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 From all of us in the Corvids Organization, thanks for paying attention to our new rolling musical pleasure unit (to steal a phrase from Country Dick). The CDs are actually done, about two weeks behind schedule and due to various blizzards, holidays, etc. They're shipping from Virginia, hauled by discarded reindeer ... so with two more holidays in the way, they won't arrive at the Reno Warehouse until the end of next week. When that holiest of holy days arrives, those of you who Advance Ordered the sucker will get an e-mail announcing the arrival, and we'll ship out the pre-orders on that very same day -- first class, and free of the Holiday Train Wreck known as the Postal Service during the Holidays. In other news, a "breakaway faction" of the Corvids played in London's Shoreditch neighborhood the other night. Axel Steuerwald & Matt Welch performed on a bill featuring Boz Boorer's band, all before a large & drunken audience including various members of Oasis and Morrissey’s band. Matt's report, filed from Lyon France, is right here. The Formal Release of the record is February -- that's when you'll be able to buy it at your Amazons & Borders.coms & such, as well as in physical record chains to be announced shortly -- so look for the first batch of advertisements for "Fought Down" in the new year. (The first one is in the January / February issue of No Depression, I think.) All right, then. In the immortal words of Krusty the Klown: "Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Kwazy Kwanza, a tip-top Tet, and a solemn, dignified Ramadan." See y'all next year.
There's a certain ring to "Lord Richards of Redlands", the name of the house in Sussex that he still owns and was the scene of the bust that briefly sent him and Jagger to prison in 1967. But if Jagger these days is the well-connected socialite and acceptable face of the Rolling Stones, "Keef" is still the band's swashbuckling outlaw and unlikely to be visiting Buck House for his investiture any time soon. If there was a popular vote, however, to elect one "people's peer" to represent the rock world in the upper chamber, it would surely be Richards and not Jagger who would get to wear the ermine. I ran into Keef at the old Lone Star Cafe in NYC circa 1985. Bo Diddly was playing downstairs, and I unwittingly went to the VIP bar because the lines were so long at the regular bar. Walked up and asked for a whisky, realized the guy in the leopard-print jacket on the barstool to my right was the guy who wrote "Gimme Shelter," among other accomplishments. They were out of my choice -- Jameson, most likely -- and Richards blurts, "Gim 'em a Rebel Yell, mate." I took out my wallet and Richards sternly shook his head, realizing I didn't belong in the VIP bar, I guess. So, either Keith Richards bought me a drink 18 years ago, or he helped me commit the crime of Theft. Either one's good enough, right? When "Some Girls" came out, my punk-rock buddy in Phoenix told me Keef was all but dead. Cheating death for a quarter-century ain't such a bad trick. Thanks to all you nice people who came out to the Friday show in Los Angeles. We had a helluva good time, and hope you did, too. I just got back to Reno and will do a little roundup here: Steve Poltz, who did a terrific hourlong set that entertained one & all despite his awful flu, has a post about it here. (It's the Dec. 13 entry.) If you didn't buy his record at the show, go on over and buy it off his site. Thank you Steve I love you like a sister. Marc Brown has pictures here. And Howard Owens has more pictures here, at the end of this nice post. Steve at Smythe's World is clearly trying to get into our press kit, and maybe he achieved it with this post about the Corvids show at the Derby. And check it out: Ken Layne & the Corvids recommended as a Friday pick by the L.A. Weekly. UPDATE: Pieter K's got a nice post about the show, too. Gracias, buddies. Happy Holidays & we'll see you next month.
Here's yer Discount Flyer for
(Just right-click it, print it, clip it & bring it.) (Yes, it's true the CDs will not be delivered in time for the show. But that's why it's a show, and not a "record-release show." See???? Yes, we'll see you Posting this late, due to No Having of the Computer: Axel's club is tonight, the Exile Cafe in Thai Town / Hollywood. Get some details right here. The big news tonight is that it's also the Debut Performance by Axel's new rock band, the Mere Mortals. No cover, $3 beers, great rock 'n roll ... why the hell wouldn't you Be There??? Some of us are way too good at this game. Special Announcement: Mr. Steve Poltz will be joining us for the Dec. 12 show at The Derby. This is gonna be good. If you don't know about Poltz, go here and listen to some songs, and then go here to read reviews of his just-released "Chinese Vacation," and then go HERE to buy the CD right off Steve's Web site. It will be all kinds of fun. Make sure you get to the Derby by 8:30 p.m. You do not want to miss Poltz on the stage. Hell, get there at 8 p.m. so there's time to safely get liquored up. K.L. & the Corvids will be playing Friday, Dec. 12, at The Derby in Hollywood. Actually, it's in Los Feliz, at the corner of Hillhurst and Los Feliz Blvd. In brief: Ken Layne & the Corvids We'll have a special acoustical first act, then the Corvids, then a special non-acoustical act. Cover should be $6 with a flyer, and there will be a flyer on this site later today. Print 'n Save! This won't be a formal "CD Release Show" because we can't guarantee the records will be there in time. But it's damned likely you'll be able to pick up a shiny new copy of "Fought Down" at the show. But this will be your last chance to see / hear the Corvids in 2003. Axel & Welch are off to Europe for some godforsaken reason, and the rest of us will be doing our annual volunteer work at the Sacred Heart Home for Little Deaf Girls, busy busy busy .... Mr. Jack Sparks was kind enough to put our new record in his Top Twenty list over at "The Other Side of Country." Sez Jack: If it wasn't a bedrock fact that you can't smoke anywhere in the State of California, least of all in bars, I would say a few packs went into making this disk. And maybe that's the best description for the record, it's an ashtray full of butts, and everybody in the room saying it was the other guy smoking; the minute you turn your back, they all light up again. There's some grit and reality to this record which I never saw in my 10 or so trips to the Los Angeles area, which leads me to believe there's some kind of secret roots rock society there, where you can eat fatty foods, smoke cigarettes, and actually listen to the band on stage, rather than posing yourself to get laid by someone higher on "the ladder" than you. Go West young man. The Corvids: No use to major-label social climbers or anti-smoking zealots, since September 2003!
Thanks to everybody who bought the "Analog Bootlegs" CD last week. Mailed out a bunch on Friday. As for the new record, you know how Tom Petty used to always go on about the waiting is the hardest part, etc. We are expecting happy news on Monday, along the lines of, "It goes on the trucks in 48 hours!" Meanwhile, here's some random stuff you may find Amusing: * Tom Hallett writes this crazy music column for the Twin Cities Pulse. It's called 'Round the Dial. He's got a two-parter about the Rockford Files and Willie Nelson that should not be missed. * Our buddy Bryan Castañeda sent us this fine old California produce label:
That is all for now. |
Happy 60th Birthday to Mr. Keith Richards. Here's a 
