By Bill Kopp

P.F. Sloan was one of the most important behind-the-scenes artists of the mid-1960s. Working primarily as a songwriter in those days, he only occasionally made commercial inroads as a recording artist. But as a key session player and composer, he was responsible for many of the era’s hits. In addition to writing TV themes and jingles (many in collaboration with writing partner Steve Barri), New York City-born Sloan wrote many songs that would become hit singles for other artists. Sloan died in 2015 at age 70, but on the 80^th anniversary of his birth (September 18), Goldmine presents five great tunes from the pen of P.F. Sloan.

“Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire from Eve of Destruction (1965)

This controversial folk protest song would be a hit for Barry McGuire in 1965. Sloan wrote the song and shopped it around to artists, including The Byrds  – all of whom turned it down – before getting to McGuire. Released as a single, McGuire’s version made it to the No. 1 spot and became an anthem of the era.

“Secret Agent Man” by Johnny Rivers from …And I Know You Wanna Dance (1966)

Patrick McGoohan’s British television show Danger Man was retitled Secret Agent for broadcast in the U.S., and producers asked Sloan for a new theme song. He came up with one of the most recognizable riffs in all of music and helped recording artist Johnny Rivers score a Top Ten hit.

“You Baby” by The Turtles from You Baby (1966)

The Turtles were somewhat unique among Los Angeles groups in that they rarely employed session musicians. And when they did, it would be for augmented parts (horns, etc.). But when it came to songwriting, the Turtles mixed it up between originals and songs from outside writers. So it was that they cut “You Baby,” a tune from P.F. Sloan. The title track from their second LP, “You Baby,” was a top 20 hit in 1966. They weren’t the first act to record the song, though; the Vogues waxed it in 1965.

“Where Were You When I Needed You” by the Grass Roots from Where Were You When I Needed You (1966)

Rock history is scattered with stories of fictitious bands. The Archies, for one; did you know they weren’t real people? Of course you did! But did you know that on their debut single, the Grass Roots weren’t a real band? The recording of the song – nearly the entire album of the same name, in fact – was made by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri. Only after the music was released did the record company (Dunhill) insist that an actual band be assembled to promote the songs. That lineup – including drummer Joel Larson, who actually played on the single – did go on to have many hits.

“A Must to Avoid” by Herman’s Hermits from Hold On! (1966)

“Where Were You When I Needed You” was originally intended for Herman’s Hermits, who turned it down. But the British pop group fronted by Peter Noone did accept, record and release “A Must to Avoid,” P.F. Sloan’s tune about a wicked woman. As a single, “A Must to Avoid” climbed to the Top 10 in Australia, Canada, Norway, New Zealand and the U.S.

Vocalist Chris Robinson told Goldmine in an interview dated November 29, 2016, he wouldn’t do a Black Crowes tour with his brother, lead guitarist Rich Robinson, no matter how much money was offered. Chris is fond of quoting Dylan when he says, “Money doesn’t talk, it swears.” When I told him his brother blames the Crowes break-up on Chris wanting to turn the band into the Grateful Dead, he snorted and said, “That’s ridiculous. I have no idea what he’s talking about. I haven’t even talked to my brother in years. There’s no reason to speak to him. Time changes people,” he added, “It was never fun in the Crowes. It was never good. It was always dysfunctional. I’ve moved on. I was never motivated by money. I’m not motivated by it now. Enough said.”
     On August 4, 2025, The Black Crowes performed at Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It is America’s largest free music festival:  1,449.000+ from 49 states and seven countries bought 60,800 tickets to the very few headlining ticketed shows. The heart and soul of this fest, though, are the free shows: 400  artists performing 552 concerts over 50 acres on 15 stages. The high Crowes point had to be when Chris reminded the audience they were from Atlanta, “but if you go to Georgia, head right out of Atlanta and go 90 miles south to Macon. Macon is where it’s at! Little Richard’s from there. He’s the King of rock and roll! The Allman Brothers are from there. You know who else is from that little town of Macon? OTIS F**KING REDDING!” And, of course, with that, they kicked into high gear for “Hard To Handle,” Redding’s 1968 autobiographical anthem. It was a priceless moment, made all the better by the perfect weather, the great sound and the enthusiastic audience.

Sax man Joe Santa Maria and bassist David Tranchina have put together a humdinger of an album with their new Oblique Rhyme band with pianist Gary Fukushima and drummer Colin Woodford. The Orenda Records debut comes out of Los Angeles as these go-to session guys coalesce into a no-genre format.  Call it jazz if you want. Tranchina has written for Hollywood films and played bass for Weird Al. Pianist Fukushima is a journalist-educator and drummer Woodford has written for string quartets, big bands and solo sax. Funk, blues and the outer reaches of Ornette Coleman are the signposts. They go abstractly avant-garde on “Sum Thymes,” wherein sax and bass play peekaboo with each other. “Prism” utilizes poly-rhythms to the max. The eerie surrealism of “Ambient Ambiance” is in 5/4 time. “This Must Be For You” is for Herbie Hancock. “Picking Up The Pieces” channels Wayne Shorter. 

How could a young cat like Ryan Lee Crosby from Rhode Island be so authentic and real playing a brand of blues that took elder statesmen from Mississippi lifetimes to master? Bentonia Blues was perfected by Skip James [1902-1969]. It’s different from Delta Blues, Texas Blues or New Orleans blues by its minor-tuning. At The Blue Light has Crosby singing, finger-picking, producing and self-releasing this gem, recorded at a 1940s juke joint that’s still standing. He’s got Duck Holmes, 77, with him, who knows a little something about the style as he’s the son of the owners of the venue, runs it himself today, and has been performing it his whole life. Recorded on a four-track 1980s Tascam 22 portable reel-to-reel tape machine, these songs are a haunting reminder that time itself sometimes really does stand still.

