Sailor Club
Suite 430
266 Banbury Road
Summertown
Oxford OX2 7DL
UK
(You can also order the LIVE IN BERLIN CD at the same address!)
STOP CYBERPRESS!! Sailor have a brand new limited edition single, "Estepona". You can order it from the same address above, and learn more about it at Marinero!
TURN! TURN! TURN! NOW AVAILABLE
"Turn! Turn! Turn!: The '60s Folk-Rock Revolution," written by Richie
Unterberger, has just been published by Backbeat Books. This 300-page book
($19.95) is the first volume of the first comprehensive history of one of
the greatest movements in rock music, drawing on first-hand interviews with
more than 100 musicians, producers, managers, and journalists (see full
list at the end of this message). An epic history of the entire style as it
evolved throughout the 1960s, this first volume follows folk-rock's growth
chronologically from the streets of Greenwich Village at the dawn of the
decade and the electrification of folk music by the Byrds, Bob Dylan, and
others through mid-1966, when the Byrds were taking folk-rock into
psychedelia and Bob Dylan dramatically vanished from the public eye
following his motorcycle accident. The innovations of the giants and the
contributions of lesser-known heroes are thoroughly detailed, as well as
the labels, producers, session musicians, managers, and fans that helped
made the music happen. The sequel to "Turn! Turn! Turn!," "Eight Miles
High," will cover folk-rock from mid-1966 through 1970, and will be
published by Backbeat in 2003.
The merging of folk, rock, and the changing social climate led to a musical
and cultural revolution that was the most exciting in twentieth century
popular music. This is its definitive story, weaving together lively
description, critical analysis, and stories from the people who made it
happen, including photos and a critical discography.
Richie Unterberger is the author of the acclaimed "Unknown Legends of
Rock'n'Roll" (Backbeat Books, 1998) and "Urban Spacemen & Wayfaring
Strangers: Overlooked Innovators & Eccentric Visionaries of '60s Rock"
(Backbeat Books, 2000), both of which contained in-depth profiles of the
most interesting overlooked cult rock artists of all time, in all cases
including first-hand interview material with the artists themselves and/or
their close associates.
For additional information regarding "Turn! Turn! Turn!: The '60s Folk-Rock
Revolution" or to send questions or comments about the book, email
Richie
Unterberger at richie@richieunterberger.com. You can also visit his website
at www.richieunterberger.com, to view complete transcripts of his
interviews with folk-rock and cult rock musicians from the past few years;
sample excerpts of chapters from his books; links to other websites of
interest to folk-rock, cult rock and '60s rock enthusiasts; and updates on
his current and future projects.
PEOPLE INTERVIEWED FOR "TURN! TURN! TURN!" AND "EIGHT MILES HIGH":
Roger
McGuinn (the Byrds), John Sebastian (Lovin' Spoonful), Donovan, Judy
Collins, Denny Doherty (the Mamas & the Papas), Chris Hillman (the
Byrds/the Flying Burrito Brothers), Richie Furay (Buffalo
Springfield/Poco), Jac Holzman (founder and president of Elektra Records),
Arlo Guthrie, Janis Ian, Pete Seeger, Iain Matthews (Fairport Convention),
Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary), Sylvia Tyson (of Ian & Sylvia), Robin
Williamson (the Incredible String Band), Ashley Hutchings (Fairport
Convention, Steeleye Span), Simon Nicol (Fairport Convention), Dave Pegg
(Fairport Convention), Bob Johnston (producer Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel,
Leonard Cohen, Dino Valenti), Joe Boyd (producer Fairport Convention/Nick
Drake/Sandy Denny/Incredible String Band), Erik Jacobsen (producer Lovin'
Spoonful, Tim Hardin, the Charlatans), Manfred Mann (discussing his covers
of Bob Dylan material), Barry McGuire, Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane),
Buffy Sainte-Marie, Lou Adler (producer the Mamas & the Papas/Barry
McGuire), Tim Rose, Tom Paxton, Tom Rush, Bruce Langhorne (guitarist
sideman to Bob Dylan, Fred Neil, Richard & Mimi Farina, Richie Havens,
Gordon Lightfoot, Tom Rush, Carolyn Hester, Buffy St. Marie), Jim Dickson
(producer/manager the Byrds/the Dillards/Hamilton Camp/the Flying Burrito
Brothers), John McNally (Searchers), Sal Valentino (Beau Brummels), Ron
