Tis the mighty Jethro Tull, with the somewhat wonderful ‘Ring Out Solstice Bells’ taken from the 1977 album, Songs From The Wood.

Oh yes, Sir Cliff, this is what you do at Christmas. Instead of living in Portugal and dodging your income tax, release a song about the Winter Solstace. The original Pagan festival from which Christmas is drawn (or Christmas hijacked, dependant on your particular view).

So here it is, ‘Ring Out Solstice Bells’, with lead singer, Ian Anderson, looking resplendent in a rather handsome trilby. One has to wonder if he has a Pork Farms Christmas pork pie stored beneath it.

And is that David Diddy Hamilton doing the introduction? One thinks it is. A double Christmas treat. Huzzah!

enjoy

Remember, for anybody faintly interested (form an orderly line) the musical interludes will be phased out in the new year when they move to a new music blog, Head Full of Snow. More as it occurs.

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Jethro Tull -- Ring Out Solstice Bells (Musical Interlude)

This is the core membership of the band, Roy Wood and Bev Bevan, who lasted from The Move’s conception as an amalgamation of assorted Brummy bands, to the first E.L.O. album, after which Roy Wood departed. It was also the first album to feature their then new member Jeff Lynne, who would go on to take the reigns of E.L.O.

This album dipped a tentative toe into the realms of prog rock, and sounds absolutely splendid for it.

Featuring some spiffing slide guitar from the mighty Roy Wood, ‘When Alice Comes Back to the Farm’

Enjoy

Incidentally, if anyone’s remotely interested, the musical interludes will become defunct in the new year, when they move to a new music blog, currently in development. More news of which, closer to the time.

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The Move -- When Alice Comes Back to the Farm (Musical Interlude)

This is Jeffman’s favourite song of Lennon’s post-Beatle’s stuff and easily the stand-out track on 1970’s otherwise lacklustre Plastic Ono Band album.

‘Working Class Hero’

Enjoy

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John Lennon -- Working Class Hero (Musical Interlude)

But enough of that. Brian Jones was the tortured creative and founding member of The Rolling Stones. He was found dead in his swimming pool on July 3rd 1969.

This song is Mick Jagger’s tribute to Brian Jones, and featured on 1972’s excellent Exile On Main Street album. The vid is one of those tributes prevalent on Youtube.

Incidentally, it’s Jeffman’s second favourite Stones song. Listen to the words.

‘Shine A Light’

Enjoy

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The Rolling Stones -- Shine A Light (Musical Interlude)

And a fine album it is too.

Jeff Lynne’s permanent wave gets dodgier and Bev Bevan’s drumkit gets bigger.

And while we’re at it, one has to wonder how foolish the bloke playing the cello felt in front of thousands of fans. Not the most portable of instruments when on stage.

But here we go, and by now, the great Roy Wood and The Mighty Move were just a distant memory to the aforementioned purveyors of quality recordings. But he’s not done too bad himself, so with no further ado

Enjoy

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Electric Light Orchestra -- Sweet Talkin’ Woman (Musical Interlude)

Instead, we have another of Jeffman’s many favourites, The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band.

Yes, you read that right.

The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band were a one-off during the late sixties. A bizarre combination of humour that would become synonymous with (although pre-dating) Monty Python; affected upper-class toffery, and tunage. They put out five albums in their original lifespan and were fronted by the late Vivian Stanshall, who shared songwriting and vocal duties with Neil Innes, later to go on to become an honorary Python member.

This wee gem is from their third album, Tadpoles, recorded in 1969. ‘Hunting Tigers Out in India’. The footage is from the TV show Do not Adjust Your Set, which was a forerunner to Monty Python’s Flying Circus. As you’ll see, Terry Jones introduces it. Fanshawe would be so proud.

Stay tuned, for tomorrow our TV correspondent, Jeff Mann, will be reporting from the frontline of televisual blandness.

In other news, this blog is now ranking sixth in Google for the search term “clueless f*ckwit gordon brown”… ho-hum.