St. Louis Guitar Hero Mike Zito has signed The Boneshakers to his Gulf Coast Records label for their 11^th album, Live To Be This, and it’s a doozy. Between the lusty vocals of Jenny Langer and the guitar, bass, dobro and clavinet of Randy Jacobs, this 15-track gem traverses Memphis blues, Muscle Shoals rock’n’roll and Detroit soul into one bigtime party with a few guests like producer Don Was, Chicago blues legend Charlie Musselwhite, lead guitarist Coco Montoya and Grammy-winning sax man Jimmy Carpenter on ball-busting originals and covers of Screaming Jay Hawkins, Iggy Pop, Ike & Tina and legendary funk diva Betty Davis.

Legendary guitarist-composer Pat Metheny, 71, is the only cat who has ever won 10 Grammy Awards in 10 different categories. (He’s won 20 Grammys in all.) Pat Gluck is the author of Pat Metheny: Stories Beyond Words (University of Chicago Press). He’s also a dynamite keyboardist whose new Transcendence trio with bassist Christopher Dean Sullivan and drummer Karl Latham explores Music of Pat Metheny on their new FMR Records release. Note no guitar. These three don’t need a guitar to record a tribute to one of the world’s greatest guitarists. They capture his essence, though, with five Metheny classics plus one each by Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. Besides piano, Gluck plays a Roll Seaboard keyboard to approximate the sound of Metheny’s guitar synthesizer.

In addition to his status as one of the most important musical figures of the 20^th century – or any century, for that matter – Frank Sinatra was an impressively prolific recording artist. After a successful run as the singer in Tommy Dorsey’s band, he began making albums under his own name just after the end of WWII, a time when the “album” format still meant a bound volume with multiple 78 r.p.m. shellac discs in it. Between 1946 and his death in 1998, Sinatra released 59 studio albums. He also released nearly three dozen live albums, not counting compilations and sets featuring Sinatra as part of the Rat Pack (with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.) Through his solo career, Ol’ Blue Eyes was signed to Columbia, then Capitol, and finally to his own custom label, Reprise Records. Nearly all of the aforementioned albums were released by one of those labels.

The years 1943 to 1948 were something of a transitional period for Sinatra; having just left Dorsey’s employ, he would release but three studio albums – one of those a Christmas collection – during those years. His solo debut, 1946’s The Voice of Frank Sinatra shot to the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s brand-new album chart. 1947’s Songs by Sinatra fared nearly as well, reaching the No. 2 spot. Yet those numbers paint an inaccurate picture of Sinatra’s popularity; the album era lay many years in the future. In the ‘40s, the 45 r.p.m. single was still the audio coin of the realm. And within that same ’43-’48 time frame, Sinatra placed a staggering 50-plus songs on Billboard’s Top 40. In contemporary terms (though not in terms of his music) he was a bona fide rock star. This period was long before the swingin’ big band, outsized-personality Sinatra; in the 1940s, he was a musical romantic leading man.

And so it was that Frank Sinatra was a major concert draw. Bouncing between Hollywood and New York City, he appeared often at high-profile concert dates. At least three of those West Coast performances took place at the famed Hollywood Bowl at the foot of Mount Lee, home of the famous Hollywood sign (then still displaying “Hollywoodland”). One of those was a proper concert date; another was a short set as part of a benefit; a third was an appearance at the Academy Awards ceremony. All were recorded, and none has seen official release before now.

Selections from those performances make up At the Hollywood Bowl 1943-1948, set for release October 3 from SING, a recently-launched music intellectual property (IP) company. The album will be available on CD and vinyl LP. The CD features 18 tracks, two of which are bonus songs from a 1943 NBC Radio broadcast; The vinyl features 11 tracks. Sourced from the highest-quality tapes available, the performances captured 77-plus years ago have undergone audio restoration, bringing the recordings up to a listenable standard.

Backed by a lush orchestra, Sinatra croons his way through five romantic tunes at the Academy Award show (August 4, 1945). His seemingly effortless vocals are wonderfully out front, with the swooning strings adorning his singing. The mix and audio quality are superb, approaching the fidelity of a studio recording of that era. When Sinatra introduces “If I Loved You” from the stage musical Carousel, bobbysoxers can be heard screaming in delight.

The Musicians Association of Los Angeles booked Sinatra for the Music for the Wounded Concert on August 8, 1948. After a quick introduction by Jack Haley (best known as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz), Frank croons “Time After Time” and two others. The audio quality on that song is a notch below the Academy Awards set, but Sinatra’s sublime performance makes the recording worthwhile. The other two songs from that set seem to have been sourced from a different, much higher-quality master; as such, “The Girl That I Marry” and the showy “Soliloquy” (aka “My Boy Bill”) have a you-are-there feel.

An August 14, 1943 concert is sourced from a dodgy master with significant surface noise; the restoration work brings it up to just-okay fidelity. Yet again, though, the historical importance and performance quality of the recording make it well worth hearing. Backed again by an orchestra – from the sound of it, possibly bigger than the Academy Awards one – Sinatra serves up a lovely selection of romantic ballads. A majestic reading of “Ol’ Man River” opens a set that includes “You’ll Never Know,” a No. 2 hit single at the time, and “Night and Day,” a hit for Sinatra just a year earlier.

