Geo News
Philly Pop Music profiles the extraordinary and diversified Philadelphia musical community with rare and unseen interviews, archive footage & photographs. Philly Pop Music is the new documentary film in production by George Manney and B.L.A.S.T. - Brotherly Love All-Star Tour productions.
COVER STORY
A & E
Nightlife
The Talent
Published: Oct 31,
2007
Best Most-Philly Film by A.D.Amorosi
For years, drummer George Manney's been trying to
finish his epic documentary about bygone Philly music scenes, City of
Brotherly Love. But by focusing on its most eccentric scenester ? the
late, great Rufus Harley, the jazz world's first bagpipe player ? he found
all the joy and weirdness the city can muster for his film Pipes of Peace.
Besides, how many movies star Ed Rendell and Laurie Anderson
CP Choice 2007
To read the review online, click the
Link below and scroll down about half way to Best Most-Philly Film
http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2007/11/01/a--e-nightlife
When loaded, scroll down
Rufus
Harley, the groundbreaking jazz bagpipe player, loved America 's
Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Rufus lived in Philadelphia,
the Cradle of Liberty, (which he called the "City of Brotherly and
Motherly Love") since the age of 3 until his untimely death in 2006. He
often handed out miniatures of the Liberty Bell to those he met all over
the world & in Philadelphia. This is for my friend, Rufus Harley.
The DVD, Pipes of Peace (the Rufus Harley story), is now available through Worldwide at Film Baby.com, featuring a two minute trailer to view (Broadband & Dial-up).
Click the Link to view/buy here:
New Geo Sound/B.L.A.S.T. production: The Original Orlons CD "Soothe & Groove."
Produced
by: Stephen Caldwell & George Manney
Mixed & Engineered by:
George Manney
B.L.A.S.T. http://www.brotherlylovetour.com
Original
Orlons: http://www.theorlons.com
Preview download the new Original
Orlons CD here. Just CLICK the image below
New Geo Sound production...
http://fallingcow.org/fcr/fcr.html
Tim Bowen and the Crystal Ball Breakers new CD "Issues" adopts a different approach... more succinct at six songs, more direct musically and more socially /politically conscious lyrically. "Issues" takes an head-on look at some of today's most difficult and troubling subject matter.
From the anthemic grandeur of "Let's Raise An Army (Take It To Darfur)", to the stripped down simplicity of "American Refugee" (possibly the definitive song about Hurricane Katrina) and Plastic Ono Band-esque rawness of the child abuse testimonial "Just A Little Boy", "Issues" tackles themes too rarely addressed in contemporary popular music with empathy and conviction.
Listen/purchase online here @ CD Baby: http://cdbaby.com/cd/tbatcbb2
Clutch Cargo -
Chill Trip
Check out
more music by Clutch
Cargo at iTunes
*If you currently have iTunes software installed in your computer, the above link will take you directly to Clutch Cargo - Chill Trip. If you have a Windows PC and do not currently have the software, the link will take you to a free download installation file for your PC.
copyright 2006 Su Teears
Rocking
from the cradle of liberty, Philadelphia, birthplace of the nation and the
Live Aid and Live 8 city brings you the Sounds, Sights and Tastes of
Philadelphia with...
B.L.A.S.T. ®2006
Brotherly Love All-Star Tour
The
Sounds may include any of the following Philadelphia
Brotherly Love All-Stars:
Billy Paul, Charlie Gracie, the Original
Orlons, The Soul Survivors, The Original Tymes, Nazz featuring Stewkey,
Frank Stallone, Dee Dee Sharp Jay & The Techniques and more !!
To book the
B.L.A.S.T. show, visit the 'official'
B.L.A.S.T. website here: www.brotherlylovetour.com
Read a review of our TLA Brotherly Love All-Star show on line here: http://www.prweb.com/printer.php?prid=153268
View a few of the B.L.A.S.T. -
Brotherly Love All-Star Tour artists in the
following 'live' clip...
copyright 2006 Su Teears
Behind the scenes of the filming of Rocky Balboa... with
Frank Stallone
(Kensington & Somerset area) Jan. 2006
Frank Stallone & I went to Lincoln High School
in NE Philly and we have
been friends since the age of
15!
