Podcast appearances and mentions of Alan Henderson

Waikato dairy farmer and maize grower Alan Henderson shares some insights from a United States no-till conference he attended. In this episode of Cut the Crop, he tells Alison Stewart that US farmers’ expertise in growing maize is ahead of ours.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The next wave of Awesome Comics Podcast starts with a talk about our lord and saviour, but maybe not in the way you expect! Joseph Sieracki (A Letter to Jo, Would You Be My Savior?) joins the gang to talk about his writing, from poignant wartime tales to hilarious deity humour and what he's learned along the way. Theres tons of chat about the US small press and indie scene and names you should be checking out (Tony even buys a book live on air) and of course a whole ton of great indie comics and creators to add to your follow lists. What a way to start the next 500! Great stuff to check out: Joseph Sieracki, Would You Be My Savior?, A Letter to Jo, Ghosts of Science Past, The Life and Death of Brave Captain Suave, Kelly Williams, Paul B. Rainey, Josh Bayer, Vryan Box Brown, Leo Fox, Boy Island, Silver Sprocket, Charles Burns, Final Cut, Tokyo These Days, Alan Henderson, Joe King, Tribute Press, Yo Comics Fair, Blam and Glam, High Viz Comic Con, The Existential Crosses of Ian Squirtis, Lloyd Mills, Comic Nasties, Lizzie Parsec, Hugh Newell, Shit Kickers, Soap Dad Comics, Veil: A Starveil Story, Tapas, Adventure Illustrated 

This week Tony is re-joined by his buddy Alan Henderson to chat all things DC Comics Presents #67.  In this issue Superman teams up with Santa to fight the rather creepy Toyman. The boys talk Curt Swan and the tradition of Santa in comics from the last eighty years. Alan also gives us some tips on his favourite books of the year. Have a listen and let us know your thoughts.  You can find Alan here at his Penned Guin site. His comics make great gifts for the season. 

Ben Pascoe talks with Alan Henderson, Illah van Oijen, Tomas Estok and Guillaume De Canck all of whom organize cultural events in Slovakia in the English language, or at least English friendly. We will find out what they do, what advice they have for others looking to organize events here as well as what they are planning.

Ben Pascoe talks with Alan Henderson, Illah van Oijen, Tomas Estok and Guillaume De Canck all of whom organize cultural events in Slovakia in the English language, or at least English friendly. We will find out what they do, what advice they have for others looking to organize events here as well as what they are planning.

Waikato dairy farmer and maize grower Alan Henderson is part of a Growers Leading Change group trying out alternative nitrogen products in maize crops. In this episode of Cut the Crop, he tells Alison Stewart that as well as trying dairy effluent and chicken manure, he is using legumes faba beans and hairy vetch as cover crops to fix nitrogen in the soil.

Gary reports on the piping culture of the USA from his Boston hotel room!PlaylistBen Miller and Anita MacDonald with Oh as I was Kissed Yestreen, The Black-haired lad, Sweet Molly and The Primrose Lass from A Day at the LakeAdrian Melvin with Hills of Kintail, Donnie MacGregor, The Kitchenmaid and Donella Beaton from Unplugged Mike Cusack with Major Manson at Clachantrushal, Arniston Castle and Cecily Ross from Pipers of Distinction LA Scots Pipe Band with Richard Parkes and James McColl from At the BeachCillian Vallely and Kevin Crawford with Dominic's Farewell from On Common Ground Brian Donaldson with The Braes of Mellinish, Aundrie Donaldson's Jig and the Braes of Lochaber from Pipers of Distinction  Decker Forrest with Alan Henderson and Murdo Cameron with An Dotair Mor from Aon Stiudio Ostaig Jori Chisholm with P/M George Allan and the Tipsy Gypsy from Winter Storm    Support the Show.

This week Tony is re-joined by co-host Alan Henderson. The pair discuss the forgotten stylings of Rupert Bear and his land of Nuttwood. They also examine the art of Alfred E. Bestell and the characters creator Mary Tourtel. And listen out for the scandal that rocked the British Court system and a certain ear-worm of a song by a Beatle! Not to be missed. You can catch up with Alan's art and comics by clicking right here!  Many thanks for listening. 

The Hysterics travel back to B-town and mix it up at the IU Founders & Funders Network Venture Summit. There they interview a veritable who's who of IU movers and shakers, including entrepreneurs like Alan Henderson, and wildly successful venture capitalists, like the iconic Tony Conrad.Other guests include Myles Grote, Jeff Hintz, Cici Bellis, Annie Eggleston, Hunter Hawley, Zach Kiehl, and Jatin Karani. Tune in to hear from all these innovative, inspiring and passionate Hoosiers.Before all that the Hysterics talk IU men's hoops, the Indiana Pacers, and oh yeah... Ward's movie Invaders from Proxima B is coming out on May 31st. Please preorder it here!https://www.vudu.com/content/browse/details/Invaders-from-Proxima-B/3031681See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The biggest scandal in the Second Republic of Austria was a doozy and we have the receipts to prove it, thanks to our researcher Ben. We discuss the enormous grift that was the construction of the biggest hospital in Europe, with our amazin' guest-star Alan Henderson! Ben's research: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1taepBMW90SCGjTYJF1_NTaO152QUDEId/view?usp=sharing Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pauljacobscomedy Alan's links: IG: https://www.instagram.com/itsnotalan/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/itsnotalan FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064733713799 Aislinn's links: IG: https://www.instagram.com/callmeashleykay/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@callmeashleykay FB: https://www.facebook.com/callmeashleykay Paul's links: YT: https://www.youtube.com/pauljacobscomedy IG: https://www.instagram.com/pauljacobscomedy/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pauljacobscomedy FB: https://www.facebook.com/pauljacobscomedy/

What does it take to make a comic strip for over a decade? Thats the question that the gang ask Alan Henderson (The Penned Guins) this week. From where the ideas come from, building an audience and ending in a satisfying manner its a fascinating journey into the mind of a long term indie comics creator. Theres also amazing recommendations, talk about language translations, marathons, snickers and so much more! Great stuff to check out this week - Alan Henderson, The Penned Guins, Ink Blot Festival, John M. Burns, Rory Donald, Leatherhead Library Con, Lawless Comic Con 2024, Dan Charnley, Dans Monsters, Tribute Press, Vanguard, Home Free, The Eagles of Rome VI, The Enfield Gang Massacre, Our Bones Dust, Party Girl, The Comic Book Story of Beer, Hartlepool Monkey, DC Comics Hostess Snacks Ads

Are you ready for a superpowered ER Nurse? The ACP is, and this week they talk with the creators of 'Copycat' Heath Amodio (The Heathens) and Cullen Bunn (Dark Ark, The Sixth Gunn) about their upcoming book, writers collaborating, taking projects to the screen and scenes that were too extreme for editors! Theres also chat about crowdfunding, first issues, independent and underground comics and more. Great stuff to check out this week - Copycat, Cullen Bunn, Heath Amodio, Zoop, Nightwalkers, Storm King Comics, Long Haul, ACP Drink and Draw, Lawless Con 2024, Alan Henderson, The Penned Guins, Moth Hill, Afterlight Comics, Jazz: Juggernauts Against Zealous Zealots, Green Archer Comics, No Brainer, Edison Neo, Shitty Stories, Cam Hayden, Ultimate Spider Man, Travelling to Mars, Ablaze Comics, Electric Chair, Transformers, Adventureman: Ghost Lights, Matt Fraction, Terry and Rachel Dodson

This week the ACP start another year of talking about the comic book shop experience. From experiences of the past to what they like to see (or not) in the modern shopping experience. Plus there's great recommendations, comic events to add to your calendars and plenty of laughs and nonsense from the gang as usual! Great stuff to check out this week - Forbidden Planet, Phantom Zone Comics, Floppy Tongue Comics, OK Comics!, Gosh! Comics, Orbital Comics, Strange Apparitions, Destination Venus, Lawless Comic Con 2024, The Penned Guin, Alan Henderson, Never Iron Anything Podcast, Afterlight Comics, Moth Hill, The Capital Sci-Fi Comic Con,  Collosive, Be Brave, Graffiti Fish, Mal Earl, GI Joe: Duke, The Hunger and the Dusk, Pine and Merrimac, Kyle Starks, Fran Galan, Void Rivals, Duke, Gene Simmons Dominatrix

This week Tony and Alan sit down to discuss Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters from 1987. There's so much to talk about with this one.  The boys discuss the changing face of the medium at this time and how a hero changes and most importantly why. Step into Earth-Grell with them! Warning - Violence against women is discussed in this episode. Have a listen and then explore the comics of co-host Alan Henderson by visiting his site right here. Many thanks for listening. 

Tis the season of reading comics (spoilers - every season is) and this week the ACP pick out a Christmas comic to read. Its a DC classic from Ennis and McCrea so read along with the gang as they tackle Hitman 22! Then the ghosts of comics past, present and future arrive, but not to warn you. Instead they're here to talk about things you should be checking out! Plus there's great comics to add to your wishlists, discuss and more! Great stuff to check out this week - Hitman, John McCrea, Garth Ennis, Usagi Yojimbo, Stan Sakai, Substack, David Broughton, Lawless 2024, Earth 2 Podcast, The Comic Book Story of Professional Wrestling, Dan Harris, Inktober 2023, The Penned Guin, Alan Henderson, GlobalComix, Femme Fatale Anthology, Dren Productions, Comichaus, Suzie Spreadwell: Americas Sweetheart, Astorial Compendium of Short Stories, Ed Pinsent, The Bloody Dozen: A Tale of the Shrouded College

Episode #198….Alan Henderson--From The NBA To The Spirit Industry What an honor to sit down with Former Indiana University and NBA great Alan Henderson! He's not just bringing spirits to you, he's bringing the stories that go behind each spirit. Using distilleries all over the world, he has found the perfect match of spirits and stories that go with them! We can tell you that the spirits are as good as the man! www.hendersonspiritsgroup.com #alanhenderson #hendersonspiritsgroup #tombullocks #oldtomgin #burntorangebourbon #NBA #indianauniversity   Enjoy! Join the guys for another episode of Cross The Line 1524! Recorded with a Live Audience at “The Rusted Nail Speakeasy”! Thank You for listening to Cross The Line1524 Check out our web site at: www.crosstheline1524.com Facebook: Cross The Line 15/24 You Tube: Cross The Line 1524 Email us : podcast@crosstheline1524.com Take a listen to one of America's fastest growing new podcasts! Please take time to leave us a 5 star rating to help us promote our podcast.  