For listeners whose appetites are whetted by these newly unearthed/restored archival recordings, SING promises two more Sinatra releases to come later in 2025. 

The London-based band The Molotovs should be in the United States now, serving as the support band on the North American tour by the reunited Sex Pistols (guitarist Steve Jones, bassist Glen Matlock, drummer Paul Cook and vocalist Frank Carter). Unfortunately, Jones recently broke his wrist, forcing postponement of the tour. The tour will be rescheduled once Jones recovers and is able to play guitar again. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Be sure to check out the feature on the Sex Pistols in the Fall 2025 issue of Goldmine.)

Despite the tour’s postponement, The Molotovs will still be coming to the U.S. this month. They pivoted quickly and scheduled a seven-date U.S. tour that begins next week. The tour dates and locations are as follows:

Sunday, September 21st, at HiFi in Indianapolis, IN supporting The Elms
Monday, September 22nd, at The Madison Theatre in Covington, KY supporting The Damned
Wednesday, September 24th, at Rough Trade Below at Rockefeller Center in New York, NY
Thursday, September 25th, at Roadrunner in Boston, MA supporting Iggy Pop
Saturday, September, 27th, at CBGB Festival at Under the K Bridge Park in Brooklyn, NY (multi-artist lineup)
Sunday, September 28th, at Vinyl + Thread in Brooklyn, NY
Monday, September 29th, at The Anthem in Washington, DC supporting Iggy Pop

The band made their U.S. live debut at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX in March of this year.

The Molotovs, who are comprised of bassist/vocalist Issey Cartlidge and vocalist guitarist Mathew Cartlidge (they are augmented by drummer Noah Riley), will be releasing their third single, “Rhythm of Yourself,” on Friday, October 31st. Their first two singles – “More More More” and “Today’s Gonna Be Our Day” – both went to Number 1 in the U.K. Vinyl Singles chart in their first week of release. It will be interesting to see if the band can pull off a trifecta with the release of the third single.

The Molotovs’ debut album, which is titled Wasted on Youth, will be released by Marshall Records on Friday, January 30th.

Stay tuned for the feature interview that The Molotovs will be doing for Goldmine’s Winter 2025 issue.

Last year, when The Dead Daisies were in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, recording songs for their album Light ‘Em Up at FAME Recording Studios, they were inspired by the surroundings and also recorded enough favorite blues songs to fill a second album, which has been released this year, Lookin’ For Trouble. Goldmine spoke with the quintet’s guitarist Doug Aldrich about the new blues album, along with his prior work as a member of Lion and Whitesnake. We begin with The Dead Daisies’ new version of B.B. King’s biggest single, “The Thrill is Gone,” as we celebrate King’s 100th birthday, born September 16, 1925.

The Dead Daisies L to R: Doug Aldrich, Sarah Tomek, David Lowy, John Corabi, Michael Devin

GOLDMINE: Welcome back to Goldmine. We are celebrating what would have been B.B. King’s 100^th birthday and you have covered his biggest hit, “The Thrill is Gone” with your guitar ringing like a slow Santana delivery. I love it!

Available on vinyl, CD, and digital formats from Fame – Malaco

DOUG ALDRICH: That means a lot to me. Anything close to Santana is a very gracious compliment. The album is filled with a batch of blues songs that we all grew up on. Some of the songs had been rocked up in the past but we put our own touches on the songs. With “The Thrill is Gone,” we changed the groove a little bit, with more of a Led Zeppelin feel, keeping in mind that B.B. King’s original version of “The Thrill is Gone” is perfect. When we recorded this song, it was at the end of the day. Our producer Marti Frederiksen said, “That sounds good. Let’s take it with us, listen to the mp3, and try it out in the morning.” I listened to it that night and again the next morning, and I said, “Marti, I hit some stuff I have never played before. I think it would be worse if I tried it again.” He said, “That’s cool. A first take is sometimes most valuable.” We spent a few seconds cleaning up a couple of out of tune chords, and then I was done.

“The Thrill is Gone”

“With ‘The Thrill is Gone,’ we changed the groove a little bit, with more of a Led Zeppelin feel, keeping in mind that B.B. King’s original version of “The Thrill is Gone” is perfect. I hit some stuff I have never played before.” – Doug Aldrich of The Dead Daisies

GM: Working with a great producer is key. You had Marti and B.B. King had Bill Szymczyk in the studio, creating the album Completely Well in 1969, with the hit “The Thrill is Gone,” the powerful flip side “You’re Mean,” and eight more songs.

DA: We had a lot of fun with Marti in the studio. FAME Recording Studios has an amazing vibe to it with all the music recorded there over the years. The tours are incredible. They are very specific, saying things like, “This is the piano that Aretha Franklin played on ‘I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),’ her first gold single for Atlantic. Right here is where Duane Allman shook the hand of Wilson Pickett and said, ‘I think we should do a version of ‘Hey Jude’ together.’” There’s a lot of memorabilia from the late ‘60s era. When they were doing those tours, it was around dinnertime, and we would hide out in the control room and listen to the stories the FAME people shared on the tours, and it inspired us to make this blues covers album in addition to our original music album.

B.B. King

Fabulous Flip Side: You’re Mean

A side: The Thrill is Gone

Billboard Hot 100 debut: December 27, 1969

Peak position: No. 15

BluesWay/ABC 45-BL-61032

“You’re Mean”

GM: You mentioned fun, so let’s talk about “Sweet Home Chicago.” Your version of the Robert Johnson classic, that I learned from The Blues Brothers, sounds like a party, with the harmonica and drums.

