Norman's Rockwell

Leaving London this afternoon following a successful fortnight of musical adventures. Pacific Soul Ltd. had a nice run of shows from North to South. I enjoyed each show. They were all gratifying and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to return to the UK to perform. Cavern Pub made for a superb warmup/introduction for the band and for playing with Jon. We were in good hands with his steady beat. What a profoundly cool person and top musician. The Cavern Club show was a barn burner. The energy and the audience were on point. The most fun I've had playing there yet. Thanks, IPO! Our gig at the Jacaranda was a welcome surprise. Getting to play on a true relic of the Beatles' halcyon days was indescribable. So I won't try. Our harmonies were tight at the Jac. Rolling out to Bradford was an Amazing Race. Driving on the right side of the car/left side of the road on a bit of a Magical Mystery Tour. Ate some good curry up there. The audio difficulties we had wer...

Fifth day of the tour was split in thirds. The first third was spent at the Liverpool Cathedral. Always interesting to visit churches. I had been before and was looking forward to revisiting the Lady Chapel at the Cathedral, which is a divine space. Said a few prayers. Had lunch there, too. The second 2/3rds were Beatle-heavy. We did a repeat of the National Trust's tour of the Beatles' Childhood homes. The NT takes you to 20 Forthlin Rd (the former McCartney residence) and 2 51 Menlove Ave. aka Mendips (where John Lennon was raised). On this tour you are allowed into the homes and are regaled with stories from two expert guides, wife and husband team Sylvia and Colin. Visiting those shrines is moving, inspiring and a marvel. The Beatles lived in Liverpool right up until they broke in the US. They were already famous in the UK, but hadn't fully abandoned there hometown. From there we went to Strawberry Field. Caught a cab and the driver took us to Penny Lane. And th...

Fourth day on the road was a day of rest in Liverpool. We went to check out the Beatles Story museum at Albert Dock. I hadn't been since 2006 and many of the displays had been updated and spruced up. Well worth the revisit. Highlights included George Harrison's first guitar, the Mellotron used by the Beatles on legendary mid-career recordings like the astounding "Strawberry Fields Forever," and George Martin's handwritten tracking notes for the HELP! LP ('me on Hammond'). I a m well-versed in Beatles' lore, but seeing their story told through the lens of their hometown is fascinating. After the visit, Jon, Adam and I talked about the band and their impact. Fun conversation. We also wrote some fan mail with Teresa while we had dinner at Leaf. After that the whole party hiked uphill to the Cathedral. It was 9 o'clock and just dusk. Golden light cast over Liverpool. Perfect for pics with this fun company. All for now. Maybe some more music-making tomo...

Friends and fans, what a fantastic experience to be back in Liverpool and playing for you. I didn't know when or if the day would arrive that I would return to the Cavern (or anywhere) to play again. The two Pacific Soul Ltd. sets for IPO were a thrill. It's tremendous to be onstage with such talented people. Jon Braun, Teresa Cowles and Adam Marsland make it really easy. We are playing a potent combination of PSL songs, Adam's and my material. Adam, Teresa and I trade the s potlight. Which means I can rev up and cool down appropriately during the show to maintain my energy. We are doing the coolest transition from my tune "Your Majestic Rejection" to the acapella intro to Adam's poignant "Portland." Anyway, here's the link to the PSL page for the set lists. Thanks to everyone who attended yesterday's the shows. It means a lot to me to have you in attendance. I feel blessed to be alive and well enough to be on stage in Great Britain....

The second day of the Pacific Soul Ltd. tour is done. First, three of us met up in Glasgow to catch the train down to Liverpool. Glasgow Central is a beautifully gilded station that reminded me I don't take trains enough. It took several hours to get here, but you glide past beautiful Scottish hills and English countryside. Typically, I have driven in the UK, so it's a relief to take it easy and just ride. Of course, we couldn't resist talking about the Beatles and repeating  dialogue from "A Hard Days Night." Once we got to Liverpool, we checked into our hotel just a few blocks from the Cavern Quarter and literally a block from the Jacaranda. The Jac was a club the Silver Beetles played before becoming the Beatles. Our whole band met up there after dinner, including our drummer Jon Braun who arrived today. The Jacaranda staff was very friendly and wanted to know all about PSLtd and of course, we wanted the history. We got a private tour of the basement stage...