Elliott (Beau Brummels), Eric Andersen, Howard Kaylan (Turtles), John
McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), Rodney Dillard (the Dillards), Dean Webb
(the Dillards), Ed Sanders (Fugs), Tuli Kupferberg (Fugs), Peter Stampfel
(Holy Modal Rounders), Mimi Farina, Carolyn Hester, Danny Thompson
(Pentangle bassist and sideman to many British folk-rockers), Dave Cousins
(the Strawbs), Shel Talmy (producer Pentangle and Roy Harper), John
Renbourn (the Pentangle), Judy Henske, Bob Lind, John Steel (the Animals),
Michael Ochs (Phil Ochs manager), Cyrus Faryar, Jerry Yester, Larry Beckett
(songwriting partner of Tim Buckley), Jim Pons (the Leaves, the Turtles),
Dan Hicks (the Charlatans, Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks), Al Kooper, Larry
Murray (Hearts & Flowers), Banana Levinger (the Youngbloods), Steve Boone
(the Lovin' Spoonful), John Forsha (sideman Fred Neil/Tim Buckley), Gary
Marker (Rising Sons), Jesse Kincaid (Rising Sons), Chester Crill
(Kaleidoscope), Chris Darrow (Kaleidoscope), Billy James (early publicist
and/or manager Byrds, Jackson Browne, Pamela Polland/Gentle Soul, Gene
Clark, Rising Sons), Arthur Gorson (manager Phil Ochs/Tom Rush/David
Blue/Jim & Jean), Howard Solomon (owner Cafe Au Go Go in New York, manager
Fred Neil), Art D'Lugoff (owner Village Gate in New York City), Joe Marra
(owner Nite Owl cafe in NYC), Happy Traum, Pamela Polland (Gentle Soul,
early associate Browne/Buckley/Noonan), Carol Kaye (top L.A. '60s session
bassist, played many folk-rock dates), Peter Albin (Big Brother & the
Holding Company), Barry Melton (Country Joe & the Fish), David Freiberg
(Quicksilver Messenger Service), Peter Asher (Peter & Gordon, producer
Linda Ronstadt & James Taylor), Gordon Waller (Peter & Gordon), Jerry Jeff
Walker, Tom Rapp (Pearls Before Swine), Irwin Silber (editor Sing Out!
Magazine), Paul Williams (Crawdaddy founder and critic, not the singer),
Paul Nelson (critic for Sing Out/Little Sandy Review/Rolling Stone), Izzy
Young (proprietor of the Folklore Center in Greenwich Village, columnist
for Sing Out), Andrew Oldham (manager/producer the Rolling Stones/Marianne
Faithfull/the Poets), Frank Werber (producer/manager the Kingston Trio/the
We Five/Blackburn & Snow), Anna Chairetakis (head of Alan Lomax Archive and
daughter of Alan Lomax), Kenny Edwards (Linda Ronstadt & the Stone Poneys),
Ian Anderson (editor of Folk Roots magazine), Shawn Phillips, Geoff
Muldaur, Barry Tashian (about associations with Farinas and Gram Parsons),
Sherry Snow (of Blackburn & Snow), Charlie McCoy (Bob Dylan session
musician), D.A. Pennebaker (director of Bob Dylan concert film Don't Look
Back and Monterey Pop), Murray Lerner (director of Festival film with
footage from 1963-66 Newport Folk Festivals, including a clip from Bob
Dylan's first electric rock concert), Nat Joseph (founder/owner,
Transatlantic Records), Barry Friedman aka Frazier Mohawk (producer
Kaleidoscope/the Holy Modal Rounders/Paul Butterfield), Elliot Mazer
(producer Gordon Lightfoot, Ian & Sylvia, Linda Ronstadt, Richie Havens,
Jerry Jeff Walker), Gene Parsons (the Byrds, Nashville West), Richard Scott
(the Bluethings), Steve Lalor (Daily Flash), Sam Lay (Paul Butterfield
Blues Band), Mac MacLeod (early Donovan associate), John Simon (producer,
the Band, Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot), Roy Halee (Simon & Garfunkel
producer/engineer), Vern Gosdin (the Gosdin Brothers, the Hillmen), ED
Denson (Country Joe & the Fish manager), Gary Duncan (Quicksilver Messenger
Service, Dino Valenti associate), Bruce Botnick (Elektra Records
engineer/producer), David Rubinson (Columbia producer), David Anderle
(producer, Judy Collins, David Ackles), Jerry Schoenbaum (executive,
Verve/Folkways and Verve/Forecast Records), Bernard Stollman (owner ESP
Records), Steve Gillette, Steve Young, Hamilton Camp, Joshua Rifkin
(arranger, Judy Collins), John Wood (engineer, Fairport Convention/Nick
Drake/the Incredible String Band), Merrell Fankhauser (Fapardokly, HMS
Bounty), Corky Siegel (Siegel-Schwall Band, about early demos with Joni
Mitchell), Morgan Cavett (manager New Balladeer coffeehouse in Los Angeles,
mid-1960s), Trini Lopez, Jim Yester (the Association), Rick Turner
(guitarist for Ian & Sylvia, Autosalvage), Ken Koblun (the Squires/3's a
Crowd), Georg Kajanus (Eclection), Gerry Conway (Eclection/Fotheringay),
