Earl Slick - ...and on guitar (1998)

Frank Madeloni, aka Earl Slick, was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 1, 1952, and first began to be noticed on the New York music scene in the early 70's while playing guitar in a band called Mack Truck, featuring both singer-songwriter Jimmie Mack and his brother, drummer Jack Mack. It was in 1974, however, that his name was plastered all over the press when the 22 year-old Slick was chosen by David Bowie to serve as his first proper replacement for Mick Ronson, after Bowie had split up The Spiders From Mars. Although Bowie supplied most of the guitar work for his hit 1974 release 'Diamond Dogs', he sought the then-unknown Slick to replicate his and Ronson's previous guitar parts on tour, and not only did Slick duplicate them, but the incredibly versatile guitarist managed to expand on them and inject his own style into the tunes, resulting in one of the greatest rock guitar live albums of all time 'David Live', recorded at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia. Slick remained with Bowie for his next two studio albums, which saw the singer transform into his "Thin White Duke" persona and take on the funk genre, resulting in the classic records 'Young Americans' in  1975 and the more experimental 'Station To Station' the following year. Almost immediately he started to be asked to guest on studio sessions, with Leo Sayer being the first to spot his ability, followed quickly by Ian Hunter, and in 1977 he added guitar to his wife's collaboration with her sister on June and Jean Millington's 'Ladies On The Stage'. Leaving Bowie's band just as the singer decided to pack his bags and relocate to Germany, Slick continued on as a 'gun for hire', and appeared on records by other more obscure hard rock artists such as Bad Boy and Tonio K. Also during this time, he attempted briefly to launch a solo career, resulting in the albums 'Razor Sharp' and 'Earl Slick Band', but it was his next job that would be one of the high points of his entire career, when in 1980 he was asked to play on what would become John Lennon's final all-new studio recording, the chart-topping 'Double Fantasy'. After Lennon's death the same year, Slick returned to the studio with Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, and appeared on what would become her highest-charting solo release, 1981's harrowing 'Season Of Glass', and his work can also be heard on the posthumous releases 'Milk And Honey' in 1984, as well as the CD box sets for both Ono, with 1992's 'Onobox', and on Lennon's 1998 'Anthology', including his own choice as some of his best work on 'I Don't Wanna Face It'. 

The early to mid-'80s saw Slick return briefly to Bowie's band for the Serious Moonlight world tour in support of 1983's 'Let's Dance', as although Stevie Ray Vaughan had played guitar on the album, he'd left the band right before the tour due to a dispute between his and Bowie's management, so Slick was asked to step in as a last-minute replacement, due to his prior working relationship with Bowie. When the Bowie tour was over he teamed up with ex-Stray Cats musicians Lee Rocker (bass) and Slim Jim Phantom (drums), replacing Bran Seltzer in the re-named trio Phantom, Rocker & Slick, with the short-lived outfit issuing a pair of moderately successful albums, in 1985's 'Phantom, Rocker & Slick' and 1986's 'Cover Girl', before disbanding. This allowed Slick to carry on his session work throughout the late '80s/early '90's, and after a break from the music biz to sort out his personal life (allegedly to kick a serious drug problem), he returned stronger than ever, and founded his own record label, Slick Music Inc., which specializes in his own solo releases, as well as archival sets by other artists, like Fanny and Kasim Sulton. In 1990, he collaborated with David Glen Eisley in the band Dirty White Boy, which released their only album 'Bad Reputation' in 1990, and he then played in Little Caesar during 1991/1992. Working with mentor Michael Kamen, he contributed to several film soundtracks in the 1990's, including 'Hudson Hawk' and 'Nothing But Trouble', as well as releasing another solo album in 1991. Although it might seem like Slick has had extraordinary luck in being catapulted into the spotlight after only paying his dues for a few years, you can hear from these tracks that he crammed a lot into that short time, and by the time he was nabbed by Bowie he was already a guitarist of some talent.  