DA: It makes you want to sing, and we kept it lighthearted, as we did with “Boom Boom.”

“Sweet Home Chicago”

GM: Speaking of “Boom Boom,” I learned this John Lee Hooker song through The Animals, but your bouncy, fun version sounds more like CCR, and Michael’s bass anchors it nicely.

DA: It does have a “Suzie Q.” vibe. We fell into subtleties that enabled us to make each song special in our own way.

“Boom Boom”

GM: I read that growing up, you listened to your sister’s Jeff Beck albums.

DA: She had Blow by Blow and Wired, from the mid-‘70s, and then I went back chronologically and bought the self-titled Jeff Beck Group album with “Going Down.” We didn’t go too far from the Jeff Beck Group’s version of the song. This song was right in our wheelhouse with a lot of guitar downstrokes, and it has been going over great in our live shows, too.

“Going Down”

GM: I first learned “Born Under a Bad Sign” from Cream, but then I went to the original Stax recording by B.B. King’s brother Albert King, and it is surprisingly short compared to your version. Sarah’s drums help to create a big sound.

DA: She is fantastic, always plays the right thing, and is so confident. She was so excited to play these blues songs and put her stamp on those tunes.

“Born Under a Bad Sign”

GM: Way before you were in The Dead Daisies, you were in the band Lion. Your 1987 single “Powerlove” sounds like a blend of Def Leppard’s “Photograph,” Van Halen’s “Panama,” and a touch of Sammy Hagar, too. It is powerful and catchy.
DA: I can hear all those influences in it. Most of the song was written by our lead singer Kal Swan and I came up with a few bits here and there in the songwriting process. The team at the record company had a pretty good budget, allowing us to make a video for the song, which was played on MTV, and we had some radio action too. We were starting to get offers for tours, but they didn’t want to invest any more money on us. We were on a different label in Japan, and they promoted us, so we went over there and played.

“Powerlove”

GM: A masterpiece of yours is the Whitesnake song “Forevermore.” Your acoustic/electric finale for the 2011 album is incredible.
DA: I am proud of all the songs that I wrote with David Coverdale. We were basically done with the album, and David didn’t want to write any more songs for it. I told him, “I’ve got just one more idea and I’ll play it for you.” He didn’t want to hear it as he still had lyrics to write for some of the other songs. The following morning, he said, “OK, play me your idea.” I played it for him on my acoustic guitar, he locked into a melody right away, and I got goosebumps. He said, “Go ahead and start a demo.” We had a finished demo that day. After that, he called me, and said, “I think this song is going to be the title track for the new album and will be named ‘Forevermore.’” We played it in our shows and even after I left the band, they kept playing it live, which made me feel good.

“Forevermore”

GM: I heard it in concert, with Joel Hoekstra on guitar, and The Dead Daisies opened for Whitesnake, too. Let’s conclude with one more Dead Daisies song, a single from early this year, “Love That’ll Never Be,” from the other album you recorded at FAME, Light ‘em Up. The song is wonderfully emotional.

DA: John had that ballad which he had been saving, and we rocked it up a bit, adding a Bad Company style onto it. I brought in a slide guitar melody, that had a bit of an Allman Brothers flavor to it. I am also very proud of all that we created at FAME Studios. It means a lot to me that you wanted to focus on our version of B.B. King’s “The Thrill is Gone,” remembering him on his 100th birthday. Thank you so much.

“Love That’ll Never Be”

Related links:

thedeaddaisies.com

famestudios.com

Get related music in our Goldmine store (see below):

Click here for the Goldmine store

By Alan Brostoff

Michael Gira is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author and artist, best known for founding and leading the experimental rock band Swans. Arising from New York City’s early ’80s “no wave” scene, Gira and Swans have forged a reputation for relentlessly evolving music — brutal intensity, visceral power and fearless experimentation defining their sound.

Gira filled us in about Swans’ latest endeavor: their seventeenth studio album, Birthing (Mute/Young God Records). Gira also elaborated on the band’s overall philosophy and sound.

GOLDMINE: I have always found it interesting on how people talk about Swans as a band, where they try to identify them as a style. How do you define Swans as a style of music?

MICHAEL GIRA: I don’t! It’s impossible to describe. If I strike up a conversation with a stranger in an airport and they ask what kind of music we make, I’m at a loss. Sometimes I’ll say, “It’s a subtle blend of rock, reggae, jazz, electronic music, heavy metal, funk, noise, ambient, New Age, improvisational Skronk, punk and especially folk, with an occasional flavor of German Oompah Beer Hall stylings thrown in for good measure.”  Anyway, the music started out as one thing in the early ’80s and it’s evolved steadily since then, to the extent that I’m sure you wouldn’t recognize the music now as the same band compared to the early days, aside from the constant factor of my voice — I suppose, though even that has evolved as well. Very loosely, it’s some sort of rock music, though certainly without boundaries. To me, it’s all about amplified sound, getting lost in it, and the positive effect it has on the mind and body. Looking back on it all over the decades, I see it as a slow crawl towards the presence of God, towards giving up completely. Nowadays, being inside the sonic swirls we make, particularly in a live concert situation, it’s like being carried forward by the exhaling breath of the creator, or in any event, a force much greater than ourselves. Once we get going, the music carries us and changes us rather than the reverse. We follow where it goes. Sounds pretty highfalutin’, I know, but it’s really what it feels like. How on earth you assign a style to that, I have no idea.

Album cover for Birthing

GM: Why the name Birthing for the new album, and what can you tell me about the album’s artwork?