Episode 170 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at "Astral Weeks", the early solo career of Van Morrison, and the death of Bert Berns.  Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-minute bonus episode available, on "Stoned Soul Picnic" by Laura Nyro. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Errata At one point I, ridiculously, misspeak the name of Charles Mingus' classic album. Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is not about dinner ladies. Also, I say Warren Smith Jr is on "Slim Slow Slider" when I meant to say Richard Davis (Smith is credited in some sources, but I only hear acoustic guitar, bass, and soprano sax on the finished track). Resources As usual, I've created Mixcloud playlists, with full versions of all the songs excerpted in this episode. As there are so many Van Morrison songs in this episode, the Mixcloud is split into three parts, one, two, and three. The information about Bert Berns comes from Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues by Joel Selvin. I've used several biographies of Van Morrison. Van Morrison: Into the Music by Ritchie Yorke is so sycophantic towards Morrison that the word “hagiography” would be, if anything, an understatement. Van Morrison: No Surrender by Johnny Rogan, on the other hand, is the kind of book that talks in the introduction about how the author has had to avoid discussing certain topics because of legal threats from the subject. Howard deWitt's Van Morrison: Astral Weeks to Stardom is over-thorough in the way some self-published books are, while Clinton Heylin's Can You Feel the Silence? is probably the best single volume on the artist. Information on Woodstock comes from Small Town Talk by Barney Hoskyns. Ryan Walsh's Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 is about more than Astral Weeks, but does cover Morrison's period in and around Boston in more detail than anything else. The album Astral Weeks is worth hearing in its entirety. Not all of the music on The Authorized Bang Collection is as listenable, but it's the most complete collection available of everything Morrison recorded for Bang. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript Before we start, a quick warning -- this episode contains discussion of organised crime activity, and of sudden death. It also contains excerpts of songs which hint at attraction to underage girls and discuss terminal illness. If those subjects might upset you, you might want to read the transcript rather than listen to the episode. Anyway, on with the show. Van Morrison could have been the co-writer of "Piece of My Heart". Bert Berns was one of the great collaborators in the music business, and almost every hit he ever had was co-written, and he was always on the lookout for new collaborators, and in 1967 he was once again working with Van Morrison, who he'd worked with a couple of years earlier when Morrison was still the lead singer of Them. Towards the beginning of 1967 he had come up with a chorus, but no verse. He had the hook, "Take another little piece of my heart" -- Berns was writing a lot of songs with "heart" in the title at the time -- and wanted Morrison to come up with a verse to go with it. Van Morrison declined. He wasn't interested in writing pop songs, or in collaborating with other writers, and so Berns turned to one of his regular collaborators, Jerry Ragavoy, and it was Ragavoy who added the verses to one of the biggest successes of Berns' career: [Excerpt: Erma Franklin, "Piece of My Heart"] The story of how Van Morrison came to make the album that's often considered his masterpiece is intimately tied up with the story we've been telling in the background for several episodes now, the story of Atlantic Records' sale to Warners, and the story of Bert Berns' departure from Atlantic. For that reason, some parts of the story I'm about to tell will be familiar to those of you who've been paying close attention to the earlier episodes, but as always I'm going to take you from there to somewhere we've never been before. In 1962, Bert Berns was a moderately successful songwriter, who had written or co-written songs for many artists, especially for artists on Atlantic Records. He'd written songs for Atlantic artists like LaVern Baker, and when Atlantic's top pop producers Leiber and Stoller started to distance themselves from the label in the early sixties, he had moved into production as well, writing and producing Solomon Burke's big hit "Cry to Me": [Excerpt: Solomon Burke, "Cry to Me"] He was the producer and writer or co-writer of most of Burke's hits from that point forward, but at first he was still a freelance producer, and also produced records for Scepter Records, like the Isley Brothers' version of "Twist and Shout", another song he'd co-written, that one with Phil Medley. And as a jobbing songwriter, of course his songs were picked up by other producers, so Leiber and Stoller produced a version of his song "Tell Him" for the Exciters on United Artists: [Excerpt: The Exciters, "Tell Him"] Berns did freelance work for Leiber and Stoller as well as the other people he was working for. For example, when their former protege Phil Spector released his hit version of "Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah", they got Berns to come up with a knockoff arrangement of "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?", released as by Baby Jane and the Rockabyes, with a production credit "Produced by Leiber and Stoller, directed by Bert Berns": [Excerpt: Baby Jane and the Rockabyes, "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?"] And when Leiber and Stoller stopped producing work for United Artists, Berns took over some of the artists they'd been producing for the label, like Marv Johnson, as well as producing his own new artists, like Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters, who had been discovered by Berns' friend Jerry Ragovoy, with whom he co-wrote their "Cry Baby": [Excerpt: Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters, "Cry Baby"] Berns was an inveterate collaborator. He was one of the few people to get co-writing credits with Leiber and Stoller, and he would collaborate seemingly with everyone who spoke to him for five minutes. He would also routinely reuse material, cutting the same songs time and again with different artists, knowing that a song must be a hit for *someone*. One of his closest collaborators was Jerry Wexler, who also became one of his best friends, even though one of their earliest interactions had been when Wexler had supervised Phil Spector's production of Berns' "Twist and Shout" for the Top Notes, a record that Berns had thought had butchered the song. Berns was, in his deepest bones, a record man. Listening to the records that Berns made, there's a strong continuity in everything he does. There's a love there of simplicity -- almost none of his records have more than three chords. He loved Latin sounds and rhythms -- a love he shared with other people working in Brill Building R&B at the time, like Leiber and Stoller and Spector -- and great voices in emotional distress. There's a reason that the records he produced for Solomon Burke were the first R&B records to be labelled "soul". Berns was one of those people for whom feel and commercial success are inextricable. He was an artist -- the records he made were powerfully expressive -- but he was an artist for whom the biggest validation was *getting a hit*. Only a small proportion of the records he made became hits, but enough did that in the early sixties he was a name that could be spoken of in the same breath as Leiber and Stoller, Spector, and Bacharach and David. And Atlantic needed a record man. The only people producing hits for the label at this point were Leiber and Stoller, and they were in the process of stopping doing freelance work and setting up their own label, Red Bird, as we talked about in the episode on the Shangri-Las. And anyway, they wanted more money than they were getting, and Jerry Wexler was never very keen on producers wanting money that could have gone to the record label. Wexler decided to sign Bert Berns up as a staff producer for Atlantic towards the end of 1963, and by May 1964 it was paying off. Atlantic hadn't been having hits, and now Berns had four tracks he wrote and produced for Atlantic on the Hot One Hundred, of which the highest charting was "My Girl Sloopy" by the Vibrations: [Excerpt: The Vibrations, "My Girl Sloopy"] Even higher on the charts though was the Beatles' version of "Twist and Shout". That record, indeed, had been successful enough in the UK that Berns had already made exploratory trips to the UK and produced records for Dick Rowe at Decca, a partnership we heard about in the episode on "Here Comes the Night". Berns had made partnerships there which would have vast repercussions for the music industry in both countries, and one of them was with the arranger Mike Leander, who was the uncredited arranger for the Drifters session for "Under the Boardwalk", a song written by Artie Resnick and Kenny Young and produced by Berns, recorded the day after the group's lead singer Rudy Lewis died of an overdose: [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Under the Boardwalk"] Berns was making hits on a regular basis by mid-1964, and the income from the label's new success allowed Jerry Wexler and the Ertegun brothers to buy out their other partners -- Ahmet Ertegun's old dentist, who had put up some of the initial money, and Miriam Bienstock, the ex-wife of their initial partner Herb Abramson, who'd got Abramson's share in the company after the divorce, and who was now married to Freddie Bienstock of Hill and Range publishing. Wexler and the Erteguns now owned the whole label. Berns also made regular trips to the UK to keep up his work with British musicians, and in one of those trips, as we heard in the episode on "Here Comes the Night", he produced several tracks for the group Them, including that track, written by Berns: [Excerpt: Them, "Here Comes the Night"] And a song written by the group's lead singer Van Morrison, "Gloria": [Excerpt: Them, "Gloria"] But Berns hadn't done much other work with them, because he had a new project. Part of the reason that Wexler and the Erteguns had gained total control of Atlantic was because, in a move pushed primarily by Wexler, they were looking at selling it. They'd already tried to merge with Leiber and Stoller's Red Bird Records, but lost the opportunity after a disastrous meeting, but they were in negotiations with several other labels, negotiations which would take another couple of years to bear fruit. But they weren't planning on getting out of the record business altogether. Whatever deal they made, they'd remain with Atlantic, but they were also planning on starting another label. Bert Berns had seen how successful Leiber and Stoller were with Red Bird, and wanted something similar. Wexler and the Erteguns didn't want to lose their one hit-maker, so they came up with an offer that would benefit all of them. Berns' publishing contract had just ended, so they would set up a new publishing company, WEB IV, named after the initials Wexler, Ertegun, and Berns, and the fact that there were four of them. Berns would own fifty percent of that, and the other three would own the other half. And they were going to start up a new label, with seventeen thousand dollars of the Atlantic partners' money. That label would be called Bang -- for Bert, Ahmet, Neshui, and Gerald -- and would be a separate company from Atlantic, so not affected by any sale. Berns would continue as a staff producer for Atlantic for now, but he'd have "his own" label, which he'd have a proper share in, and whether he was making hits for Atlantic or Bang, his partners would have a share of the profits. The first two records on Bang were "Shake and Jerk" by Billy Lamont, a track that they licensed from elsewhere and which didn't do much, and a more interesting track co-written by Berns. Bob Feldman, Richard Gottehrer, and Jerry Goldstein were Brill Building songwriters who had become known for writing "My Boyfriend's Back", a hit for the Angels, a couple of years earlier: [Excerpt: The Angels, "My Boyfriend's Back"] With the British invasion, the three of them had decided to create their own foreign beat group. As they couldn't do British accents, they pretended to be Australian, and as the Strangeloves -- named after the Stanley Kubrick film Dr  Strangelove -- they released one flop single. They cut another single, a version of "Bo Diddley", but the label they released their initial record through didn't want it. They then took the record to Atlantic, where Jerry Wexler said that they weren't interested in releasing some white men singing "Bo Diddley". But Ahmet Ertegun suggested they bring the track to Bert Berns to see what he thought. Berns pointed out that if they changed the lyrics and melody, but kept the same backing track, they could claim the copyright in the resulting song themselves. He worked with them on a new lyric, inspired by the novel Candy, a satirical pornographic novel co-written by Terry Southern, who had also co-written the screenplay to Dr Strangelove. Berns supervised some guitar overdubs, and the result went to number eleven: [Excerpt: The Strangeloves, "I Want Candy"] Berns had two other songs on the hot one hundred when that charted, too -- Them's version of "Here Comes the Night", and the version of Van McCoy's song "Baby I'm Yours" he'd produced for Barbara Lewis. Three records on the charts on three different labels. But despite the sheer number of charting records he'd had, he'd never had a number one, until the Strangeloves went on tour. Before the tour they'd cut a version of "My Girl Sloopy" for their album -- Berns always liked to reuse material -- and they started performing the song on the tour. The Dave Clark Five, who they were supporting, told them it sounded like a hit and they were going to do their own version when they got home. Feldman, Gottehrer, and Goldstein decided *they* might as well have the hit with it as anyone else. Rather than put it out as a Strangeloves record -- their own record was still rising up the charts, and there's no reason to be your own competition -- they decided to get a group of teenage musicians who supported them on the last date of the tour to sing new vocals to the backing track from the Strangeloves album. The group had been called Rick and the Raiders, but they argued so much that the Strangeloves nicknamed them the Hatfields and the McCoys, and when their version of "My Girl Sloopy", retitled "Hang on Sloopy", came out, it was under the band name The McCoys: [Excerpt: The McCoys, "Hang on Sloopy"] Berns was becoming a major success, and with major success in the New York music industry in the 1960s came Mafia involvement. We've talked a fair bit about Morris Levy's connection with the mob in many previous episodes, but mob influence was utterly pervasive throughout the New York part of the industry, and so for example Richard Gottehrer of the Strangeloves used to call Sonny Franzese of the Colombo crime family "Uncle John", they were so close. Franzese was big in the record business too, even after his conviction for bank robbery. Berns, unlike many of the other people in the industry, had no scruples at all about hanging out with Mafiosi. indeed his best friend in the mid sixties was Tommy Eboli, a member of the Genovese crime family who had been in the mob since the twenties, starting out working for "Lucky" Luciano. Berns was not himself a violent man, as far as anyone can tell, but he liked the glamour of hanging out with organised crime figures, and they liked hanging out with someone who was making so many hit records. And so while Leiber and Stoller, for example, ended up selling Red Bird Records to George Goldner for a single dollar in order to get away from the Mafiosi who were slowly muscling in on the label, Berns had no problems at all in keeping his own label going. Indeed, he would soon be doing so without the involvement of Atlantic Records. Berns' final work for Atlantic was in June 1966, when he cut a song he had co-written with Jeff Barry for the Drifters, inspired by the woman who would soon become Atlantic's biggest star: [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Aretha"] The way Berns told the story in public, there was no real bad blood between him, Wexler, and the Erteguns -- he'd just decided to go his own way, and he said “I will always be grateful to them for the help they've given me in getting Bang started,” The way Berns' wife would later tell the story, Jerry Wexler had suggested that rather than Berns owning fifty percent of Web IV, they should start to split everything four ways, and she had been horrified by this suggestion, kicked up a stink about it, and Wexler had then said that either Berns needed to buy the other three out, or quit and give them everything, and demanded Berns pay them three hundred thousand dollars. According to other people, Berns decided he wanted one hundred percent control of Web IV, and raised a breach of contract lawsuit against Atlantic, over the usual royalty non-payments that were endemic in the industry at that point. When Atlantic decided to fight the lawsuit rather than settle, Berns' mob friends got involved and threatened to break the legs of Wexler's fourteen-year-old daughter, and the mob ended up with full control of Bang records, while Berns had full control of his publishing company. Given later events, and in particular given the way Wexler talked about Berns until the day he died, with a vitriol that he never used about any of the other people he had business disputes with, it seems likely to me that the latter story is closer to the truth than the former. But most people involved weren't talking about the details of what went on, and so Berns still retained his relationships with many of the people in the business, not least of them Jeff Barry, so when Barry and Ellie Greenwich had a new potential star, it was Berns they thought to bring him to, even though the artist was white and Berns had recently given an interview saying that he wanted to work with more Black artists, because white artists simply didn't have soul. Barry and Greenwich's marriage was breaking up at the time, but they were still working together professionally, as we discussed in the episode on "River Deep, Mountain High", and they had been the main production team at Red Bird. But with Red Bird in terminal decline, they turned elsewhere when they found a potential major star after Greenwich was asked to sing backing vocals on one of his songwriting demos. They'd signed the new songwriter, Neil Diamond, to Leiber and Stoller's company Trio Music at first, but they soon started up their own company, Tallyrand Music, and signed Diamond to that, giving Diamond fifty percent of the company and keeping twenty-five percent each for themselves, and placed one of his songs with Jay and the Americans in 1965: [Excerpt: Jay and the Americans, "Sunday and Me"] That record made the top twenty, and had established Diamond as a songwriter, but he was still not a major performer -- he'd released one flop single on Columbia Records before meeting Barry and Greenwich. But they thought he had something, and Bert Berns agreed. Diamond was signed to Bang records, and Berns had a series of pre-production meetings with Barry and Greenwich before they took Diamond into the studio -- Barry and Greenwich were going to produce Diamond for Bang, as they had previously produced tracks for Red Bird, but they were going to shape the records according to Berns' aesthetic. The first single released from Diamond's first session, "Solitary Man", only made number fifty-five, but it was the first thing Diamond had recorded to make the Hot One Hundred at all: [Excerpt: Neil Diamond, "Solitary Man"] The second single, though, was much more Bert Berns' sort of thing -- a three-chord song that sounded like it could have been written by Berns himself, especially after Barry and Greenwich had added the Latin-style horns that Berns loved so much. Indeed according to some sources, Berns did make a songwriting suggestion -- Diamond's song had apparently been called "Money Money", and Berns had thought that was a ridiculous title, and suggested calling it "Cherry Cherry" instead: [Excerpt: Neil Diamond, "Cherry Cherry"] That became Diamond's first top ten hit. While Greenwich had been the one who had discovered Diamond, and Barry and Greenwich were the credited producers on all Diamond's records  as a result, Diamond soon found himself collaborating far more with Barry than with Greenwich, so for example the first number one he wrote, for the Monkees rather than himself, ended up having its production just credited to Barry. That record used a backing track recorded in New York by the same set of musicians used on most Bang records, like Al Gorgoni on lead guitar and Russ Savakus on bass: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "I'm a Believer"] Neil Diamond was becoming a solid hit-maker, but he started rubbing up badly against Berns. Berns wanted hits and only hits, and Diamond thought of himself as a serious artist. The crisis came when two songs were under contention for Diamond's next single in late 1967, after he'd had a whole run of hits for the label. The song Diamond wanted to release, "Shilo", was deeply personal to him: [Excerpt: Neil Diamond, "Shilo"] But Bert Berns had other ideas. "Shilo" didn't sound like a hit, and he knew a hit when he heard one. No, the clear next single, the only choice, was "Kentucky Woman": [Excerpt: Neil Diamond, "Kentucky Woman"] But Berns tried to compromise as best he could. Diamond's contract was up for renewal, and you don't want to lose someone who has had, as Diamond had at that point, five top twenty hits in a row, and who was also writing songs like "I'm a Believer" and "Red Red Wine". He told Diamond that he'd let "Shilo" come out as a single if Diamond signed an extension to his contract. Diamond said that not only was he not going to do that, he'd taken legal advice and discovered that there were problems with his contract which let him record for other labels -- the word "exclusive" had been missed out of the text, among other things. He wasn't going to be recording for Bang at all any more. The lawsuits over this would stretch out for a decade, and Diamond would eventually win, but the first few months were very, very difficult for Diamond. When he played the Bitter End, a club in New York, stink bombs were thrown into the audience. The Bitter End's manager was assaulted and severely beaten. Diamond moved his wife and child out of Manhattan, borrowed a gun, and after his last business meeting with Berns was heard talking about how he needed to contact the District Attorney and hire a bodyguard. Of the many threats that were issued against Diamond, though, the least disturbing was probably the threat Berns made to Diamond's career. Berns pointed out to Diamond in no uncertain terms that he didn't need Diamond anyway -- he already had someone he could replace Diamond with, another white male solo singer with a guitar who could churn out guaranteed hits. He had Van Morrison: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Brown-Eyed Girl"] When we left Van Morrison, Them had just split up due to the problems they had been having with their management team. Indeed, the problems Morrison was having with his managers seem curiously similar to the issues that Diamond was having with Bert Berns -- something that could possibly have been a warning sign to everyone involved, if any of them had known the full details of everyone else's situation. Sadly for all of them, none of them did. Them had had some early singles success, notably with the tracks Berns had produced for them, but Morrison's opinion of their second album, Them Again, was less than complimentary, and in general that album is mostly only remembered for the version of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", which is one of those cover versions that inspires subsequent covers more than the original ever did: [Excerpt: Them, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"] Them had toured the US around the time of the release of that album, but that tour had been a disaster. The group had gained a reputation for incredible live shows, including performances at the Whisky A-Go-Go with the Doors and Captain Beefheart as their support acts, but during the tour Van Morrison had decided that Phil Solomon, the group's manager, was getting too much money -- Morrison had agreed to do the tour on a salary, rather than a percentage, but the tour had been more successful than he'd expected, and Solomon was making a great deal of money off the tour, money that Morrison believed rightfully belonged to him. The group started collecting the money directly from promoters, and got into legal trouble with Solomon as a result. The tour ended with the group having ten thousand dollars that Solomon believed -- quite possibly correctly -- that he was owed. Various gangsters whose acquaintance the group had made offered to have the problem taken care of, but they decided instead to come to a legal agreement -- they would keep the money, and in return Solomon, whose production company the group were signed to, would get to keep all future royalties from the Them tracks. This probably seemed a good idea at the time, when the idea of records earning royalties for sixty or more years into the future seemed ridiculous, but Morrison in particular came to regret the decision bitterly. The group played one final gig when they got back to Belfast, but then split up, though a version of the group led by the bass player Alan Henderson continued performing for a few years to no success. Morrison put together a band that played a handful of gigs under the name Them Again, with little success, but he already had his eyes set on a return to the US. In Morrison's eyes, Bert Berns had been the only person in the music industry who had really understood him, and the two worked well together. He had also fallen in love with an American woman, Janet Planet, and wanted to find some way to be with her. As Morrison said later “I had a couple of other offers but I thought this was the best one, seeing as I wanted to come to America anyway. I can't remember the exact details of the deal. It wasn't really that spectacular, money-wise, I don't think. But it was pretty hard to refuse from the point of view that I really respected Bert as a producer. I'd rather have worked with Bert than some other guy with a bigger record company. From that angle, it was spectacular because Bert was somebody that I wanted to work with.” There's little evidence that Morrison did have other offers -- he was already getting a reputation as someone who it was difficult to work with -- but he and Berns had a mutual respect, and on January the ninth, 1967, he signed a contract with Bang records. That contract has come in for a lot of criticism over the years, but it was actually, *by the standards in operation in the music business in 1967*, a reasonably fair one. The contract provided that, for a $2,500 a year advance, Bang would record twelve sides in the first year, with an option for up to fifty more that year, and options for up to four more years on the same terms. Bang had the full ownership of the masters and the right to do what they wanted with them. According to at least one biographer, Morrison added clauses requiring Bang to actually record the twelve sides a year, and to put out at least three singles and one album per year while the contract was in operation. He also added one other clause which seems telling -- "Company agrees that Company will not make any reference to the name THEM on phonograph records, or in advertising copy in connection with the recording of Artist." Morrison was, at first, extremely happy with Berns. The problems started with their first session: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Brown-Eyed Girl (takes 1-6)"] When Morrison had played the songs he was working on for Berns, Berns had remarked that they sounded great with just Morrison and his guitar, so Morrison was surprised when he got into the studio to find the whole standard New York session crew there -- the same group of session players who were playing for everyone from the Monkees to Laura Nyro, from Neil Diamond to the Shangri-Las -- along with the Sweet Inspirations to provide backing vocals. As he described it later "This fellow Bert, he made it the way he wanted to, and I accepted that he was producing it... I'd write a song and bring it into the group and we'd sit there and bash it around and that's all it was -- they weren't playing the songs, they were just playing whatever it was. They'd say 'OK, we got drums so let's put drums on it,' and they weren't thinking about the song, all they were thinking about was putting drums on it... But it was my song, and I had to watch it go down." The first song they cut was "Brown-Eyed Girl", a song which Morrison has said was originally a calypso, and was originally titled "Brown-skinned Girl", though he's differed in interviews as to whether Berns changed the lyric or if he just decided to sing it differently without thinking about it in the session. Berns turned "Brown-Eyed Girl" into a hit single, because that was what he tended to do with songs, and the result sounds a lot like the kind of record that Bang were releasing for Neil Diamond: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Brown-Eyed Girl"] Morrison has, in later years, expressed his distaste for what was done to the song, and in particular he's said that the backing vocal part by the Sweet Inspirations was added by Berns and he disliked it: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Brown-Eyed Girl"] Morrison has been very dismissive of "Brown-Eyed Girl" over the years, but he seems not to have disliked it at the time, and the song itself is one that has stood the test of time, and is often pointed to by other songwriters as a great example of the writer's craft. I remember reading one interview with Randy Newman -- sadly, while I thought it was in Paul Zollo's "Songwriters on Songwriting" I just checked that and it's not, so I can't quote it precisely -- in which he says that he often points to the line "behind the stadium with you" as a perfect piece of writing, because it's such a strangely specific detail that it convinces you that it actually happened, and that means you implicitly believe the rest of the song. Though it should be made very clear here that Morrison has always said, over and over again, that nothing in his songs is based directly on his own experiences, and that they're all products of his imagination and composites of people he's known. This is very important to note before we go any further, because "Brown-Eyed Girl" is one of many songs from this period in Morrison's career which imply that their narrator has an attraction to underage girls -- in this case he remembers "making love in the green grass" in the distant past, while he also says "saw you just the other day, my how you have grown", and that particular combination is not perhaps one that should be dwelt on too closely. But there is of course a very big difference between a songwriter treating a subject as something that is worth thinking about in the course of a song and writing about their own lives, and that can be seen on one of the other songs that Morrison recorded in these sessions, "T.B. Sheets": [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "T.B. Sheets"] It seems very unlikely indeed that Van Morrison actually had a lover die of tuberculosis, as the lover in the song does, and while a lot of people seem convinced that it's autobiographical, simply because of the intensity of the performance (Morrison apparently broke down in tears after recording it), nobody has ever found anyone in Morrison's life who fits the story in the song, and he's always ridiculed such suggestions. What is true though is that "T.B. Sheets" is evidence against another claim that Morrison has made in the past - that on these initial sessions the eight songs recorded were meant to be the A and B sides of four singles and there was no plan of making an album. It is simply not plausible at all to suggest that "T.B. Sheets" -- a slow blues about terminal illness, that lasts nearly ten minutes -- was ever intended as a single. It wouldn't have even come close to