The Naked Shakespeare Or King Strut? Options

[kinch]

What does everyone think about these two early collaborations between Peter and Andy?

For me, The Naked Shakespeare was a very big inspiration. Andy's production, which popped in at the beginning of track 2, "Weird Monkeys," has a really creative, 3-D quality to it. Peter's songwriting is brilliant, with his trademark tongue in cheek intellectual poetry mixed with silly jokes. This album was also the first time Andy had worked directly with David Lord as an engineer, which then led to him producing and engineering "The Big Express."

King Strut, as an album, is a bit less memorable to me because Andy only produced a handful of the tracks. The songwriting is strong throughout though. I still think it's interesting that Andy adapted his guitar riff from "Broomstick Rhythm" to the song "King Strut." It has that showy, regal quality that fits just perfectly. I actually find the "Peter Who?" promo they did for this album to be far more creative than the album itself.

[Bill Wikstrom]

The Naked Shakespeare is far superior in several ways. Taking someone like Peter and filtering him through a "pop" sensibility is always going to be interesting and if the songs are good (which they were) can't be a bad thing. And it's Andy's pop sensibility so it's going to be even more interesting. The Naked Shakespeare has a nice warm sound in the production which is interesting with Peter's decidedly would-be-avant garde Dylan-speak vocals. The only criticism is the actual sound of the drums are pretty awful (similar to The Big Express).

King Strut is a fine album but not in the same league as The Naked Shakespeare.

Peter Who? Is amusing...once and in a very "ha-ha" funny sort of way.

[Per Aronsson]

"The Naked Shakespeare" is a gem. My favetrack is "Karen".

Here is his discography. Eh, why does the name John Relph ring a bell?  apewink20x20lr9.jpg ( 794bytes ) Number of downloads: 1


http://idiot-dog.com/music/blegvad.peter/

Then you also have his work as a cartoonist:

http://www.leviathan.co.uk/menu.html

[Bill Wikstrom]

Relph does right by everyone!

[kinch]

For fans of "The Naked Shakespeare," are you familiar with the song "Major/Minor"? It was not on the original LP, but is on the cd version. I believe it was the b-side of the single "Pretty U, Ugly I" from "Knights Like This."

[xyzman]

Naked Shakespeare every time.

I bought it because of the Andy connection and was then surprised to see Colin play bass on a couple of tracks.

So whilst it was really interesting hearing the sound that predated the Big Express and the Three Wise Men, Peter's songs took hold and that's why I ended up thinking it was terrific with the XTC connection taking second stage.

Didn't really get that buzz with King Strut.

[Honeycomb Jack]

Naked Shakespeare every time.

I bought it because of the Andy connection and was then surprised to see Colin play bass on a couple of tracks.

So whilst it was really interesting hearing the sound that predated the Big Express and the Three Wise Men, Peter's songs took hold and that's why I ended up thinking it was terrific with the XTC connection taking second stage.

Didn't really get that buzz with King Strut.

I'm not that keen on King Strut - haven't got Naked Shakespeare, and by all accounts (ie my limited trawlling on the web) its pretty hard to get hold of. Any tips on where to buy Naked Shakespeare?

[xyzman]

I'm not that keen on King Strut - haven't got Naked Shakespeare, and by all accounts (ie my limited trawlling on the web) its pretty hard to get hold of. Any tips on where to buy Naked Shakespeare?

HJ,

Only real place to look would be e-bay as far as I'm concerned although you may have luck through Discogs - www.discogs.com

Hope that helps.

[lokrume04]

Hi, both cd and LP available on gemm. http://www1.gemm.com/c/search.pl?field=MUS...lickflag%3D1%26

[Honeycomb Jack]

Thanks for the help, xyzman and lokrume04, and for the pointers towards discogs and gemm - I haven't heard of those sites before! I shall be paying those sites a visit in the future.

Copies are still a bit expensive there, aren't they? I've ended up downloading a copy (via discogs) from iTunes for £5.49, and shall give it a listen next week!

Thanks again chaps for giving me a nudge to actually buy this! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Honeycomb Jack]

What does everyone think about these two early collaborations between Peter and Andy?

For me, The Naked Shakespeare was a very big inspiration. Andy's production, which popped in at the beginning of track 2, "Weird Monkeys," has a really creative, 3-D quality to it. Peter's songwriting is brilliant, with his trademark tongue in cheek intellectual poetry mixed with silly jokes. This album was also the first time Andy had worked directly with David Lord as an engineer, which then led to him producing and engineering "The Big Express."

King Strut, as an album, is a bit less memorable to me because Andy only produced a handful of the tracks. The songwriting is strong throughout though. I still think it's interesting that Andy adapted his guitar riff from "Broomstick Rhythm" to the song "King Strut." It has that showy, regal quality that fits just perfectly. I actually find the "Peter Who?" promo they did for this album to be far more creative than the album itself.

