Martin Stone of Mighty Baby RIP – A master of Anglo-Americana

Sho’nuff, I got post-Election 2016 Blues & been nursing ’em by spinning a lot of fitting tunes by my hero / influence as an artist-activist, Gil Scott-Heron — including “Winter In America” & “B-Movie.” Feeling even more wintry this grey November day in New York City for just found out that musician & bookseller #MartinStone has walked on. Regret that have not had the resources to cover a favorite song by one of his former bands, my beloved #MightyBaby, as long planned; but still hope to do so one day. Like the great Ian Matthews of Fairport Convention/Matthews Southern Comfort (who I briefly met once when he got me into his tour of Gene Clark’s No Other that came to the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn) & my new friend/fellow sister country singer who used to dwell in the Ozarks, Jan Bell of the Maybelles / Brooklyn Americana Festival, who hails from Yorkshire, Stone was one of a select elite of master musicians that interpreted Anglo-Americana, perhaps the most interesting & exciting moment of the original British Invasion of the 1960s/early ’70s.

I have fortunately been invited by Jan to perform at the Jalopy Theater benefit concert for Standing Rock that she has organized, on 25 November @ 9pm in Brooklyn. Tix available here: KANDIA CRAZY HORSE x CACTUS ROSE singing in support of the STANDING ROCK water protectors camps

Here’s my beloved “Virgin Spring,” lachrymose, gossamer beauty befitting the vibes today in America. Mighty Baby was the UK’s answer to the Grateful Dead — a band I followed for aeons — & it’s interesting that they made their transition to this sound roughly around the same time that Jerry & ‘nem were trying to remold themselves in the manner of then-emerging Crosby Stills & Nash (& sometimes Young), as you hear on my favorite Dead LP, Workingman’s Dead >>>>>>>—–))—>

Sending you love o’er the Big Water in Fair Albion (despite #Brexit & #BritsSoWhite), to my brotha Mark Pringle, co-head of London’s Rocksbackpages.com which archives my early music journalism – Thankye, Mark, kindly for what correspondence did get to have with Martin Stone – A’ho*

November 9, 2016 | Categories: Airplay, Uncategorized | Tags: 1960s, 1970s, Activism, Activist, Albion, AngloAmericana, Artists, Benefit, BlackSnakeKillas, BrianJackson, BritishInvasion, Brooklyn, BrooklynAmericanaFestival, BrooklynCountry, CactusRose, CactusRoseBand, Country, England, FairAlbion, FairportConvention, GilScottHeron, GratefulDead, IanMatthews, JalopyTheater, JanBell, JugOfLove, Kandia Crazy Horse, Legends, LittleRedHenAgency, MartinStone, MatthewsSouthernComfort, MightyBaby, Missouri, MissouriRiver, MniWiconi, Muses, Music, NoDAPL, NYC, Ozarks, ProtectTheSacred, rock, StandingInSolidarityWithStandingRock, StandingRockSiouxTribe, TheMaybelles, UK, USPresidents, VirginSpring, WinterInAmerica, Yorkshire | Leave a comment