when she was four years old, influenced by pop music because of her father and brother, writing her first song when she was five years old.

Being home schooled by her mother, musical education didn't come into her life until she was 16, when she moved to Yorkshire, England to attend a music college, then she did her undergraduate education in pop music at the University of Chester and her master's in music production at the University of South Wales.

Speaking to Chloé we talked about what it was like studying pop music during her undergraduate degree "I didn't realise I liked music writing until I finished my undergraduate", so in 2018 she applied for an MA at the University of South Wales, for Chloé "because it helped me how to write and produce my own work".

Chloé’s music is on Spotify, YouTube and Facebook, and her music was played in 2017 on BBC Radio's HEREFORD & WORCESTER channel, "a weird feeling, probably getting to die in peace" - referring laughingly, because "when you're a kid a lot of people tell you to carry on but inside you never expect to be on that kind of channel or radio".

We talked about the pandemic that we are going through now as we know that over 60% of small and medium sized artists have been left without venues because of the closure of restaurants and bars,  "people in this environment are all bankrupt because of the pandemic".

The pandemic affected her when she came back to North Wales about a year ago and was in a band, they were playing in London, even though it was complicated the band for two months were doing gigs all over the country - Bristol, London, Swansea, but when the pandemic hit in February the band was forced to split up but hoping that when the pandemic was over they could gig again, so until then Chloe has dedicated herself to her solo career.

Chloe considers her style of music Indie, more alternative, Chloe states "Honestly I want to be known as Indie Pop".

Talking about future projects Chloé is thinking of doing a PHD with researching the connection between music and memory, but Chloe right now is working on a project with a member of her band, it is still in progress, and is Indie Pop related.

Chloe is hoping that at the end of the pandemic she will return to Cardiff and reunite with her band and continue to play gigs.

The last topic we spoke about was where she gets her imagination from to write lyrics for her songs, Chloé says "I think most of the time it's from my own experiences, but a lot of the time it's from people I know, sometimes having coffee with family or friends, and when I write I go back to the past and write my own lyrics, but usually it's from my own experiences".

Chloé explains that her imagination when writing is made up of connections between personal stories and those of people she knows, stating that "sometimes I can only talk to people through the lyrics I write".

Francisco Diońisio

Obituary - Barry Mason

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Last week saw the passing of songwriter Barry Mason, and whilst that name may not mean much to many today, he will be forever linked to one of Wales’s most famous sons.

Born in Wigan, Lancashire, he, alongside partner Les Reed, wrote some of the Sixties classic songs with one in particular, a massive hit for the one and only...Tom Jones.

Recorded in December 1967 and released the following February, Delilah reached No 2 in the UK charts but also No 1 in many other countries including Germany, France and Switzerland.

When Jones performed the song on The Ed Sullivan Show, the censors insisted that the line "At break of day when the man drove away" be changed to "At break of day I was still 'cross the way", as the original version implied he had spent the night with Delilah. Jones later described the change as "such bullshit".

As well as Jones, Mason provided songs and hits for some of the industry’s greats, people like, Petula Clark, Perry Como, Elvis Presley, Engelbert Humperdinck, Charles Aznavour, Tony Christie and Barbra Streisand, plus the UK Singles Chart number ones, "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)", "The Last Waltz", and "I Pretend".

In his long career, Mason gained many gold and platinum awards for his work including five Ivor Novello Awards, the most recent of them in 1998, and leaves a hefty catalogue of some of the era’s most recognisable hits.

WILL LIVE MUSIC GO BACK TO NORMAL?

Student Ffion Harris asks the question we are all thinking about regarding Live music.

What are your thoughts?

Drop us a line at infocardifflive@gmail.com or join in the conversation on Social Media.

The Corona Virus pandemic over the past year meant that people had to stay indoors and any live music event was canceled. Music artists and bands had to postpone their tours until either the end of this year or until next year.

​When concerts start again I think that it will take a lot of time until they go back to normal.

At first, I don't think there will be as many people in the audience but I think that even after a while, smaller venues will suffer as there won't be as many people allowed in.

