Well we saw Al Green about 36 Hours ago! He was FANTASTIC, All I thought he would be, he was, He was Brilliant!
Firstly, I will talk about Michael Mcdonald, he was Great, He had a 6 Piece Band, including a Female Drummer / Singer, called Yvette "Baby Girl" Preyer she was Excellent! He also has a Great Saxophonist, Vince Denham.
So this was a Great Evening's Entertainment so far, but we were here to see "AL GREEN" and we had about a 20/30 minutes wait for that!
Before the Concert & during the Break, I brought myself a couple of "Al Green" T-shirts, see Photo's!
I would also like to say a couple of thing's about the Venue, The O2 Arena, it is a Great Place! in fact the whole Place is Massive, Shops, Cafes, Eating Places etc etc, we never really got time to see the Whole place! This was because we were staying in a Hotel about 3/4 miles away, but The O2 is over the other side of The Thames River, so we left the Hotel with about 1 Hour before the Show was due to start, so I put the Postcode in the SatNav, and Nothing, it said "No Search Details!
I went back into the Hotel, they gave us Directions etc, but I'm sure you will Appreciate, coming from a Town in Norfolk UK, & going to London, the O2 could have been 50 Miles away as to being 3/4 miles!
I got the SatNav and tried numerous things to find the O2 on the Map, I eventually found it, it was still called the "Millenium Dome" so perhaps this was the Fault, I dont know, but we eventually got details and were on our way!
By the time we arrived, it was time to get straight to our Seats! and we had Great Seats, about 10 rows back to the Left of the Stage, a Great View, for most of the time, apart from when People were standing up to Dance!
Now I am not moaning about people dancing, but when you are all seated in a certain area and on the same level, when someone gets up, you all have to get up as well, if not you dont see what you have paid for! and people behind you, then Moan about you for standing up!
We had a Woman not too far in front of us, Dancing most of the time, this got a bit annoying, I must say, I think if they had played "The Death March" she still would have been dancing!
The Food & Drink was a bit Pricey, has you would have probably Expected, a Bottle of "Oasis" was £3!
I will finish this Post about "Al Green" a bit later! I think I will need a Whole Post for that!
Checkout some Michael Mcdonald Tracks & Videos below!
Something a little different this week, getting myself ready to see The Greatest in Concert tomorrow! I've looked around the Net to find a couple of Al Green Mixes, with a Difference! Check these out, either Listen, Download or both!
AL GREEN - LET'S STAY TOGETHER (WICKED MIX)
Go to page to Download Mix! ===========================================
Going back a few weeks ago, I mentioned about Hopefully going to See Al Green in Concert.
Well next Sunday that is going to Happen, me and the Wife are off to the O2 Arena in London, to see Al Green!
I cant wait, I have waited 35 Years to see him in Concert, I purchased my First Al Green Album back in 1975, that was about 6 Years from he's Debut Album "Back up Train" in 1969.
Actually my Wife "Susan" had also brought the same Album back then, the "Greatest Hits" as we did'nt meet until 1976!
Over the years I have seen some Great Singer's / Groups, checkout my previous Posts concerning this Subject, but I'm Hoping Al Green will be Great and be the Best Live Performer I have seen, I have seen him on U.K TV & heard him on Radio quite a few times of late, and he sounds as Great as Ever! Just heard some Great News about the Concert, Micheal Mcdonald is the Support Act, so Al Green will be Singing a Full Concert, I thought they were both Headliners!
I have a few Links here, some Radio and some TV also some Interviews with AG, Checkout the first Link for a Live Performance of "Let's Stay Together":
Here's the 40th Mix for F.S.V.B, Its been Mixed by DJ Rave, there's some classic Disco Tracks on here, Its called Remixed and Classic Disco! Its features Artistes including some Harold Melvin, Teddy Pendergrass, Trammps and Archie Bell & the Drells ! Go to Podcast page for Track Listings!
Two major things happened around March / April of 1980!
Firstly our Second Child was Born, on 10/03/80, Its a Girl! so Nathan had a Sister, I can remember going to the Registry Office with instructions from Susan to call the New Baby "Natasha" but I wanted to call her Natalie, I honestly cant remember what exactly happened, but she ended up been Named "Natalie" Susan always said I named her after "Natalie Cole" I cant remember that either!
Anyway I was glad we had a Girl, so we had one of each!
We did have loads of Pictures of Natalie, as we did Nathan, but many years ago, either my Mother or one of my Sister's asked us for some Photos of Natalie & Nathan, to make us a Photo Album of our Kids!
Then we all fell out and we have never seen our Photos again! and of course we never got the Album!
A few years ago when we were on speaking terms,we asked for the Photos back, but Guess what.....they didnt have them & didnt know where the were either! so that's why we have no early Photos of Natalie, to put on here, I will ask some of Susan's Family, to see if they have any!
I think our earliest photo's of Natalie are of about 6/9 months old.
So if any of my Family are reading this Blog in the weeks, month's and Years to come........................ I WANT OUR PHOTOS BACK!
The other thing that happened around this time was, I finally got a move to a different Butcher's Shop!
It was still for Dewhurst's, but a smaller branch about 2 miles away, It was a better place to work, as I didnt like a couple of the Staff at the other Shop!
Here's the 39th Mix for F.S.V.B, Its been Mixed by Nanoelectriks, there's some classic Electro/ HipHop Tracks on here, Its called The Breakdance Vol 1! Its features Artistes including some Trouble Funk, Mann Parrish, Herbie Hancock and Shannon!
Unusually for an Al Green Album, there are several different Writer's, for the 11 Track's including the following :
Al Green : Wrote on all Track's Questlove : Wrote on all Track's apart from Tr 11 James Poyser : Wrote on all Track's apart from Tr 11 Chalmers"Spanky"Alford : Wrote on all Tr's apart from Tr 6 &11 Adam Blackstone : Wrote on all Track's apart from Tr 6 & 11 Anthony Hamilton : Wrote on Track's 1,3, & 9 Corrine Bailey Rae : Wrote on Track's 6 & 8
Incidentally Chalmers "Spanky" Alford who also played Guitar and Wrote on "Lay it Down" died on 24/03/08 aged 52, just prior the Album Release!
Also one of the Engineers on "Lay It Down" was Jimmy Douglass, a regular on Slave's Album's a few years back, he was one of the Writers,Vocalist, Producers, Engineers, mixers, arrangers etc etc!
'Lay It Down' also received 4 Grammy Nominations, including Best R&B Album, Best R&B Performance By a Duo Or Group With Vocals for 'Stay With Me (By The Sea)' featuring John Legend, and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for 'You've Got The Love I Need' featuring Anthony Hamilton. 'Lay It Down' was also nominated for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for the engineering work of Jimmy Douglass, Russell 'The Dragon' Elevado and Jon Smeltz.
To hear Al Green and others featured on "Lay It Down" talking about their involvement in the making of the Album, visit here, you will have to download i-tunes to view!
Here's the 38th Mix for F.S.V.B, Its been Mixed by DJ Stevie G of Cork, there's some classic Soul/Dance Tracks on here, Its a Tribute to Bernard Edwards & Nile Rogers of Chic! Also incuding some Sister Sledge, Chic and Diana Ross!
Press play to listen or press link to go to Stevie G's Podomatic Page and download to your pc.
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