MG: It’s the name of one of the songs, and it made sense to me to use it as the title, since it’s the last album for this version of Swans. Somehow I thought dirt, or fertile earth, had to be involved in the artwork, so I came up with the idea of referencing the artwork for our (then) valedictory album Soundtracks for the Blind from 1997, since we’re at a similar juncture now, and I used the design device of a circle placed in the center of the square on each panel that I used for that album; except this time the circles contain various flat images of dirt instead of the various blank colors they contained on Soundtracks. I would have loved to apply glue inside the circles and sprinkled actual dirt there on each one for a tactile effect, but that was impractical. 

Swans’ Birthing vinyl package

GM: This album is a three-record release consisting of seven songs. When you were writing this album, did you write wanting to have album-side songs, or did you build the three-record set after you had the songs and saw what you had?

MG: Well, the thing about our song lengths over the last several years is that they’re essentially endless. There are two songs on the album that were written in the studio and those had manageable lengths, but the rest were developed live before we recorded the album – after I’d written the basic song on acoustic guitar – and one of them, for instance, stretched out to 81 minutes, a version of which was captured on our recent live 4-LP, Live Rope. We’re really helpless about it. The material just grows and mutates from show to show of its own accord. So the music wasn’t, for the most part, written for the album. It was performed, just for an experience in and of itself, for a live audience. We went into a studio ¾ of the way through a tour and performed in a studio, then, after the tour was completed, I took that material and further orchestrated it and edited it until it managed to fit on the sides of a record. At least this time, I was able to get one song per side. On the past several records, we’ve routinely had to fade down a piece at the end of a side and fade it back up at the start of the next side.

GM: Do you expect any of the music on the new album to make it on the radio?

MG: Absolutely not.

GM: Do you remember the first time you heard your band’s music on the radio? Where were you and what was the level of excitement?

MG: That would have been driving in a tour van across America somewhere in the late ’80s. It came on amidst the usual dreck of the time, and I guess I was excited at first, but then I realized it sounded like absolute shit, and I was appalled and turned it off. The rest of the band wanted to keep listening, of course, but I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. I don’t hold any special meaning to being on the radio. People find out about our music through osmosis, somehow, anyway. I’ve made the mistake of releasing a few so-called singles over the years and it’s always been a pointless and deeply regrettable failure. It’s just not our thing.

GM: This album has a much different feel to me when I listened to it with headphones on versus just listening to it through my computer (I have not received the vinyl yet to play on my stereo). What is the way that you would hope people would take in this new album?

MG: Headphones, speakers, either one is fine. It’s not my business how one listens to the music, though I’d recommend a generous volume level, since the music was conceived with that in mind. Just don’t make the same mistake I made recently while the album was in the weeks-long mastering process, which is to listen to it at maximum level in the headphones to the extent that you shred the diaphragms, but by that point your ears are so blown that you don’t notice, until you remove the headphones and you’re surprised to now be listening to the roar of the ocean, for days. Anyway, I have a personal proclivity for volume as the best way to disappear inside the music, which is the point.  

“Looking back on it all over the decades, I see it as a slow crawl towards the presence of God, towards giving up completely.”

GM: Writing for a record-collecting magazine, I am always interested in vinyl variants or unique items for a collector. This new album offered a signed insert from you if you pre-ordered. Will there be any other unique items or variant color vinyl offered?

MG: Actually, I sign every Swans release that we sell through younggodrecords.com, whether it’s directly onto the artwork or a special insert. I long ago embraced the idea of personalizing the music as a way of fostering a direct connection with those people who have an interest in what we do. We started doing what’s now known as crowdfunding back in 2000, with hand-printed and numbered special CDs in limited editions. The process gradually evolved at its apex into things like the box set for the album Leaving Meaning. But I’m now incapable of that kind of Herculean/Sisyphean effort. I mean, I even wrote and sang a series of songs for and about various contributors to one of the fundraisers (maybe 100 people at this level of support) and sent those songs to them exclusively, and recently we recorded a specially composed piece of music wherein I recited/sang the names of the contributors inside the music itself and released it only for them as a special, very limited 12-inch, with all of their names also used as the cover of the record.  But I’m exhausted. We’ll see how many more of these hijinks I have in me. The point is that I’m grateful that a certain number of people seem to really get something meaningful from the music, so I’m always looking for ways to show my appreciation.

GM: Do you collect records, and if so, can you tell me about your collection?

MG: With the question coming from an obviously sincere and enthusiastic publication such as yours, I’m ashamed to admit that I have no record collection. Zero. I have too much shit, and I hate owning stuff. I don’t even have 90 percent of my own records. I just let it all go and keep working. I think I might have a trunk of moldy CDs and a little vinyl somewhere in the attic, but I wouldn’t dare open it, and besides, I have no CD player and no turntable. My ears are so perpetually exhausted that when I’m not working on my own music, music in general feels like an assault, like a personal attack on my being.  

GM: The first record you bought? Remember the name of the store where you got it?

MG: Ha. Well, you’re talking about well over half a century ago, so no, I don’t remember how I obtained it, but the first single I had was “The Twist” by Chubby Checker. I’m sure my parents gave it to me since I was 4 or 5 years old! I remember listening to it a lot, though. Later, I somehow obtained the single “Dirty Water” by The Standells. And I remember wearing out “You’re Pushin’ Too Hard” by The Seeds. Then, “Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones, of course…

GM: What is that holy grail of a record that you wish you owned?