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/rocky/
April 14-20, 2005
r New music
Verdanaicepackby A.D.
Amorosi
George
Manney's done such a job convincing
everyone there's a market for his Brotherly Love All Stars (April 9's affair at World Café
Live) — starring Cameo/Parkway label composers (Dave Appell), producers
(Joseph Tarsia) and artists (John Madara, the Orlons, Charlie Gracie) — ABKCO Inc. will issue a
four-CD set, The
Cameo Parkway Story, in May. Look for
former Alan Mann drummer Manney to take part in Janet Bressler's multi-artist Mann tribute
at WCL April 16. …
The Brotherly Love All-Star show at World
Cafe Live April 9, 2005 was a
success!
A sell-out show for Philadelphia's music pioneers.
Photos coming soon!
View our video clips from the show!
Posted on Tue, Apr. 05, 2005
Inqlings
By columnist Michael Klein
Whole lot of 'Love'
Two unrelated events this weekend share the name "Brotherly Love." Confusion abounds.
There's the Brotherly Love All-Star
Concert, a walk down Philly's memory lane
with such acts as Charlie
Gracie, the Original Orlons, Byard Lancaster, the
Soul Survivors and Stewkey's Nazz, Saturday night at
World Cafe Live in University City. Organizer George Manney will videotape the show for a
documentary.
Then there's
Brotherly Love, a multimedia dance-theater work that will
be staged
Friday through Sunday by Olive Dance Theatre and Goodie Goodie
Productions at the Community Education Center in West Philly.
Contact columnist: mklein@phillynews.com.
Read
his recent work at http://go.philly.com/michaelklein
We'd like to thank each and every one of you who took part in the first City of Brotherly Love All-Star Show on Tuesday August 24th 2004
The show was truly a joyous historic event!
Posted on Tue, Aug. 24,
2004
Tonight, a tribute
to local music memories
By Daniel Rubin
Inquirer Staff Writer
How could this be? The
Orlons, singers of that 1963 Top 10 hit South Street have never performed
on South Street.
Tonight, that gets fixed.
And Charlie Gracie, the original South Philly rocker, will also make his debut on that hippest street, 58 years after he bought his first guitar there, a $15 pawnshop special.
They're part of the Brotherly Love All-Star Show, a broad sweep of local talent booked into the TLA, including jazz bagpiper Rufus Harley, sidewalk serenader Byard Lancaster, the Soul Survivors, Nazz frontman Stewkey, Essra Mohawk, Tommy Conwell, the American Dream, and other visitors from the way-back machine.
The concert will be videotaped, as the icing on local music scenester George Manney's quixotic documentary about five decades of Philadelphia popular music and memories.
Which is remarkable, considering that the cake isn't quite baked - the documentary is still a modest collection of interviews. That it's happening at all is testimony to Manney.
He's managed to get the musicians to play for free on equipment loaned by Ibanez guitars and Tama drums. Restaurants like Chickie & Pete's and Copabanana have offered catering. Clear Channel donated the venue.
A community has kicked in to help in this love labor that has served as a sort of therapy, helping Manney through the aftermath of a serious car accident that left him unable to make a living playing drums.
"Because I can't go out and play, mentally and spiritually, it has been helping me keep my sanity," says Manney, 53, in his basement studio on Torresdale Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia.
A DVD sampler hints what sort of project Manney is cooking up. Beginning with a photograph of Manney as a boy in 1964 Atlantic City, and another of him playing drums in 1967, it's clear this is about memory as much as music.
There's Weldon McDougal of the Larks on video, talking about his job as a doorman at American Bandstand's West Philadelphia studio, and Stewkey (born Robert Antoni) talking about the mid-1960s friends that formed the band Nazz, including Todd Rundgren on lead guitar.
Harley - the jazz bagpiper - shows off the flags of many nations that adorn his bellows. His friend, the saxophonist Lancaster, tells of losing his gig in the house band at the old Showboat, where his bass player was the teenage Stanley Clarke.
The Spivak brothers, who would go on to open the Electric Factory, wanted Lancaster to work up jazz instrumental versions of Bob Dylan songs. Lancaster refused; he'd never heard of the dude.
Stephen Caldwell of the Orlons adds a definitive account of how the singers behind "The Wah Watusi" and "Don't Hang Up" came up with their name.