Track listing

Disc One
01 Reflections (from 'Endless Flight' by Leo Sayer 1976)
02 Stay (from 'Station To Station' by David Bowie 1976)
03 Wild 'n' Free (from 'Overnight Angels' by Ian Hunter 1977)
04 You Need This Woman (from 'Ladies On The Stage' by Millington 1977)
05 Keep It Up (from 'Back To Back' by Bad Boy 1978)
06 Life In The Foodchain (from 'Life In The Foodchain' by Tonio K. 1978)
07 Is It Right (from 'Van Dunson' by Van Dunson 1979)
08 I Put A Spell On You (from 'Simplicity' by Tim Currie 1981)
09 Goin' For Broke (from 'Silver Condor' by Silver Condor 1981)
10 Walking On Thin Ice (single by Yoko Ono 1981)

11 My Little World (from 'Heart On A Wall' by Jimmy Destri  1982)

Disc Two
01 East Of Eden's Gate (from 'East Of Eden's Gate' by Billy Thorpe 1982)
02 Running (from 'Running' By June Millington 1983)
03 Shark Pretty (from 'Dead Center' by Game Theory 1984)
04 Nobody Told Me (from 'Milk And Honey' by John Lennon & Yoko Ono 1984)
05 Imagination (from 'Some People' by Belouis Some 1985)
06 Dancing In The Street (single by David Bowie & Mick Jagger 1985)
07 Running Away (from '2wo' by Strange Advance 1985) 
08 Simple Man (from 'Junkyard' by Junkyard 1989)
09 Cry Little Sister (from 'Slamdunk' by Henry Lee Summer' 1993)
10 I Don't Wanna Face It (out-take from 'Anthology' by John Lennon 1998)

Ian Hunter - Don't Let Go (1981)

When Ian Hunter left Mott The Hoople in December 1974, the remaining members carried on under the name of Mott, adding vocalist Nigel Benjamin to replace Hunter. In March 1975 Hunter kick-started his solo career by joining forces with Mick Ronson, his most frequent collaborator until Ronson's death in 1993, and the first single from his eponymous solo album was the stupendous 'Once Bitten Twice Shy', a top 40 hit in the UK. Despite the success of the single and album, Hunter and Ronson then parted ways professionally, reportedly due to Hunter's refusal to deal with Ronson's manager, Tony DeFries. His second solo album 'All American Alien Boy' came out in 1976, and was a more soul-infused work which featured saxophonist David Sanborn and bassist Jaco Pastorius, with Queen providing backing vocals on one track. 'Overnight Angels' appeared in 1977, produced by Roy Thomas Baker, and featured a heavier guitar sound courtesy of former Bowie sideman Earl Slick. This album was actually never issued in the US, as Columbia Records refused to release it until Hunter had replaced his recently fired manager Fred Heller, but that dragged on so long that it became too late to give it an American release. In 1979 Ronson returned as Hunter's guitarist, and also produced 'You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic', which featured John Cale and several members of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Two songs from the album became hits for other artists, with Barry Manilow's version of 'Ships' becoming a top ten US hit in late 1979, while the Presidents Of The United States Of America's 1997 cover of 'Cleveland Rocks' was used as one of the theme songs for The Drew Carey Show. 'Cleveland Rocks' is regarded as an anthem in Cleveland, Ohio, where it is sometimes used as a victory song for the city's sports teams, and Hunter also re-recorded it as 'England Rocks', which was released as a stand-alone single in 1979. Following the live album 'Welcome To The Club' in 1980, which actually included some original studio material as well, Hunter's first album of new material in the 80's was 'Short Back 'n' Sides' in 1981, produced in collaboration with Ronson and Clash guitarist Mick Jones. In the seven years between his eponymous debut and that 1981 record he recorded a number of songs which were held back from release, half of them from the sessions for 'Short Back 'n' Sides', and they are collected here, along with the three studio tracks from 'Welcome To The Club', and the 'England Rocks' single, and they're all up to the standard that we've come to expect from this maverick singer/songwriter.  

Track listing

01 Colwater High (out-take 1975)
02 One Fine Day (out-take 1975)
03 England Rocks (single 1977)
04 Don't Let Go (demo 1979)
05 Alibi (out-take 1979)

06 We Gotta Get Out Of Here (studio recording from 'Welcome To The Club' 1980)
07 Silver Needles (studio recording from 'Welcome To The Club' 1980)
08 Man 'O' War (studio recording from 'Welcome To The Club' 1980)
09 Detroit (out-take 1981)
10 Na Na Na (out-take 1981)
11 I Believe In You (out-take 1981)
12 China (out-take 1981, with Mick Ronson on vocal)
13 Listen To The Eight Track (out-take 1981)
14 You Stepped Into My Dreams (out-take 1981)
15 Venus In The Bathtub (out-take 1981)

