Steve Ellis, legendary singer with the seventies blue eyed soul band The Love Affair, is back with a brand new album, ‘Best Of Days’ which includes a new version of the classic ‘Everlasting Love’ alongside a cover of Paul Weller’s, ‘Brand New Start’ and brand new compositions. Both, Roger Daltrey and Paul Weller also appear on the album.The man behind such perennial Mod club spins such as, ‘Loot’s The Root’ and ‘So Sorry’ took time out from promoting his latest release to tell RSG! readers about one of his favourite 45s.
“There are numerous great 45`s of the sixties so many in fact it is impossible to actually make one of them favourite” say Steve, “So (I’ll go for) a random shot "Positively 4th Street" by Bob Dylan”.
“Ironic as my musical tastes lay deeply in Black Soul & Blues Music because to be honest they have just got soul, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, David Ruffin, SamCooke, Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, Memphis Slim, Lightning Hopkins, Snooks Eaglin, Ray Charles, Paul Robeson et al, Tamla Motown, Stax, Oriole, Chess, Sue. Indefinable but they and hundreds more translated so much passion and feeling”.
“So for me to pick Bob Dylan is strange I suppose because Bob is no James Carr or Otis Redding or Etta James. Bob Dylan is to some a bumbling old man past his best, to some he is the messiah. Well folks sorry to disappoint but he is a human being and a great one at that. He has written so many classics it is ridiculous. Sure The Beatles and The Stones and to some degree Pete Townsend and The Who and not forgetting the sadly missed Marriott and Lane or Ray Davies and The Kinks all major players in the songwriting dept, in the sixties but Dylan keeps on writing them even to this day”.
“So back to the plot "Positively" is a great lyric in that it curses all the people who smile in your face and stab you in the back so to speak. The world is full of them but Dylan just brushes them aside stating "I know just where you’re at, you just want to be on the side that’s winning". Quality. I can’t say "The Hurricane " because it is 70`s but what a lyric......”
“I had a look through my CD’s before I typed this and the funny thing was I found I owned more Dylan than any other artist although the rest of the music is a very mixed bag indeed”.
“So from an old soldier/mod, Dylan takes 1st Prize”.
Steve Ellis ‘Best of Days’ is out now and can be purchased here.
For more info on Steve’s past, present and future, check out www.steveellis.co.uk
