DENIS PRESTON: 'a smooth operator'

He's largely forgotten now, but in the 1960s Denis Preston (1916-79) was Britain's pre-eminent jazz producer and entrepreneur. He recorded innumerable albums at his own expense in his Lansdowne Studio in Holland Park, then licensed them to EMI and others through his Record Supervision company. Without him, there would probably be no albums by Rendell-Carr, Mike Taylor, Joe Harriott, Stan Tracey, Indo-Jazz Fusions, Amancio D'Silva, Guy Warren, Neil Ardley and many others. The same can't be said of any individual in any other genre, as far as I can think. There's barely info on him available, so I thought I'd post a couple of rare Melody Maker articles that fill in a bit of background.


First, a tribute by Ian Carr, published on May 18th 1968:

Second, a profile by Bob Houston, published on September 14th 1968:

TAMAM SHUD: "Sounds OK to me"

Whilst I admit to never having met anyone who likes it as much as me, it's no exaggeration to say that I think Goolutionites & The Real People by Tamam Shud is one of the best rock albums of the early 70s. I was amazed to find this article in Go-Set (Australia's main music paper of the time), dated July 4th 1970. Despite its optimistic predictions, the LP appeared in October and sank without trace.

FRED NEIL: Where Is It All Going?

As well as being one of the most talented singer-songwriters to emerge from America's mid-60s folk boom, the late Fred Neil was the most reclusive. There's next to no footage of him, and no substantial interviews seem to exist. It was therefore a surprise to discover this insightful piece in the January 1966 issue of Hit Parader magazine. At the time he was still gigging around Greenwich Village, often with the Seventh Sons (sadly their innovative collaboration went unrecorded), and had yet to record his finest album, Fred Neil, which appeared at the end of the year.

FLASHBACK #1 now available for download!

Flashback issue #1 can now be quickly and easily downloaded via this link:

http://www.flashbackmag.com/DV/download.html

Contents include Mad River, David Axelrod, Fanny, Montage, the Beach Boys, 1950s psych, the 100 most under-rated guitarists of the 60s and 70s, detailed reviews and much more.

Enjoy!

APPLE: the original logos

In December 1967 the following black and white credit appeared on the inside back cover of the Magical Mystery Tour EP set:

This seems to be the first-ever stab at an Apple logo, and Marijke from the Fool has confirmed that it was not designed by them. Perhaps worried that it looked more like a greengage, the Beatles (or, most likely, Paul) soon decided to scrap it.

The ad below appeared in International Times of January 5th-19th 1968, and shows a new design, which was designed by the Fool:

On March 23rd Disc & Music Echo announced that the image was 'the symbol of Apple, the firm run by the Beatles':

It was also used for the cloth patches sewn into many of the swingin' clothes flogged / shoplifted from / given away in in the Apple Shop (which was open for six months from December 1967). Andrew Sandoval kindly supplied this example from his collection:

However - perhaps because the Fool's effort didn't look much like an apple either - by the time the company was publicly launched in May, a more sophisticated and enduring logo had been devised by John Kosh (under close supervision from Paul, of course).

THE BEATLES IN INDIA: some rare pictures

The Beatles went to India in February 1968. Here are some rare pictures of them there (with original captions), taken from Disc & Music Echo of April 6th and April 13th 1968. I'm not sure if they've been reprinted since, but I've certainly never seen them elsewhere. No photographer is credited, incidentally. I know that gluttony is a deadly sin, but it's frustrating to think that there must have been many more taken at the same time...

Not exactly a scene from a cowboys and Indians film, but this shock picture WAS taken in India! Beatle Paul took part in a Hindu colour-throwing festival called Holi. He smeared his face - and some of the other guests' faces - with coloured powder. It makes the most shocking Beatle picture ever. 

It happened in Rishikesh a short time ago... George, Paul & Donovan help Shah Jahan, son of Indian magician Gogia Pasha, as he completely stops his assistant's pulse. The picture was taken at the Maharishi's meditation centre.

Disc's exclusive picture shows Pattie with a birthday cake given to her by the Maharishi. The Beatle, in flowing white robes, and his wife have matching garlands of flowers round their necks. 

Exclusive Disc colour picture from India of the Beatles and friends at the Maharishi's meditation centre in Rishikesh. From left: George, Paul, Shah Jahan (who entertains the star guests), Donovan, Pattie Harrison, John and flautist friend Paul Horn.

Paul, who has never gone into the sitar-playing field with quite as much energy as George, took time to brush up with a few professional lessons during his Indian trip. Paul is seen here with a look that can only be described as avid concentration giving a private recital to girlfriend Jane Asher.

THE ESCORTS: with a little help from Paul McCartney

I wrote last week that Paul McCartney's contribution to The Family Way soundtrack was 'the first solo musical project by a Beatle'. However, at much the same time he oversaw this little-known 45. The connection was with his old Liverpool friend Paddy Chambers, who'd been a member of The Big Three and Paddy, Klaus & Gibson (with Klaus Voorman). Brian Epstein managed (or mismanaged) the latter, prompting Chambers to join pop-soul combo The Escorts. From Head To Toe is a Miracles cover, uninteresting but for the fact that - as is made clear in the article below (Record Mirror, November 19th 1966) - Paul had his hands all over it, despite not receiving a credit.