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Stone Premonitions - “The Phoenix Tapes Volume 2 (1980 - 1984)"

All songs on this CD digitally remastered by Tim Jones for Stone Premonitions 2008

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Stone Premonitions - “The Phoenix Tapes Volume 3 (1984 - 1987)"

We begin Volume 3 with some recordings dating from 1984 made on an early 4 track porta studio (tracks 1 – 4). This project, featuring Tim Jones and Carpettes’ drummer Kevin Heard was tentatively called “Icon Delight”, following on from the “Zut! Zut!” project (featured on The Phoenix Tapes Volume 2). The duo of Tim & Kevin was later augmented by Norm Emerson (ex Brian Bond’s Punching Holes) on drums and the late Vic Warrington on Bass in order to do gigs. This live lineup had the band name “Blow for Blow”.

Track 5 on this CD is a joint effort from Tim & Mark Dunn entitled “I Object”. This track was very much spontaneously recorded to a four track machine in 1985.

We then move on to two experimental tracks (tracks 6 & 7) which were recorded by Tim in Langley Park, County Durham on a four track machine in 1985.

Two rock oriented tracks from 1985 follow (tracks 8 & 9). They were recorded once again in Langley Park, County Durham by Tim on a four track machine in 1985.

“Dancing Feet” (tracks 11 & 12) concerns the formation of Tim’s long standing project “Somebody Famous” and the release of the “Dancing Feet”12 inch vinyl single and later vinyl album “The Gift” on the Prism Sound label. Somebody Famous started out as a studio based idea, Tim being employed as a musician for a year or so by an audio/visual enterprise called Prism Sound based on the Quayside in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK. The kind people at Prism Sound effectively gave Tim the run of the studio and brought in talented studio engineers such as Paul McCourt and Steve Cunningham (played in Newcastle band Indian Summer and later became the bass player with Lindisfarne).

“Dancing Feet” was released in 1986 and this is the first time it has appeared on CD. The song was co-written by Tim & Paddi. Paddi was taking some time out from touring as a sound technician with Pink Floyd & Peter Gabriel. He now lives and works as a studio engineer in New Zealand.

The interesting thing about the next section, “The Gift” album (tracks 13 – 17) is that the songs are in the order of the demo cassette from early 1987 and not the finished vinyl album that appeared some months later. Please note that we only feature side one of “The Gift” on this CD. Side two appears on “The Phoenix Tapes” Volume 4.

Many extremely talented, musical friends were involved in these sessions at Prism and it was a very exciting and active time.

Paul Winstanley was an old friend of Tim’s who sadly passed away a few years ago. Paul was not only a great authority on music but was also a fantastic potter and carpenter. He was for a time a ship’s engineer for Greenpeace, worked for the Observer newspaper and had several novels published.

Mick Olvhoj was a solid drummer/percussionist that played in bands in the North East of England.

Eventually the production of the Somebody Famous recordings at Prism was given to Paul Ellis. Paul had been highly regarded as a session musician, especially for his emulation of brass instruments (his brass section emulations are in abundance on these recordings. In fact he eventually worked for Yamaha’s Research and Development department creating sounds for their keyboard instruments).

Paul brought in two more talented engineers that he’d met whilst working as a session musician in London. These were firstly Mel Jefferson followed by Danny Hyde. At that time, Mel was working for Southern Studios and Crass Records where Paul was performing sessions. Mel later engineered for Bjork before retiring from music and becoming an internationally renowned book binder.

Danny Hyde had worked with The The and Nine Inch Nails. He was extremely kind in giving up his Christmas in order to spend hours and hours in the studio doing the extended remix for “Dancing Feet” (though Tim’s Mum did make everyone concerned a wonderful Christmas dinner that year).

Paul Ellis also brought in Toy Dolls drummer Paul Smith who had previously worked with Newcastle band Hurrah and continues to perform session work to this day, with the likes of jazz singer Nelli Rees.

Mark Smith was an excellent session bass player that Paul Ellis had worked with in London.

The demo cassette of the Prism Sound recordings secured a fifteen minute film about Somebody Famous for Channel 4 Television in the UK, produced by Geoff Wonfor (Tim’s mum had persuaded him to audition for the series) and through this, the vinyl album release of “The Gift” on Raindance Records in 1987.

Raindance Records was based in Scotland. The label was lovingly run by Alan Combe who had previously worked for Charly Records. In fact it was through Alan and his friend Ian Anderson (the excellent mastering engineer) that Tim met Dave Anderson (Amon Duul, Hawkwind, Groundhogs, Space Ritual). Tim would later work with Dave Anderson in The Rabbit’s Hat, producing the album “In Optic Mansion” for Dave’s Demi Monde record label. Alan Combe is now happily married and teaching in China.