I think that concerts will be the last thing that will be allowed to start up again because there will be so many people in one place.

I also think that smaller artists that play smaller venues will suffer at first because venues will be more interested in bigger artists.

Many of the smaller venues have suffered in the pandemic as they haven't been able to cope financially.

It will take a while before things get back to normal but I cannot wait to start going to concerts again soon as it is a completely different experience and atmosphere to just listening to music on a phone.

Geoff Downes -An Interview with A Rockstar

Geoff Downes is an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer who gained fame as a member of the new wave group The Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and Supergroup Asia.

images with permission Geoff Downes Website©

I have been incredibly lucky to have conducted an interview with Mr Geoff Downes. Downes has become a worldwide Rockstar working as keyboardist and lyricist for bands such as ‘Asia’, ‘Yes’ and ‘The Buggles’ made even more famous by their hit ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ which was played on MTV.

In this unedited interview recorded from the video forum site ‘Zoom’; we discuss Geoff’s opinions on his bandmates, his favourite countries to visit whilst on tour, and how his work has been affected by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. 

Article by Phoebe Vaughan

All images with permission Geoff Downes Website©

Music as an encrypted message for freedom

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"Grândola, vila morena, terra da fraternidade,o povo é que mais ordena, dentro de ti, ó cidade".

These were the words that started a path to freedom and the verses that began the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, 47 years ago. 

It was the song Grândola, Vila Morena, by José Afonso, forbidden by the dictatorial regime of Dr Antonio Oliveira Salazar, who ruled and suppressed the country since 1926. 

In the early hours of April 25th, 1974, the Portuguese people were in suspense, waiting to hear the two signals agreed upon by the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) to begin the uprising against the established power.

The first "alarm code", sounded at 10.55 pm on the 24th of April with the song that represented Portugal at the 1974 Eurovision festival, "E Depois do Adeus" by Paulo de Carvalho.

This song was transmitted by the journalist João Paulo Diniz from "Rádio Emissores Associados de Lisboa". 

On the following day, the long-awaited day of freedom, at 0h25, the military of the MFA occupied the studios of Rádio Clube Português and, through the radio, explained to the population that they wanted the country to be a democracy again, with elections and freedoms of all kinds, and songs that the dictatorship did not like, like Grândola Vila Morena, by Zeca Afonso, were put on the air. 

That was the second signal, indicating that the revolutionary military should occupy the strategic points of the country. 

In the following hours, the dictatorship collapsed, unfortunately with four deaths, and true, compared to other revolutions there were few deaths, although these deaths were committed by PIDE, police of the dictatorial state.

The Portuguese Revolution was with the aim of a peaceful revolution because all people create the same, FREEDOM! 

The Portuguese revolution just proves that music is something that connects us all and brought freedom to a country that was suffering and suppressed for a long time.

Francisco Diońisio Is a Portuguese Student Studying at USW Atrium, Cardiff, and a Valued Contributor to KCL.

Reggae singer, Aleighcia Scott to Release a New Album

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Aleighcia Scott is one of a slew of fresh, strong young female singers making a name for themselves on the Reggae scene. The Welsh singer has family roots in Trelawny, Jamaica.

She won the MMG 2017 Award for Best Reggaela Act, and has collaborated with Tarrus Riley, Julian Marley, Soul II Soul, Gyptian, and Professor Green

Despite the coronavirus restrictions and lockdown, Aleighcia managed to collaborate on a new album with music legend Rory Stonelove and is almost ready to release soon.

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On her latest single “I Want You”, the reggae star worked with Kongz, the bandleader and drummer for Protoje's In.Digg.Nation band and one of Jamaica's toughest producers emerging from the new wave.

The song mixes smooth, soulful vocals by Aleighcia Scott with drum and bass from Jamaica. Donald 'Danny Bassie' Dennis, Lamont 'Monty' Savory, and Paris Lamont Dennis are among the top-tier Jamaican musicians featured on the single.

Listen to the reporter, Charles Stylianou’s interview below to find out more: