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 Post subject: Re: Solo Roxy - Non Ferry
PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:02 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:26 am
Posts: 1119
We probably all owe J.O'B an apology for having taken this thread rather "off piste"!

I've always loved the other members' solo recordings and own almost everything by Phil, Andy & Eddie, plus a lot of Eno's vocal stuff (not so keen on the ambient genre), but I guess that may put me in the minority, as those works don't provoke much discussion here. Perhaps those who post here more regularly than I do will be persuaded to start such a thread? :)

I think Windswept2 is probably correct in thinking that many of us view the Roxy albums on Island as a sorely missed golden era; nostalgia ain't what it used to be! ;) However, one of the reasons for that is the strength of the individual contributions by the band members.

I'm with Miniluv on this score and feel sure that Roxy's more avant garde moments owe a great deal to musical interests like free jazz (Graham Simpson), prog rock (Phil), modern classical (Andy) and experimental electronic (Eno). Given that BF was not a trained musician when Roxy was born, I'm guessing that the other members may have contributed to the compositions and their respective instrumental parts too, even if that is not reflected in the writing credits. And BF himself has admitted that Roxy could not ever have happened without Graham.

So, while Roxy was BF's concept from the outset and he has moved on and chosen to perform its repertoire with different musicians (as have Phil & Andy to a much lesser degree), Roxy will never truly be Roxy for many of us without Andy & Phil and, ideally, TGPT on board.

What we happily pay to hear in concert these days is not Roxy Music; that ship has sailed, which is why some of us went to NYC for the Hall Of Fame induction; those 20 minutes of music were always likely to be Roxy's final bow.

It's still great entertainment on its own terms, of course: Jorja is a fine musician, but she plays Andy's solos pretty much note for note; Spedding is a great guitarist, but Phil undeniably brings something special when he plays the Roxy songs; and nobody plays Roxy on the drums quite like TGPT (although he has always been generous in his praise of his "successors"). For that matter, no violinist will ever play that closing OOTB solo quite like EJ...

Indeed, I'm led to believe that the Roxy brand requires Andy & Phil's involvement, as well as BF's, in any activity under the band's name. So, if Roxy is Ferry, surely it's also Mackay and Manzanera (and, for many of us, Thompson too)?


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 Post subject: Re: Solo Roxy - Non Ferry
PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:56 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2012 10:58 am
Posts: 237
Well said Smudge!

Peter, I didn't know that Phil sang on the Roxy albums - I will have to listen out for him. Other things that people aren't credited for are Chris Thomas playing bass on Street Life, and Bryan and TGPT playing sax along with Andy towards the end of Mother of Pearl (Bryan mentioned this many years ago in an interview with BRMB Radio).

This weeks offering from Robert fripp and Toyah is worth a look and listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l-vRViTA7Y
Robert talks about Eno from 2:45 and later he ends up playing King Crimson in his kitchen!


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 Post subject: Re: Solo Roxy - Non Ferry
PostPosted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:52 pm 
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Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:25 pm
Posts: 616
Location: Kempten
Very good posts, Smudge ;) .

When I am the fan of a band, I tend to buy at least some of the solo albums the members have released. Roxy (Ferry, Eno, PM, AM, 801, Explorers, Players, Wetton/Manzanera, Metaphors etc.), Genesis (Collins, Gabriel, Rutherford, Hackett), Police (Sting, Copeland, Summers), Toto (Lukather, Kimball), Eagles (Henley, Frey, Walsh, Schmit), Kinks (Davies Bros.) etc. My CD shelf is full of solo works because I am always interested what's the musical part of these musicians within their bands.

Today in the morning at a very good German private radio station I had the chance to listen to the song "Jump In My Car" by Chris Spedding. I already own his last album (with Ferry singing one song) but I think I'll have to order his Greatest Hits CD now. Very nice up-tempo songs the kind I like very much 8-) !

@Roger: I am not quite sure that Phil sang in the background of the studio versions of Roxy 1 + 2, but the SE of Roxy 1 shows that most of the members were singing on stage. Andy's voice on Eddie Riff was not overwhelming but Phil's way of singing on 6 pm + 50 minutes later wasn't that bad, was it?

BTW: One of the best Roxy gems ever has the credit "Thompson" - Your Application's Failed. What a pity that there are no lyrics ...