fitting on one side of a forty-five. It was also presumably at this time that Berns brought up the topic of "Piece of My Heart". When Berns signed Erma Franklin, it was as a way of getting at Jerry Wexler, who had gone from being his closest friend to someone he wasn't on speaking terms with, by signing the sister of his new signing Aretha. Morrison, of course, didn't co-write it -- he'd already decided that he didn't play well with others -- but it's tempting to think about how the song might have been different had Morrison written it. The song in some ways seems a message to Wexler -- haven't you had enough from me already? -- but it's also notable how many songs Berns was writing with the word "heart" in the chorus, given that Berns knew he was on borrowed time from his own heart condition. As an example, around the same time he and Jerry Ragavoy co-wrote "Piece of My Heart", they also co-wrote another song, "Heart Be Still", a flagrant lift from "Peace Be Still" by Aretha Franklin's old mentor Rev. James Cleveland, which they cut with Lorraine Ellison: [Excerpt: Lorraine Ellison, "Heart Be Still"] Berns' heart condition had got much worse as a result of the stress from splitting with Atlantic, and he had started talking about maybe getting open-heart surgery, though that was still very new and experimental. One wonders how he must have felt listening to Morrison singing about watching someone slowly dying. Morrison has since had nothing but negative things to say about the sessions in March 1967, but at the time he seemed happy. He returned to Belfast almost straight away after the sessions, on the understanding that he'd be back in the US if "Brown-Eyed Girl" was a success. He wrote to Janet Planet in San Francisco telling her to listen to the radio -- she'd know if she heard "Brown-Eyed Girl" that he would be back on his way to see her. She soon did hear the song, and he was soon back in the US: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Brown-Eyed Girl"] By August, "Brown-Eyed Girl" had become a substantial hit, making the top ten, and Morrison was back in the States. He was starting to get less happy with Berns though. Bang had put out the eight tracks he'd recorded in March as an album, titled Blowin' Your Mind, and Morrison thought that the crass pseudo-psychedelia of the title, liner notes, and cover was very inappropriate -- Morrison has never been a heavy user of any drugs other than alcohol, and didn't particularly want to be associated with them. He also seems to have not realised that every track he recorded in those initial sessions would be on the album, which many people have called one of the great one-sided albums of all time -- side A, with "Brown-Eyed Girl", "He Ain't Give You None" and the extended "T.B. Sheets" tends to get far more love than side B, with five much lesser songs on it. Berns held a party for Morrison on a cruise around Manhattan, but it didn't go well -- when the performer Tiny Tim tried to get on board, Carmine "Wassel" DeNoia, a mobster friend of Berns' who was Berns' partner in a studio they'd managed to get from Atlantic as part of the settlement when Berns left, was so offended by Tim's long hair and effeminate voice and mannerisms that he threw him overboard into the harbour. DeNoia was meant to be Morrison's manager in the US, working with Berns, but he and Morrison didn't get on at all -- at one point DeNoia smashed Morrison's acoustic guitar over his head, and only later regretted the damage he'd done to a nice guitar. And Morrison and Berns weren't getting on either. Morrison went back into the studio to record four more songs for a follow-up to "Brown-Eyed Girl", but there was again a misunderstanding. Morrison thought he'd been promised that this time he could do his songs the way he wanted, but Berns was just frustrated that he wasn't coming up with another "Brown-Eyed Girl", but was instead coming up with slow songs about trans women. Berns overdubbed party noises and soul backing vocals onto "Madame George", possibly in an attempt to copy the Beach Boys' Party! album with its similar feel, but it was never going to be a "Barbara Ann": [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Madame George (Bang version)"] In the end, Berns released one of the filler tracks from Blowin' Your Mind, "Ro Ro Rosey", as the next single, and it flopped. On December the twenty-ninth, Berns had a meeting with Neil Diamond, the meeting after which Diamond decided he needed to get a bodyguard. After that, he had a screaming row over the phone with Van Morrison, which made Berns ill with stress. The next day, he died of a heart attack. Berns' widow Ilene, who had only just given birth to a baby a couple of weeks earlier, would always blame Morrison for pushing her husband over the edge. Neither Van Morrison nor Jerry Wexler went to the funeral, but Neil Diamond did -- he went to try to persuade Ilene to let him out of his contract now Berns was dead. According to Janet Planet later, "We were at the hotel when we learned that Bert had died. We were just mortified, because things had been going really badly, and Van felt really bad, because I guess they'd parted having had some big fight or something... Even though he did love Bert, it was a strange relationship that lived and died in the studio... I remember we didn't go to the funeral, which probably was a mistake... I think [Van] had a really bad feeling about what was going to happen." But Morrison has later mostly talked about the more practical concerns that came up, which were largely the same as the ones Neil Diamond had, saying in 1997 "I'd signed a contract with Bert Berns for management, production, agency and record company,  publishing, the whole lot -- which was professional suicide as any lawyer will tell you now... Then the whole thing blew up. Bert Berns died and I was left broke." This was the same mistake, essentially, that he'd made with Phil Solomon, and in order to get out of it, it turned out he was going to have to do much the same for a third time.  But it was the experience with Berns specifically that traumatised Morrison enough that twenty-five years later he would still be writing songs about it, like "Big Time Operators": [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Big Time Operators"] The option to renew Morrison's contracts with Berns' companies came on the ninth of January 1968, less than two weeks after Berns' death. After his death, Berns' share of ownership in his companies had passed to his widow, who was in a quandary. She had two young children, one of whom was only a few weeks old, and she needed an income after their father had died. She was also not well disposed at all towards Morrison, who she blamed for causing her husband's death. By all accounts the amazing thing is that Berns lived as long as he did given his heart condition and the state of medical science at the time, but it's easy to understand her thinking. She wanted nothing to do with Morrison, and wanted to punish him. On the other hand, her late husband's silent partners didn't want to let their cash cow go. And so Morrison came under a huge amount of pressure in very different directions. From one side, Carmine DiNoia was determined to make more money off Morrison, and Morrison has since talked about signing further contracts at this point with a gun literally to his head, and his hotel room being shot up. But on the other side, Ilene Berns wanted to destroy Morrison's career altogether. She found out that Bert Berns hadn't got Morrison the proper work permits and reported him to the immigration authorities. Morrison came very close to being deported, but in the end he managed to escape deportation by marrying Janet Planet. The newly-married couple moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to get away from New York and the mobsters, and to try to figure out the next steps in Morrison's career. Morrison started putting together a band, which he called The Van Morrison Controversy, and working on new songs. One of his earliest connections in Massachusetts was the lead singer of a band called the Hallucinations, who he met in a bar where he was trying to get a gig: [Excerpt: The Hallucinations, "Messin' With the Kid"] The Hallucinations' lead singer was called Peter Wolf, and would much later go on to become well-known as the singer with the J. Geils Band. He and Morrison became acquaintances, and later became closer friends when they realised they had another connection -- Wolf had a late-night radio show under the name Woofa Goofa, and he'd been receiving anonymous requests for obscure blues records from a fan of the show. Morrison had been the one sending in the requests, not realising his acquaintance was the DJ. Before he got his own band together, Morrison actually guested with the Hallucinations at one show they did in May 1968, supporting John Lee Hooker. The Hallucinations had been performing "Gloria" since Them's single had come out, and they invited Morrison to join them to perform it on stage. According to Wolf, Morrison was very drunk and ranted in cod-Japanese for thirty-five minutes, and tried to sing a different song while the band played "Gloria". The audience were apparently unimpressed, even though Wolf shouted at them “Don't you know who this man is? He wrote the song!” But in truth, Morrison was sick of "Gloria" and his earlier work, and was trying to push his music in a new direction. He would later talk about having had an epiphany after hearing one particular track on the radio: [Excerpt: The Band, "I Shall Be Released"] Like almost every musician in 1968, Morrison was hit like a lightning bolt by Music From Big Pink, and he decided that he needed to turn his music in the same direction. He started writing the song "Brand New Day", which would later appear on his album Moondance, inspired by the music on the album. The Van Morrison Controversy started out as a fairly straightforward rock band, with guitarist John Sheldon, bass player Tom Kielbania, and drummer Joey Bebo. Sheldon was a novice, though his first guitar teacher was the singer James Taylor, but the other two were students at Berklee, and very serious musicians. Morrison seems to have had various managers involved in rapid succession in 1968, including one who was himself a mobster, and another who was only known as Frank, but one of these managers advanced enough money that the musicians got paid every gig. These musicians were all interested in kinds of music other than just straight rock music, and as well as rehearsing up Morrison's hits and his new songs, they would also jam with him on songs from all sorts of other genres, particularly jazz and blues. The band worked up the song that would become "Domino" based on Sheldon jamming on a Bo Diddley riff, and another time the group were rehearsing a Grant Green jazz piece, "Lazy Afternoon": [Excerpt: Grant Green, "Lazy Afternoon"] Morrison started messing with the melody, and that became his classic song "Moondance": [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Moondance"] No recordings of this electric lineup of the group are known to exist, though the backing musicians remember going to a recording studio called Ace recordings at one point and cutting some demos, which don't seem to circulate. Ace was a small studio which, according to all the published sources I've read, was best known for creating song poems, though it was a minor studio even in the song-poem world. For those who don't know, song poems were essentially a con aimed at wannabe songwriters who knew nothing about the business -- companies would advertise you too could become a successful, rich, songwriter if you sent in your "song poems", because anyone who knew the term "lyric" could be presumed to know too much about the music business to be useful. When people sent in their lyrics, they'd then be charged a fee to have them put out on their very own record -- with tracks made more or less on a conveyor belt with quick head arrangements, sung by session singers who were just handed a lyric sheet and told to get on with it. And thus were created such classics prized by collectors as "I Like Yellow Things", "Jimmy Carter Says 'Yes'", and "Listen Mister Hat". Obviously, for the most part these song poems did not lead to the customers becoming the next Ira Gershwin, but oddly even though Ace recordings is not one of the better-known song poem studios, it seems to have produced an actual hit song poem -- one that I don't think has ever before been identified as such until I made a connection, hence me going on this little tangent. Because in researching this episode I noticed something about its co-owner, Milton Yakus', main claim to fame. He co-wrote the song "Old Cape Cod", and to quote that song's Wikipedia page "The nucleus of the song was a poem written by Boston-area housewife Claire Rothrock, for whom Cape Cod was a favorite vacation spot. "Old Cape Cod" and its derivatives would be Rothrock's sole evident songwriting credit. She brought her poem to Ace Studios, a Boston recording studio owned by Milton Yakus, who adapted the poem into the song's lyrics." And while Yakus had written other songs, including songs for Patti Page who had the hit with "Old Cape Cod", apparently Page recorded that song after Rothrock brought her the demo after a gig, rather than getting it through any formal channels. It sounds to me like the massive hit and classic of the American songbook "Old Cape Cod" started life as a song-poem -- and if you're familiar with the form, it fits the genre perfectly: [Excerpt: Patti Page, "Old Cape Cod"] The studio was not the classiest of places, even if you discount the song-poems. Its main source of income was from cutting private records with mobsters' wives and mistresses singing (and dealing with the problems that came along when those records weren't successful) and it also had a sideline in bugging people's cars to see if their spouses were cheating, though Milton Yakus' son Shelly, who got his start at his dad's studio, later became one of the most respected recording engineers in the industry -- and indeed had already worked as assistant engineer on Music From Big Pink. And there was actually another distant connection to Morrison's new favourite band on these sessions. For some reason -- reports differ -- Bebo wasn't considered suitable for the session, and in his place was the one-handed drummer Victor "Moulty" Moulton, who had played with the Barbarians, who'd had a minor hit with "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?" a couple of years earlier: [Excerpt: The Barbarians, "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?"] A later Barbarians single, in early 1966, had featured Moulty telling his life story, punctuated by the kind of three-chord chorus that would have been at home on a Bert Berns single: [Excerpt: The Barbarians, "Moulty"] But while that record was credited to the Barbarians, Moulton was the only Barbarian on the track, with the instruments and backing vocals instead being provided by Levon and the Hawks. Shortly after the Ace sessions, the Van Morrison Controversy fell apart, though nobody seems to know why. Depending on which musician's story you listen to, either Morrison had a dream that he should get rid of all electric instruments and only use acoustic players, or there was talk of a record deal but the musicians weren't good enough, or the money from the mysterious manager (who may or may not have been the one who was a mobster) ran out. Bebo went back to university, and Sheldon left soon after, though Sheldon would remain in the music business in one form or another. His most prominent credit has been writing a couple of songs for his old friend James Taylor, including the song "Bittersweet" on Taylor's platinum-selling best-of, on which Sheldon also played guitar: [Excerpt: James Taylor, "Bittersweet"] Morrison and Kielbania continued for a while as a duo, with Morrison on acoustic guitar and Kielbania on double bass, but they were making very different music. Morrison's biggest influence at this point, other than The Band, was King Pleasure, a jazz singer who sang in the vocalese style we've talked about before -- the style where singers would sing lyrics to melodies that had previously been improvised by jazz musicians: [Excerpt: King Pleasure, "Moody's Mood for Love"] Morrison and Kielbania soon decided that to make the more improvisatory music they were interested in playing, they wanted another musician who could play solos. They ended up with John Payne, a jazz flute and saxophone player whose biggest inspiration was Charles Lloyd. This new lineup of the Van Morrison Controversy -- acoustic guitar, double bass, and jazz flute -- kept gigging around Boston, though the sound they were creating was hardly what the audiences coming to see the man who'd had that "Brown-Eyed Girl" hit the year before would have expected -- even when they did "Brown-Eyed Girl", as the one live recording of that line-up, made by Peter Wolf, shows: [Excerpt: The Van Morrison Controversy, "Brown-Eyed Girl (live in Boston 1968)"] That new style, with melodic bass underpinning freely extemporising jazz flute and soulful vocals, would become the basis of the album that to this day is usually considered Morrison's best. But before that could happen, there was the matter of the contracts to be sorted out. Warner-Reprise Records were definitely interested. Warners had spent the last few years buying up smaller companies like Atlantic, Autumn Records, and Reprise, and the label was building a reputation as the major label that would give artists the space and funding they needed to make the music they wanted to make. Idiosyncratic artists with difficult reputations (deserved or otherwise), like Neil Young, Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, the Grateful Dead, and Joni Mitchell, had all found homes on the label, which was soon also to start distributing Frank Zappa, the Beach Boys, and Captain Beefheart. A surly artist who wants to make mystical acoustic songs with jazz flute accompaniment was nothing unusual for them, and once Joe Smith, the man who had signed the Grateful Dead, was pointed in Morrison's direction by Andy Wickham, an A&R man working for the label, everyone knew that Morrison would be a perfect fit. But Morrison was still under contract to Bang records and Web IV, and those contracts said, among other things, that any other label that negotiated with Morrison would be held liable for breach of contract. Warners didn't want to show their interest in Morrison, because a major label wanting to sign him would cause Bang to raise the price of buying him out of his contract. Instead they got an independent production company to sign him, with a nod-and-wink understanding that they would then license the records to Warners. The company they chose was Inherit Productions, the production arm of Schwaid-Merenstein, a management company set up by Bob Schwaid, who had previously worked in Warners' publishing department, and record producer Lewis Merenstein. Merenstein came to another demo session at Ace Recordings, where he fell in love with the new music that Morrison was playing, and determined he would do everything in his power to make the record into the masterpiece it deserved to be. He and Morrison were, at least at this point, on exactly the same page, and bonded over their mutual love of King Pleasure. Morrison signed to Schwaid-Merenstein, just as he had with Bert Berns and before him Phil Solomon, for management, record production, and publishing. Schwaid-Merenstein were funded by Warners, and would license any recordings they made to Warners, once the contractual situation had been sorted out. The first thing to do was to negotiate the release from Web IV, the publishing company owned by Ilene Berns. Schwaid negotiated that, and Morrison got released on four conditions -- he had to make a substantial payment to Web IV, if he released a single within a year he had to give Web IV the publishing, any album he released in the next year had to contain at least two songs published by Web IV, and he had to give Web IV at least thirty-six new songs to publish within the next year. The first two conditions were no problem at all -- Warners had the money to buy the contract out, and Merenstein's plans for the first album didn't involve a single anyway. It wouldn't be too much of a hardship to include a couple of Web IV-published tracks on the album -- Morrison had written two songs, "Beside You" and "Madame George", that had already been published and that he was regularly including in his live sets. As for the thirty-six new songs... well, that all depended on what you called a song, didn't it? [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Ring Worm"] Morrison went into a recording studio and recorded thirty-one ostensible songs, most of them lasting one minute to within a few seconds either way, in which he strummed one or two chords and spoke-sang whatever words came into his head -- for example one song, "Here Comes Dumb George", just consists of the words "Here Comes Dumb George" repeated over and over. Some of the 'songs', like "Twist and Shake" and "Hang on Groovy", are parodying Bert Berns' songwriting style; others, like "Waiting for My Royalty Check", "Blowin' Your Nose", and "Nose in Your Blow", are attacks on Bang's business practices. Several of the songs, like "Hold on George", "Here Comes Dumb George", "Dum Dum George", and "Goodbye George" are about a man called George who seems to have come to Boston to try and fail to make a record with Morrison. And “Want a Danish” is about wanting a Danish pastry. But in truth, this description is still making these "songs" sound more coherent than they are. The whole recording is of no musical merit whatsoever, and has absolutely nothing in it which could be considered to have any commercial potential at all. Which is of course the point -- just to show utter contempt to Ilene Berns and her company. The other problem that needed to be solved was Bang Records itself, which was now largely under the control of the mob. That was solved by Joe Smith. As Smith told the story "A friend of mine who knew some people said I could buy the contract for $20,000. I had to meet somebody in a warehouse on the third floor on Ninth Avenue in New York. I walked up there with twenty thousand-dollar bills -- and I was terrified. I was terrified I was going to give them the money, get a belt on the head and still not wind up with the contract. And there were two guys in the room. They looked out of central casting -- a big wide guy and  a tall, thin guy. They were wearing suits and hats and stuff. I said 'I'm here with the money. You got the contract?' I remember I took that contract and ran out the door and jumped from the third floor to the second floor, and almost broke my leg to get on the street, where I could get a cab and put the contract in a safe place back at Warner Brothers." But the problem was solved, and Lewis Merenstein could get to work translating the music he'd heard Morrison playing into a record. He decided that Kielbania and Payne were not suitable for the kind of recording he wanted -- though they were welcome to attend the sessions in case the musicians had any questions about the songs, and thus they would get session pay. Kielbania was, at first, upset by this, but he soon changed his mind when he realised who Merenstein was bringing in to replace him on bass for the session. Richard Davis, the bass player -- who sadly died two months ago as I write this -- would later go on to play on many classic rock records by people like Bruce Springsteen and Laura Nyro, largely as a result of his work for Morrison, but at the time he was known as one of the great jazz bass players, most notably having played on Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch: [Excerpt: Eric Dolphy, "Hat and Beard"] Kielbania could see the wisdom of getting in one of the truly great players for the album, and he was happy to show Davis the parts he'd been playing on the songs live, which Davis could then embellish -- Davis later always denied this, but it's obvious when listening to the live recordings that Kielbania played on before these sessions that Davis is playing very similar lines. Warren Smith Jr, the vibraphone player, had played with great jazz musicians like Charles Mingus and Herbie Mann, as well as backing Lloyd Price, Aretha Franklin, and Janis Joplin. Connie Kay, the drummer, was the drummer for the Modern Jazz Quartet and had also played sessions with everyone from Ruth Brown to Miles Davis. And Jay Berliner, the guitarist, had played on records like Charles Mingus' classic The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady: [Excerpt: Charles Mingus: "Mode D - Trio and Group Dancers, Mode F - Single Solos & Group Dance"] There was also a flute player whose name nobody now remembers. Although all of these musicians were jobbing session musicians -- Berliner came to the first session for the album that became Astral Weeks straight from a session recording a jingle for Pringles potato chips -- they were all very capable of taking a simple song and using it as an opportunity for jazz improvisation. And that was what Merenstein asked them to do. The songs that Morrison was writing were lyrically oblique, but structurally they were very simple -- surprisingly so when one is used to listening to the finished album. Most of the songs were, harmonically, variants of the standard blues and R&B changes that Morrison was used to playing. "Cyprus Avenue" and "The Way Young Lovers Do", for example, are both basically twelve-bar blueses -- neither is *exactly* a standard twelve-bar blues, but both are close enough that they can be considered to fit the form. Other than what Kielbania and Payne showed the musicians, they received no guidance from Morrison, who came in, ran through the songs once for them, and then headed to the vocal booth. None of the musicians had much memory of Morrison at all -- Jay Berliner said “This little guy walks in, past everybody, disappears into the vocal booth, and almost never comes out, even on the playbacks, he stayed in there." While Richard Davis later said “Well, I was with three of my favorite fellas to play with, so that's what made it beautiful. We were not concerned with Van at all, he never spoke to us.” The sound of the basic tracks on Astral Weeks is not the sound of a single auteur, as one might expect given its reputation, it's the sound of extremely good jazz musicians improvising based on the instructions given by Lewis Merenstein, who was trying to capture the feeling he'd got from listening to Morrison's live performances and demos. And because these were extremely good musicians, the album was recorded extremely quickly. In the first session, they cut four songs. Two of those were songs that Morrison was contractually obliged to record because of his agreement with Web IV -- "Beside You" and "Madame George", two songs that Bert Berns had produced, now in radically different versions: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Madame George"] The third song, "Cyprus Avenue", is the song that has caused most controversy over the years, as it's another of the songs that Morrison wrote around this time that relate to a sexual or romantic interest in underage girls. In this case, the reasoning might have been as simple as that the song is a blues, and Morrison may have been thinking about a tradition of lyrics like this in blues songs like "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl". Whatever the cause though, the lyrics have, to put it mildly, not aged well at all: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Cyprus Avenue"] That song would be his standard set-closer for live performances for much of the seventies. For the fourth and final song, though, they chose to record what would become the title track for the album, "Astral Weeks", a song that was a lot more elliptical, and which seems in part to be about Morrison's longing for Janet Planet from afar, but also about memories of childhood, and also one of the first songs to bring in Morrison's fascination with the occult and spirituality,  something that would be a recurring theme throughout his work, as the song was partly inspired by paintings by a friend of Morrison's which suggested to him the concept of astral travel: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Astral Weeks"] Morrison had a fascination with the idea of astral travel, as he had apparently had several out-of-body experiences as a child, and wanted to find some kind of explanation for them. Most of the songs on the album came, by Morrison's own account, as a kind of automatic writing, coming through him rather than being consciously written, and there's a fascination throughout with, to use the phrase from "Madame George", "childhood visions". The song is also one of the first songs in Morrison's repertoire to deliberately namecheck one of his idols, something else he would do often in future, when he talks about "talking to Huddie Leadbelly". "Astral Weeks" was a song that Morrison had been performing live for some time, and Payne had always enjoyed doing it. Unlike Kielbania he had no compunction about insisting that he was good enough to play on the record, and he eventually persuaded the session flute player to let him borrow his instrument, and Payne was allowed to play on the track: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Astral Weeks"] Or at least that's how the story is usually told -- Payne is usually credited for playing on "Madame George" too, even though everyone agrees that "Astral Weeks" was the last song of the night, but people's memories can fade over time. Either way, Payne's interplay with Jay Berliner on the guitar became such a strong point of the track that there was no question of bringing the unknown session player back -- Payne was going to be the woodwind player for the rest of the album: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Astral Weeks"] There was then a six-day break between sessions, during which time Payne and Kielbania went to get initiated into Scientology -- a religion with which Morrison himself would experiment a little over a decade later -- though they soon decided that it wasn't worth the cost of the courses they'd have to take, and gave up on the idea the same week. The next session didn't go so well. Jay Berliner was unavailable, and so Barry Kornfeld, a folkie who played with people like Dave Van Ronk, was brought in to replace him. Kornfeld was perfectly decent in the role, but they'd also brought in a string section, with the idea of recording some of the songs which needed string parts live. But the string players they brought in were incapable of improvising, coming from a classical rather than jazz tradition, and the only track that got used on the finished album was "The Way Young Lovers Do", by far the most conventional song on the album, a three-minute soul ballad structured as a waltz twelve-bar blues, where the strings are essentially playing the same parts that a horn section would play on a record by someone like Solomon Burke: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "The Way Young Lovers Do"] It was decided that any string or horn parts on the rest of the album would just be done as overdubs. It was two weeks before the next and final session for the album, and that featured the return of Jay Berliner on guitar. The session started with "Sweet Thing" and "Ballerina", two songs that Morrison had been playing live for some time, and which were cut in relatively quick order.  They then made attempts at two more songs that didn't get very far, "Royalty", and "Going Around With Jesse James", before Morrison, stuck for something to record, pulled out a new lyric he'd never performed live, "Slim Slow Slider". The whole band ran through the song once, but then Merenstein decided to pare the arrangement down to just Morrison, Payne (on soprano sax rather than on flute), and Warren Smith Jr: [Excerpt: Van Morrison, "Slim Slow Slider"] That track was the only one where, after the recording, Merenstein didn't compliment the performance, remaining silent instead – Payne said “Maybe everyone was just tired, or maybe they were moved by it.” It seems likely it was the latter. The track eventually got chosen as the final track of the album, because Merenstein felt that it didn't fit conceptually with anything else -- and it's definitely a more negative track than the oth