Enjoy

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The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band -- Hunting Tigers Out in India (Musical Interlude)

What’s the common denominator between these three groups?

Roy Wood of course. And it’s coming up to his time of year too, with ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ sure to rake in a few more well-earned pennies. God bless the beareded Brummy bard and all that sale in him.

Now, if anybody thinks Jeffman is showing prejudice towards artists from his homeplace (the three aforementioned groups) of Birmingham, then they’re bloody right. But Jeffman treads his own path, he cares not for charges of favouritism -- He answers to nobody.

So, from 1973 it’s Roy Wood and Wizzard with ‘Angel Fingers (A Teen Ballad)’, also available as a bonus track on the Wizzard’s Brew CD.

E.n.j.o.y.

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Roy Wood and Wizzard -- Angel Fingers (Musical Interlude)

But no sir. It is in fact the Electric Light Orchestra with a tune that once again harks back to Jeffman’s whippersnapper days. He was a mere four when this came out.

From the otherwise slightly lacklustre 1979 album Discovery (apart from the Beatlesque ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’ of course) it is ‘The Diary Of Horace Wimp’.

A song that catches the ELO sound at its finest since their early to mid-seventies heyday.

Enjoy

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Electric Light Orchestra -- The Diary Of Horace Wimp (Musical Interlude)

Who would’ve thought a barmy barnet and a predeliction for facepainting could’ve gone so far?

Still residing in Jeffman’s hometown of Birmingham, Roy Wood is the unsung hero of musical experimentation, running the full gamut of psychedelia, prog, right back to his 50’s rock ‘n’ roll and blues roots, and beyond.

This song owes a lot to the arch-syrup wearer, Phil Spector ‘wall of sound’ method of production, as demonstrated in the Ronette’s ‘Be My Baby’. However, as is always the case with Roy Wood’s music, it’s delivered with the tongue firmly in the cheek.

Available as a bonus track on the Wizzard’s Brew remastered CD, cop a bit of ‘See My Baby Jive’

Jeffman’s sure his mom will enjoy this one

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Roy Wood and Wizzard -- See My Baby Jive (Musical Interlude)

‘Let it Be‘ by The Beatles from the 1970 album of the same name. However, this is without Phil Spector’s over-production, which became the familiar version that everybody knows, with its orchestral and choral accompaniment throughout. Something that Paul McCartney objected to from the start.

However, Sir Paul looks quite hirsute, a tad fat, and possibly in danger of a heart attack in this vid (If rumours are to be believed he was already dead anyway). But if you ignore that, you can sit back and enjoy one of the greatest songs ever, sung on a piano with a little backing from a trio of tramps who happened to be passing by.

Incidentally, before anybody has a religious experience or a vision in their cornflakes, this song is actually about his dead mother… Nothing else.

Enjoy

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The Beatles -- Let It Be (Musical Interlude)

From the 1976 album, A New World Record, released when Jeffman was a mere one year of age, this takes him back to the Sunday lunchtimes of his childhood and the Jimmy Saville ‘golden oldies’ show on Radio 1, of which this song became a permanent fixture.

Prog rock at its finest, despite Jeff Lynne’s suspect perm/afro.

Go out and purchase the ELO back catalogue. Up until 1981’s Time, anyway. Jeffman did and he doesn’t regret it one jot. They are up there with their predecessors The Move, as well as The Stones, The Beatles, and the mighty Jethro Tull.

Cop a bit of ‘Telephone Line’.

Enjoy

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Electric Light Orchestra -- Telephone Line (Musical Interlude)

A harmless pastiche of 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll complete with Teddy Boy clobber and long-haired DAs. Jeff Lynne does a Jerry Lee Lewis impression on the Joanna, whilst Roy Wood arses about with a saxophone.

Unfortunately, they don’t seem able to decide whether they’re miming or singing live, which causes the occasional conflict in sound throughout. Still.

‘California Man’ is available as a bonus track on the superior 1971 album, Message From The Country.