1) Soft Explosions Of Fragments Of Colour (7.44)
2) People In Power (3.36)
3) Message From Beyond (3.12)
4) I Like To Travel (3.55)

Tim Jones – Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars
Kevin Heard – Organ, Analogue synth, Backing Vocals & Drum Programming
4 track recordings from 1984. Engineered by Tim Jones & Kevin Heard in the village of Willington, Co Durham, UK
All songs written by Tim Jones

5) I Object (4.43)

Tim Jones – Vocals & Electric Guitar
Mark Dunn – Bass Guitar, Analogue Synth & Vocals
Paul Ellis – Drum Programming
4 track recording from 1985. Engineered by Tim Jones in Langley Park, County Durham
Written by Tim Jones & Mark Dunn

6) In The Wake Of His Absence (5.32)
7) The Culture (6.11)

Tim Jones – Vocals, Analogue Synth, Programming & FX
4 track recordings made in Langley Park, County Durham, 1985
Engineered by Tim Jones
All words & music written by Tim Jones

8) Hard Man (4.27)
9) I Don’t Want To Suffer This Way (4.18)

Tim Jones - All Vocals & Instruments
4 track recordings from 1985 made in Langley Park, County Durham. Engineered by Tim Jones
All songs written by Tim Jones 10) I Always Carry A Torch (1.17)

Tim Jones – Vocals & Acoustic Guitars
4 track recording from 1985 made in Langley Park, County Durham. Engineered by Tim Jones
Written by Tim Jones

11) Dancing Feet (3.10)
12) Dancing Feet (Extended Remix) (5.28)

Tim Jones – Vocals
Martin Holder – Electric Guitar
Paul Ellis – Keyboards & Programming
Mark Dunn – Bass
Paddi – Drums
Engineered by Danny Hyde at Prism Sound 16 track studio, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK in 1986
Produced by Paul Ellis & Danny Hyde
Written by Tim Jones & Paddi

13) The Gift Of Love (4.16)
14) In Harmony (3.47)
15) Letter Of Love (3.09)
16) Glory (4.05)
17) Beautiful Rose (4.00)

Tim Jones – Vocals, Electric Guitar & Keyboards
Paul Ellis – Keyboards & Programming
Mark Smith – Bass
Paddi & Paul Smith - Drums
Martin Holder – Electric Guitar
Paul Winstanley – Harmonica
Mick Olvhoj - Wind Chimes
Sam Lennox – Sax
Engineered by Mel Jefferson, Danny Hyde, Steve Cunningham and Paul McCourt at Prism Sound 16 track studio, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK 1986 - 1987
Produced by Tim Jones & Paul Ellis
All songs written by Tim Jones

All tracks on this CD digitally re-mastered by Tim Jones for Stone Premonitions 2008

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Stone Premonitions - “The Phoenix Tapes Volume 4 (1987 - 1988)"

Tracks 1 – 6 on this CD make up side two of the demo version of the album, before it was taken up and released in 1988 as a vinyl LP by Raindance Records in Scotland. It is interesting to note that “I Like To Travel” was not actually on the finished vinyl album. This song was actually released in 1986 as a bonus track on the “Dancing Feet” 12” single on Prism Sound. “The Caring” was not included on the demo version of the album but appeared on the vinyl edition. It had previously been considered as a follow up single to “Dancing Feet”. “The Caring” also features the superb vocal talents of Anna Ross who went on to a successful career singing backing vocals for Wet Wet Wet amongst others (for further details, please see the sleevenotes for The Phoenix Tapes Volume 3).

Track 7 on this CD, “Love Will Stay” was recorded live at Prism Sound in 1987 during rehearsals but was never actually released. The backing vocals and percussion were added later.

Tracks 8 & 9 on this CD were recorded at Prism Sound in 1987 after “The Gift” sessions. Tim Jones & Paddi went in to the studio that was now being run by Steve Cunningham.

These were effectively demos of new songs at that time.

Tracks 10 & 11 on this CD are interesting rarities in that they feature the live band “Tongue” from 1987/early 1988. After spending more than a year in the studio, Tim was anxious to get out and do some gigs. “Tongue” spent around a year playing original music in pubs & clubs in the North East of England. The bass player Baz was an old friend of Tim’s from Neon days in the 70s and would in fact go on to work with Tim in the first live incarnation of Somebody Famous (to be featured on The Phoenix Tapes Volume 5). Baz (aka Kingsley Burn) is a noted inventor and gifted engineer who has traveled the world in order to demonstrate his work in such fields as the conservation of energy, in addition to him being a very talented musician. He is now married and lives with his family in New Zealand.