"Middle-Aged and Older Patients Report Improved Health with Medical Marijuana"Larry Mishkin discusses a recent study from the University of Florida which shows that medical marijuana use can lead to lower pain levels and reduced dependency on opioids and psychiatric prescriptions among middle-aged and older chronic pain patients. Participants in the study reported improved physical and mental functioning, better sleep quality, and reduced anxiety. The research adds to the growing body of evidence supporting the therapeutic benefits of medical cannabis for pain management..Produced by PodConx  Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinRob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-huntJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergSound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/Recorded on Squadcast  Grateful Dead, October 16, 1989, Melk Weg Club, Amsterdam, the NetherlandsGrateful Dead Live at Club Melk Weg on 1981-10-16 : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive Second of two night stand at this famous hash bar that only held about 500 people in the room in which the Dead performed.  Very cool and famous club in Amsterdam, one of the best known hash bars.  Went there one time in 1988 with good buddies Mikey and H.  A highlight of our trip. Another good buddy, Freddie Burp, was spending the school year abroad in the fall of 1981 and was one of the lucky ones who were present for this show.  He's a tough guy to get a hold of, but maybe some day I can get him on the show to talk about this concert.  INTRO:                  The Race Is On                                Track No. 8                                1:10 – 2:24                 Show had an acoustic first set and an electric second set.  Many of the songs in the acoustic set we featured a few weeks ago from the September, 1980 show at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco as part of the recordings for the Dead's Reckoning album.  So I went with this one which has always been one of my favorites ever since my good buddy Mikey (who took me to three of my first four shows) used to play it for me as we drove through the northwoods of Wisconsin on nights out from the summer camp where we were spending the summer in 1981. "The Race Is On" is a song written by Don Rollins[1] (not to be confused with the Don Rollins who co-wrote "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" for Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett) and made a hit on the country music charts by George Jones and on the pop and easy listening charts by the unrelated Jack Jones. George's version was the first single released from his 1965 album of the same name. Released as a single in September 1964, it peaked at number three on the BillboardHot Country Singles chart and at number 96 on the BillboardHot 100 in January 1965. Jack's version topped Billboard'sEasy Listening chart and reached number 15 on the Hot 100 the same year. The two recordings combined to reach number 12 on the Cashbox charts, which combined all covers of the same song in one listing and thus gave George Jones his only top-40 hit. The song uses thoroughbred horse racing as the metaphor for the singer's romantic relationships.                 Rockabilly artist Dave Edmunds, in collaboration with the Stray Cats, whose debut album Edmunds had recently produced, recorded a version for his 1981 album, Twangin.... Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom recalled Edmunds' affection for the song when he was courting the band to produce their debut album: "We met with Edmunds at his house. He had a little pub in his basement. He had a finished basement, outside of London. Edmunds had a jukebox, a little jukebox. He had 'The Race is On' and 'Rockabilly Boogie' by Johnny Burnette. He had those records in his jukebox. We all looked at each other and said, 'This is it.'"[3] Phantom also recalled that the song took "one or two takes" in the studio.[4]Thank you.                 Covered by:        Jack Jones                                                Loretta Lynn                                                Alvin and the Chipmunks for their 1965 album, “Chipmunks a Go Go”                                                Waylon Jennings                                                The Georgia Satellites from 1965 debut album, “Keep The Faith”                                                Elvis Costello                                                And others                                                 Dead played it 60times in concert                                                First:  December 31, 1969 at Boston Tea Party in Boston                                                Last:  May 20, 1995 at Sam Boyd Silver Bowl, Las Vegas  SHOW #1:                           Ripple                                                Track No. 9                                                1:50 – 3:06                                 We prominently featured this song form the Warfield show and talked about how it was last played ever on Sept. 3, 1988 at the Cap Center.  What makes this version we just listened to so special is that this was the last Ripple played by the Dead until the Cap Center show, a seven year gap, and that that was it, no more Ripple.  So this is the last accoustic Ripple ever played since the Cap Center was electric.  Maybe the most famous Dead tune ever, from American Beauty, Hunter's lyrics and Jerry's music mesh together in a way to make this tune not just one of the best Dead tunes ever, but one of the best tunes ever, IMHO!  SHOW #2:                           Hully Gully                                                Track No. 12                                                0:15 – 1:38                                 "(Baby) Hully Gully" is a song written by Fred Sledge Smith and Cliff Goldsmith and recorded by The Olympics, an American doo-wop group formed in 1957.  Released in 1959 on the album, “Doin' the Hully Gully”, it peaked at number 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1960[2] and sparked the Hully Gully dance craze.                         Covered by:     Buddy Guy                                                Chubby Checkers                                                The Ventures                                                The Beach Boys                                                Many others                                                Peter Pan Peanut Butter add jingle in the 1980's                                                 The Dead's version of this song from this show is the only time they played it in concert.  SHOW #3:                   Gloria                                    Track No. 15                                    2:15 – 3:45                         "Gloria" is a rock song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, and originally recorded by Morrison's band Them in 1964. It was released as the B-side of "Baby, Please Don't Go” on December 2, 1964.  The song became a garage rock staple and a part of many rock bands' repertoires.                         According to Morrison, he wrote "Gloria" while performing with the Monarchs in Germany in the summer of 1963, at just about the time he turned 18 years old.[6] He started to perform it at the Maritime Hotel when he returned to Belfast and joined up with the Gamblers to form the band Them. He would ad-lib lyrics as he performed, sometimes stretching the song to 15 or 20 minutes. After signing a contract with Dick Rowe and Decca, Them went to London for a recording session at Decca Three Studios in West Hampstead on 5 April 1964; "Gloria" was one of the seven songs recorded that day.                         Alan Henderson (guitar) contends that Them constituted the first rock group to use two drummers on a recording.[7] Although some sources claim that Jimmy Page played second guitar, other sources deny this.                         Covered by:                 The Doors –   The Doors performed the song several times in 1966 and 1967, with one recording released on Alive, She Cried (1983). It was also released as a single, which reached number 18 on Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and number 71 on Billboard Hot 100 in 1983.[18] The song is included on Legacy: The Absolute Best (2003) and The Very Best of The Doors (2007).                                                             Patti Smith - Patti Smith recorded it for her album Horses in 1975. Based on the Van Morrison tune, the lyrics had been adapted from an early poem, 'Oath'.[5] Smith's band had started to play the song live and merged it with the poem by 1974, so the song contained half of Smith's own words.[5] For the recording of her debut album, Smith and her band recorded the song live and, after mixing, chose it as the album's opener.                                                            In 1993, Van Morrison recorded a version with John Lee Hooker, which reached the Top 40 in several countries.                                                                        For the Dead, this was the first time they played it live in concert.                                    They wound up playing it only a total of 14 times                                        Last played on June 30, 1995 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh                                                   I was lucky enough to catch it on June 25, 1992 at Soldier Field.  SHOW #4:                   Turn On Your Lovelight                                    Track No. 16                                    1:03 – 2:33                                     "Turn On Your Love Light" is a rhythm and blues song recorded by Bobby Bland in 1961. It was both an important R&B and pop chart hit for Bland and has become one of his most identifiable songs. A variety of artists have recorded it, including the Grateful Dead, who made it part of their concert repertoire.  was written by band leader and arranger Joe Scott (with an additional credit given to Duke Records owner/producer Don Robey aka Deadric Malone). Scott's brass arrangement "upped the excitement ante"[2] with "the groove picking up momentum as the horns and percussion talk to each other" and Bland's vocal "riding on top".                                     In 1967, "Turn On Your Love Light" became a staple of Grateful Dead concerts, sung by Ron McKernan: a 15-minute rendition is on their 1969 double live album Live/Dead. McKernan's final performance of "Love Light" – complete with extended vocal raps – occurred at the Lyceum Theatre, London, during the Europe '72 tour. Versions with McKernan were often very long due to long vocal raps, instrumental jams, and drum solos throughout. A version performed at the 1969 Woodstock Festival lasted more than 45 minutes.[8] The Grateful Dead later revived the song in the early 1980s with Bob Weir singing.                                     Before this show at the Melk Weg, the last time the Dead had played it in concert was on May 24,1972 at the Lyceum Ballroom in London at the very end of the Europe '72 tour.  In other words, this was the Dead's first performance of the song without Pigpen on lead.  Dead went on to play it a lot after this show right up until the end.  Bobby played it well, but never even tried the rap that Pig made famous in his extended versions.  No Box Back Knitties when Bobby sang it.                         Dead played it 355 times in concert!  Originally part of the Dark Star>St. Stephen>The Eleven>Lovelight suite of songs that the Dead played constantly during the primal Dead years in the late ‘60's.                        First played on August 4, 1967 at the O'Keefe Center in Toronto                        Last played on June 19, 1975 at Giants Stadium in New Jersey                                     When my good buddy Marc started seeing the Dead in 1984, we joked that every time he went to a show they played Lovelight.  Not a bad thing to be associated with.  Always fun to hear it in concert even without Pig.  OUTRO:                      Sugar Magnolia                                    Track No. 20                                    6:30 – 8:05                                     One of the best Dead tunes of all time and the ultimate show closer.  Always nice to add a little Sunshine Daydream to your day! The boys jam the hell out of it here, a 10+ minute version to close out a remarkable one of a kind Dead show.  Either you were there or you missed it.  What being a Deadhead is all about. 

