It’s funny how things work in the digital age, how the technology sometimes brings something back to you.
I’m beginning to trust the Google Reader a bit now and, I’m taking a look at it’s recommendations for me, a bit more seriously. Yesterday, one of the sites the Reader threw at me was Axe Victim. I got on there looked aroud a bit, and there was a post about Axe Victim’s band, Magic Ship, with a link to the Magic Ship MySpace page. So, I clicked on that and listened a bit; good band-solid rock and roll. Anyway, I left a friend request and this morning there was a comment on my MySpace page from LEB of Magic Ship. At the end of the comment, LEB brought up Ronnie Lane.
I used to listen to Ronnie Lane a lot. I mean a bunch. Now, I’m not talking about The Small Faces or The Faces, though I love that stuff as well. I’m talking about Ronnie Lane’s solo stuff, which is a unique thing all unto itself. Thinking back, it seems like I had three records, “Anymore for Anymore”, “One for the Road”, and “Rough Mix” (w/ Pete Townshend). I always thought that Ronnie was really staking out his own turf. He was using the same ingredients that were readily available but coming up with a different stew.
Another thing that should be noted here is, that later on (early 80’s), I read about Ronnie Lane’s battle with M.S. Before that, I had little knowledge of the disease. I knew one person (a friend’s mother) that had M.S. but, really knew nothing about it. From Ronnie’s Wiki.
During the recording of Rough Mix, Lane was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (his mother had also suffered, and died, from the disease). Nonetheless, he toured, wrote, and recorded (with Eric Clapton, among many others) and managed to release yet another album, See Me, which features several songs written by Lane and Clapton.
In 1983, his girlfriend, Boo Oldfield, contacted record producer Glyn Johns in the hopes of getting a concert going to help fund Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis, a London-based organization. Johns was already arranging Clapton’s Command Performance for Prince Charles, so they decided to book the Royal Albert Hall for another couple of nights and hold a benefit. The resulting A.R.M.S. Concerts featured Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Kenney Jones, Andy Fairweather-Low, and more. With the addition of Joe Cocker and Paul Rodgers, they toured the U.S. It was during this time that Rodgers and Page started the band, The Firm.
I remember all of that going on and it seems like maybe, Musician Magazine (?), had a long interview with Ronnie that went into some depth about M.S. This was a time before medication like the stuff I’m on (Betaseron), was being prescribed and, the overall outlook was a bit more bleak. But, I remember being very impressed with Ronnie’s attitude. Anyway, I’m going to give Ronnie some credit for (you guys are going to love this) raising awareness about M.S.
Here’s a nice clip of Ronnie doing “How Come”.
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Tags: axe victim, Betaseron, eric clapton, magic ship, Multiple Sclerosis, pete townshend, ronnie lane, rough mix
axe victim wrote,
So go figure? Here am I looking up YOUR website following a comment that you dropped on Kenski’s blog. Jeez man, the Internet and digital technology is just shrinking our world eh? That really is a thing. Thanks for the mention in your post. Lond may teh memory of Ronnie live on adn that peopl eliek us cherish his contribution to beautiful music. Play Debris again and try not to get a misty eye?
Cheers,
AV
Link | April 18th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Pribek wrote,
Good to have you in Axe Victim-the world gets smaller as the community grows.
I listened to “Debris” just this morning and indeed what you say is true.
One for the cat’s eye, eh?
Link | April 18th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Jayne d'Arcy wrote,
I love How Come!! I have a cassette tape you recorded for me back when we lived in Walnut Shade. It has a bunch of Ronnie Lane on it and I love it, love it, love it!
Link | April 18th, 2008 at 9:32 pm