MG: I wish I still owned my original copy of Freak Out! by The Mothers of Invention. I listened to it hundreds of times, to the extent that I memorized it and could play it in my head, which I used to do late at night, laying in my bed, assisted by the appropriate chemicals of the time. Funny how things work, but I remember only vague bits of it now, almost nothing. But I remember covering every surface of the art with tiny, scrawled spirals and other assorted psychedelic signifiers. Later came the first Doors album, which received similar devotion.

GM: For people who are not familiar with Swans, what record should they first buy?

MG: That’s impossible to answer because there’s been such a tremendous change in the sound over the decades. To me, it makes perfect sense, following from one thing to the next, but I don’t know, maybe start with the most recent record and work backwards?

GM: I read that this will be the final tour with this incarnation of the band. What can fans expect to see on this tour, and any hints of what might be down the road?

MG: I’m at this moment writing new songs on my acoustic guitar and sketching out the basic music for what we’ll play on the next tour. We’ll probably take a few grooves or moments from Birthing and use those as fodder to make something new happen as well, but as usual, through the intense commitment and creativity of my fellow musicians (Dana Schechter, Larry Mullins, Norman Westberg, Kristof Hahn, Phil Puleo, Christopher Pravdica) in marathon rehearsals and then live performances, the material will evolve on its own and become something much more that what we’d expected when we began, and will hopefully surprise and delight us and audiences alike along the way. I’m very much looking forward, one last time, to being inside the sonic environments we create and feeling the joy that lives there, and I hope the audience experiences it in that way too. As for what comes next, all I know is: less!

GM: Anything else you want to add for the article?

MG: I’m sure I’ve said enough. But thank you very much for your interest in the music. It’s very much appreciated!

By Frank Daniels

These were the top-selling records on eBay during the month of August 2025.

Sleep Token

Sundowning

Spinefarm (Europe) SPINE-787783

Boxed set

Condition: NM/NM

Sold for:  $7,000.00

In November 2019, Spinefarm (Universal) Records released Sleep Token’s first full-length album. The London rock band had released two EPs, called One and Two, prior to signing with Universal. The deluxe package consisted of the new LP, vinyl releases of both EPs, a photo booklet, artistic cards, and a lenticular art print. Limited to just 500 copies, the set sold out quickly. Prices now vary widely on the set — with copies selling anywhere between $3,000 and $7,000 (this copy).

The Fabulous Filtrations

“Wait Till I Find Her”/ —

D-Clef 211-71

Condition: VG

Sold for:  $6,766.66

Singer Ed Townsend formed Cherritown Music in May 1959. The company went on to publish a fair number of hits, including those written or co-written by Townsend. In the early-mid 1970s (possibly as late as 1973), Townsend convened the soft soul group called the Fabulous Filtrations, releasing their only single on d-Clef – a label that released this record alone. One-shots like this were his pattern at the time, and this was a one-sided soul rarity. Townsend’s writing was hot in the late 60s and early 70s, but this record slipped into obscurity, the group ceased to exist, and its only release (this one) had misspelled the word “fabulous.” With “northern soul” becoming so collectible, resale prices of this single have escalated.

Depeche Mode

Black Celebration

Mute STUMM-26

Test pressing from Mayking Records

Condition: NM (?)

Sold for:  $6,305.85

In late 1985, Depeche Mode were known alternately as a boy band (in some European countries) and as an alternative-music band (in the US and some other countries). Shifting away from some of their earlier sounds, they worked on this one in conditions best described as “troubled.” The result was the single “Stripped,” which came out in February 1986, and this album, debuting in March. This copy is a test pressing dated February 28. With promotional copies coming out on cassette a few days earlier, this is likely the final mix of the album.

Jackie McLean Quintet

The Jackie McLean Quintet, Vol. 1

Ad-Lib ADL-6601

Condition: VG+/VG+

Sold for:  $6,089.77

Released in February 1956, this album featuring the alto saxophone of the featured artist and the trumpet of Donald Byrd was only the second release on the Ad-Lib label out of New York City. Engineered by the legendary Rudy Van Gelder, the album became as sought-after as some of Van Gelder’s material for the Blue Note label. Josie Records reissued it in early 1964, and it has come back into print several times after that, but this copy was a scarce original.

The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground & Nico

Verve V-5008

Blue label (East Coast)

Condition: VG(+)/NM

Sold for:  $5,288.80

A commercial copy of this Warhol-associated album came up for sale, complete with its peel-off “banana” sticker. Yes, it features the first cover showing a partial projection of actor Eric Emerson and (band member) Lou Reed. The album did well in the marketplace and no doubt would have sold for more had the cover had a cleaner appearance.

Get the Goldmine limited-edition exclusive on The Monkees! Click below!

Upon the demise of The Turtles, founding members Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan formed Flo & Eddie, showcasing their musical gifts through brilliant synthesized pop smarts and a clever comedic flair. Early albums such as Flo & Eddie and Illegal, Immoral and Fattening sold modestly, and by the time of 1976’s Moving Targets, they were feeling the need to deliver an album that would move big numbers in record stores. And what a record they delivered! Bolstered by a picture-perfect single, “Keep It Warm,” which juxtaposed a bouncy Beach Boys sunshine groove against dark and witty lyrics, Moving Targets is teeming with top-tier material. From the whimsy of “Sway When You Walk,” the Chicago-like “The Love You Gave Away” to the hard-charging “Mama, Open Up,” Moving Targets should have made Flo & Eddie superstars, but instead fizzled on the charts. Nearly 50 years after its release, Moving Targets remains one of the most underrated rock albums of the 1970s.