This episode has guest Victoria Para with a pop in of Alan Henderson. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/aaronmadeulaugh/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/aaronmadeulaugh/support

The ACP are joined by a returning Sam Hardacre (Splorers) to talk about a variety of topics, from finding your mojo again, to reworking old work and finding time to make your comics! Theres also a big chat about event comics and Millarworlds 'Big Time', challenging stereotypes in comics and absolutely TONS of comics to check out! Great stuff to check out this week - Sam Hardacre, Splorers, Big Game, Pat Mills, Doctor Who, Starbeast, Jonny Cannon, The Untied: Going Underground, Permanent Damage, SPX, Baltimore Comic Con, NICE, Assteroid Belters: Summer Slammed, Ian Ashcroft, Tribute Press, Earth 2 Podcast, Change: WIP Comics Anthology, Knave of Hearts, Blam and Glam, Jamie Smart, Glass City Comics, Alan Henderson, Kodi, Jared Cullen, Top Shelf Comics, Long Gone Don, The Mighty Barbarians, 6 Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton, Fables, 2Morrows Publishing, Back Issue Magazine

Picture this: A summer evening, the air filled with the scent of cigars, and in your hand, a glass of the finest bourbon. This was the setting where our paths crossed with our guest, CT, a bourbon connoisseur at the Bourbon and Cigars event. Since then, our friendship has grown, nurtured by our shared love for bourbon. This episode is reminiscent of that magical evening, as we explore the intriguing world of bourbon.Bourbon, for us, is more than just a beverage. It's a shared experience, a bond builder, and a path to unforgettable friendships. CT shares his journey, starting from his first taste of bourbon, honing his palate, to the relationships he has forged within the industry. We navigate through the maze of Four Roses' mash bills and yeast strains, and discuss the different distilleries, their unique influence, and the stories they tell through their bourbon. Feeling adventurous? We dive into the exciting realm of bourbon collecting and barrel picks. The thrill of the hunt, the patience it requires, and the joy of discovery, makes this a rewarding journey. We also explore the work of Alan Henderson at French Leg, his use of Lost River in the barrels and his unique pot stills, painting a vivid image of his craft. Finally, we traverse into the world of small batch bourbon whiskey, the delicate balance between the standard small batch and the uncut unfiltered. So tune in, pour yourself a glass of your favorite bourbon and join us in this fascinating conversation about all things bourbon. Support the showhttps://www.scotchybourbonboys.com

Join Gary for the latest instalment of his podcast which features an incredible piece of percussive blues harp playing from Mike Whellans in partnership with the smallpipes of Battlefield Band piper, Mike Katz. Sadly Mike Whellans passed away last week, so we play this in tribute to his 6 decades of contribution to the music scene in Scotland and beyond. There are tunes too from the St Lawrence O'Toole Pipe Band, from their pipe major Allen Tully in solo mode, and from the folk band Pipedown, and much more besides.Support the showTracksPipedown with Tar the House (Allan MacDonald), The Periwig, Cuillin (Martyn Bennett) from Roag Martyn  Bennett with Buain a Choirce from Glenlyon.http://www.martynbennett.com/Alen Tully with Donal Og, The Swallow's Tail, The Gravel Walks and the Humours of Tulla from the Best of Piping Live Recital Series 06/07https://www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/St Lawrence O'Toole Pipe Band with the Links of Forth, Blair Drummond and The Smith of Chilliechassie from Turas Ceoil Live at the Royal Concert Hallhttps://slotpb.com/Bruce MacGregor with Annie's Waltz (Bruce MacGregor) from Road to Tyrannyhttps://www.brucemacgregor.scot/ Mike Katz and Mike Whelans with Juan Martino and Tail Toddlehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui5h_ip_Un8 Tony McManus with The Lament for the Viscount of Dundee from Ceol Morhttps://www.tonymcmanus.com/Decker Forrest, Alan Henderson and Murdo Cameron with Doctor Allan MacDonald (I MacInnes), Chan Eil Fonn air an nighean Dubh, Sgitheanach an Earbail Fhada, De Bha Sibh Ris, a Chaluim Mhoir? From Aon. https://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/?lang=enSupport the show

This week Tony is joined by regular co-host Alan Henderson who has challenged him to read the video game inspired Injustice: Gods Among Us! The chaps chat about the benefits and failings of connecting a comic to a video game, phone app, animated movie and action figure line can have. Do they like it? Do you like it? They are the big questions. You might also learn something.... You can buy some comics from Alan by clicking on this link.  Let us know what you think by visiting us at Never Iron Anything. Many thanks for listening.  

The world of original comic artwork gets the spotlight this week, and to join the ACP crew to talk about it is Alan Henderson (The Penned Guin). From big budget to bargains, from grail pages and covers to unique and personal sketches the chat is fun, entertaining and informative for those who don't know much about the scene! Plus of course recommendations, shout outs and plenty of comics fun! Great stuff to check out this week -  Alan Henderson, The Penned Guin, Tom Curry, Drew Hird, Hull Comic Con 2023, Skaro Media, Lawless Comic Con 2023, Mahoneys #6, Tom Curry, John Price, Davit Dunlop, Poor Little Ghosts, The Snail, The Ginormous Kokju, Scott Koblish, Local Man #2, Burger: Nothing but Cheap Meat, The Great British Bump Off, Ghost Rider, Predator

Resurrection Man Volume 1. This week Tony and Alan tackle a little remembered DC Comics series that was full of potential. They discuss the writing, art and more on this series and also whether or not its promise was realised. The reaction is slightly mixed. Not everything is perfect but often you just want readable. Should it have been a Vertigo series? The hosts try to solve the puzzle. You can buy some great comics from Alan at his shop right here and follow him on Twitter here. Many thanks for listening. 

For our 200th episode we are privileged, honored and downright giddy to host a true Hoosier great… Alan Henderson.IU's all-time leader in rebounds, 7th in scoring, 4th in field goals made, 5th in free throws made, tied for 5th in steals, and 2nd in blocked shots, are just some of his stats that back up that claim. But it was the winning… on some of the best and most beloved teams to ever play in Bloomington… that cemented Alan's legendary status.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Tony is re-joined by co-hosts Alan Henderson and Johnny Cannon to discuss the the first three issues of  'American Flagg'. Also known as 'Hard Times'. This is a series that isn't easy to find online or in reprints but represents one of the main influences on the comics revolution that followed. We hear about the writing, art, influences and contemporaries of Howard Chaykin.  Not to be missed. You can find the comics of Alan by visiting his shop here. You can also find Johnny's comics here at his shop. Many thanks for listening.   

Comedian Alan Henderson shares how he manages constant back pain as a result of skiing accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down in his 20's. IG: https://www.instagram.com/comedybyalan/?hl=enSponsor:Is there something interfering with your happiness or is preventing you from achieving your goals? https://betterhelp.com/leo and enjoy 10% off your first month and start talking to mental health professional today!! 1-on-1 Coaching: If you want go from feeling hopeless to hopeful, lonely to connected and like a burden to a blessing, then go to 1-on-1 coaching, go to www.thrivewithleo.com. Let's get to tomorrow, together. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline800-273-TALK [800-273-8255]1-800-SUICIDE [800-784-2433]Teen Line (Los Angeles)800-852-8336The Trevor Project (LGBTQ Youth Hotline)866-488-7386National Domestic Violence Hotline800-799-SAFE [800-799-7233]Crisis Text LineText "Connect" to 741741 in the USALifeline Chathttps://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/International Suicide Hotlines: http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.htmlhttps://www.nowmattersnow.org/skillshttps://sobermeditations.libsyn.com/ www.suicidesafetyplan.com https://scaa.club/

This week Tony is joined by co-host Alan Henderson and the pair work their way through the good points and bad points of the new DC Comics reading app - DC Universe Infinite. Is it worth the money? How does it work? What is there to Read? The hosts also pick two random books from the app library and have a chat about them. Have a look for Alan's comics over at his Penguin filled shop here and follow him on Twitter for daily gag strips and comics right here. Many thanks for listening. 

This week the ACP look into the bleak futures of the world that comic books show us from time to time. From a Dark Knight Returning, to an Old Man Logan and Futures very much Imperfect, the gang discuss what makes these tales so popular, and so regularly done. Theres also discussion about Eisner nominees, upcoming events, villain worship and even more. Plus there's stuff to add to your wishlists too! HUZZAH! Great stuff to check out this week - Old Man Logan, Future Imperfect, Starlight, Alan Henderson, Dez Skinn, Grant Richards, Shadow Over Innsmouth KS, Afterlife Inc, Feral Kingdom Substack, Prairie Pothole, Little Death, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, Daniel Warren Johnson, Hawk the Slayer #2 Click here to buy comics from the creators of the Awesome Comics Podcast! Let us know what you think! Email: awesomecomicspod@gmail.com  Join the discussion today at our facebook group Awesome Comics Talk Check out the folks who sponsor this lil show - the mighty folks at Comichaus! If you love our Intro/Outro music, then check out the brilliant Chad Fifer and more of his musical badassery at www.chadfifer.bandcamp.com  

*Theme Music: Richter FM – Hibiscus* Bandcamp: https://tinyurl.com/55sw82j8 Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/mr2pmykv Apple Music: https://tinyurl.com/y7kwm3nu Soundcloud: https://tinyurl.com/2p8wyh6h YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/yh6puhwn That Comic Smell Issue 1&2 are now available from Big Cartel Go to thatcomicsmell.com for more details on how to get your copy today! [Episode 100 of That Comic Smell is dedicated to Ian Kennedy and Steven Walsh. Thank you, for everything] First of all we want to give a MASSIVE thank you to Richter FM (AKA, Paddy Johnston of Good Comics) for composing this amazing track/new theme music. Please follow the links above and give the Hibiscus EP and the rest of Richter FMs music a listen and follow. Also a HUGE thank you to Chartsmasher (AKA, Joan Edam) for allowing us to use their track for so long. We hope you enjoy the new intro and outro. It's nice to change things up a little but we're not changing too much around here. It's comics, comics, comics, as usual. Seeing as it's episode 100 as well then why not issue #100s to celebrate. There is also a little focus on how some titles seem to get published/publishers, a particular comic that Mike managed to get his hands on (De Cape et de Crocs by Alain Ayroles & Jean-Luc Masbou) and a certain ‘Krazy' collection of Sunday strips that could double as a paving slab. This and all the usual comics chat on… That Comic Smell! To find out where to find, listen, contact us and buy our comics then please visit thatcomicsmell.com Don't forget to Like, Share, Subscribe, Rate & Review. Most importantly… Read/Make More Comics! Thanks again for listening and supporting the podcast Krazy Kat Sundays (George Herriman) The Thing and Ben Grimm #100 (John Byrne, Ron Wilson) 2000AD and Starlord #100 (IPC) Archie Madhouse #100 (Dexter Taylor, Stan Goldberg) Star Wars Weekly #100 (Chris Claremont, Mike Vosburg, Steve Leialoha, John Costanza, Bob Sharen) The Defenders #100 (J.M. DeMatteis, Don Perlin, Joe Sinnott, Sal Trapani, Jack Abel, Al Milgrom, Frank Giacoia) Starblazer #100 (Various, Jesus Redondo) Justice League of America #100 (Len Wien, Dick Dylan) The Nutty #100 (DC Thomson) Master of Kung Fu #100 (Doug Moench, Gene Day, Mike Zeck) Dark Horse Presents #100 1&6 (Various Dark horse Contributors) Iron Man #100 (Jim Starlin, George Tuska) Showcase #100 (Joe Orlando, Joe Staton, Dick Giordano, Paul Levitz, Paul Kupperberg, Joe Staton) The Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk (Greg Pak, Carlo Pagulayan, Gary Frank, José Ladrönn) The Comics Journal #100 X-Men #100 (Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum) Doctor Who Magazine #100 Conan #100 (Roy Thomas, Jon Buscema, Ernie Chan) Eagle is 100 (Alan Grant, Ian Kennedy, John Wagner, John Burns, Alan Hebden, Jose Ortiz, Vanyo, Rex Archer, Manuel Carmona, Scott Goodall, Heinzl, Dave Follows, John Cooper, Fred Baker) Marvel Age Special 100th Issue (Fred Hembeck, Tom DeFalco & various Marvel alumni) Amazing Spider-Man #100 (Stan Lee, Gill Kane) Marvel Team Up #100: Fantastic Four & Spider-Man (Frank Miller, Chris Claremont) Cerebus #100 (Dave Sim) The Simpsons #100 (Bill Morrison, Jason Ho, Nathan Kane) The Beano 100 (DC Thomson) The Walking Dead #100 (Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard) Penned Guin Strip 100 (Alan Henderson) https://tinyurl.com/5n9xrkj6 Awesome Comics Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/2p9hm8ad iFanboy: https://ifanboy.com/ Comic Books Are Burning In Hell: https://comicsinhell.libsyn.com/ Word Balloon with John Siuntres: http://wordballoon.blogspot.com/ Cartoonist Kayfabe: https://tinyurl.com/h7a4b84j Noah Van Sciver Youtube Channel: https://tinyurl.com/yc4z9m8c 11 O'Clock Comics: https://11oclockcomics.com/ Never Iron Anything: https://neverironanything.com/ Fatman Beyond: https://tinyurl.com/2p8prkfx The Lakes Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mrxd6u4y Inkstuds: http://www.inkstuds.org/ The Comics Alternative: https://tinyurl.com/wj3t99zm The Earth-2 Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/ymtj77zy

In which Stuart is joined by Alan Henderson to talk about a righteous dude...Penned Guin creator Alan Henderson dons his Red Wings jersey and returns to the pod to discuss the 1986 John Hughes classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off...SPOILER WARNING (obviously) FOR FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFFLINKSAlan - Twitter @Shadow1972Penned Guins - Twitter @PennedGuin - Etsy - FacebookStuart: Linktree The Nerds Who Haunted Themselves: Linktree And Why Not? Facebook Group: FacebookFerris Bueller's Day Off: IMDb Title Music - Storytelling Man by Ruth's Curtain Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back this week at the World Famous Mad House Comedy Club with a new group of guys. Connor Castello, Jef Hay, and Alan Henderson join the podcast to talk about an assortment of stupid things. What a blast doing this project with a lineup of talented and funny guys. Share, Rate and Follow the podcast wherever you listen to it. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/savagebeergarden/support

This week Tony is re-joined by Alan Henderson and Eamonn Clarke to discuss the thorny subject of underground comics creator Robert Crumb. Whilst focusing on Crumb's collection 'The Book of Mr. Natural' the boys also discuss the creators other works, impact, styles and subject matter. Is it satire? How can these comics be read? A balanced and fair discussion takes place but with very adult themes.  Warning - This episode covers themes of sexual violence. For more about Alan and his Penned Guin comics you can follow him here on Twitter and find his books at his store here. You can also listen to Eamonn every other week at the Mega City Book Club right here and follow him on Twitter here. Many thanks for listening.   

In which Stuart is joined by Alan Henderson to discover who knows the evil that lurks in the hearts of men...For this first episode in this 6 part mini-series, looking at some 90's comic book movies; Stuart is joined by Penned Guin creator Alan Henderson to discuss the 1994 film version of The Shadow, starring Alec Baldwin.SPOILER WARNING (obviously) FOR THE SHADOWThis episode was originally published as part of the Nerds Who Haunted Themselves Podcast feed on 14th September 2021, and may feature references to forthcoming shows on that network.LINKSAlan - Twitter @Shadow1972Penned Guins - Twitter @PennedGuin - Etsy - FacebookNever Iron Anything #4: The Shadow - PodbeanStuart: LinktreeThe Nerds Who Haunted Themselves: Linktree And Why Not? Facebook Group: FacebookThe Shadow: IMDb Title Music - Storytelling Man by Ruth's Curtain Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grant is back for another episode of daft hilarity and what a fantastic selection of topics he's got for you this week. Joined, as always, by our amazing American Anchor Katie Anderson and One Man House Band Phil Micallef, they're here to catch you up on all the daft stories of the last two weeks.  This week we also have a whole host of very special guests including: Alan Henderson - our conservative American correspondent, here to catch you up on everything that's been happening to him since his rather eventful day on January 6th 2021. We also have Terry Norman - our Ireland correspondent, here to give us the down low on how NOT to apply for a pension in Ireland. Alongside them we have Deniz Plattner - our Neil Young/Joe Rogan correspondent, here to fill us in on the biggest shake up to podcasting since we launched a few years ago. Finally we have Victor Patrascan - our Peace correspondent, here with a sure fire way to solve all of our problems and some burning questions about who exactly Neil Young is.  We all had a great laugh recording this episode and hope you enjoy listening to it!  Also, Kristyna and I are on tour this upcoming month, so find all the details on Grant's instagram @thegrantichrist or on velvetcomedy.cz Get in touch with the show, suggest topics to cover or just say hi! Email: makingeuropegrantsagain@gmail.com or follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @themegapodcast

'It was a magic death potion, right?' This week Alan Henderson is back in the co-host chair to lay the knowledge down about the comics that followed the Batman Animated series and especially those that had three certain career criminals based on DC Editors. Can you guess who? We also chat about the upcoming theme in February and the legacy of the comics editor. You can find more about Al's comics here by following him on Twitter and buy his comics right here. Many thanks for listening.   