Mick Moloney (the Johnstons), Stefan Grossman, Bob Siggins (Charles River
Valley Boys), Roy Marinell (the Gentle Soul), Tom Campbell, Phil Elwood
(San Francisco music journalist), Tony Thompson (the Rising Storm), Marc
Silber (Children of Paradise), Mary McCaslin, Maury Manseau (the Sunshine
Company), John Ware (Linda Ronstadt, Michael Nesmith & the First National
Band), Don Glut (the Penny Arkade), Dick Campbell, Dick Weissman, Andrew
Means (journalist, Melody Maker), Gene Shay (folk radio program host, WHAT
and WDAS in Philadelphia)
Angel Air Records in England has just reissued AFFINITY's sole album on CD (the group Grant was in back in 1970) (Catalog # SJPCD 111)! This version includes not only the original LP, but also 8 more bonus tracks as well as liner notes and photos from founder MO FOSTER's personal collection! To find out more, go to http://www.angelair.force9.co.uk/sjpcd111.htm!
For those who can't find things around the ol' Harbour, I'll be working on a new improved page soon. Sorry for the delays. In the meantime, get a head start on it by going to the Illustrated Singles here!
Ahoy, fellow travellers, and yes, you're reading that right. At long last, we finally have the correct English lyrics to "Cumbia"! Special thanks to Gary Diamond for making this possible! And in other Sailor news...
That's the way it appears, at least if you visit CDBanzai. According to them, they now have European pressings of those two Sailor CDs (which Sony released in August, which shows you how much attention your ol' Harbourmaster has been paying!)
The rumors are true, fans. Collector's Choice Music has reissued the one and only album from Georg Kajanus's first group, ECLECTION, and it's going to be available for $12.95! This is a straight reissue (the 11 original tracks, no bonus cuts), but it also features new liner notes by Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman and Eclection drummer Gerry Conway. Here's what C.C.M. has to say about it:
"One of (if not THE) great lost folk-rock records of the '60s. Eclection was composed of bassist
Trevor Lucas and drummer Gerry Conway, later of Fairport Convention; lead songwriter Georg
Hultgreen, later of Sailor; guitarist Michael Rosen and lead vocalist Kerrilee Male; together
they made, well, eclectic music, reminiscent at times of the Mamas & Papas and even early
Airplane (as Elektra founder Jac Holzman declares in the notes we've added, "I loved that
group!"). Nevertheless, the album sunk like a stone, but it remains highly-prized among '60s
collectors; it resurfaces here for the first time in 30 years with quotes from Conway in the
notes as well. An obscure but highly worthy Collectors' Choice Music exclusive!"
Label: Collector's Choice Music. Catalog #: WWCCM0233x.
Release date: September 17, 2001.
(See related recordings sections here and in Marinero for track listing. Thanks to Gary Diamond in Denver for the heads up!)
In the words of Katrin Wagner, "I didn't know this, either!", but GRINGO was also reissued on CD
last June! Heyday Mailorder Records has it for 14.99
(pounds). Thanks to Marinero for the notice!
Learn more abour Gringo in the Related Recordings Section!
Ahoy from the ol' Harbourmaster, and have I got a find!! My brother Lee pointed out a site called The Internet Library, and I'm knocked out! They archive EVERY web site for the last five years... yes, including THIS ONE! So now, I can finally begin reconstructing Harbour. But let's just see if it works...
Charted Waters
For those of you who have to know abosolutely everything about Sailor, here's their UK chart positions! (Thanks to Michael Dimech from Melbourne, Australia for this info!)
SINGLES:
Title Peak Pos. Wks. on Chart Date* Epic #: 1. A GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE #2 (2 wks.) 12 6 Dec 75 EPC 3770 2. GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS #7 8 27 Mar 76 EPC 3858 3. ONE DRINK TOO MANY #35 4 19 Feb 77 EPC 4804 ALBUMS: TROUBLE #45 8 7 Feb 76*-The date of debut on the British Charts. [Thanks again, Mike! :) ]
If you have any chart info from other countries, please let me know about it. Thanks! Oh, and what was the record that kept "Glass Of Champagne" out of the top spot? It was "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. (Which, I guess, is why they call it 'trivia'.)
