Shadow Morton (1941-2013)

According to The New York Times obituary, Shadow Morton died--somewhat fittingly, given some of the songs he produced--on Valentine's Day.

This is what Paul Nelson had to say about Morton, who produced the New York Dolls' second LP, Too Much Too Soon, and the debut album by David Barretto:

"Shadow was a man who’d seen too many Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, and James Dean movies. He was an excellent producer—he taught the Dolls a lot—and an absolute spellbinder with a personal life so secretive and mysterious that it only added to his aura."

E Street Shuffle

You might not agree with some of my friend Clinton Heylin's reassessments of the first fifteen or so years of songs and LPs by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (I certainly didn't), but you have to give him his due when it comes to documenting Bruce's musical evolution up through the mid- to late Eighties: album by album, song by song, sometimes line by line. The amount of research that must have gone into E Street Shuffle: The Glory Days of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band boggles the mind. The chapters dealing with The River and Nebraska and the mysterious gravity that kept pulling Bruce and his subject matter further into the dark are absolutely compelling. And throughout, Clinton respectfully references the writings of "the late, great Paul Nelson," to whom Springsteen owes so much of his early critical credibility and identity.

Caveat emptor: the US version of the book is missing 100 or so pages of song-by-song commentary, as well as a color photo section, that appears in the UK version. More importantly, last week it came to my attention that the website www.backstreets.com is offering the UK version with an exclusive limited edition bonus interview CD: a previously unreleased early interview with Springsteen by Paul Nelson. The interview, just shy of an hour, was conducted in December 1972, making it presumably Bruce's first interview with a national rock critic. The CD is being made available thanks to a deal struck by Clinton with Paul Nelson's son Mark. I've heard the interview and it's well worth adding to your collection.

The above photo of Elliott Murphy and Bruce Springsteen was taken in early 1973, shortly after Paul Nelson introduced the two men to one another. 

Phil Ashworth

Last night I happened across illustrator Phil Ashworth's website (who am I kidding? I Googled myself), where he wrote:

I recently read Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson by Kevin Avery and instantly became enamored with Paul Nelson. His writing on the importance of certain musicians and pushing music criticism to an art form is inspirational. Growing up with Rolling Stone magazine and numerous other music mags, I'm used to seeing albums quickly reviewed, so it's pretty intense to read about the break with him and RS magazine when they moved to the way we're now used to seeing the music review section, compared to how he had worked on it, and believed the way it should be. In one way you could tell the magazine knew what it took to survive but you also felt that what Paul Nelson was fighting for was the more admirable route. Paul Nelson is basically a reminder that we should take time to appreciate and think about what we are experiencing.

Some tight and loose sketches of Paul.

Phil also posted some sketches of one of Paul's heroes, Chet Baker. Be sure to check them out.

What Ever Happened...

Scott Woods at rockcritics.com has reprinted Steven Ward's classic March 2000 classic interview that answered the question, "What Ever Happened to Rock Critic Paul Nelson?"

And while you're there, there's much  more Paul Nelson-related content to be found.

Mountain Views

Last April when I returned to Utah, all-around good guy Terry Burden invited me on his nightly Park City TV show Mountain Views to talk about Paul Nelson.

 

Number 77

On this day, which would have been Paul Nelson's 77th birthday, celebrate by reading his January 6, 1972, review of his old friend Bob Dylan's "Greatest Hits, Vol. 2." It's Paul interviewing himself, much as he did in his memoirs of working at Mercury Records, invoking "some form of sympathetic critical schizophrenia" to get to the heart of the matter.

King's English Reading

Last April 13th the folks at one of my favorite bookstores, the King's English in Salt Lake City, were kind enough to host a reading and signing event on my behalf. Thanks to my sister-in-law Pam Avery for videotaping it and to my dear friend (and wonderful writer) Dawn Houghton for providing the best introduction a returning-home writer could hope for.

 

克林特・伊斯特伍德

I received word today that Conversations with Clint: Paul Nelson's Lost Interviews with Clint Eastwood, 1979 to 1983 is going to be translated into Chinese.

*Chair not included. 

Ugly Things

Alan Bisbort reviews Everything is an Afterthought in the current issue of Ugly Things:

"From the evidence presented with sensitivity and intelligence by Kevin Avery in Everything Is an Afterthought, [Paul Nelson] may have made his biggest mark as a human being, nurturing the careers of musicians he admired, like the New York Dolls, Rod Stewart, Elliott Murphy, Graham Parker, David Bowie, Mike Seeger, and Warren Zevon, and mentoring entire generations of young writers who worked under him at... various publications."

Click here to read the entire review (published right alongside a review of a Harlan Ellison book, let me hasten to note).

ARSC Award for Excellence

Last September, the Association for Recorded Sound Collections announced the winners of the 2012 ARSC Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. 

My publisher, Fantagraphics, wrote at the time:

Kevin Avery was awarded a Certificate of Merit due to the exceptionally high quality work he accomplished researching and writing the book Everything is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson. Everything is an Afterthought follows the father of contemporary rock criticism, Paul Nelson, on his journey from Rolling Stone and beyond.

'Since 1991, the awards are presented to authors and publishers of books, articles, liner notes, and monographs, to recognize outstanding published research in the field of recorded sound. In giving these awards, ARSC recognizes outstanding contributions, encourages high standards, and promotes awareness of superior works. Two awards may presented annually in each category—one for best history and one for best discography. Certificates of Merit are presented to runners-up of exceptionally high quality. The 2012 Awards for Excellence honor works published in 2011.'

Cheers to Kevin and his thorough work which you can find here.