Hoosiers last had a 40-point scorer in 1994 at the Breslin Center when Alan Henderson did it. Tonight, Trayce Jackson-Davis got 43 with a variety of thundering dunks against the Thundering Herd of Marshall. Mike Woodson again showed himself eager to treat young men like men instead of boys as they were held accountable for turnovers and sloppy defense. Basketball had a much better day than IU Football, losers of the Bucket Game against Purdue. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-kent-sterling-show/support

'A surrealistic comedy-drama.' This week comics creator and fan, Alan Henderson returns to talk about the incredible graphic novel 'A Tale of Sand'.  A story that jumped from the minds of Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl and was then brought to comics life by some absolutely staggering art from Ramon Perez! Hear all about this multi-award winning comic from the creators of The Muppets. One not to be missed! You can jump on the last couple of days of Al's Penned Guin Kickstarter right here and follow him on Twitter here. Thanks for listening.    

Hailing from beautiful Pasadena in sunny southern California, Richard Mandeville grew up a USC fan and almost wound up a Wildcat playing for Lute Olson. Ultimately, however, he just couldn't say no to Coach Knight and everything Bloomington had to offer. He even grew to love the frigid winters! Richard battled for five years alongside such Hoosier legends as Damon Bailey, Alan Henderson, Brian Evans, AJ Guyton and Michael Lewis, always ready to set a screen, grab a board, or knock down an open look. It wasn't an easy five years for the towering big or the IU program, but Richard refused to quit and by the end this California kid became a proud Hoosier for life.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The world of comics is ever changing, and with it the way that websites and journalists cover the medium. This week Gary Watson (Comics Anonymous) joins the ACP gang to talk about his journey of covering comics in the 10 years CA has been going. As well as that, there's plenty of insightful chat, great indie books to check out, puns, cats, laughs and comics! Great stuff to check out this week - Comics Anonymous, G-Man himself!, In Waves, No Brainer 2, Frank at Home on the Farm, Cybil Disorder, The 6 Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton, The Penned Gains, Alan Henderson, Beast Hunting Battle Badges, Steve Sims Click here to buy comics from the creators of the Awesome Comics Podcast! Let us know what you think! Email: awesomecomicspod@gmail.com  Join the discussion today at our facebook group Awesome Comics Talk Check out the folks who sponsor this lil show - the mighty folks at Comichaus! If you love our Intro/Outro music, then check out the brilliant Chad Fifer and more of his musical badassery at www.chadfifer.bandcamp.com

'I'm like a shark. I always gotta be moving.' This week Tony and Alan discuss this brilliant Johnny Cash biography by Reinhard Kleist. How does a comic portray music? Kleist uses some really interesting tricks. Have a listen and hear about the transformative joining of music and comics art! You can find Alan on Twitter here and buy his own black & white comics right here! Many thanks for listening.  

Grant is back with a brand new episode for all you lucky people. Joined by the hilarious Kristýna Haklová as our Bohemian Anchorwoman, as well as a brilliant line up of guests. First off this week we have Alan Henderson - our Conservative American correspondent, here to catch us up on whats been bothering him, Americans and, by extension, Jesus this week. Next up we have Izzy Kaufman - our Culture correspondent, here to give us his review of the HBO documentary "Woodstock 99 - Peace, Love and Rage" along with all the nostalgia that entails. Finally we have Victor Pãtrãşcan - our Extraterrestial correspondent, here to catch us up on all the happenings in (almost) space and what that means for us pesky liberals. This episode is aboslutely hilarious, we had a blast recording it and we hope you enjoy listening to it! Get in touch with the show, suggest topics to cover or just say hi! Email: makingeuropegrantsagain@gmail.com or follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @themegapodcast

This week Al and Tony discuss the range of comics and web comics produced by the always busy Mr Roger Langridge. From Zoot, Fred, Knuckles and Co all the way to Thor, Mandrake and Batman Roger has created in all the various areas of the comics medium. Have a listen and see what takes your fancy! You can find Alan Henderson on Twitter here and buy his comics right her.  Many thanks for listening.

On today's show I'm pleased to welcome one of the most prolific creators on the independent comics scene Alan Henderson.Since 2013 his web comic The Penned Guin has delighted readers with a range of laugh out loud strips that have covered many topics from the absurd to the Scottish referendum as told through a tug-of-war. With a highly successful line of books and Kickstarter campaigns it's a true success story for independent comics.In addition Alan is a writer and artist of non-penguin subject matter and a regular contributor to the excellent Never Iron Anything Podcast where he can be found sharing his fascinating insights into some of the classic comics of yesteryear.Guests:Alan Henderson: Comics creator, Artist, Pod-caster, Man of a 1,000 gags.  BUY ALAN'S STUFF HERE!THE PENNED GUINS - TWITTERTHE PENNED GUINS - WEBTHE PENNED GUINS - FACEBOOKTHE PENNED GUINS - INSTAGRAMDamian Edwardson:ARTNINETWO WEBARTNINETWO FacebookARTNINETWO Twitter ARTNINETWO InstagramMusic from https://www.zapsplat.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 125 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Here Comes the Night", Them, the early career of Van Morrison, and the continuing success of Bert Berns.  Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a twenty-minute bonus episode available, on "Dirty Water" by the Standells. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources As usual, I've created a Mixcloud playlist, with full versions of all the songs excerpted in this episode. The information about Bert Berns comes from Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues by Joel Selvin. I've used two biographies of Van Morrison. Van Morrison: Into the Music by Ritchie Yorke is so sycophantic towards Morrison that the word "hagiography" would be, if anything, an understatement. Van Morrison: No Surrender by Johnny Rogan, on the other hand, is the kind of book that talks in the introduction about how the author has had to avoid discussing certain topics because of legal threats from the subject. I also used information from the liner notes to The Complete Them 1964-1967, which as the title suggests is a collection of all the recordings the group made while Van Morrison was in the band. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript Today we're going to take a look at a band whose lead singer, sadly, is more controversial now than he was at the period we're looking at. I would normally not want to explicitly talk about current events upfront at the start of an episode, but Van Morrison has been in the headlines in the last few weeks for promoting dangerous conspiracy theories about covid, and has also been accused of perpetuating antisemitic stereotypes with a recent single.  So I would like to take this opportunity just to say that no positive comments I make about the Van Morrison of 1965 in this episode should be taken as any kind of approval of the Van Morrison of 2021 -- and this should also be taken as read for one of the similarly-controversial subjects of next week's episode...   Anyway, that aside, today we're going to take a look at the first classic rock and roll records made by a band from Northern Ireland, and at the links between the British R&B scene and the American Brill Building. We're going to look at Van Morrison, Bert Berns, and "Here Comes the Night" by Them:   [Excerpt: Them, "Here Comes the Night"]   When we last looked at Bert Berns, he was just starting to gain some prominence in the East Coast recording scene with his productions for artists like Solomon Burke and the Isley Brothers. We've also, though it wasn't always made explicit, come across several of his productions when talking about other artists -- when Leiber and Stoller stopped working for Atlantic, Berns took over production of their artists, as well as all the other recordings he was making, and so many of the mid-sixties Drifters records we looked at in the episode on "Stand By Me" were Berns productions. But while he was producing soul classics in New York, Berns was also becoming aware of the new music coming from the United Kingdom -- in early 1963 he started receiving large royalty cheques for a cover version of his song "Twist and Shout" by some English band he'd never heard of. He decided that there was a market here for his songs, and made a trip to the UK, where he linked up with Dick Rowe at Decca.    While most of the money Berns had been making from "Twist and Shout" had been from the Beatles' version, a big chunk of it had also come from Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, the band that Rowe had signed to Decca instead of the Beatles. After the Beatles became big, the Tremeloes used the Beatles' arrangement of "Twist and Shout", which had been released on an album and an EP but not a single, and had a top ten hit with their own version of it:   [Excerpt: Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, "Twist and Shout"]   Rowe was someone who kept an eye on the American market, and saw that Berns was a great source of potential hits. He brought Berns over to the UK, and linked him up with Larry Page, the manager who gave Rowe an endless supply of teen idols, and with Phil Solomon, an Irish manager who had been the publicist for the crooner Ruby Murray, and had recently brought Rowe the group The Bachelors, who had had a string of hits like "Charmaine":   [Excerpt: The Bachelors, "Charmaine"]   Page, Solomon, and Rowe were currently trying to promote something called "Brum Beat", as a Birmingham rival to Mersey beat, and so all the acts Berns worked with were from Birmingham. The most notable of these acts was one called Gerry Levene and the Avengers. Berns wrote and produced the B-side of that group's only single, with Levene backed by session musicians, but I've been unable to find a copy of that B-side anywhere in the digital domain. However, the A-side, which does exist and wasn't produced by Berns, is of some interest:   [Excerpt: Gerry Levene and the Avengers, "Dr. Feelgood"]   The lineup of the band playing on that included guitarist Roy Wood, who would go on to be one of the most important and interesting British musicians of the later sixties and early seventies, and drummer Graeme Edge, who went on to join the Moody Blues. Apparently at another point, their drummer was John Bonham.   None of the tracks Berns recorded for Decca in 1963 had any real success, but Berns had made some useful contacts with Rowe and Solomon, and most importantly had met a British arranger, Mike Leander, who came over to the US to continue working with Berns, including providing the string arrangements for Berns' production of "Under the Boardwalk" for the Drifters:   [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Under the Boardwalk"]   In May 1964, the month when that track was recorded, Berns was about the only person keeping Atlantic Records afloat -- we've already seen that they were having little success in the mid sixties, but in mid-May, even given the British Invasion taking over the charts, Berns had five records in the Hot One Hundred as either writer or producer -- the Beatles' version of "Twist and Shout" was the highest charting, but he also had hits with "One Way Love" by the Drifters:   [Excerpt: The Drifters, "One Way Love"]   "That's When it Hurts" by Ben E. King:   [Excerpt: Ben E. King, "That's When it Hurts"]   "Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)" by Solomon Burke:   [Excerpt: Solomon Burke, "Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)"]   And "My Girl Sloopy" by the Vibrations:   [Excerpt: The Vibrations, "My Girl Sloopy"]   And a week after the production of "Under the Boardwalk", Berns was back in the studio with Solomon Burke, producing Burke's classic "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love", though that track would lead to a major falling-out with Burke, as Berns and Atlantic executive Jerry Wexler took co-writing credit they hadn't earned on Burke's song -- Berns was finally at the point in his career where he was big enough that he could start stealing Black men's credits rather than having to earn them for himself:   [Excerpt: Solomon Burke, "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love"]   Not everything was a hit, of course -- he wrote a dance track with Mike Leander, "Show Me Your Monkey", which was definitely not a big hit -- but he had a strike rate that most other producers and writers would have killed for. And he was also having hits in the UK with the new British Invasion bands -- the Animals had made a big hit from "Baby Let Me Take You Home", the old folk tune that Berns had rewritten for Hoagy Lands. And he was still in touch with Phil Solomon and Dick Rowe, both of whom came over to New York for Berns' wedding in July.   It might have been while they were at the wedding that they first suggested to Berns that he might be interested in producing a new band that Solomon was managing, named Them, and in particular their lead singer, Van Morrison.   Van Morrison was always a misfit, from his earliest days. He grew up in Belfast, a city that is notoriously divided along sectarian lines between a Catholic minority who (for the most part) want a united Ireland, and a Presbyterian majority who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK. But in a city where the joke goes that a Jewish person would be asked "but are you a Catholic Jew or a Protestant Jew?", Morrison was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, and for the rest of his life he would be resistant to fitting into any of the categories anyone tried to put him in, both for good and ill.   While most of the musicians from the UK we've looked at so far have been from middle-class backgrounds, and generally attended art school, Morrison had gone to a secondary modern school, and left at fourteen to become a window cleaner. But he had an advantage that many of his contemporaries didn't -- he had relatives living in America and Canada, and his father had once spent a big chunk of time working in Detroit, where at one point the Morrison family planned to move. This exposed Morrison senior to all sorts of music that would not normally be heard in the UK, and he returned with a fascination for country and blues music, and built up a huge record collection. Young Van Morrison was brought up listening to Hank Williams, Sister Rosetta Tharpe,  Jimmie Rodgers, Louis Jordan, Jelly Roll Morton, and his particular favourite, Lead Belly. The first record he bought with his own money was "Hootin' Blues" by the Sonny Terry Trio:   [Excerpt: The Sonny Terry Trio, "Hootin' Blues"]   Like everyone, Van Morrison joined a skiffle group, but he became vastly more ambitious in 1959 when he visited a relative in Canada. His aunt smuggled him into a nightclub where an actual American rock and roll group were playing -- Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks:   [Excerpt: Ronnie Hawkins, "Mary Lou"]   Hawkins had been inspired to get into the music business by his uncle Delmar, a fiddle player whose son, Dale Hawkins, we looked at back in episode sixty-three. His band, the Hawks, had a reputation as the hottest band in Canada -- at this point they were still all Americans, but other than their drummer Levon Helm they would soon be replaced one by one with Canadian musicians, starting with bass player Robbie Robertson.   Morrison was enthused and decided he was going to become a professional musician. He already played a bit of guitar, but started playing the saxophone too, as that was an instrument that would be more likely to get him work at this point.   He joined a showband called the Monarchs, as saxophone player and occasional vocalist. Showbands were a uniquely Irish phenomenon -- they were eight- or nine-piece groups, rhythm sections with a small horn section and usually a couple of different singers, who would play every kind of music for dancing, ranging from traditional pop to country and western to rock and roll, and would also perform choreographed dance routines and comedy sketches.    The Monarchs were never a successful band, but they managed to scrape a living playing the Irish showband circuit, and in the early sixties they travelled to Germany, where audiences of Black American servicemen wanted them to play more soulful music like songs by Ray Charles, an opportunity Morrison eagerly grabbed. It was also a Black American soldier who introduced Morrison to the music of Bobby Bland, whose "Turn on Your Love Light" was soon introduced to the band's set:   [Excerpt Bobby "Blue" Bland, "Turn on Your Love Light"]   But they were still mostly having to play chart hits by Billy J Kramer or Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Morrison was getting frustrated. The Monarchs did get a chance to record a single in Germany, as Georgie and the Monarchs, with another member, George Jones (not the famous country singer) singing lead, but the results were not impressive:   [Excerpt: Georgie and the Monarchs, "O Twingy Baby"]   Morrison moved between several different showbands, but became increasingly dissatisfied with what he was doing. Then another showband he was in, the Manhattan Showband, briefly visited London, and Morrison and several of his bandmates went to a club called Studio 51, run by Ken Colyer. There they saw a band called The Downliners Sect, who had hair so long that the Manhattan members at first thought they were a girl group, until their lead singer came on stage wearing a deerstalker hat. The Downliners Sect played exactly the kind of aggressive R&B that Morrison thought he should be playing:   [Excerpt: The Downliners Sect, "Be a Sect Maniac"]   Morrison asked if he could sit in with the group on harmonica, but was refused -- and this was rather a pattern with the Downliners Sect, who had a habit of attracting harmonica players who wanted to be frontmen. Both Rod Stewart and Steve Marriott did play harmonica with the group for a while, and wanted to join full-time, but were refused as they clearly wanted to be lead singers and the group didn't need another one of them.   On returning to Belfast, Morrison decided that he needed to start his own R&B band, and his own R&B club night. At first he tried to put together a sort of supergroup of showband regulars, but most of the musicians he approached weren't interested in leaving their steady gigs. Eventually, he joined a band called the Gamblers, led by guitarist and vocalist Billy Harrison. The Gamblers had started out as an instrumental group, playing rock and roll in the style of Johnny and the Hurricanes, but they'd slowly been moving in a more R&B direction, and playing Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley material. Morrison joined the group on saxophone and vocals -- trading off leads with Harrison -- and the group renamed themselves after a monster movie from a few years before:   [Excerpt: THEM! trailer]   The newly renamed Them took up a regular gig at the Maritime Hotel, a venue which had previously attracted a trad jazz crowd, and quickly grew a substantial local following. Van Morrison later often said that their residency at the Maritime was the only time Them were any good, but that period was remarkably short -- three months after their first gig, the group had been signed to a management, publishing, and production deal with Philip Solomon, who called in Dick Rowe to see them in Belfast. Rowe agreed to the same kind of licensing deal with Solomon that Andrew Oldham had already got from him for the Stones -- Them would record for Solomon's company, and Decca would license the recordings.   This also led to the first of the many, many, lineup changes that would bedevil the group for its short existence -- between 1964 and 1966 there were eighteen different members of the group. Eric Wrixon, the keyboard player, was still at school, and his parents didn't think he should become a musician, so while he came along to the first recording session, he didn't sign the contract because he wasn't allowed to stay with the group once his next term at school started. However, he wasn't needed -- while Them's guitarist and bass player were allowed to play on the records, Dick Rowe brought in session keyboard player Arthur Greenslade and drummer Bobby Graham -- the same musicians who had augmented the Kinks on their early singles -- to play with them.   The first single, a cover version of Slim Harpo's "Don't Start Crying Now", did precisely nothing commercially:   [Excerpt: Them, "Don't Start Crying Now"]   The group started touring the UK, now as Decca recording artistes, but they almost immediately started to have clashes with their management. Phil Solomon was not used to aggressive teenage R&B musicians, and didn't appreciate things like them just not turning up for one gig they were booked for, saying to them "The Bachelors never missed a date in their lives. One of them even had an accident on their way to do a pantomime in Bristol and went on with his leg in plaster and twenty-one stitches in his head."   Them were not particularly interested in performing in pantomimes in Bristol, or anywhere else, but the British music scene was still intimately tied in with the older showbiz tradition, and Solomon had connections throughout that industry -- as well as owning a publishing and production company he was also a major shareholder in Radio Caroline, one of the pirate radio stations that broadcast from ships anchored just outside British territorial waters to avoid broadcasting regulations, and his father was a major shareholder in Decca itself.    Given Solomon's connections, it wasn't surprising that Them were chosen to be one of the Decca acts produced by Bert Berns on his next UK trip in August 1964. The track earmarked for their next single was their rearrangement of "Baby Please Don't Go", a Delta blues song that had originally been recorded in 1935 by Big Joe Williams and included on the Harry Smith Anthology:   [Excerpt: Big Joe Williams' Washboard Blues Singers , "Baby Please Don't Go"]   though it's likely that Them had learned it from Muddy Waters' version, which is much closer to theirs:   [Excerpt: Muddy Waters, "Baby Please Don't Go"]   Bert Berns helped the group tighten up their arrangement, which featured a new riff thought up by Billy Harrison, and he also brought in a session guitarist, Jimmy Page, to play rhythm guitar. Again he used a session drummer, this time Andy White who had played on "Love Me Do". Everyone agreed that the result was a surefire hit:   [Excerpt: Them, "Baby Please Don't Go"]   At the session with Berns, Them cut several other songs, including some written by Berns, but it was eventually decided that the B-side should be a song of Morrison's, written in tribute to his dead cousin Gloria, which they'd recorded at their first session with Dick Rowe:   [Excerpt: Them, "Gloria"]   "Baby Please Don't Go" backed with "Gloria" was one of the great double-sided singles of the sixties, but it initially did nothing on the charts, and the group were getting depressed at their lack of success, Morrison and Harrison were constantly arguing as each thought of himself as the leader of the group, and the group's drummer quit in frustration. Pat McAuley, the group's new keyboard player, switched to drums, and brought in his brother Jackie to replace him on keyboards.    To make matters worse, while "Baby Please Don't Go" had flopped, the group had hoped that their next single would be one of the songs they'd recorded with Berns, a Berns song called "Here Comes the Night". Unfortunately for them, Berns had also recorded another version of it for Decca, this one with Lulu, a Scottish singer who had recently had a hit with a cover of the Isley Brothers' "Shout!", and her version was released as a single:   [Excerpt: Lulu, "Here Comes the Night"]   Luckily for Them, though unluckily for Lulu, her record didn't make the top forty, so there was still the potential for Them to release their version of it.   Phil Solomon hadn't given up on "Baby Please Don't Go", though, and he began a media campaign for the record. He moved the group into the same London hotel where Jimmy Savile was staying -- Savile is now best known for his monstrous crimes, which I won't go into here except to say that you shouldn't google him if you don't know about them, but at the time he was Britain's most popular DJ, the presenter of Top of the Pops, the BBC's major TV pop show, and a columnist in a major newspaper. Savile started promoting Them, and they would later credit him with a big part of their success.   But Solomon was doing a lot of other things to promote the group as well. He part-owned Radio Caroline, and so "Baby Please Don't Go" went into regular rotation on the station. He called in a favour with the makers of Ready Steady Go! and got "Baby Please Don't Go" made into the show's new theme tune for two months, and soon the record, which had been a flop on its first release, crawled its way up into the top ten.   For the group's next single, Decca put out their version of "Here Comes the Night", and that was even more successful, making it all the way to number two on the charts, and making the American top thirty:   [Excerpt: Them, "Here Comes the Night"]   As that was at its chart peak, the group also performed at the NME Poll-Winners' Party at Wembley Stadium, a show hosted by Savile and featuring The Moody Blues, Freddie and the Dreamers, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, Herman's Hermits, Cilla Black, Donovan, The Searchers, Dusty Springfield, The Animals,The Kinks, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles, among others. Even on that bill, reviewers singled out Them's seven-minute performance of Bobby Bland's "Turn on Your Love Light" for special praise, though watching the video of it it seems a relatively sloppy performance.   But the group were already starting to fall apart. Jackie McAuley was sacked from the group shortly after that Wembley show -- according to some of the group, because of his use of amphetamines, but it's telling that when the Protestant bass player Alan Henderson told the Catholic McAuley he was out of the group, he felt the need to emphasise that "I've got nothing against" -- and then use a term that's often regarded as an anti-Catholic slur...   On top of this, the group were also starting to get a bad reputation among the press -- they would simply refuse to answer questions, or answer them in monosyllables, or just swear at journalists. Where groups like the Rolling Stones carefully cultivated a "bad boy" image, but were doing so knowingly and within carefully delineated limits, Them were just unpleasant and rude because that's who they were.   Bert Berns came back to the UK to produce a couple of tracks for the group's first album, but he soon had to go back to America, as he had work to do there -- he'd just started up his own label, a rival to Red Bird, called BANG, which stood for Bert, Ahmet, Neshui, Gerald -- Berns had co-founded it with the Ertegun brothers and Jerry Wexler, though he soon took total control over it. BANG had just scored a big hit with "I Want Candy" by the Strangeloves, a song Berns had co-written:   [Excerpt: The Strangeloves, "I Want Candy"]   And the Strangeloves in turn had discovered a singer called Rick Derringer, and Bang put out a single by him under the name "The McCoys", using a backing track Berns had produced as a Strangeloves album track, their version of his earlier hit "My Girl Sloopy". The retitled "Hang on Sloopy" went to number one:   [Excerpt: The McCoys, "Hang on Sloopy"]   Berns was also getting interested in signing a young Brill Building songwriter named Neil Diamond... The upshot was that rather than continuing to work with Berns, Them were instead handed over to Tommy Scott, an associate of Solomon's who'd sung backing vocals on "Here Comes the Night", but who was best known for having produced "Terry" by Twinkle:   [Excerpt: Twinkle, "Terry"]   The group were not impressed with Scott's productions, and their next two singles flopped badly, not making the charts at all. Billy Harrison and Morrison were becoming less and less able to tolerate each other, and eventually Morrison and Henderson forced Harrison out. Pat McAuley quit two weeks later,    The McAuley brothers formed their own rival lineup of Them, which initially also featured Billy Harrison, though he soon left, and they got signed to a management contract with Reg Calvert, a rival of Solomon's who as well as managing several pop groups also owned Radio City, a pirate station that was in competition with Radio Caroline. Calvert registered the trademark in the name Them, something that Solomon had never done for the group, and suddenly there was a legal dispute over the name.   Solomon retaliated by registering trademarks for the names "The Fortunes" and "Pinkerton's Assorted Colours" -- two groups Calvert managed -- and putting together rival versions of those groups. However the problem soon resolved itself, albeit tragically -- Calvert got into a huge row with Major Oliver Smedley, a failed right-libertarian politician who, when not co-founding the Institute for Economic Affairs and quitting the Liberal Party for their pro-European stance and left-wing economics, was one of Solomon's co-directors of Radio Caroline. Smedley shot Calvert, killing him, and successfully pled self-defence at his subsequent trial. The jury let Smedley off after only a minute of deliberation, and awarded Smedley two hundred and fifty guineas to pay for his costs.   The McAuley brothers' group renamed themselves to Them Belfast -- and the word beginning with g that some Romany people regard as a slur for their ethnic group -- and made some records, mostly only released in Sweden, produced by Kim Fowley, who would always look for any way to cash in on a hit record, and wrote "Gloria's Dream" for them:   [Excerpt: Them Belfast G***ies, "Gloria's Dream"]   Morrison and Henderson continued their group, and had a surprise hit in the US when Decca issued "Mystic Eyes", an album track they'd recorded for their first album, as a single in the US, and it made the top forty:   [Excerpt: Them, "Mystic Eyes"]   On the back of that, Them toured the US, and got a long residency at the Whisky a Go-Go in LA, where they were supported by a whole string of the Sunset Strip's most exciting new bands -- Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, The Association, Buffalo Springfield, and the Doors. The group became particularly friendly with the Doors, with the group's new guitarist getting thrown out of clubs with Jim Morrison for shouting "Johnny Rivers is a wanker!" at Rivers while Rivers was on stage, and Jim Morrison joining them on stage for duets, though the Doors were staggered at how much the Belfast group could drink -- their drink bill for their first week at the Whisky A Go-Go was $5400.   And those expenses caused problems, because Van Morrison agreed before the tour started that he would be on a fixed salary, paid by Phil Solomon, and Solomon would get all the money from the promoters. But then Morrison found out how much Solomon was making, and decided that it wasn't fair that Solomon would get all that money when Morrison was only getting the comparatively small amount he'd agreed to. When Tommy Scott, who Solomon had sent over to look after the group on tour, tried to collect the takings from the promoters, he was told "Van Morrison's already taken the money".    Solomon naturally dropped the group, who continued touring the US without any management, and sued them. Various Mafia types offered to take up the group's management contract, and even to have Solomon murdered, but the group ended up just falling apart.    Van Morrison quit the group, and Alan Henderson struggled on for another five years with various different lineups of session men, recording albums as Them which nobody bought. He finally stopped performing as Them in 1972. He reunited with Billy Harrison and Eric Wrixon, the group's original keyboardist, in 1979, and they recorded another album and toured briefly. Wrixon later formed another lineup of Them, which for a while included Billy Harrison, and toured with that group, billed as Them The Belfast Blues Band, until Wrixon's death in 2015.   Morrison, meanwhile, had other plans. Now that Them's two-year contract with Solomon was over, he wanted to have the solo career people had been telling him he deserved. And he knew how he was going to do it. All along, he'd thought that Bert Berns had been the only person in the music industry who understood him as an artist, and now of course Berns had his own record label. Van Morrison was going to sign to BANG Records, and he was going to work again with Bert Berns, the man who was making hits for everyone he worked with.   But the story of "Brown-Eyed Girl", and Van Morrison going solo, and the death of Bert Berns, is a story for another time...