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 Post subject: Re: Solo Roxy - Non Ferry
PostPosted: Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:43 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:32 pm
Posts: 331
I would hazard a guess at Eno and Mackay doing backing vocals on at least the first album thereafter it seem's Ferry did all the vocals, backing and lead. Presumably he wasn't a great fan of the others voices.


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 Post subject: Re: Solo Roxy - Non Ferry
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:14 am 
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Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:42 pm
Posts: 271
Uwe wrote:
I didn't dream it.

This is the third and really last time I am writing what I read for a brief moment on Phil's homepage late in the evening in autumn 2010:
40 years of Roxy Music - World Tour in 2011 and a new Roxy album.

This post disappeared very quickly. My joy about this too.

What was left was (most likely a contractually guaranteed) a mini tour in 2011 and an album that was never to be made available to the public.

It is hardly surprising that the chemistry between Ferry, Mackay, Manzanera / Thompson was no longer right at this point.

It is a shame that Phil has not been officially contacted so far to inquire about the background of the processes at that time.

By the way, there was another person back then who had read this entry on Phil's HP, but has not commented on it until today ...

Too bad.

- Uwe -


I remember reading it clearly


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 Post subject: Re: Solo Roxy - Non Ferry
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:24 am 
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Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:42 pm
Posts: 271
VivaRoxyMusic.com wrote:
Windswept2 wrote:
Oberon wrote:
Bonjour, mes amis!

‘Olympia’ is a terrific example.
Originally trailered as a ‘Roxy’ project.
Windswept.


I have seen and heard this so many times and is simply not true that Olympia was Roxy's 9th album hijacked by Bryan Ferry as a solo record.

I wrote this post in a previous thread a while back showing that Olympia is not and never was the Roxy album:

Olympia - A BF album

I have often heard the Olympia album being accused of being the Roxy album that was hijacked to become a Ferry solo album, I wrote the following on a similar thread on another forum.:

I think you may find that very little of Olympia began as a potential Roxy song.

Roxy were in the studio around 2006-2007

1 You Can Dance (began in the mid 90s completed for Olympia)
2 Alphaville (began in the mid 90s completed for Olympia)
3 Heartache By Numbers (co-written with Scissor Sisters)
4 Me Oh My (No Roxy member plays on this)
5 Shameless (Co-write with Groove Armada)
6 Song To The Siren (Cover, began before the Roxy project)
7 No Face, No Name, No Number (Cover)
8 BF Bass (Manznaera co-write and also Eno on this track)
9 Reason Or Rhyme (Has Manzanera on guitar)
10 Tender Is The Night (Working title was 'Frantic' began pre 2002 and unfinished at the time of the 'Frantic' album
11 Whatever Gets You Through The Night (cover that began in mid 90's
12 One Night (leftover demo from Taxi that was then completed for Olympia)

The question is: What constitutes what would have been a 9th Roxy Music album song? For me it would be material that began for this album as a fresh idea and not something half written/sketched taken off Bryan, Phil or Andy's shelf dusted down and worked into a Roxy song. I would also say that covers are out even though RM did record 3 in their career.

From what I observed track by track above, the closest we can derive from the limited information we have is that 'BF Bass' and 'Reason Or Rhyme' may have began during the Roxy sessions. Having said this please note that Paul Thompson was on the Roxy sessions and is completely absent on this album so the Olympia is 'Roxy Music IX' argument is wearing thinner.

In my opinion, I think that if you were played Olympia for the first time with no sleeve notes or other information and were told one of the 8 original songs is a Ferry/Manzanera co-write I think BF Bass doesn't jump out as that very song.

To quote Andy Mackay from the Metaphors website in reference to some of the material being used on the Roxy album: <<"However I could not feel the commitment and passion that would get me through what would undoubtedly be be a long and difficult road to a finished album on tracks that I had not been involved with from the start>>"

I would deduce from this that there may be some of Olympia (and also any potential new Manzanera solo material) that was worked on during the Roxy IX sessions but was eventually returned to where it was originally intended, solo work.

J.O'B.


I think Andy's quote was referring to "more than half finished" Ferry songs that he brought to the studio.

My understanding is that Andy and Phil really wanted to work on properly new material rather than just add guitar, sax or oboe to a Ferry solo song in the manner they had done in the past on Ferry's solo albums such as Taxi and Mamouna.

The simple view is that they didn't want to be session players on a band album.


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