I've been playing these two albums back to back for the last couple of days, and I'm now finding it hard to choose between the two. I've had to revise my initial opinion of 'King Strut' for a start! I did think the 80's production of 'Naked Shakespeare' would get on my nerves, but surprisingly it hasn't. I think this is due to Dave Stewart's production. I'm a sucker for story songs and Peter grabs my imagination every time.

Both albums have what I would call 'majestic' songs. On King Strut, its 'Gold' and on Naked Shakespeare, its 'Irma'.

The best example of what Andy can do with a song is on 'King Strut' and with the song 'King Strut'. Just listen to the song and the reprise, with Andy playing all the instruments. Great stuff.

Another amazing thing about Peter Blegvad is the amount of quality musicians he attracts - Danny Thompson (I'm a big John Martyn/Nick Drake fan), Jakko Jakswyck (hope that's spelt right?) Dave Stewart, Barbara Gaskill and of course Andy and Colin.

Kinch - I couldn't hear the connection between King Strut and Broomstick Rhythm - am I listening in the wrong place? Although I can hear a connection between 'Weird Monkeys' and 'Beetle' from 'Orpheus'

No apologies from me for sitting on the fence with these two albums, I'm afraid!

[kinch]

I did think the 80's production of 'Naked Shakespeare' would get on my nerves, but surprisingly it hasn't. I think this is due to Dave Stewart's production. I'm a sucker for story songs and Peter grabs my imagination every time.

Kinch - I couldn't hear the connection between King Strut and Broomstick Rhythm - am I listening in the wrong place? Although I can hear a connection between 'Weird Monkeys' and 'Beetle' from 'Orpheus'

Blasphemy! Dave Stewart only produced "How Beautiful You Are" on NS. The rest is most obviously Andy's handiwork.

The riff from King Strut that is an adaptation from Broomstick Rhythm is the guitar riff. In BR it's done on a keyboard and is played in a more straightforward style. On KS, it has been altered a bit and played more as a swing/jazzy approximation of the same melody line. I'm talking about the guitar version of KS as opposed to Andy's radical reworking that ends the album.

[Honeycomb Jack]

Blasphemy! Dave Stewart only produced "How Beautiful You Are" on NS. The rest is most obviously Andy's handiwork.

The riff from King Strut that is an adaptation from Broomstick Rhythm is the guitar riff. In BR it's done on a keyboard and is played in a more straightforward style. On KS, it has been altered a bit and played more as a swing/jazzy approximation of the same melody line. I'm talking about the guitar version of KS as opposed to Andy's radical reworking that ends the album.

I stand corrected! That's what you get when you download stuff from iTunes - no credits regarding producing etc. I looked up the info on discogs and assumed that as Dave Stewart produced the first track he produced them all. Well, at least I indirectly praised Andy's production, I suppose (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Just had a listen to Broomstick Rhythm - yes, I see it now!

Can you hear the link between 'Weird Monkeys' and 'Beetle'?

[Andy Partridge]

Jack,I dont get that BEETLE connection at all,have you been on the Spangles again? Dave Stewart started the SHAKEPEARE production but all involved thought it was turning out a bit too "Dollar",so Pete went with me. The eighties production will be the Linn drum,the new toy at the time.
IRMA used to give me the shivers and the one about the egg was marvelous,I ought to dig the CD out and give it a spin.

[Honeycomb Jack]

Jack,I dont get that BEETLE connection at all,have you been on the Spangles again?

I've listened to the two tracks again and the only reason I can think of why I said it was to be called a blasphemer again by kinch.

[Andy Partridge]

The new stuff that Peter,myself and Stu Rowe are finding in the firmament,when Peter is not doing his lecturing and illustration work,is coming along good.That's not a dig,we work when Peter can take time off from doing the things that put the bread on the table.The new stuff is not so much poetry or song,more....well a hybrid between the two ,pongetry,...sowing, anyone??
We are using a largely acoustic palette,percussion,acoustic guitar,upright bass,sax,flute,mellotron and some sound effects work.Very dreamlike and i'm enjoying it greatly so far.Peters words are always good.
Some teaser titles for you....WORSE ON THE WAY{most thrillingly miserable piece ever written?},DEVILS LEXICON{the blues broken down to their elements},SACRED OBJECTS{weird 40's dream of thing},STARE AT THE SUN,{beatnik heaven}

Hooray for us!

[geordiegav]

Sounds great Andy,oh I do love it when you let out a few teaser titles!

[donavan]

Sounds great Andy,oh I do love it when you let out a few teaser titles!

Steady on Gav (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[favoritething]

The only solo Peter albums I have are "Downtime" and "Just Woke Up" (both great). I really should catch up on those other two, though I do have the "King Strut"/"Shirt and Comb" 45 on red vinyl, which I just digitized.
I also have the "Leviathan" book and, of course, "Orpheus"...and soon (!) "Gonwards"!