Pete Wildes, the drummer in “Tongue” was an extremely funny and talented club entertainer/musician that backed up many artists visiting the clubs in the North East of England. When Pete was a child, Eric Burdon & The Animals rehearsed in his mother’s living room in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and were a big influence, Pete’s mother having been a famous ice skater at that time.

Guitarist Pete Monk had played in the late 70s punk band “Spasms” from Tupton in Chesterfield that released a great single on Ellie Jay Records in 1980 called “Never Happens Like It Does On The Telly”. Pete now runs a well established guitar shop and mail order company in the North of England.

The remaining tracks on this CD (tracks 12 to 20) were recorded by Tim on various 4 track machines and put together as a cassette demo entitled “Bron’s Kite” in 1988. Featuring various friends that we have mentioned before in this series, track 18 on this CD also features an old friend of Tim’s called Laurence Campling who was living in the USA and working for Ralph Records. He toured extensively with The Residents, helping to create many of their artistic stage props and actually appeared on stage with them as one of their eyeballs on human bodies, hence the name of track 18. Laurence still lives and works in the USA. Like all of the tracks in The Phoenix Tapes series, “Bron’s Kite” is an extremely rare collection of songs that we are very pleased to release on CD for the first time.

Once again, we thank you for listening and for your support of this project.

Tim Jones – Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Keyboards & Percussion
Paul Ellis – Keyboards & Programming
Mark Dunn & Mark Smith – Bass
Paddi – Drums & Percussion
Martin Holder – Electric Guitar
Pete Greenaway – Sax
Nick Moss – Organ on “Water”
Anna Ross – Backing Vocals on “The Caring”
Prism Louise – Backing Vocals on “I Like To Travel”
Engineered by Mel Jefferson, Danny Hyde, Steve Cunningham, Paul McCourt, Jon Evans and Brian Wilson at Prism Sound 16 track studio, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK 1987
Produced by Tim Jones & Paul Ellis except “Water” produced by Mel Jefferson
All songs written by Tim Jones except “Water” written by Tim Jones & Paddi

7) Love Will Stay (3.42)

Tim Jones – Vocals & Electric Guitar
Paul Ellis – Keyboards
Mark Smith – Bass
Paddi – Drums & Percussion
Recorded live at Prism Sound in 1987 by Steve Cunningham
Written by Tim Jones

8) Love Reaction (3.31)
9) Stop Playing (3.50)

Tim Jones – Vocals & Electric Guitars
Paddi – Bass, Drums & Percussion
Recorded at Prism Sound in 1987 by Steve Cunningham
Written by Tim Jones

10) In My Life (2.07)

11) Get Out While You Can (3.03)

Tim Jones – Vocals & Electric Guitar
Pete Monk – Electric Guitar
Baz – Bass
Pete Wildes _ Drums
Recorded under the band name “Tongue”, live to a 4 track machine, 1987 in Langley Park, County Durham, UK
Engineered by Tim Jones
All songs written by Tim Jones

12) Bron’s Kite (2.24)
13) Turn Back The Clock (3.19)
14) Keys To The Kingdom (5.11)
15) Baby Wake Up (3.50)
16) It’s Cheap But It All Adds Up (3.49)
17) New Day Tripper (3.30)
18) Time Spent With A Resident’s Eyeball (1:19)
19) Departed Friends (3.16)
20) Voice On A Tape (2.23)

All Vocals & Instruments by Tim Jones except:
Paul Ellis – synth on “Keys To The Kingdom” & “Departed Friends”. Mark Dunn – Bass on “Departed Friends”. Laurence Campling – Vocals on “Time Spent With A Residents Eyeball”. Snorky – Flute on “Bron’s Kite”
Recorded on 4 track machines, 1988 in Langley Park, County Durham, UK
Engineered by Tim Jones
All songs written by Tim Jones

All tracks on this CD digitally re-mastered by Tim Jones for Stone Premonitions 2008

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Stone Premonitions - “The Phoenix Tapes Volume 5 (1988 - 1989)"

Tim Jones – Vocals, Electric Guitar & Programming
Baz – Bass Guitar
Recorded under the band name “Somebody Famous”, live to a 4 track machine, 1988 in Langley Park, County Durham, UK
Engineered by Tim Jones
All songs written by Tim Jones