And here's how they've fared in Holland:
SINGLES: Title Peak Pos. Wks. on Chart Year** Label: 1. TRAFFIC JAM #4 7 1974 Epic 2. SAILOR #2 10 1975 Epic 3. A GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE #5 10 1976 Epic 4. GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS #2 8 1976 Epic 5. LA CUMBIA #6 9 1991 RCA
**-Sorry, but I don't know the specific dates of chart entry for these songs.
And now...
I just heard from Gerry Avenell of the Sailor Club regarding the Box Set. Here's what Gerry wrote:
Dear Sailor Afficionados,
Thank you for your interest in one of the most original and entertaining bands of all time!
This is just a note to respond to the many enquiries received about "Buried Treasure" - Sailor's anthology of greatest hits, private scrapbook, and latest recordings from the present line up of Grant, Phil, Peter and Rob plus some extremely precious archive material from the original line up of Phil, Georg, Henry and Grant, never before heard !
There are also recordings from the Caribou "Dressed For Drowning" period as well as more recent re-mixes and fascinating experimental tracks.
There seems to be a growing interest in Sailor as a contemporary and uniquely entertaining concert attraction par excellence, and only last week Jonathan Ross on his Radio 2 Saturday morning show - one of the biggest shows on UK radio, along with his guest Midge Ure were calling for a Sailor revival, & talking about the band's growing popularity and fantastic "live" reputation in Europe on a previous show.
Recently Annie Lennox and Chrissie Hynde (of the Pretenders) were front row to Sailor at a charity show at London's famous Groucho Club, and were ecstatic about the band's set, which according to them and others "stole the show", amongst many other famous names such as Madness, ABC, Stephen Fry and the Average White Band.
Therefore a major label has approached the band to compile and release the "Buried Treasure" (a possibly 2 CD Boxed Set) plus photos from the bands own private collection and a track by track commentary.
WE WILL BE INFORMING EVERYONE ON THE SAILORCLUB MAILING LIST SO YOU WILL BE THE FIRST TO HEAR OF THE RELEASE DATE, COST, AND HOW TO BE ONE OF THE FIRST TO OWN THE "ONCE IN A LIFETIME" SAILOR ANTHOLOGY "BURIED TREASURE"
We will be e-mailing you hopefully around September with further details.
Very best wishes from Gerry Avenell on behalf of Sailor.
And if you're wondering what all this is about...
It took 27 years, but our maritime minstrels finally have the box set they deserve! It's called "BURIED TREASURES" and features, among other things, Sailor's greatest hits, recordings from the "Dressed For Drowning" era (Phil, Henry, Gavin and Virginia), live recordings, NEW music from the new line-up (Phil, Grant, Peter and Rob), rare recordings from the Georg Kajanus era, audio experiments, and more! For more details, go to Marinero, or just drop Sailor a line at sailormusic@hotmail.com.
(P.S.: Speaking of hotmail, I've since changed my email addy; so if you've been trying to get in touch with the ol' Harbourmaster, here 'tis:
And now, back to the website.
Sailor then... (Clockwise from upper left: Henry Marsh, Phil Pickett, Georg Kajanus, Grant Serpell.)
The musicians hired that night by M. Faux, the enigmatic proprietor of Le Matelot, were the first in an ever-changing troupe, each bringing a peculiar talent, a special interest. They came from around the world, from a wealth of disparate musical backgrounds, each new artist taking the place of another grown tired of Paris. In the course of the next three and a half decades, the house band at Le Matelot would provide a musical tradition that paralleled and often profoundly influenced the development of contemporary popuilar music. As one American critic recently pointed out, "...the Matelot... has been the scene of the most portentious events in the music of our century."
Indeed, the history of the cafe reads like a survey of contemporary popular art. During the late Thirties, Panama Al Brown would stop by after the Cirque Mendrano to sing, dance, or simply to play solid black jazz to Fitzgerald or Chagall, while, on another night, Josephine Baker would silence the boasting and singing, stunning not only the Matelot's normally blase patrons, but also members of the usually unshockable French press, one of whom wrote, "Miss Baker's superb brown thighs... seem without arguement what Offenbach had in mind." Elsa Maxwell belted sounds at Janet Flanner, while Mimsy Turner spun her beaded skirts into the faces of Europe's avant-garde. And the coffe house that Hemingway had fondly called "that contagious box of music" began fostering its reputation as patron of new and aspiring musical talent.
