Posted in Uncategorized on 31/10/2021| Leave a Comment »
Review of David Storey’s 1970 play, Home (LINK TO REVIEW), revived at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre. The production standards and acting are high, as expected. My issue is with the much-acclaimed play itself. They say the negative reviews are more entertaining than the positive ones. You’ve got it. In contrast to all the national papers, I found the play well past its ‘best before’ date. Like most Chichester productions, I’m sure it will find its way to London in time.
Posted in Uncategorized on 25/10/2021| Leave a Comment »
At ‘Around and Around’ the latest addition to “Reviled: The Albums Critics Love To Hate” is one you may not know, “3614 Jackson Highway”, by Cher (LINKED). It was not so much “reviled” as totally ignored at the time, though the consensus now is that it’s a lost classic. It was recorded with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section and horns in 1969, and is one of the early, great ‘Country Got Soul’ albums. The playing is as good as you’d expect, and the tracks are all on YouTube. This is a long piece, also dealing with the rock snob “Fear of Cher” phenomenon. A remastered version (last out in 2019) featured more ATCO tracks, mostly recorded a year later which are included. They’re quite bizarre in some ways … jazzy beatnik rather than hippy. But always interesting.
Posted in Uncategorized on 24/10/2021| Leave a Comment »
Review of the Irish set RomCom, WILD MOUNTAIN THYME. (FOLLOW LINK) It’s another adaptation of a stage play, directed by the playwright, John Patrick Shanley (writer of Moonstruck too). The cast has Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Christopher Walken and Jon Lamm. It has a soaring soundtrack, beautiful Irish scenery and we loved it, yet critics REALLY went to town and hated it, being particularly critical of the Irish accents (though the Irish critics were kinder than American and English “experts” on Irish accents). We had just had our COVID booster jabs and chose to watch a relaxing RomCom. Maybe our defences were down, but I thought the criticism undeservedly “nasty.” See what you think. Now streaming free on Amazon Prime.
Posted in Uncategorized on 23/10/2021| Leave a Comment »
A film review, this time THE FATHER, written and directed by Florian Zeller. (FOLLOW LINK TO REVIEW). It stars Anthony Hopkins (Academy Award: Best Actor for his performance), Olivia Coleman, Rufus Sewell, Mark Gaddis, Olivia Williams and Imogen Poots. It has cleaned up awards and gets a near universal 5 star rating. It’s now on DVD as well as streaming on Amazon Prime (for a mere £1.99). It’s somewhat harrowing, but the performances are unmissable.
Posted in Uncategorized on 18/10/2021| Leave a Comment »
BABY BOOMER v WOKEPERSON: Linked. This originated in Facebook responses to my article on The Rolling Stones ‘Brown Sugar’. The negative use of ‘woke’ was challenged, and I was accused of being a typical ‘boomer.’ So let’s explore the language issue, who uses which word, and have a good old vehement rant at the same time.
Posted in Uncategorized on 16/10/2021| Leave a Comment »
Here you go. A full article on ‘Brown Sugar’ by The Rolling Stones (LINKED) on Around and Around. Just about everything you need to know about the song in light ogf the current fuss over The Rolling Stones dropping it for the 2021 tour.
I include the negative comments which may have caused this … and refute them.
There is a box for comments, though it is moderated because of SPAM. It won’t be censored (but I do watch TV and sleep- often simultaneously).
Posted in Uncategorized on 07/10/2021| 3 Comments »
The Reviled! Albums Critics Love To Hate continues. SEE:
Love At The Greek – Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond’s second live double album. He got an unfair ride from rock snob critics overall. This review takes in Hot August Night, Beautiful Noise and his performance on The Band’s The Last Waltz. Both Beautiful Noise and Love At The Greek were produced by Robbie Robertson, and no one seems to point out the close chronological proximity between the two live shows, Love At The Greek and The Last waltz. I include musings on the point of live albums in general.
Posted in Uncategorized on 01/10/2021| Leave a Comment »
Over at Around & Around … BBC Records / BBC Records and Tapes might be the most eclectic label of all. Well worth a look for the sheer range of material and cover images. This is a major section on Around and Around.
Peter Viney's Blog