We speak with Jeffrey Alan Henderson, the pathbreaking designer, engineer and entrepreneur. He has worked with brands like Nike, Yeezy, Cole Haan and more. Realizing the need for social impact in his community, he used his design expertise and passion to create initiatives like goodthin.gs and NiinetyNine Products, designing shoes for and schools and collaborating with the educational community to create social change. In this conversation, we speak about his journey and experiences workiing with the biggest names in design and fashion, how to manifest your dreams, the importance of STEAM in education and of course...his life mantra at every moment, his philosophy of now!

'I'll always be a soldier...' This week Tony is joined by regular co-host Alan Henderson and they discuss the criminally underappreciated Enemy Ace: War Idyll by George Pratt. This is a book that shows what painted comics can do and is a revelation in art and words. You can find comics by Alan here and follow him on Twitter here. Many thanks for listening.

In this edition of Hoosier Storytime, we get the inside scoop on one of the greatest teams in IU basketball history from one of the greatest examples of player development: Brian Evans. Brian played on the last few IU teams that were truly at the epicenter of college basketball. He was a redshirt on the 1992 Final Four team and a key rotation piece on the 1993 Elite Eight team that many people think would have won it all were it not for Alan Henderson's knee injury. We talk at length about what it was like playing with so many great players like Henderson, Calbert Cheaney, Greg Graham, Damon Bailey, etc.Plus: why Brian wanted to kick the Fab 5's ass so badly, who from those early 90s teams would win in a shooting contest, and whether or not he felt threatened by Bob Knight's recruitment of Ivan Renko (or Bob Knight's offseason threats that there might not be a spot for Evans on the next year's team).We also discuss player development in general, the shooting woes of the current program, and what it was like popping his shoulder back into place on the court.All of that and much more in this edition of Hoosier Storytime.Our private IU basketball discussion community: http://assemblycall.com/communityPlaybook Products: http://assemblycall.com/pp

The man behind the curtain of the ACP Drink and Draws, Tom Curry (Skellibob) joins the crew this week and talks topics, star reviews, art 'fixes', great books to check out and more. Great stuff to check out this week - Tom Curry, Skellibob, Jason Scott Campbell, Atomic Hercules KS, Samurai Slasher KS, Alex Automatic KS, The World of Adina, Moebius, Nick Clye, Life of Acropolis, The Penned Guins, Alan Henderson, Scumbag, Thistlebone, Rawg of the Blood Swamp Click here to buy comics from the creators of the Awesome Comics Podcast! Let us know what you think! Email: awesomecomicspod@gmail.com  Join the discussion today at our facebook group Awesome Comics Talk Check out the folks who sponsor this lil show - the mighty folks at Comichaus! If you love our Intro/Outro music, then check out the brilliant Chad Fifer and more of his musical badassery at www.chadfifer.bandcamp.com

Decker Driver Spotlight! Professional Driver Chad Hazelton, with special guest Alan Henderson, join host Darin Ladlie in this episode of Inside the Triangle. Chad talks about his strategy to getting a perfect 1,000 Scorecard and says it's takes a bit of determination but it's really not that difficult. Chad also talks about how he got into the trucking industry and why he picked Decker Truck Line. Darin and Chad go on to chat about Chad's hobbies, which include working on things in his shop and watching all things sci-fi! Listen closely to hear Kati's fun trivia question! The first person to answer correctly wins a Pilot Flying J gift card from Darin! Stick around as Darin names our March Drivers of the Month and talks about our Drivers' amazing Scorecard accomplishments this month! WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! If you have any topic suggestions or questions you want answered or discussed on an upcoming podcast, e-mail them to podcast@deckermail.com. Or, you can create a voice memo on your smart phone and e-mail it to podcast@deckermail.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/deckertruckline/message

On this episode Tony sits down with returning co-host and Penguin herder Mr. Alan Henderson and talks about the three issue mini series from 2004 called We3. They discuss the story and script by Grant Morrison and dissect the art by Frank Quitely from the heady days of Vertigo Comics. Oh, how we miss them. You can check out Alan's hot new Kickstarter here and follow him on Twitter right here. Many thanks for listening.  

In which Stuart Mulrain asks Alan Henderson the big question... Why Comics? returns, and this time Stuart is joined by Alan Henderson (Penned Guin), to talk comics and more... LINKS Penned Guins - Twitter @PennedGuin - Etsy - Facebook Alan - Twitter @Shadow1972 The Nerds Who Haunted Themselves: Twitter @HauntedNerds  |  Facebook The Nerds Who Published Themselves: ComicHaus  |  Comics  |  Redbubble  Stuart: Facebook  |  Instagram  |  Twitter True Believers:  Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Mailer Title Music - Strangers In Paradise by Ruth's Curtain

The following Wild Chat is with Alan Henderson (we have him back) where we talk about Filming insects for documentaries - spoiler alert coming!Alan is involved in a lot of projects with the latest one on Cicadas.  Alan shares with us how the filming is done and how he hopes these projects will create more curiosity and therefore admiration for this very unique animal group.As Alan takes us into another world his intention is always education which he hopes leads to conservation.  I totally agree!!As usual, our talk goes far and wide and we end up talking about quite a few little topics which of course we will expand on some later podcasts.To connect with Alan you can find him here:https://www.minibeastwildlife.com.au/Don't forget to connect with me over on our socials:http://www.instagram.com/jodie_creekhttp://www.instagram.com/australian_wildlife_educationWebsite - www.australianwildlifeeducation.comEmail - jodie@australianwildlifeeducation.comEnjoy the following Wild Chat!

'I think it's time for a cheese break!' On this episode Tony sits down with buddy Alan Henderson to discuss the four issue prestige format series 'Gregory'. This is a series that is both an amphetamine dream and an absolute joy all rolled into one. You can find Marc Hempel on Twitter here and his website here. You canals find some of Mr Henderson's work here and  his Twitter here. Many thanks for listening.

After being briefly cancelled by the Coronavirus, Grant and the gang are back (on Skype, sorry for the quality) for a very special 33rd episode focusing on, what else? The upcoming U.S. Election. Will it be "Trump 2.0 - The End of Elections", or will we see the democrats victorious with "Biden - That Hair Won't Sniff Itself". Grant is joined once again by Phil Micalef, our one man house band and the returning hero Katie Anderson, our Nebraska newsanchor extraordinaire. Also along with us this week is Phil Varney - our deep state correspondent, here to do a quick rundown of electoral math and prove his geek credentials, Sean Riordain - our Liberal American correspondent - here to talk about what happens after the election and how to survive it, Alan Henderson - our conservative American correspondent - here to big up his main man Trump, call us all libtards and describe things through food analogies, and finally Denis Nikolin, our athentic American correspondent who is definitely not shady at all.   Get in touch with the show, suggest topics to cover or just say hi! Email: makingeuropegrantsagain@gmail.com or follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @themegapodcast

The following podcast is all about Spiders and the fascinating role they play in our Natural World.  Alan and Deanna Henderson are the founders of Minibeast Wildlife and have their own Bug Shop where they ethically breed captive-bred populations of insects and arachnids for education facilities or for those who are brave enough to want one as a pet.You can find out more here on their website: https://www.minibeastwildlife.com.au/ Alan has had a fascination for invertebrates his whole life and has taken it as far as photographing these magnificent creatures with his passion for macro photography. THESE PHOTOS WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!!Alan and his wife Deanna are also the founding members of the very popular live exhibits found at the Melbourne Museum and this is called “Bugs Alive”!This episode will spark your curiosity and wonder for our 8 legged friends and you will want to know more…. I think Alan and Deanna will be regulars on our podcast sharing their passion and expertise.Don't forget to connect with me:http://www.instagram.com/jodie_creekhttp://www.instagram.com/australian_wildlife_educationWebsite - www.australianwildlifeeducation.comEmail - jodie@australianwildlifeeducation.comEnjoy the following Wild Chat!