Mick Ronson - ...and on guitar (1979)

Mick Ronson initially wanted to be a cellist, but moved to guitar upon discovering the music of Duane Eddy, whose sound on the bass notes of his guitar sounded to Ronson similar to that of the cello. He played with a number of small bands in the 60's including The Mariners, The Crestas, The Voice,  The Wanted, and then Hull's top local band, The Rats. In 1967 The Rats recorded the one-off psychedelic track, 'The Rise and Fall of Bernie Gripplestone' at Fairview Studios in Willerby, Yorkshire, which can be heard on the 2008 release 'Front Room Masters – Fairview Studios 1966–1973'. When John Cambridge left The Rats to join his former Hullaballoos bandmate Mick Wayne in Junior's Eyes, he was replaced by Mick 'Woody' Woodmansey, and in early 1970, Cambridge came back to Hull in search of Ronson, intent upon recruiting him for David Bowie's new backing band The Hype, along with drummer Woodmansey. He found Ronson marking out a rugby pitch, one of his duties as a Parks Department gardener for Hull City Council, and although initially reluctant, he eventually agreed to accompany Cambridge to a meeting with Bowie. Two days later, on 5 February, Ronson made his debut with Bowie on John Peel's national BBC Radio 1 show, and from that point on his future was assured. 
Within a few years his reputation had grown so much that he was often asked to contribute to other artist's albums, and later even to produce them. His first post-Bowie guest spot was actually on the recommendation of his employer, who was producing Lou Reed's 'Transformer' album, and he invited Ronson to play guitar on it. The same year he was asked to contribute to The Pure Prairie League's second album 'Bustin' Out', and I've included his superlative work on 'Angel No. 9' as an example of his contribution to the record, and Ronson was so taken with this song that he included a cover of it on his second solo album 'Play Don't Worry'. In 1974 Mott The Hoople were recording their last single before Ian Hunter left and the rest of the group reformed as simply Mott. During the recording of 'The Saturday Gigs' guitarist Ariel Bender was replaced by Ronson, marking his only official appearance on a Mott the Hoople release, and Ronson's image was used in the middle of the band's line-up on the single's cover. After Ian Hunter left Mott The Hoople he embarked on a long and successful solo career, starting which what I still consider his best album 'Ian Hunter', and 'Once Bitten, Twice Shy' shows Ronson at his very best. 
In 1976 Ronson contributed guitar to the title track of David Cassidy's 'Getting It In The Street' album, giving the former bubblegum pop star a bit of street cred. The same year he was a surprise addition to Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review tour, and concert recordings were eventually released as the 'Hard Rain' album, from which I've included the rocking 'Maggie's Farm'. Roger Daltrey employed Ronson's guitar on his 1977 solo release 'One Of The Boys', for which Paul McCartney wrote a new song 'Giddy', and Ronson was joined by Hank Marvin, Eric Clapton and Alvin Lee on a great fun recording. Also that year Ronson and Ian Hunter produced and played on Ellen Foley's debut album 'Nightout', with Ronson suggesting that she record two songs by Phil Rambow, one of which is included here. The most surprising track on this album, though, is a 1970 recording for Elton John's 'Tumbleweed Connection' album, where Ronson played guitar on the track 'Madman Across the Water'. This version of the song was not included in the original release of the album of the same name two years later, although it was eventually included on deluxe re-issues, and you wonder how this outstanding near-nine minute take could ever have been dropped from the record. Ronson collaborated with many more artists throughout the rest of his career, but I think this collection of his work from the 70's shows him at his best, and also the variety of artists who held him in high enough esteem to want him added to their records.   

Track listing

01 Vicious (from 'Transformer' by Lou Reed 1972)
02 Madman Across The Water (original version with Elton John 1970)
03 Angel No. 9 (from 'Bustin' Out' by The Pure Prairie League 1972)
04 The Saturday Gigs (single by Mott The Hoople 1974)
05 Once Bitten, Twice Shy (from 'Ian Hunter' by Ian Hunter 1975)
06 Gettin' It In The Streets (from 'Gettin' It In The Streets' by David Cassidy 1976)
07 Maggie's Farm (from 'Hard Rain' by Bob Dylan 1976)
08 Giddy (from 'One Of The Boys' by Roger Daltrey 1977)
09 Night Out (from 'Nightout' by Ellen Foley 1979)