The news of Mark Volman’s passing in September 2025, reminded me of a conversation I had with Volman about Moving Targets a few years ago that went unpublished. Here it is — and you will immediately notice Volman’s passion for the LP.

GOLDMINE: Flo and Eddie were categorized as comedy rock by many, but that’s far off base. Moving Targets demonstrates the band’s mastery in the studio as songwriters and record makers.

Mark Volman: I think that we’d made our commitment when we went into that record. The planning of Moving Targets was tied very closely to what Howard and I felt was a straight autobiographical answer to what the hell’s been happening at the Flo and Eddie camp. We wanted to do an album that showcased our songwriting and put it together that way. Moving Targets is probably the most poignant of our albums when it comes to anybody looking for what drove us to stop making records. I think Moving Targets is a real eye-opener; it’s very autobiographical in terms of the dissolvement of the art forms for us. The songs “Mama, Open Up” and “Moving Targets” in particular, the same can be said for the whole album, which was very autobiographical. It was kind of saying, “At this point, we’re gonna go on hiatus.” It was really candid. (Recites lyrics from “Mama, Open Up”). “It started out so simple and got so far out of hand…” The whole lyric choice of (recites lyrics)… “Making show business out of what was fun” really kind of opens up what was really coming down on us; the concept of going back to the womb, the idea of getting back to the beginning, was something we really felt comfortable with. I think we were really getting into some really good stuff.

GM: “Keep It Warm” should have been a smash hit.

MV: The Moving Targets album opened us up to a whole other area with a song like “Keep It Warm.” It has aspects that are autobiographical. (recites lyrics) “Write another song for the money. Something they can sing, not so funny. Money in the bank to keep us warm…” It was something trying to explain what we’re trying to say. It was like, Help! I hate saying blame the record company because there were a lot of people who thought “Keep It Warm” should have been the big hit record that we now know. It could have been. We just didn’t have the record company support of a group of individuals who were willing to see that come to life.

GM: The lyrics on “Keep It Warm” alternate between incredibly dark lyrics and funny, sarcastic ones: “Roll another joint for the Gipper, get the Gipper high, he gets hipper…” or “Kill another whale with your power, shoot a bunch of kids from a tower.” But then you end it with a beautiful couplet: “Or make a better world from the old one, make yourself a baby and hold one. Hold her in your arms and keep her warm.”

MV: We certainly attempted to do something different. We go out and we do the “Happy Together” tour every year, so people have discovered that particular record. The song “Moving Targets” is another one of those. “No silver bullets, no ball and chain.” We kind of felt that it was time to be less funny and focus a little bit more on the lyrical content being meaningful. It’s a really good finished product. The same goes for “Keep it Warm,” and that inert simplicity comes down to [this]: I wasn’t that great a player or overly schooled at writing, but I knew what I liked and knew how to use the tools I did have. Howard was really good about feeding that.

GM: Are you playing most of the rhythm guitar on the Moving Targets album?

MV: All of it. I did all the rhythm guitars; I played on all the Flo and Eddie albums. On our first album, there were four songs Howard had pretty much done and the rest were mine.

GM: “The Love You Gave Away” is a standout.

MV: That was a fun song to do. When I wrote “The Love You Gave Away” I was messing around and listening to a lot of Brian Wilson and I was really kind of fascinated with a certain of simplicity, (recites lyrics from “The Love You Gave Away”) “I was a loser in my life ’til I met your pretty wife” was kind of setting off the fact that we were having those same problems of intimacy that we couldn’t really write about. That was very much what was happening with the band. There were just a lot of crossover issues. Howard and I sang the vocals on that song in unison. We were doing a lot of vocals in unison. It’s got a nice horn arrangement; Ray Pohlman did that. That song sounds like a Chicago record. It kind of showcases the music we always liked, that combination of Chicago and Beach Boys.

GM: “Mama, Open Up” resonates with that autobiographical flavor you referenced.

MV: Oh, yeah. In that song, we’re really contemplating our drug use issues. Fortunately, by 1987, between the two of us, we gave all that up. But with that song, we really put ourselves on the line by just putting it out there. “Mama, open up. I’m coming back in.” It wasn’t just about drugs as much as it was just the songwriting, and the song itself was a way of saying we’re coming home.

GM: “Sway When You Walk” is a magical, miniature of a song.

MV: Well, “Sway When You Walk” has a similar feel [that] I tried on “Burn The House” [from the album The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie]. What do you mean, burn the house? I’m going to burn the house today because there’s nothing else to do but… I wrote “Sway When You Walk” for me, so I got to do that, and I did that with “Burn The House,” too.

GM: The intro lick to “Hot’ reminds me of “And Your Bird Can Sing” by The Beatles.

MV: The song I thought of when I originally kicked that song off and went to Howard was “Layla.” But yes, there could be elements of “And Your Bird Could Sing” in there, too. I think it just represented our inability to break through to the pop marketplace. Guitar music was in, not so much with vocal harmonies. Everything was changing to rock guitar. When you listen to the ending of “Hot,” we tagged it with Donnie Dacus from Chicago and Jeff Baxter, both on slide guitars. The two of them came up with the solo at the end. I wanted it to have this “Layla” kind of ending with the freedom of these two guitars tearing out on their own. With “Hot,” we were writing our teenage rock boy fantasies. I always loved “Hot,” that’s a really good track.

GM: “Best Friends” is subtitled on the album as (Theme from the Unsold TV Pilot).

MV: With “Best Friends,” we saw that as a theme song for a TV show like Welcome Back, Kotter. That song was written around the idea of a bunch of kids being friends in junior high or senior high and remembering those days. We went with that concept all the way through the song.

