As much as I love Andy Mackay. It will be interesting to see how the jazz purists review the album.

When and where did Andy Mackay say this? Not that I am disputing the contents of the quote.

The statistics can't be argued with as the orginal/co-writes that BF has released since Bete Noire was released in November 1987 are:

10 songs on Mamouna
7 on Frantic
8 on Olympia

25 in 25 years.

BF set out his stall within the first 2 years of his career in that he is a songwriter as well as an interpretive artist and that cover versions was always a part of his career.

J.O'B.

The statistics can't be argued with as the original/co-writes that BF has released since Bete Noire was released in November 1987 are:

10 songs on Mamouna
7 on Frantic
8 on Olympia

25 in 25 years.

BF set out his stall within the first 2 years of his career in that he is a songwriter as well as an interpretive artist and that cover versions weres always a part of his career.

J.O'B.[/quote]

Cher Patron,
You are correct and I have to confess to raising both eyebrows when reading Ian S's recent missive.
Excluding compilations and live discs I think we are now up to 22 albums and over 20 associated tours!
A fine and extensive body of work by anybody's standards and personally, I think his interpretations are peerless and his work ethic beyond reproach.
Of course, I would never begrudge the boy a glass or three at "Le Club 55" or a quick fandango at "Loulou's". God knows, he deserves it!
Regards, Windswept

Don't you all want to hear something new from The Great Man ? Are you all really happy with regurgitations and Greatest Hits?

Some ramblings:
I'd love to hear new compositions. I really liked the sound of the 15 seconds of roxy music I heard a few years ago when that documentary visited them all in the studio. But, I have long since resigned myself to the fact that there will be little new bf to come, and possibly no more roxy. So, even the outsourced TJA is a welcome bonus, especially when you expect so little. I have grown to like a lot of Olympia, even though the voice (once the major attraction) too often spoilt the experience for me. Sorry. I reckon the guy still has loads of things to say musically, and at least he's still doing something. But, expectations for original output over here are low. And I'd like Colin good to keep away from any bf compositions or actually any bf work which isn't jazz. Maybe a j cash-like swansong is around the corner.

PS my attempt to cite Godwin's Law earlier obviously didn't work then?

When placed in context with other rock/pop stars of his generation, BF is quite active. Some of this activity - like the corporate/fashion show engagements where pre-recorded tracks of the same six songs get sung over and over and over and over - is not particularly exciting to me as a fan. But BF is doing plenty more than say, Bowie, and I give him props for that.

I just wish he'd direct his energies to Roxy and completing what was started back in '05-06. Yes, I know. This is a beating a dead horse. But still, that is what I wish for...

RoxySiren -

I'd never heard of Godwin's Law - maybe I just don't contribute to enough internet ramblings, but now that I am enlightened, I found this amongst a definition online

'However there is also a widely- recognized codicil that any intentional triggering of Godwin's Law in order to invoke its thread-ending effects will be unsuccessful."

Looks like you will have to be a bit more forthright in any future efforts to shut people up!

I just don't get the endless references to 'the voice'. Like huge numbers of singers, BF's at 67 isn't what it was but there's no attempt to disguise it with production techniques. The rather delicate nature of it these days is, for me, part of the attraction. I'd say in many ways the voice is better insofar as it's reflective of a man in the autumn of his years. Personally I can't imagine something like 'Tender Is The Night' being anywhere near as moving if it were delivered by BF as he was singing 30 years ago.

Hopefully we are many years away from a Johnny Cash swansong, but in every other respect I hope comparisons with that excellent body of work, when Cash's voice was understandably at its weakest, continue.

When and where did Andy Mackay say this? Not that I am disputing the contents of the quote.

Just to clear up, Mackay's quote was "Busy doing nothing" not the bit after.

More quotes ........

He also said, circa 1976 that he intended to release a solo album ,but put it on hold as the British public was only interested in buying Bryan Ferry records. Around 1984/1985 when The Explorers formed, he also said that Roxy were not firing on all cylinders, there was a huge untapped reserve within Roxy and it was taking ages to make an album.

Manzanera also called Bryan cowardly around the same time because he didn't tell him to his face that he was going solo.. Apparantly at the end of the US tour in 1983 they discussed going back in the studio to record the next album. Back in the UK, Manzanera was then told by Bryan's management that he was going solo ! Although,more recently,I have heard Mackay and Manzanera
say that they were both exhausted at the end of that tour and knew that it was all over !

UKRichard:
On Olympia it's hard to tell precisely when the vocal tracks for various tunes were recorded. But I think that it is quite/very likely that the vocals for Tender is the Night were recorded back in the 1990s around the time BF was working with Robin Trower on Taxi. Note that TITN credits Trower with "additional production" on the track. Also note that TITN is the only BF tune in his entire catalog where Steve Nieve plays piano. TITN does have good vocals, but I do not believe they were recorded circa 2009. IMO they harken back to a much earlier time.

In terms of BF vocals, the watershed moment came at the end of the Frantic Tour in 2003 when he had to cancel the last group of gigs because he had lost his voice. I remember reading an interview he gave a little later when he described going to a throat doctor (somewhere in North London) and bemoaning how cigarette smoking had taken a toll on his throat and how it was never going to really recover.