8) Powers That Be (4.59)

Tim Jones – Vocals, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar & Programming
Baz – Bass
4 track recording from 1989, produced in Langley Park, County Durham, UK
Engineered by Tim Jones
Lyrics written by Paul Winstanley. Music written by Tim Jones

9) Somebody Famous Live Intro (traditional) (00.54)

Tim Jones – Electric Guitar
Chris Oddy – Bass
Steve Sekrit – Drums
Recorded live to a 4 track machine at a rehearsal in 1989 by Keith (the intergalactic Roadie with extraordinary verve)

10) Love Will Stay (3.38)

Tim Jones – Electric Guitar
Chris Oddy – Bass & Backing Vocals
Steve Sekrit – Drums
Mel Jefferson – Engineering, Producing, and subtle aural enhancement
Alan Combe – Aural navigation, conceptual nuances & co-ordination
Recorded at Northern Recording Ltd
Old Miners Hall, Delves Lane, Consett, Co. Durham
Released in 1989 as the A side to the Somebody Famous 7” single on Raindance Records. Written by Tim Jones

11) Love Will Stay (slight return) (1.41)

Recorded live to a 4 track machine at a rehearsal in 1989 by Keith (the intergalactic Roadie with extraordinary verve).

12) New Day Tripper (4.10)

Tim Jones – Electric Guitar
Chris Oddy – Bass & Backing Vocals
Steve Sekrit – Drums
Mel Jefferson – Engineering, Producing, and subtle aural enhancement
Alan Combe – Aural navigation, conceptual nuances & co-ordination
Recorded at Northern Recording Ltd
Old Miners Hall, Delves Lane, Consett, Co. Durham
Released in 1989 as the B side to the Somebody Famous 7” single on Raindance Records. Written by Tim Jones

13) New Day Tripper Instrumental (3.56)
14) Love Will Stay Instrumental (3.41)

Tim Jones – Electric Guitar
Chris Oddy – Bass & Backing Vocals
Steve Sekrit – Drums
Mel Jefferson – Engineering, Producing, and subtle aural enhancement
Alan Combe – Aural navigation, conceptual nuances & co-ordination
Recorded at Northern Recording Ltd
Old Miners Hall, Delves Lane, Consett, Co. Durham
Instrumental versions of the Somebody Famous 7” single, recorded in 1989. Written by Tim Jones

15) Stevie Intro (Steve Gets Anxious) (00.33)

Recorded live to a 4 track machine at a rehearsal in 1989 by Keith (the intergalactic Roadie with extraordinary verve).

16) Stevie (4.54)

Tim Jones – Electric Guitar & Keyboards
Friz – Bass
Steve Sekrit – Drums
Initial rhythm tracks recorded live at The Gateshead Music Project, Tyne & Wear, UK 16 track studio by Gary Clennel. Overdubs & mix by Tim Jones on a four track machine, Langley Park, Co. Durham, 1989. Written by Tim Jones

17) Stop Playing (live improvisation) (2.45)
18) Stevie (live) (5.09)

Tim Jones – Electric Guitar & Keyboards
Friz – Bass
Steve Sekrit – Drums
Recorded live at The Newcastle Playhouse, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK, direct from the mixing desk by Dave Pipkin in 1989

19) Not One Of Them (live) (5.11)

Tim Jones – Electric Guitar & Keyboards Friz – Bass Steve Sekrit – Drums Recorded live at a gig in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, direct from the mixing desk by an unidentified in-house engineer in 1989

All tracks mastered by Tim Jones for Stone Premonitions 2008

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Stone Premonitions - “The Phoenix Tapes Volume 6 (1989-1991)"

Tim Jones – Electric Guitar & Tibetan Bells
Mark Ericson – Flute & Tibetan Bells
Recorded in 1989 on a four track machine under the band name “Mosaic” in Langley Park, County Durham, UK
Engineered by Tim Jones. Arranged by Tim Jones & Mark Ericson
All music written by Tim Jones except “The Dream” by Mark Ericson & Tim Jones
Mark Ericson was a post graduate student at Durham University and a gifted, classically trained flute player

The “Mosaic” project came together in 1989, after Tim and Mark had been given a commission to write and record the musical backdrop for an interactive Rainforest exhibition that was staged over the period of a week in Dunelm House, Durham University Students Union Building in Durham City, UK.

