Brian
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Post by Brian on Sept 24, 2016 23:56:20 GMT -8
Your key to the previous Ian Hunter threads on this message board can be found on top of this page: montrosepeacevigil.proboards.com/thread/414/ian-hunter-back-california
Excuse me, I have to rant about the new CD by Ian Hunter and the Rant Band, his sixth brilliant album in row in the past 20 years. Few other singer-songwriters can match that record. Only guys like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan have kept together studio/touring bands as distinguished as the Rant Band for as long a time. I could never figure out why Ian Hunter isn't as famous as either of them when he's older than both of them. But maybe "Fingers Crossed" can break through to the few rock and roll music consumers left on the planet.
As Montrose Peace Vigil message board member Jeanne wrote in her review of Ian's last live album, "There's a lot of passion and umph to the songs, kind of like opera without the costumes and a much scratchier voice. It's in the same league as Springsteen and Dylan." Here's more proof of that -- the title track of the new album, which had me in tears the first time I heard it:
Since 2007, I've ordered two copies of every Ian Hunter album before its release not just because I want to support Ian. I never know which preorder will arrive first. I bet on Amazon with $10 extra for next-day shipping this time. But the disc from Proper Music in the U.K. came to my mailbox seven days after it was shipped, and only three days after the official release date of September 16. Meanwhile, Amazon says that my preorder could arrive anytime from mid-October to early November. Here's the link to Proper Music, where you can also hear the first single, "Dandy," Ian's tribute to David Bowie:
www.propermusic.com/artist/Ian-Hunter-15310?utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=14047-257666-PMC234b+-+New+Releases+%2823.09.16%29
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anni
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Post by anni on Nov 13, 2016 11:39:49 GMT -8
It's taken me this long to figure out my favorite song from all my favorite songs on 'Fingers Crossed. While it's playing...that's my favorite. After this election I find myself playing "Morpheus" over and over...especially in traffic.
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Post by Jeanne on Nov 14, 2016 6:10:56 GMT -8
It's taken me this long to figure out my favorite song from all my favorite songs on 'Fingers Crossed. While it's playing...that's my favorite. After this election I find myself playing "Morpheus" over and over...especially in traffic. Thanks for sharing. Driving while healing.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Dec 13, 2016 0:00:21 GMT -8
Ian Hunter unpacks most of his life's work in this 12-minute video from Propermusic in the U.K.
That video released last week is the best introduction to "Stranded in Realty," without a doubt the most comprehensive box set ever assembled for any artist. For a mere 250 British pounds, you can own every album Ian released in his 41-year solo career before the most recent album plus nine CD's of rarities and never released songs and two DVD's, all faithfully remastered and beautifully packaged. The hardcover book alone is worth the price. The box set is strictly limited to 2500 copies.
I cannot believe that there aren't 2499 other souls on this planet who feel like I do about Ian Hunter, yet the box is still available. And cheap. I preordered it in June, right after the Brexit vote, when the exchange rate was $335. By the time it shipped in October, I paid $309, including a ridiculous $2.54 for shipping and handling from London to my door. The pound is doing better, back up to $319 tonight. That breaks down to $10.65 per disc, with everything else thrown in for free. I hope Ian's making some money off of this:
www.propermusic.com/product-details/Ian-Hunter-Stranded-In-Reality-Ltd-Edition-Box-Set-235832
If you are going to make only one Ian Hunter purchase in your life, that is the one.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Dec 20, 2016 0:00:33 GMT -8
I've been besotted with that clip since I discovered it on You Tube a few months ago. "Is Your Love in Vain?" comes from Bob Dylan's 1978 album "Street-Legal." I never knew that Ian Hunter had performed it. For reasons I'm now too old to remember, I missed his tour in 1981. Maybe he skipped the West Coast again. I got most of one of those concerts on a CD a few years ago, but that song was omitted. Needless to say, "Is Your Love in Vain?" is included in the "Stranded in Reality" box.
The song has one of my favorite opening lines by Dylan -- "Do you love me, or are you just extending goodwill?" -- while others like "Can you cook and sew, make flowers grow" are harder to take than they were four decades ago. Ian redeems the song, and not just by tweaking the words: "Can you cook, can you sew, watch the flowers grow." It's Ian's attitude that makes the song his own.