Enjoy

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The Move -- California Man (Musical Interlude)

Not the most interesting beginning to one of my legendary musical interludes, but a bob on jump off point for me to plant this wee gem from E.L.O’s fust album.

Now if you were expecting maybe ‘Mr. Blue Sky‘, or the sublime ‘Telephone Line’, you’ll have to either wait or go and find them yourselves. This is my drum, so I’ll play what I like.

But never fear. Instead, we have the final track off the debut 1971 The Electric Light Orchestra album, with Roy Wood on vocals, prematurely aged and resembling a hippy Santa. He quickly departed after this album and formed Wizzard, whilst E.L.O went on to global success. Not bad for three lads from Kitts Green (Roy Wood), Shard End (Jeff Lynne), and Sparkhill (Bev Bevan). Makes one proud to be a Brummie.

‘Whisper In The Night‘

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Electric Light Orchestra -- Whisper In The Night (Musical Interlude)

However, it does have one redeeming moment in the song ‘Memo From Turner’ , sung by a certain Mick Jagger.

This vid is from the actual film, and therefore representitive of its -- how shall we say -- Bohemian style. Codswallop indeed.

Ry Cooder plays the slide guitar.

Enjoy

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Mick Jagger -- Memo From Turner (Musical Interlude)

Firstly, a musical interlude is in order, to calm any nerves that might’ve been frayed during my self-enforced cyberspace exile.

And it has to be said that any song beginning with the lines: “Cast your mind back ten years to the girl whose next to me in school; if I put my hand upon her leg she’d hit me with a rule”; can do no wrong in my eyes.

So from The Move’s 1968 debut album and featuring Roy Wood, the hairiest man ever to have stumbled out of Kitts Green, on lead vocal, it’s Fire Brigade.

Enjoy

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The Move -- Fire Brigade (Musical Interlude)

In the interim, the mighty Jethro Tull make a welcome return to these shores.

Now who other than the Tull could get away with a song about the demise of the working horse in this once Great Britain? Well, there’s a few others, but it’s the Tull that continually made flirting with such nonsense an artform.

From the 1978 album of the same name, ‘Heavy Horses’.

Enjoy

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Jethro Tull -- Heavy Horses (Musical Interlude)

The Move provide the musical interlude yet again. If I’m displaying a Brummie bias, then shoot me down.

Once again it’s off the their last album, Message From The Country, prior to them becoming ELO, and once again the picture quality can be a little unfortunate in places, but hey, I’m pointing you good people in the direction of some bob on music, so don’t complain.

Apparently this performance was recorded for German TV, but don’t let that put you off.

The Mighty Move -- ‘Tonight’

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The Move -- Tonight (Musical Interlude)

Which can’t be a bad thing. They’re brummies -- one of your own -- and without them we wouldn’t have the joy of Roy Wood and Wizzard’s ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ to behold, every single bloody Yuletide.

This 10 carat diamond comes from the 1971 album Message From The Country,  their final album just prior to the three remaining members (Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan) becoming ELO (Electric Light Orchestra).

Once again, the quality is a little on the dicy side and it finishes about five seconds too early, but that is but a small price to pay in return for me supplying a continual stream of the highest-grade Columbian spacedust.

‘The Words Of Aaron’

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The Move -- Words of Aaron (Musical Interlude)

Incidentally, The Move come from Jeffman’s hometown of Birmingham, and if you take a swift peek at their original singer, Carl Wayne, sat their on his little stool, you’ll see he has the look about him of a bloke that’s just come off the track at Longbridge.

You don’t get that with the preening ponces they spew out nowadays.

Regarde. The Move. ‘Flowers in the Rain’

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The Move -- Flowers in the Rain (Musical Interlude)

In the mean time take a gander at the Faces. A Nod Is As Good As A Wink…

Jeffman’s too pissed to write anymore. So I leave you with the legendary ‘Stay With Me’

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The Faces -- Stay With Me (Musical Interlude)