Always maintaining its international flavor, the never-ending stream of Sailor musicians (the group adopted the fashionable English translation of its name in 1939) came to include such legendary names as Michel Michaud, Wilbur 'Gazoots' Mahoney, Dickie Doringo and the Austrian Franz Weber.
For thirty five years Le Matelot survived Europe's most cataclysmic events. Even throughout the Second World War, the famous cafe preserved whatever civilization existed in occupied Paris, not only serving as a meeting place for artists (it was during the forties that the famous magazine 'Le Matelot Flasque' appeared), but for influential members of the French Underground as well.
But in 1971, disaster struck. Fire swept the Matelot, and, in one fiery evening, a musical and cultural landmark was obliterated. The unbroken thread of musical history was snapped, and for two years the last members of Sailor, Le Matelot's famous band, kept themselves hidden from the public eye.
The second cycle of the Sailor legend began in 1973, when Steve Morris, son of music mogul Edwin H. Morris discovered one of the last members of the group, Phil Pickett, jamming with a group of studio session men, after a demo session. He told Steve an amazing story of wealth and ruin, hope and failure. Between them they managed to pick up all the threads that linked all the Sailor musicians (Pickett, Georg Kajanus, Henry Marsh and Grant Serpell) back together again.
When the Hollywood music publishing firm, Edwin H. Morris, anounced that Sailor would soon release a recorded version of the Red Light Quarter Review for CBS, the European offices of the company were flooded with calls and telegrams. "We felt like we were under siege", said Steve Morris, the company's vice president, who was in London at the time. "For a week after the announcement in Hollywood, we couldn't get in or out of the front door. We had to use the service elevator, and climb through the garage roof."
The music of Ssailor will astonish those not fortunate enough to have heard it before. For well-travelled Americans, as well as thousands of European music lovers, the revival of Sailor is miraculous news. That which many had feared drowned in fire in 1971 has been re-born, and is rising.
(Originally published, with minor variations, in the 1974 programme for the cancelled Mott The Hoople/Sailor tour.)
Epic Records Japan has issued HIDEAWAY for the first time on CD, and TROUBLE has just been reissued! Check Katrin Wagner's excellent Marinero page for full details!
It will cost #15.00 Sterling (inclusive of Postage).
E-mail your order along with your address (!) to: tim@TimDry.co.uk
They'll confirm this and then, you send a check, money order or Postal Order made payable to
B. WHITE
to this address:
NOIR MUSIC
PO BOX 31910
LONDON W2 4YW
UNITED KINGDOM.
In return, you'll get a copy of the CD, PERSONALLY AUTOGRAPHED by TIM DRY & GEORG KAJANUS!
On behalf of Tim & Georg, thank you.
On December 21, 1999, a little over three years after its debut, due to unforseen circumstances, the greater majority of Harbour got wiped out. Permanently. So, understandably, it'll be a while before it's back to the way it was. A long while. However, some of the original files survived. Take a look at what's left, and then go to MARINERO and THE BLUE DESERTfor the latest Sailor news, photos, illustrated discographies, lyrics, and much, much more. HARBOUR will be back at full speed as soon as time permits me to. Thank you for your patience.
Keep your sails up!
Jerry D. Withers,
Your friendly neighbourhood Harbourmaster.
What's still around...
Ad for the first album, taken from the Mott The Hoople 1974 Tour Programme.
Dateline
12/21/1999: As previously mentioned, disaster strikes while updating my files, resulting in the loss of a great deal of the website. Much weeping and gnashing of teeth abounds.
1/22/2000: The lyrics are finally restored, and the discography is (more or less) back up to speed [barring minor corrections].
1/27/2000: The U.S. Singles discography is recovered.
2/14/2000: A late 90's interview with JOHN G. PERRY (Caravan, Quantum Jump, and Henry Marsh's pre-Sailor group GRINGO) is linked.
3/4/2000: CyberCD and BoxMan logos returned to the Any Port page. Also added Netsounds.
4/1/2000: OneList has now merged with eGroups, so the new addy for our mailing list is "the_street@egroups.com".
4/10/2000: Georg's partner in NOIR, TIM DRY, has launched his own web site, TimDry.co.uk. Check this site out!
5/25/2000: Glenn's The Blue Desert is back!
6/21/2000: At Georg and Tim's request (like, they had to ask? :) ), posted the news about the NOIR CD.
7/29/2000: The Related Recordings section is back (more or less).
8/1/2000: Added the debut LP ad.
10/30/2001: CHARTED WATERS (see sbove) and FANspeak! are back!!!
11/2/2001: Finally! The Sailor Singles Discography is back!!!