They were playing a talent show at Overbrook High School and had to be introduced. "I had a black sweater that was Du Pont material and in this black sweater was the label of what the material was," Caldwell tells Manney.
Last week, Caldwell said he listened skeptically when Manney approached him about the project and concert, but that he believed Manney was serious and sincere.
"I told him, if you think you want to do this, I am with you 100 percent, because this is something that needs to be done, and it needs a daddy. An honest one."
The Northeast-raised Manney might be best known for being the glue behind the Last Minute Jams, which began at the Khyber Pass in 1986 and moved to J.C. Dobbs until 1996, where players local and national would drop by to play together. Over the years the players included Spencer Davis, Chris Squire of Yes, Ace Frehley of Kiss, Greg Kihn, and members of Little Feat, Cinderella, the Psychedelic Furs and Bon Jovi.
Manney was working at Tower Records in the Northeast at dusk one afternoon in March 1992 when his life changed. As he crossed Roosevelt Boulevard to make a bank deposit, a car knocked him 50 feet, and the impact wrenched his left leg from its hip socket. His ribs were broken, his head swollen unrecognizably. He lay in a hospital bed for nine months.
To this day it hurts his neck and hip to play for more than 15 minutes.
His documentary arose out of a conversation he videotaped with members of the American Dream, a local band that played at the old Electric Factory, at 21st and Arch, in the late 1960s. He borrowed a friend's camera, trained it on his basement couch, and started talking about the music scene, influences, memorable gigs.
"Being around music all my life I found these people were more relaxed talking to me," says Manney, who with his red hair and long, angular sideburns resembles another drummer, Martin Chambers of the Pretenders.
"It was very interesting and they were very open. People were telling me things I didn't know about, and then I thought other people should see this."
Proceeds from the show will help him acquire rights to footage he covets, such as Charlie Gracie playing The Ed Sullivan Show.
So in a career that spans six decades, how come Gracie never played South Street?
"What can I tell you, I never played the Academy of Music either - wait, yes I did," Gracie said last week. Actually South Street, when he was growing up at Eighth and Pierce, had no theaters or nightclubs to play in. But he did get his start in South Street in another sense.
"When I was a young man, in 1946, South Street was all haberdashers and pawnshops. My father took me there one day to buy a suit for himself. He had $15 in his pocket. Back then you could get a suit and two pairs of pants for that. Instead of buying a suit, he told me to pick out a guitar. So we went to a pawnshop."
That was the first instrument for the man who nine years later, in 1957, had a hit called "Butterfly" that broke a million in sales, whose song "Fabulous" was a favorite covered by Paul McCartney.
And what about the Orlons, who asked, "Where do all the hippies meet?"
"We did the Easter Parade down there one year, but we sang on Second Street," recalls Chapman. At the Orlons' height, 1962 to 1964, there were clubs to play on South Street, but their manager preferred having them hit the "chitlin circuit," doing 60 days of shows in black clubs and theaters before going back into the studio.
Tickets for tonight's 8 o'clock show are available at the box office of the TLA, 334 South St., and Ticketmaster for $14.50.
Contact staff writer
Daniel Rubin at 215-854-5958 or
Posted on Tue, May. 11, 2004
Putting Philly music on video map
While others have tried (or threatened) to make a documentary about Philadelphia's pop musical history, independent producer/musician George Manney may be the first to bring home the scrapple.In prepping for his production, "City of Brotherly Love," the Northeast Philadelphia-based Manney and his Geo Sound production company have already put many hours of videotaped interviews in the can with the likes of Charlie Gracie, the Orlons' Stephen Caldwell, Stewkey (voice of the Nazz), Weldon McDougal of the Larks (and a one-time doorman at "Bandstand"), engineer Joe Tarsia (of Cameo-Parkway and Sigma Sound fame), and Larry Magid of Electric Factory/Clear Channel concerts.Aiming to cover LOTS of bases and time (1957 to '75), he's also nabbed the likes of young rumbler Tommy Conwell and jazz bagpipe great Rufus Harley on videotape. He's plotting to capture some of these talents as they are today - a la the Funk Brothers' "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" - in concert at the TLA on South Street to "round out" the documentary. Clear Channel is donating the venue for the cause, and Manney is hoping that others will come forward with help to complete his project this year.
