Taking Liberties

I am sorry to report the death of Eric Layman. I don't suppose any of you will have heard of Eric. Born in New Westminster, British Columbia, in 1943, he was a poet and writer who lived in Toronto from 1957. In 2001 he wrote "The Smoke Police" which was subsequently set to music by fellow Canadian Matt Finlayson whose band, The Intended, featured it on their excellent CD Route 101.

Three years ago, when I was in Toronto, I met up with Matt who proved extraordinarily generous with his time. Not only did he give me a guided tour of the city, he also took me to see Niagara Falls and invited me for dinner at his home where I met his family and, I'm delighted to say, Eric Layman. We had a lovely evening and I enjoyed their company enormously.

Eric died last month, aged 64, and a memorial service took place on Sunday. Matt, who was MC, was one of many friends and colleagues who paid their respects and his spirits were raised, he tells me, when he read THIS obituary in the (national) Globe and Mail.

To this Matt adds, "My good friend Eric Layman, poet and writer, was one of Canada’s best kept secrets. He was as good as any poet that has come out of Canada. I saw Eric at many poetry readings over the last 25 years and he never failed to impress. He has left a very substantial body of high quality work. I will continue to champion his work. There will be a number of poems which I will use in a recording session in June for a new album."

To view some of Eric's poems click HERE. The lyrics to "The Smoke Police" - with comments by Eric himself - can be found HERE.

You can purchase and download "The Smoke Police" HERE. Warmly recommended.

The Free Society website will go live next Monday, February 4. This morning, one of the first articles to be commissioned for the site arrived in my inbox. The author, Joe Jackson, is an old friend of Forest and I am thrilled that he is publicly supporting the new project. The article begins:

As I write this, I'm busy promoting my new album Rain; sitting in hotel rooms or record company offices all day doing interviews and answering the same questions over and over again. It can be interesting, though, when it forces me to examine my own motivations in ways I never did while I was actually writing the songs. It's as though the journalists hold up a mirror, and what I see in that mirror can be surprising.

For one thing, you're supposed to be an 'angry young man' at 20 and 'mellow' at 50, but I'm more angry and rebellious than ever. Don't get me wrong; I don't walk around with a black cloud over my head. I enjoy my life. But age and experience have provided me with more and more things to be angry about.

You'll have to wait until next week to read the full article, but I can reveal that it was prompted by 'Citizen Sane', a song on the new album which is released tomorrow. Recorded in Berlin, where he now lives, Rain features ten new songs and is reviewed HERE.

Joe Jackson, a member of Forest's Supporters Council and an outspoken critic of smoking bans, has a new album out on January 29. Recorded in Berlin (where he now lives) and mixed in New York, Rain (left) features ten new songs, at least two of which feature some "barbed social commentary".

A few days ago Joe emailed to say that:

'Citizen Sane' is about how everyone is looking to authorities to tell them how to live but the authorities are all corrupt, including the doctors, and 'King Pleasure Time' is about how pleasure rules the world but many people don't know it or have forgotten. I guess those two have some relevance to Forest or The Free Society.

You can pre-order the album HERE.

Beginning late February, Joe will embark on a 4-5 month tour which will take in Europe, North America, Australia and several places Joe has never played, including Israel, South Africa and Eastern Europe. He will also be contributing to the new Free Society website. Watch this space.

Took the family to see Ian Hunter at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on Sunday night. We arrived (in torrential rain) shortly after seven - in time to see the excellent support act (Jesse Malin) - and eventually got home well past midnight. It's fair to say that my daughter, aged 10, was the youngest person there. Review HERE.

My son, meanwhile, has just celebrated his thirteenth birthday. He requested CDs by Led Zeppelin, the Ramones and Nirvana. Damn, it just got a little bit noisier around here.

Note: download Ian Hunter's 'How's Your House' (video below) and help the New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund. Play it LOUD.

Joe Jackson (below) is not alone in recording an anti-ban protest song. The Pretty Things, founded in the Sixties and still playing and recording with their original line-up, have just released their own freedom of choice anthem, 'All Light Up'.

It's part of the band's All Light Up campaign that includes a dedicated website where you can download the track free of charge. "Play it loud and clear for all to hear, wherever you go. At home. In the car. In clubs and pubs. At work. And tell your friends to do the same!"

You can also download flyers, posters (left) and a message from the band's founder Phil May. The poster looks fantastic and the whole campaign is brilliantly designed. Manager Mark St John tells me that a video will be available on YouTube this coming week. We''ll keep you posted.