New solo album Game Day is out now;
archival release with Alex Chilton is due in October
Congratulations to Peter on the release of his second proper solo album in 21 years! Game Day is receiving excellent reviews: 4 stars from AllMusic and No Depression calls it "a real gift". Read more reviews here & here. Interviews with Peter are here, here & here. Live gigs in N.C. and Los Angeles are scheduled, and other live shows may follow elsewhere (at last report, a certain Mr. Will Rigby is playing drums in the band). Peter is blogging again, so keep up with Game Day developments here.
![PH%2B-%2BGame%2BDay%2Bgraphic.jpg]() |
| PH - clearly psyched for Game Day |
PH RELEASE NUMBER TWO COMING IN OCTOBER:
The Death of Rock
credited to Peter and ... Alex Chilton!
![PH%2B-%2BDeath%2Bof%2BRock%2Bcover.jpg]() |
It's probably the last thing Peter & Omnivore Recordings want you to be
thinking about right now. But this is a fan blog, so we're spilling the beans. |
50 year-old recording sessions from Memphis, TN become an album. In 1978, Peter had relocated from N.C. to Memphis, hoping to collaborate with Big Star leaders Chris Bell and Alex Chilton. When Bell said he wasn't interested, Peter found a willing partner in Richard Rosebrough, Ardent Studios engineer, musician & friend of Big Star. They began recording sessions in the summer of 1978 at Sam Phillips' studio. Alex Chilton got involved a bit later (see below). I was tipped off to this release by eagle-eye Fantom, and found some supporting evidence here & there.
Here's pre-release info recently posted at Amazon, iTunes & similar sites:
Peter Holsapple vs. Alex Chilton - The Death Of Rock
• Newly discovered recordings of early solo Peter Holsapple and Like Flies On Sherbert–era Alex Chilton
• Liner notes by Peter Holsapple and author/filmmaker, Robert Gordon
• Previously unseen photos from the collections of Peter Holsapple and Pat Rainer
It’s 1978 at Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis, TN. Peter Holsapple had rolled into town chasing the essence of Big Star. He hooked up with musician/ engineer/ friend-of-Big-Star, Richard Rosebrough after approaching, and being turned down by, Chris Bell who Holsapple had hoped might be interested in producing him. Together Richard and Peter started laying down tracks during the off hours at the studio.
Chilton meanwhile, was knee deep in the making of Like Flies On Sherbert, also being tracked at Phillips. He told Peter, “I heard some of that stuff you’re working on with Richard . . . and it really sucks.” Alex promised to come by and show Peter “how it’s done.” The results? Alex’s tracks definitely line up with the chaos found on Flies, while several of Peter’s songs found homes on The dB’s albums (“Bad Reputation” and “We Were Happy There”) and on an album by The Troggs (“The Death Of Rock” retooled as “I’m In Control”), so not a loss at all.
What we have in these newly discovered tapes, is a fascinating pivot point with both artists moving past each other headed in distinctly different directions. Chilton moved toward punk/psychobilly as he began playing with Tav Falco’s Panther Burns and produced The Cramps debut, Songs The Lord Taught Us, within a few months of these recordings. Holsapple was off to New York to audition for The dB’s and enter the world of “sweet pop.”
Liner notes by Peter Holsapple tell the story of these recordings firsthand and author/ filmmaker/ Memphian, Robert Gordon, helps pull the time and place into focus. Previously unseen photos included in the package are drawn from the collections of Peter Holsapple and Pat Rainer. Produced by Cheryl Pawelski with mastering by Mike Graves at Osiris Studio and Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl/Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis, who brings it all right back to where it started.
Track Listing:
1. Bad Reputation
2. Tennis Bum
3. House Is Not a Home
4. Marshall Law
5. We Were Happy
6. Heart and Soul
7. The Death of Rock
8. Train Kept a Rollin'
9. Take Me Back
10. Hey Mona
11. Mind Your Manners (backing track)
12. Bad Reputation (backing track)
13. Tennis Bum (rehearsal)
14. O My Soul (instrumental rehearsal)
15. In the Street (instrumental rehearsal)
16. Baby I Love You (rehearsal)
17. The Death of Rock (rehearsal)
18. Someone's Gotta Shine Your Shoes (rehearsal)
19. Mind Your Manners (4-track version with vocals)
Notes: tracks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 & 13 are credited to Alex Chilton; all others to Peter Holsapple (Apple Music & Apple iTunes list the same tracks in a different order)
DUE OUT Oct. 12, 2018 on Omnivore Recordings
Pre-order The Death of Rock HERE (CD) and HERE (vinyl). Go to Amazon & iTunes for digital download pre-orders; they come with an immediate download of the song "The Death of Rock" -- which can also be downloaded separately.