Jonathan Takiff
May 6-12, 2004
Charlie Gracie
Rock/pop
When Charlie Gracie receives a tribute from the Philly Music
Awards -- three days before his 68th birthday, a week after reverb-rocking
custom-car fans at the Hot Rod Hoedown in Delaware -- the honor will cap a
spring rife with activity for the rockabilly superstar from South
Philadelphia. A hero to Britain's most notable rockabilly aficionados
(Paul McCartney, Van Morrison and Graham Nash among them), Gracie made his
first flirt with stardom in 1957 with "Butterfly," a greatly vaunted hit
whose vibrato inspired not only the Beatles and the Hollies, but became
one of the first smashes from Philly's Cameo-Parkway label. "Fabulous" and
"Wanderin' Eyes" followed, but the whole Cameo catalog (including material
from Bobby Rydell and Chubby Checker) was feared lost in litigation hell
when it was bought by the notoriously grinchy Allen Klein. Now, not only
has Klein's son, Jody, set a date (mid-August 2004) for the long-awaited
box set of C-P hits, he's interviewed Gracie about the start of Philly's
most historic label. Musician-filmmaker George Manney also interviewed
Gracie for his documentary, City of Brotherly Love, part of which
will be shown during the PMAs. While it's nice to see The Hooters fully
reuniting for the evening, seeing Charlie will be even
sweeter.
Tue., May 11, 8 p.m., with The
Hooters, G. Love, Chubby Checker, Tommy Conwell, Stewkey from the Nazz and
others at the Sixth Annual Philly Music Awards, $12, Electric Factory,
Seventh and Willow sts., 215-336-2000.
—A.D. Amorosi
Check out the photos from the Philly Music Awards!
Posted 5/14/04
Application Notes 10/02
The following article was reproduced from: Neumann USA
George Manney from Geo Sound uses Neumann
George Manney launched his musical career as a teenager leading his first band and has since evolved into a talented Producer, Composer, and Musician. In 1986, he started "The Last Minute Jam," a rock-jam tradition held at J.C. Dobbs (Philadelphia, PA) every Tuesday evening. A two-volume disc, "The Last Minute Jam" was later recorded (1996-1998) with a group of local artists, with the objective of capturing the spirit of the live jam sessions. After the construction of the Geo Sound Studio was complete in 1986, he produced the first recording at the studio, "I Hate New York" by Mikey Wilde & the Mess.
In 1996, Manney was nominated for a local Emmy Award, which he was awarded in 1997 for musical composition of the Prism Music Magazine Show. As a Producer and Recording Engineer at Geo Sound Studios, recent projects have included working with the Rolling Hayseeds, Burn Witch Burn, Silvertide, Rich Kaufmann, and Clutch Cargo.
"Ever since I began recording, I was always fascinated with the Neumann microphones that were used at Abbey Road Studios to record the Beatles. I have always aimed for that particular sound with my own recordings. I have dreamed of owning a Neumann microphone – now that dream has come true!"
Recently, Manney purchased a Neumann TLM 103 large diaphragm microphone for use at the Geo Sound Studio. "The first session that I recorded was Clutch Cargo’s ‘Someone Else" from their new album ‘Wide Open.’ The dynamic range of the TLM 103 is in perfect harmony with Su’s vocals. The resulting sound is amazing!"
Beyond the dream of owning a Neumann and the world-class reputation associated with the microphones, he also points out other reasons for his purchase: "The self-noise level and overload capacity are excellent in comparison to other models in the same price range. The combination of true sound reproduction without coloration was also influential in my decision. With regards to vocals and guitars, the microphone successfully handles distortion. I have also been able to track acoustic guitars and bass with excellent results. The addition of a TLM 103 to the studio is a tremendous advantage for my clients."
The vocals on Clutch Cargo’s "Wide Open" are "open, fresh and true to reproduction." The album has been featured on NPR (National Public Radio) WXPN 88.5 FM as the "Philly Pick of the Week" (March 18, 2002).
"Thank you Neumann for such a wonderful microphone!"
July 24-30, 2003
music
icepack
by A.D. Amorosi
This week, think fast. Like
now........