So does the arrangement. In the book accompanying the box set, Ian writes, "In retrospect this is overdone but I liked it at the time. Mark Clarke, the bass player, was a great harmony singer and could arrange anything. This version is maybe a bit too polished?" Maybe. The early 1980's keyboards sound is dated. But what about that guitar solo and Ian's harmonica? I rank this among the greatest Dylan covers ever.
That professional You Tube video of the song has disappeared, so I replaced it with a recently uploaded audio-only video.
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Post by Jeanne on Dec 20, 2016 7:00:52 GMT -8
That was a treat. Thanks for sharing, Brian. i have always found this song to be humorous, in a gently self mocking way. The singer is asking the world of "you," whoever she may be. She needs to cook and sew, make flowers grow and understand his pain. In other words, she needs to be good in the kitchen, a craftsperson, a gardener, and also be willing to put up with his self centered self pity. If not, HER love will be in vain. No mention of his love.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on May 3, 2017 23:00:21 GMT -8
At the last date that Ian Hunter and the Rant Band played in California, at the Coach House in January 2015, Anni and I sat next to Maria, a travel agent in Orange County. Anni's stayed in touch with Maria, a wonderful human being and a huge Ian Hunter fan. On Wednesday, Maria contacted Anni to tell her that tickets just went on sale for another show with Ian and the band on September 13. It's getting more common for venues to start selling tickets as soon as the contract is signed -- and before the artist announces the tour to his fans. So far, there is nothing about Ian on the Canyon's website. When the entire West Coast leg is booked, you'll read about it on Ian Hunter Dot Com: ianhunter.com/main/Topping the homepage now is the schedule for 12 gigs back east starting this Saturday in New York. In June and early July, Ian Hunter and the Rant Band will play 18 concerts in Scandinavia and the U.K. Norwegians see a lot more of Ian than Californians do. He lives in Connecticut, and his Left Coast visits have always been rare, historically. Finally, I will get to hear songs from "Fingers Crossed," the latest album, performed live -- a full year after it was released. So far, we've only posted ballads on this page. This is "Stranded in Reality" -- let's rock! Ian's coming to town. Everybody's got a brain -- but the batteries ain't included
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Jun 10, 2017 23:02:55 GMT -8
Anni and I already have our tickets to see Ian Hunter and the Rant Band, so I feel safe sharing the following links. Their shows always sell out, eventually. My hope is that the dates below, along with the only other gig announced thus far -- The Fillmore in San Francisco -- will sell out quickly, so Ian will add more concerts on the Left Coast.
- Tuesday, September 12, at the Teragram Ballroom outside of downtown Los Angeles: www.teragramballroom.com/event/1493321-ian-hunter-rant-band-los-angeles
- Wednesday, September 13, at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano: thecoachhouse.com/concert-schedule/?event_id=7359115
Last Friday, Proper Music in the U.K. released the second single from the new album, "Ghosts," which was inspired by a visit to Memphis in 2014 when Ian and the Rant Band were invited to jam in Sam Phillips’ legendary Sun Studio:
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Sept 13, 2017 0:48:53 GMT -8
Pretty good cellphone video of "Bastard" Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
After a 32-month absence from California, Ian Hunter and the Rant Band presided over a glorious love fest Tuesday at the Teragram Ballroom on 7th Street, three blocks west of the 110 freeway downtown. Anni and I found old friends from previous shows and made new ones. This is the setlist I wrote down -- the band didn't play "Roll Away the Stone" and "I Wish I Was Your Mother," which were printed on the setlists taped on the stage floor, and they rearranged the song order in the second half.
- The Moon Upstairs
- Once Bitten Twice Shy
- Fatally Flawed
- When I'm President
- Saint
- The Truth, The Whole Truth, Nuthin' But The Truth
- Morpheus
- Just Another Night
- Fingers Crossed
- All American Alien Boy
- Dandy
- (Give Me Back My) Wings
- Ghosts
- Guiding Light
- 23,A Swan Hill
- Bastard (with Johnny Depp on guitar)
- Sweet Jane (also with Depp)
- All The Way From Memphis
- Life
- All The Young Dudes (with Scott McCaughey on keyboards and Depp on guitar)
- Goodnight, Irene (snippet)
I'll have a lot more to say after tonight's show at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.
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Post by Stevo on Sept 13, 2017 9:23:03 GMT -8
Here is one from last night's show at the Teragram Ballroom. Nice to meet you. How do i share or post a photo here? What is the code?
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