"A lot of artistry ... and a bunch of arguing" - Classic Albums: American Pie on BBC iplayer

This is to let UK readers know that a programme in the Classic Albums series about Don McLean's American Pie will be available to watch on BBC iplayer until the 2nd of March.

Not being a rabid fan of McLean's work in general - as it might be, a McLeanatic - when the show was repeated a few weeks ago on BBC 4 I recorded it for later, expecting to dip in, grab what I could about the title song, an undoubted masterpiece, then dip out and delete.

He just went grey all of a sudden ...

There may be additional streaks of mellow nicotined yellow tangled up therein - I don't know - but the big news in my little world is that Donovan seems to have officially Gone Grey, choosing an interview with fellow Glasgwegian Lorraine Kelly on her self-titled show last December for the great unveiling:

Posts about Sam Cooke

For those whose interest in the great gospel and soul star has been piqued by the new Netflix documentary The Killings of Sam Cooke (above), here is a guide to the main posts on this blog about his life and career. I haven't seen the new programme because I don't have Netflix - not out of meanness but simply because I dare not put further televisual temptations my way. Click on the title below each image to read the full post.

Done, Done and Thrice Done

Have just heard something I had been hoping to hear for many years: the original demo for That Day Is Done by Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney, now available on the 2017 edition of McCartney's album Flowers in the Dirt.

Will new Bowie documentary mention Alan Klein?

Advance publicity for Finding Fame, a documentary about David Bowie's early years, promises newly unearthed material; the enterprise has even been injected with an element of jeopardy by a question mark over whether a particularly fragile piece of videotape, not included in preview copies of the programme, will be restored in time for the scheduled UK broadcast on BBC 2 on the 9th of February.

It will undoubtedly be worth watching either way but I note that at least one reviewer has already mentioned that "the significant role played by ’60s manager-mentor Ken Pitt in Bowie’s development is largely overlooked", so I'm guessing that the answer to the question posed in the title of this piece is likely to be no.

Pitt is the obvious link between Bowie and Alan Klein, whose album Well At Least Its [sic] British was released on Decca in 1964, and there is a strong case to be made for Klein as an influence on David Bowie's approach to songwriting, particularly on his first album.

For those unaware of Alan Klein I will try to sum up his importance both to Bowie and to the development of British pop generally - but if you're already confused at this early stage perhaps I need to point out that the Beatles' sometime manager was Allen Klein.