Speaking of Dobbs, its original Jam Band -- Michael
Radcliffe, Greg Davis, Wally Smith and producer George Manney -- is
recording a new CD and digging through VHS tapes of past shows for a
possible DVD - Jon Travis¹ hand-built bar (made with wood taken from an
old church) at Dobbs/Pontiac is gone, trashed during Pontiac¹s remodeling.
Last Minute Jam @ Dobbs: http://geosound.org/lmjdobbs.htm
Last
Minute CD @: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lmjam2
April 24-30, 2003
music
by A.D. Amorosi
After Clutch Cargo nabbed a spot on SW Records¹ Up & Coming electro-comp (with the song "Wide Open"), that same trio (George Manney, Su Teears, Rocco Notte) start a new jazz-standards project, Su Teears Jazz Band, with gigs at Bar Noir (April 29) and June 4¹s Pennypack Park Festival. (Sax man Bob Longely and Rob Williams on upright bass join in.) Manney¹s pal, Mike Fraticelli, and Rumor Hazzit will get their Geo Sound-produced debut Keep It Under Your Hat released at a party at Grape St. April 26, with Manney in tow....
Click here for Free Clutch Cargo MP3
November 26 - December 3,
1998
music
Just a Minute
Last Minute Man George Manney offers a 60-second
jam
by A.D.
Amorosi
It's no
secret that the human attention span has dwindled considerably since the
dawn of the TV commercial, the sound bite and MTV.
Most artists and critics
bemoan this situation. But not producer George Manney. With his new local
music CD, Last Minute Jam Volume 2: Minutes To The Millennium, he's
counting on you to simply give him and his friends a minute.Manney gave 69 Philly
musicians—including Kevin Karg, Rich Kaufmann, Mike LeCompt, Philly Heats'
congregation of singing cops, singers from Father Judge High and Lauren
Hart—60 seconds to play and do a good deed. Partial proceeds from the disc
and Wednesday's CD-release party benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation,
Settlement Music School and the Philadelphia chapter of the National
Academy for Recording Arts and Sciences.From the ticklish piano stylings
of Ted Gerkie and the acoustic soul of Chuck Treece to the quirky
nasal power-pop of Wobbly and the shimmering
folk of Nancy Falkow, Minutes To The Millennium satisfies at breakneck
speed. This is all due to Manney, the former accordion player turned
drummer/producer who moved from jamming at his parents' Tacony home (a
fave spot for Philly musicians during the Christmas holidays) to playing
with Kenn Kweder, Ron Nevison and Beru Revue throughout the
'80s."My folks were musicians, so
every inch of the house was wired for sound," says Manney. "I can still
remember that giant Webcore mono reel-to-reel tape recorder my mom had.
The green flashing eye on top of it, the flange effects, everything about
the process fascinated me."After playing with Philly guitar
whiz Greg Davis in Beru, the two got along so famously that they started
an impromptu jam night in 1986 at Khyber Pass with bassist Michael
Radcliffe and keyboardist Wally Smith."I had to bring my own PA
because the Khyber didn't have one," Manney laughs. "And every week I'd
get beat up by somebody wanting to steal it."As the crowds grew, he moved
this Tuesday night jam to J.C. Dobbs. As The Last Minute Jam Band, Manney
and his pals were the house act and Dobbs' Tuesday night sessions became
de rigueur for thousands of musicians looking to work out their schtick,
to express their best and worst artistic impulses.Manney, 47, is a genial,
generous chap; every instinct seems geared toward being communal and
inclusive. After the success of 1996's Last Minute Jam Vol. 1 Manney was
looking for a way to get more talented Philadelphians into the
act."I wanted the next CD to play
like a variety show with diverse musics and the opportunity to take fun
chances," Manney says. "Plus, I wanted to take a jab at the idea of
'taking a minute.' Because nothing ever takes a minute. In this case it
took a year and a half."Although Manney rounded up scads
of willing locals like Eltro, jitterbug boy Ronnie James and mopey folkies
Cory, he took a personal hit in June with the sudden hit and run death of
his inspiration—his mom, Madeline. "Very Italian, very matronly" is how
Manney describes his mom. He honored her by including her own "paper
guitar" ticklish tango "Our Love Affair" on the CD."She liked to entertain people,
and she liked having all my friends jamming at the house at all hours
while she cooked for 'em and played with 'em."The Manney family jam goes with
Minutes To The Millennium. He cites the dedication of people like Rich
Kaufmann, Ben Arnold and Lauren Hart, each "writing fully developed songs
that tell a story beginning to end." And while he laughs about the dynamic
pop from people like Wobbly and the spiritual intricacy of guitar riffs
from Rick Iannacone and Greg Davis, Manney is most in awe of two
contributors: Stewkey and Marvis Frazier. Stewkey, the legendary cohort of
Todd Rundgren in the '60s psychedelic act the Nazz, has been in
semi-retirement for some time. But with his emotional, gospel-inspired
"Share Your Love," Manney says Stewkey may be ready to record again.
