LIVE AND DIRECT FROM 1967
(le) poisson rouge
158 Bleecker St.
Friday, March 11, $25-$30, 6:30
212-228-4854
www.robynhitchcock.com
www.joeboyd.co.uk
www.myspace.com/lepoissonrougenyc
Since the mid-1970s, acerbic singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock has been regaling the world with philosophical, intellectual, and downright funny tales as a solo performer and with such bands as the Soft Boys, the Egyptians, and the Venus 3. His live shows, documented in Jonathan Demme’s 1998 documentary, Storefront Hitchcock, are always unusual and immensely entertaining, anchored by his often hysterically rambling between-song chatter in addition to his immense talent at writing a damn good tune. Always up to something different — in June he’ll team up with the Imaginary Band to play a one-off UK tribute to the recently deceased Captain Beefheart, performing the seminal album Clear Spot in its entirety — he’ll be at (le) poisson rouge on Friday night with longtime friend Joe Boyd, the legendary American producer who has worked with everyone from the Incredible String Band, Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, and Kate and Anna McGarrigle to Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Billy Bragg, R.E.M., and ¡Cubanismo! Hitchcock and Boyd are in the midst of a brief tour dubbed “Chinese White Bicycles: Live and Direct from 1967,” in which Boyd reads passages from his recently rereleased memoir, White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s (Serpent’s tail, December 2010, $14.95), Hitchcock plays songs by the groups mentioned in the book, the music that influenced him when he was growing up in London, and the two just talk about stuff. “Joe had a hand in creating a world that revolutionised mine,” Hitchcock notes on his website. “If he is Dr Frankenstein, then I’m his monster. Or one of them…” Get ready for what should be one very groovy night.
Robyn Hitchcock gets down to the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “What a Day for a Daydream” at (le) poisson rouge show with Joe Boyd (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Update: It did indeed turn out to be one groovy night, as Joe Boyd told great stories about hanging out with such seminal figures as Zal Yanovsky and Joe Butler of the Lovin’ Spoonful, Robin Williamson and Clive Palmer of the Incredible String Band, Paul Butterfield (with Boyd suggesting he add Mike Bloomfield to the Blues Band), Nick Drake (not looking forward to his songs being overproduced), and Fairport Convention (as they decided to eschew American folk rock and turn to the English tradition after fearing they could never create something as special as the Band’s Music from Big Pink). He talked about putting together a Syd Barrett tribute that ultimately involved Pink Floyd, about losing out on a one-night stand to Bob Dylan, and about Maria Muldaur and Eric Muldaur falling in love. He gave the show a decidedly New York bent, mentioning many of the haunts they used to go to that were just around the corner from (le) poisson rouge; “This is the beating heart of the sixties,” he said of the city. He also apologized for convincing LPR that he and Robyn Hitchcock should perform in the round, resulting in their backs to much of the audience, which boasted Rufus Wainwright. After each tale, Hitchcock introduced and played a song by the respective musicians, including the ISB’s “Way Back in the 1960s,” Dylan’s “All I Really Want to Do,” the Spoonful’s “What a Day for a Daydream” (flat on his back), Fairport Convention’s “Reynardine,” Drake’s “River Man,” and the Floyd’s “Bike.” The encore was a riveting tale of Boyd being at the center of Dylan going electric at Newport, as the evening concluded with Hitchcock offering up Bob’s spiteful “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” followed by Boyd and Hitchcock signing books, CDs, and posters. (For a slideshow of the event, click here.)