GM: What inspired “Best Possible Me”?

MV: Well, that was me again. I was finally kind of coming out with my songwriting. Howard was letting it just happen, and we were working on a lot more material as it went on. It was a process of the music business changing, and all through that seven- or eight-year pattern there, that went on for the rock and roll thing we did for “Illegal, Immoral and Fattening.” It was written for Marc Bolan. I mean, it’s the most outwardly rock star metamorphosis of a friend that sort of slowed down being our friend at the end of that.

GM: “Guns” was written by you, Howard Kaylan and former Turtles member Jim Pons.

MV: Today, “Guns” is as quirky as it was then. It really plays with what’s going on in our society. We were kind of tagging little bits and pieces of things with “Guns.” And we never really made a big deal out of the fact that we had “Shirley” Strachan join us on that particular song. He’s singing with us on the choruses. He was the lead singer of a band called Skyhooks. He eventually died in a plane crash. Skyhooks were a big part of that little era for us.

GM: What was the thinking behind covering a new version of “Elenore” [by The Turtles]?

MV: We wanted to do it again because we were always a little bit unsure if it was as good a record as it could have been. I think now, looking back, we realize that “Elenore” was one of the best produced records that we ever did. We were worrying about something that had no basis in reality. Also, in that period, we had played that song on the road as part of our Flo & Eddie touring show and felt our band at the time wanted to do a remake.

GM: The album closer, “Moving Targets,” is Flo and Eddie in hard rock mode.

MV: “Moving Targets” was another one of those songs that was pretty autobiographical. It was us being moving targets. It felt like we had worn ourselves out at that point. The record company was not really interested in us. With the natural progression of things, time had changed. The song encompassed a heavy rock sound and it was fun to do because we never had released anything like it. That song never received the due it should have. It was covered by several heavy rock bands.

GM: Lastly, let’s talk about the album cover, which is incredibly distinctive and unique.

MV: Howard and I had drawn a version of the cover, so we had the concept. Then the artist Dave McMacken executed it, and it’s a pretty amazing piece of art. Howard and I loved what he did with it. The finished cover looked like a game you’d be playing at a carnival. We’re getting shot at by everybody and we were getting hit. (laughs) It was definitely a little bit morbid. But we had the song “Guns” on the album, so there was a lot of reality for us to expose with what was going on at the record company at that point in time. At one point, the cover of Moving Targets was put up for sale by the Hard Rock Café, and we were almost able to buy it for ourselves. Ultimately, it was bought by Shep Gordon, Alice Cooper’s manager.

Get the Goldmine limited-edition exclusive on The Monkees! Click below!

By Ray Chelstowski

My buddy Tim Curry has often said that seeing the Tedeschi Trucks Band (TTB) is a family affair. It sure is. That was the case this past Friday when I was able to experience them live with my son Jack at the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Jack has seen them dozens of times—many right here in Bridgeport — but it was my first time bearing live witness to a group that is, unquestionably, the most impressive rock outfit on the road today. No one comes close to touching their musicianship, energy, and outright capacity to create their own kind of magic night after night.

This Connecticut venue has become another home for the band’s musical carnival — 14 members strong, featuring four lead singers, and anchored by arguably the finest rock guitarist alive, Derek Trucks.

After a blistering opening set by rock legend Steve Winwood, TTB took the stage and reached cruising altitude within moments, opening with “Crazy Cryin’” from their I Am the Moon project. With this many performers, credit must go to the sound team, who kept the mix both clean and powerful—each instrument distinct, yet part of a unified whole.

The show leaned heavily into covers, but the standout was without question their take on Sly & The Family Stone’s “I Want to Take You Higher.” Winwood returned to the stage, his voice at 77 still ringing with the same fire he had at 16 when he recorded “Gimme Some Lovin’” with the Spencer Davis Group. With Tedeschi Trucks, Winwood has found the perfect pairing — soul meeting soul.

Derek Trucks. Photo by Jack Chelstowski

One of the joys of a TTB show is that nearly every member gets a spotlight. This night was no exception. Gabe Dixon displayed remarkable dexterity on the keys. Trombonist Elizabeth Lea tore into fiery solos that at times felt strong enough to peel the roof away. The band’s rotation of lead vocals, each distinct in character and tone, gave the performance a dynamic range few ensembles can match.

And then there’s Derek Trucks. With each performance, he seems to expand his already dizzying capacity on the guitar, weaving solos that could fill the amphitheater on their own. Supported by the wealth of talent around him, the effect becomes almost overwhelming—equal parts precision and abandon.

Inspired by Joe Cocker and Leon Russell’s legendary Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour, TTB remains an act rooted in community. They remind us of the joy in music, of the laughter and release it can bring. That spirit was on full display in the encore, a rousing cover of The Coasters’ “Let’s Go Get Stoned”, famously reinterpreted by Cocker. It was the perfect capstone to a night that was as much a celebration as it was a concert—a true family affair.

Set List

1. Crazy Cryin’
2. Ain’t That Something
3. 3. Devil Be Gone
4. 4. It’s So Heavy
5. I Feel So Bad
6. 6. Do I Look Worried
7. Sing A Simple Song
8. I Want To Take You Higher
9. Looking For Answers
10. Stand Back
11. Learn How
12. Isaac/Kebbi/Jam
13. Shame
14. Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright
15. How Blue Can You Get
16. I Walk On Guilded Splinters
17. Bound For Glory
18. Let’s Go Get Stoned