The first full day of the tour. No show for me, but plenty of high notes. And plenty of walking. Glasgow is a very musical city. We started the day with church at the Glasgow Cathedral. The choir is blessed with some amazing voices. Their rendition of Locus Iste was moving. Following that was afternoon tea at the Willow Tea Rooms designed by art nouveau genius Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Never pass up the opportunity to take tea. A drizzle became a steady rain through the aft ernoon. Thank goodness for inexpensive taxi cabs. Next stop was the Kelvington Museum. We walked in and their was a recital on their giant pipe organ. A little Bach for all. More music. Highlights here included more of Mackintosh's works and Dali's "Christ of St. John of the Cross." So much crazy culture, so little time. Dinner was at Mono Cafe. It's a vegan restaurant that is also home to Monorail Records. That's right, a dream come true. Healthy eats and vinyl! I had "to-f...

This appreciation originally appeared on Facebook in the King Tut Vintage Album and Cassette Museum of Jacksonville blog, curated by David Roberts. I have known Mr. Roberts for going on 30 years and he was kind enough to tab me to pen this retrospective of Marvin Gaye's LET'S GET IT ON. The concept of his blog is that the "Museum" houses only LPs released from about 1964 to 1986 and each "delivery" to the Museum gets a reflection by the Curator, King Tut, or in my case, a guest curator. Delivery 536, Sunday, May 3, 2015 (Note: today's delivery was written by Guest Curator Norman Kelsey) MARVIN GAYE - LET’S GET IT ON. Released on Tamla Records, August 28 1973. Produced by Marvin Gaye & Ed Townsend.     Imagine Berry Gordy is in his Motown office 1971 and he receives a telephone call from his biggest male vocal star, Marvin Gaye calling to pitch an idea for his next album. I think the conversation might have gone something like this. “Hello...? Yes.....

Thirty years ago, on April 22, 1985, Prince and the Revolution took us AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY. Hidden between Prince's breakthrough album (1999 in 1982), his global triumph (PURPLE RAIN in 1984), his reassessed masterwork (PARADE in 1986) and his acknowledged masterpiece (SIGN 'O' THE TIMES in 1987) is the little technicolor waif AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY (ATWIAD). I swear ATWIAD arrived completely unannounced. In the Spring of 1985, my friends and I were still in thrall to the purple madness. The real paisley peak hadn't arrived. Prince was about to separate the fans from the rabble and find out who was really along for the ride. This was a polarizing record that confounded critics and fans alike who wanted PURPLE RAIN 2. Instead of 9 super bona fide hits, we got 9 wide ranging tracks that went from wide-eyed psychedelic pop to melodrama to a tight all-percussion percolator to an overwrought religious story-song and back. Well, you could say most of the album is...

An Appreciation for the Melvoin Sisters.   Susannah's Pajamas & Little Girl Wendy's Parade. There are two sets of musical twins that weigh heavily in my musical orbit. Of course, there are Robin and Maurice Gibb. But today is the birthday of Susannah and Wendy Melvoin.   Susannah was a part of the Family, one of Prince's spin off bands. They had a 1985 hit with Screams of Passion. The group was a testing ground for some of the jazzier, orchestrated textures Prince would employee on his next few records ( Parade and Sign "O" the Times ). She was also his muse several years running. Susannah sang backing vocals on many of the sides he cut at the time. You can catch her in the spectacular video for Girls & Boys. Her twin sister, you probably know - better - as the sarcastic, sexy, whirling & twirling Rickenbacker-wielding guitar demi-goddess in paisley and lace from Purple Rain that Madonna was trying to be. Wendy was half of "Wendy & Lisa,...