'The Shadow knows...' This week Tony sits down with regular pod guest, comics creator and collector Alan Henderson and they discuss all things The Shadow. Find out about the history of this iconic pulp/radio/comics/movie character as well as the brilliant art of Mike Kaluta. One not to be missed. You can find Alan's comic creations online here and follow him on Twitter here. Many thanks for listening.

Grant is back, joined once again by the hilarious Kristýna Haklová as our stand in anchorwoman. Phil and Katie are still away helping Biden pick a vice presidential nominee in a "The Bachelor" like rose giving ceremony, but we still have some hilarious guests to fill up this week's show! First up is Brian Lennon - our Lifestyle correspondent, here to talk about all of the finer things in life and why they're actually awful, Katarina Puskarov - our Balkans correspondent, here to give us a super quick rundown of exactly what the hell is happening in Serbia and how to put retro crowd control techniques to good use, as well as being horrified by none other than Alan Henderson - our Conservative American correspondent, who had taken magic mushrooms right before the show and so was in a race against time to say the most awful things he could think of before they kicked in, with limited success.    Get in touch with the show, suggest topics to cover or just say hi! Email: makingeuropegrantsagain@gmail.com or follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @themegapodcast

Tony and returning guest and comics creator Alan Henderson sit down to talk about the first Queen and Country story arc 'Broken Ground' by Greg Rucka and Steve Rolston (with a short story drawn by Stan Sakai). The conversation takes in the story, the art, the characters as well as the Yorkshire TV inspiration for the comic. It's a cracking book with only a couple of scenes that Tony doesn't believe are 'genuine London' enough - he soon forgives and forgets. Tony and Alan also talk about his new Penned Guin Kickstarter that you should all back here! You can also follow Alan on Twitter here and find more feathered fun. Many thanks for listening.

If you thought if was fun to watch Jamal Meeks play, wait until you hear him talk. Who knew one of the most intimidating hoopers to ever don the candy stripes was so damn funny?? This scrappy bulldog of a point guard battled his way up from the playgrounds of small-town Illinois and found himself playing in the real Assembly Hall across the border in Bloomington. Once there, he became an integral part of some of the most beloved teams in Hoosier history, taking the court alongside the likes of Jay Edwards, Damon Bailey, Greg Graham, Alan Henderson and Calbert Cheaney. And boy does he have stories to tell, often aided by the best Bob Knight impersonation to ever grace the Hysterics podcast. Enjoy this one… it's impossible not to. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The quarantine is over in the Czech Republic and to celebrate the gang is back with a very special live episode on the subject of the recent Black Lives Matter protests in the USA and around the world. Releasing a little later than usual due to technical issues, Grant Gallacher, our comedian host, is joined by Phil Micallef, our one man house band and Kristýna Haklová, our stand in anchor while Katie Anderson is away. Also guesting on the podcast this week is: Erik Beckett - our Trends correspondent, here to talk about the history of riots in the US and what that means for today, Sean Ríordáin - our Brooklyn correspondent, here to talk to us about defunding the police and a city that has already tried exactly that, a surprise mystery guest (voiced by Meredith Clarke) who is related to our Conservative American correspondent Alan Henderson and has similarly hilarious yet appalling views. In addition to this fantastic line up of comedians we also have Téaira Marque, a black activist who spoke beautifully at the recent BLM protests here in Prague and who was invited on the show to prevent us from whitewashing this issue in a famously homogeneously caucasian country. This episode is funny, fasinating and hopefully will give our listeners a greater understanding of exactly what the BLM movement is about, what it is not about and why you should never mess with Big Momma. Get in touch with the show, suggest topics to cover or just say hi! Email: makingeuropegrantsagain@gmail.com or follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @themegapodcast

On the new episode Tony sits down with returning guest and comics creator Alan Henderson. The pair discuss 'A Contract With God and Other Tenement Stories' by Will Eisner. Don't mistake this collection of tales as a dull piece of comics history. This graphic novel is full of life and meaning as it ever was. The art is so amazing it will make your gut ache! You can find Alan and his Penned Guins here and also find him on Twitter right here. His work is funny and fun and perfect to read a little of every day. Buy a copy here. Highly recommended. Many thanks for listening.

Each month Cut the Crop! takes an on-air road trip, stopping off with FAR growers in the regions to find out what's on their minds. This month, we're with Steve Wilkins in Southland, Steven Bierema in Mid-Canterbury, Hugh Ritchie in Hawkes Bay and Alan Henderson in Waikato, talking about the COVID-19 lockdown period and the transition from harvesting last year's crops to establishing this year's. www.cutthecrop.co.nz

This week Tony is joined by the Master of The Colony. The Penned Guin himself Mr Alan Henderson. They travel through Martha's life and talk art, story, themes and terrorists dressed as Tom of Finland. This is a great series which explores so many themes that it's a wonder it's not talked about more! You can find more about Alan's work over at the site here https://pennedguin.bigcartel.com/ Many thanks for listening.

Grant is back for another special episode of the Making Europe Grant's Again podcast - another quarantine special. He is joined as always by amazing American anchor Katie Anderson and one man house band Phil Micallef, with another fantastic line up of guests joining us over Skype. This week our guests are Phil Varney and Claudia Fernandez - our Love in the Time of Coronavirus correspondents, here to give us ten top tips for your relationship lasting through the quarantine, with the strain from living together barely noticable in their voices, Kiro Nushev - our Good News correspondent, the first time anyone from the Balkans has been burdened with having to deliver pleasant news in the worlds second most agressive accent - after Scottish of course, Kristyna Haklova - our Bohemian correspondent, here to fill us in on the sitatuion here in the Czech Republic and also filling us in on how to properly steralize your sex toys during the quarantine, and finally Alan Henderson - our 'Oh My God These People Exist' correspondent, here to give us his unique take on the quarantine for conservative Americans and people from the South. Plus, get in touch with the show, suggest topics to cover or just say hi! Email: makingeuropegrantsagain@gmail.com or follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @themegapodcast

Another SkypeCast. My boy Alan Henderson skyped in all the across the world in Bratislava. We lost the first half hour where we discuss the coronavirus situation in Slovakia. But the rest came out alright. Follow Alan on social media and be safe blowies!

Grant is back with a special update on all things Brexit! He is joined as always by co-host, anchorwoman and comedian extraordinaire Katie Anderson, plus has the excellent musical stylings and terrible puns of Phil Micallef to lament the current state of the Kingdom formerly known as United. Not only that but this week we have three fantastic guests: Russel Adam Webb - our Smokescreen correspondent, here to peer behind the curtain of what exactly caused Brexit and lay bare the real (racist) reason Britian is headed off into the merciless great unknown alone, Tori Burton - our Hope correspondent, who has changed her tune from last episode to bring us a slight sliver of joy out of a hopeless situation, and Luke Ryan - our Irish correspondent, here to give us a quick history of the slight issues the UK and his great country might have had in the past, complete with some very British understatment and a possible reason for Remainers to be happy, as long as they're okay with changing religion. We also have two extra treats this week for you: A special guest, Brexit Baz from Basildon, a distant cousin of Conservative American correspondent Alan Henderson, here to give us the reasons why this brilliant Brexit is a beautiful British bash and, oh horror of horrors, Grant has become so upset over this whole sitation he's only gone and composed a poem. Prepare yourself for something truly special/awful (delete as appropriate). Check out Grant's new website: https://www.grantgallacher.com where you can listen to episodes and find out about his upcoming European tour! Plus, get in touch with the show, suggest topics to cover or just say hi! Email: makingeuropegrantsagain@gmail.com or follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @themegapodcast

Every Monday, comic book writer, Samuel George London, interviews interesting guests about what comics they'd take into the apocalypse. This week's guest is comic book artist, writer and fantastically fun person, Alan Henderson. ---Alan's Links--- https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1136825457/the-penned-guin-vision https://pennedguin.bigcartel.com/ https://pennedguins.tumblr.com/ https://twitter.com/Shadow1972 https://twitter.com/PennedGuin https://www.facebook.com/pennedguin/ ---ComicScene Links--- https://comicscene.org/ https://getmycomics.com/comicscene ---Apocalyptic Links--- https://soundcloud.com/comicsapocalypse https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/comi…se/id1448698111 https://open.spotify.com/show/2ri0g2yoyBKxX4x0IKYkCl https://twitter.com/SamuelGLondon https://www.instagram.com/samuelglondon/ https://www.facebook.com/ComicsApocalypse/

This pod is about: We talk to Nike and Yeezy footwear designer & founder of Ninety Nine Products Jeffrey Alan Henderson about what it was like creating at Nike headquarters, how the Nike/ Cole Haan collaboration came about, the best advice he got from Tinker Hatfield, starting from scratch in the beginning stages of YEEZY, and why creating the perfect everyday shoe for an educator is so important.     Jeffrey Alan Henderson: instagram.com/jeffreyalanhenderson instagram.com/ninetynineproducts ninetynineproducts.com Medium.com/and-them  When you TWEET or INSTAGRAM use our hashtag #WTPAA & #podin so other people can find out about this fire ass pod! . .   SUBSCRIBE TO BE NOTIFIED OF NEW EPISODES! http://feed.podbean.com/wtpaapod/feed.xml   YOUTUBE:   CHECK US OUT ON THE SOCIALSSS!   The Pod: Instagram.com/wtpaa.pod Twitter.com/wtpaapod . . Zig: Instagram.com/yeezus_christ Twitter.com/coolestout . . Zeek: Instagram.com/_zeek Twitter.com/_zeek . . Jamal: Instagram.com/weekendjay Twitter.com/Thatslite

This week the gang talk about their Thought Bubble 2019 experience and have a raft of interviews to showcase their adventure over the weekend! Great stuff to check out this week - Thought Bubble 2019, Dave Kennedy, Tales of Science Fiction, Al Davison, James Lawrence, The Legend of La Mariposa, The Knifepoint Horror Anthology, Luke Halsall, The Anomaly Squad, Jane Sayer, The Belles, Pete Taylor, Seven Sagas of Silverbeard, Michael Lomon, Nikki Draws, Alan Henderson, The Penned Guin, Umar Ditta, Lad: The Homecoming, Dave Clifford, 7 Shades: Hells Belles, Chip Collective, Living with Cancer, Amanda Eleanor Tribble, Mega City Podcast, Bam Comic Art and Zine Fair! CLICK HERE TO GET COPIES OF OUR ANTHOLOGY - AWESOME COMICS Join the discussion today at our facebook group Awesome Comics Talk Check out the folks who sponsor this lil show - the mighty folks at Comichaus! If you love our Intro/Outro music, then check out the brilliant Chad Fifer and more of his musical badassery at www.chadfifer.bandcamp.com  Let us know what you think! Email: awesomecomicspod@gmail.com 

This episode we are joined by comedians and friends Alan Henderson and Mike Freedman. We discuss reviews for a community center, a powerwash business, a pet psychic, a perfume shop, and more!

Comedy master Alan Henderson is back to discuss something a little more light-hearted this time and what better way than to watch a dog outsmart several people in this episode. We discuss the best hiding place for diamonds, who should get fired from the police force and how not to dress (even in the 90’s). … Continue reading "Episode 88 – Kommissar Rex – Tod im Museum – 1996"

My newest addition to the pantheon of funny co-hosts, Alan Henderson feels like dying of the plague after watching this horrendous and arduous movie that could have been so much more. We discuss different kinds of Jesus, what it means to be bored in the Middle Ages and who not to work for. Check out … Continue reading "Episode 87 – Black Death – 2010"

Grant Gallacher returns with Katie Anderson and Phil Micallef, for a festive American Christmas special, complete with three  amazing American correspondants - Sean Ríordàin, Alan Henderson and Katarina Puskarov  - one liberal, one conservative and one 'undercover' to discuss just what the hell is going on in the Great United States. We look at immigration, religion, racism and have a very special surprise for our US listeners at the end.  Enjoy! Get in touch with the show, suggest topics or just say hi: makingeuropegrantsagain@gmail.com

Host Mike Di Stasio investigates the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the Original Superman, George Reeves

*Theme Music: Chartsmasher – Dial Up* https://chartsmasher.bandcamp.com/releases https://specialdudescomix.bigcartel.com/ [Another amazing comics podcast to check out.] https://comicartpodcast.wordpress.com/ Hey folks. Welcome to That Comic Smell Podcast. Let’s not beat around the bush here, 5 straight white males are about to sit around and talk female characters in comics… We know how it sounds. We really enjoyed it. With our very special guest there also, it was majorly fun. Yes, we are joined by the one, the only, Alan Henderson! (Other Alan’s are available) The brain behind the incredible “Penned Guin” comic strip series http://pennedguins.tumblr.com/ We also raid Alan’s mind for a while and get to the root of what makes him tick *Spoiler… penguins* This and all the usual comics chat on the only comics podcast to hold the line… because love isn’t always on time, woah woah woooah… That Comic Smell! Follow us on Twitter & Instagram @thatcomicsmell Get us on… Soundcloud: tinyurl.com/y8vzeh3c YouTube: tinyurl.com/yajnxcno iTunes: tinyurl.com/hwbqxab Don’t forget to Like, Share, Subscribe, Rate & Review. You can also find us on the Podbean app. Thanks again for listening and supporting the podcast Here are some of the titles mentioned: She-Hulk (John Byrne) Love & Rockets (Gilbert, Jaime and Mario Hernandez) Hate (Peter Bagge) Calvin & Hobbes (Bill Watterson) Adventure Time (Titan Comics - Various Creators - Series Created by Pendleton Ward) Wonder Woman (William Moulton Marston, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Olive Byrne, Harry G. Peter) Renee Montoya [Gotham Central] (Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Mitch Brian) Amanda Waller [Suicide Squad & Various Others] (John Ostrander, Len Wein, John, Byrne) Tara Chace [Queen & Country] (Gregg Rucka)

Episode 11 looks into the intricate world of minibeasts and their ecosystems that are vital for human existence. It’s easy to forget we basically live in urban jungles filled with these creatures that have survived and thrived for hundreds of millions of years! Most children at some stage become intrigued about bugs and insects, Alan Henderson has taken that passion and made a living out of being an expert in the field, residing in North Queensland he has an impressive resume and passion for these creatures whose habitat is sadly being destroyed at startling rates. What makes them so special, how to make your home more minibeast friendly and and great macro photography tips are just some of the questions covered in this fascinating chat. 

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch continue their NBA 20 Years Ago series with a look at the news, notes and games of the NBA 20 Years Ago. This episode will focus primarily on the 1998 NBA Playoffs featuring an upstart Los Angeles Lakers team, Karl Malone, John Stockton and the Utah Jazz looking to get back to the NBA Finals and Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls' last stand as they try for a three-peat repeat. In this episode, we cover each 1998 NBA Playoff series including most prominent games, news and notes surrounding the games and top performers in each series. Highlights include Shawn Kemp's stellar contributions to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the New Jersey Nets nearly pulling off a Game 1 upset against the Bulls, Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves giving George Karl and the Seattle Supersonics a scare, the New York Knicks and Miami Heat reviving their playoff rivalry and fisticuffs, a series of boring 4-1 Conference Semifinal matchups, Indiana taking the Bulls to seven games and of course, Jordan's iconic final shot and the highest-rated NBA Finals in history. We'll also chime in with news, notes and NBA season award winners along the way including the firing of Karl in Seattle, Atlanta's Alan Henderson winning Most Improved Player, Danny Manning's semi-controversial Sixth Man of the Year award, the unknown to us before today IBM Award and how the award winner was determined, All-NBA teams and of course, Most Valuable Player. Last but not least, we look at the beginning of the NBA lockout, which player was first to miss a game-check and what the rest of the summer could hold for the NBA, its players, its owners and the fans.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What God Thinks About You - Ps. Alan Henderson

In the annals of Indiana history, no seasons are bigger than the five commemorated with banners in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Outside of those five seasons, two probably stand taller than any others: the 1975 season and the 1993 season. Most IU fans firmly believe that were it not for injuries (Scott May's arm, Alan Henderson's knee) those two seasons would have be commemorated with banners as well. This season marks the 25th anniversary of the 1993 season, which had been Indiana's last outright Big Ten championship before the 2013 team did it 20 years later. The '93 team was filled with IU legends: Calbert Cheaney, Greg Graham, Alan Henderson, Damon Bailey, Brian Evans, and more. And, of course, it featured Bob Knight still at the peak of his coaching powers. Plus, the '93 season had unique elements like Calbert breaking the Big Ten scoring record, Nick Nolte attending games as he prepped for his role as Pete Bell in Blue Chips, the legendary story of Ivan Renko, and so much more. For those of us who grew up immersed in IU basketball at the time, it was a truly special season -- perhaps the last when IU was truly at the epicenter of the college basketball universe.For this special edition episode, we convened an esteemed and enthusiastic panel to take a trip down memory lane and discuss the '93 season, as well as, inevitability, the Final Four season of 1992 that proceeded it. -- Bill Murphy, author of numerous books about the history of IU sports, including Branch and the recently released Indiana Hoosiers Fans Bucket List, which he wrote with Terry Hutchens. (Starts at 7:10)-- Galen Clavio, host of Crimson Cast, head of the IU Sports Media department, and occasional guest host of The Assembly Call. (Starts at 50:16) Note: if you want to watch the archived games that Galen has on his YouTube channel, use this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwyoEBP715uxHe2tYn9GioA-- Chris Williams, the man behind the @IUArtifacts Twitter account and article series here at assemblycall.com. (starts at 1:17:00)I hope you enjoy this trip down IU memory lane. Merry Christmas!