Frazier, the son of Smoking Joe and a preacher in his own right, steps up
to the microphone not once but twice. He offers both a spoken word elegy
and a raging blues bit complete with his own brutally raw roar on
harmonica."That's the cool thing about the
record," says Manney, citing the Time Machine illustration on the CD
cover, "that people had the chance to be something or somebody they're
not, to improv, to risk, to drive through space if necessary."
The Last Minute Jam party, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 10 p.m., Samuel Adams Brew House, 1516 Sansom St., second floor
May 23-30, 1996
critic pick|rock/pop
The Last Minute
Jam's 10th Anniversary
"If you haven't already signed
up, there's a big piece of paper on the left hand side of the stage. Hurry
up."
With those familiar words, The Last Minute Jam began each and
every Tuesday night. The improvisational, throw-anybody-in-the-mix soiree
conducted by lanky, curly-haired guitarist/vocalist/host Greg Davis
became, in the words of Colonel Tom Sheehy, "the longest, most prodigious
jam session in Philly rock history."
The Jam - a name owned by LMJ
drummer George Manney - will be 10 years old this June. With that in mind,
here comes another one of Dobbs soon-to-be-closing galas this Saturday
night.
Each Tuesday evening's Jam would pile up eight miles high with
scads and scores of local musicians dying to play on the stage of Dobbs,
be it a Jimi Hendrix cover tune with Davis wailing in the background or
just testing the live piranha-coroded waters with an original number or
two. The Jam was the place to be if you wanted to be noticed as a musician
in Philly.
Created by drummer Manney (now GEO Sound studio
owner/operator as well as Tower Records manager) the Jam had a pretty
auspicious beginning.
"There was an opening one Tuesday night at Khyber
Pass," says Manney from his studio, "It was my birthday, June 4 of '86. We
ran it there for six months. I had to bring my own PA as well as tote my
drums around. It wasn't until Dobbs sound guy Rick Franco came and offered
us a bigger spot with its own PA." He laughs about the dynamic house band
which featured Manney, Davis, keyboard guy Wally Smith and bassist Michael
Radcliffe and could do almost anything at anytime.
"In the five or six
years we were together we only rehearsed about five or six times. We were
that good and that in tune with each other. The best thing about the Jam,
though, was that you learned to play every friggin' kind of music out
there. It's tough playing up against and with the best musicians in the
country on the spur of the moment" Some of those musicians included Scott
Henderson from Joe Zawinul's band, Yes' Chris Squire (who spent more time
in the bathroom than on stage), Robert Plant's band, Spencer Davis, the
Psychedelic Furs and Greg Kihn, who left his shitty Chestnut Cabaret gig
midset to play LMJ.
Maney's LMJ copyright also plays a part in
his new label, a label that'll put out its first CD, Last Minute Jam All
Stars Vol 1., in June, featuring such faves as Kenn Kweder, Kevin Karg,
Rich Kaufman, Alan Hewitt, Hayes and MIA local legend Joey Wilson in the
improv spirit of the Jam. Manney will distribute the self-produced CDs on
his own through Tower Records.
Saturday evening's last Last Minute Jam
will feature Manney, Davis, Radcliffe and Smith and will also include
vocalists Joe Parsons, Joey Wilson, Ben Arnold and the always inspired
Kweder, plus plenty of surprises.
The Last Minute Jam's Tenth
Anniversary at JC Dobbs, 334 South St., Saturday May 25 at 10 p.m,
925-4053.
- a.d. amorosi
© Copyright 2002
Contact George Manney: gsound@verizon.net