Following the rainforest event, Mark went on to do occasional gigs with Tim’s band Somebody Famous. Tim & Mark also started to perform live as a duo for a while under the name Mosaic and put together the eight recordings that you hear on this CD. A cassette tape of these recordings was available at the time but there were only a handful of copies professionally duplicated. This is the first time that these recordings have appeared on CD. Tracks 1, 3 & 5 were essentially written as instrumentals, whereas tracks 4, 6 & 7 were instrumental interpretations of Tim’s previously written songs. The main melody on Track 2 was written by Mark Ericson.

Track eight is unashamedly influenced by Tim’s love of “The Floating World” by Soft Machine

9) Chatter-H (2.39)
10) The Game (Do Your Head In) (3.05)
11) The Candidate (2.26)
12) So Near And Yet So Far (3.39)
13) Rainy Days (3.50)
14) Empires Fall (3.15)

All songs written, performed and engine-eared by Tim Jones on a 4 track machine in 1989
Recorded in Langley Park, County Durham, UK
Chatter-H was a mini album, utilising an idea loosely based around an anagram of leading British political figure of the 1980s. It was produced by Tim Jones for Raindance Records in Scotland and was available through them as a cassette only release under the band name The Ultimate Mushroom Band.
This is the first time that these tracks have appeared on CD.

15) The Ship Of Grandad’s Day (4.18)
16) Between The Lines (4.12)
17) The Ship Of Grandad’s Day Instrumental (4.34)
18) Jimi (5.24)
19) Half Mantra (4.07)

Tim Jones – Vocals, Roland Guitar Synth, Electric & Acoustic Guitars
Friz – Fretless Bass
Steve Sekrit – Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals & Jaw’s Harp
Ian McLinden – Backing Vocals on Jimi
Produced by Ian McLinden & Somebody Famous. Engineered by Ian McLinden. All songs written by Tim Jones
Recorded & mixed at Euro Media Promotions, May – July 1991
Ship Building by Paddy Elwood, Christoph Ulmer, Terri Burgess & Gary MacPhail

After the tragic death of his mother, a boy climbs up into the attic of their family home to sort out her belongings. He opens an old chest to discover amongst other things a ship in a bottle and old photographs belonging to his grandfather. The chest is lined with newspapers from long ago. Looking at the scenes of his grandfather’s life, working in the shipyards on the river Tyne and his love of hot air balloons, he really begins to feel the atmosphere of those times gone by and how the world has changed forever…

This was the initial idea behind the Somebody Famous CD “The Ship Of Grandad’s Day”, released through Empress Records in the UK. The CD was engineered by the talented Scottish studio engineer Ian McLinden at Euro Media Productions (EMP), based in the Buddle Arts Centre in Wallsend, Tyne & Wear in 1991 (Empress Records was the imprint of Euro Media Promotions). EMP was a joint venture comprising of Ian and his partner, the German musician and musical friend Christoph Ulmer. Tim had the opportunity to utilize the studio’s excellent Roland Guitar Sythesiser for these recordings, (alongside standard electric and acoustic guitars) that allowed him to play all the keyboard parts on the guitar. Tracks 15 to 17 on this CD were initially recorded together as a set before the addition of the other album tracks and we feature them here in their original context, rather than the running order of the original CD release. Tracks 18 and 19 are also taken from the album. All of the tracks have been re-mastered from the original DAT tapes. The remaining four songs from “The Ship Of Grandad’s Day” will be featured on The Phoenix Tapes volume 7.

All tracks on this CD digitally re-mastered by Tim Jones for Stone Premonitions 2008

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Stone Premonitions - “The Phoenix Tapes Volume 7 (1991-1994)"

Somebody Famous:

1) There’s A Heaven (3.27)
2) Carousel (5.17)
3) Hieronymus (5.17)
4) Black Beauty On Cowboy Hill (3.07)

Tim Jones – Vocals, Roland Guitar Synth, Electric & Acoustic Guitars
Friz – Fretless Bass
Steve Sekrit – Drums, percussion, Backing Vocals
Produced by Ian McLinden & Somebody Famous
Engineered by Ian McLinden
All songs written by Tim Jones
Recorded & mixed at Euro Media Promotions, May – July 1991
Originally released on the CD “The Ship Of Grandad’s Day” on Empress Records
Ship Building by Paddy Elwood, Christoph Ulmer, Terri Burgess & Gary MacPhail

5) Love Reaction (4.05)
6) The Only Girl (For Terri) (5.08)

Tim Jones – Vocals, Electric & Acoustic Guitars
Friz – Fretless Bass & Backing Vocals
Steve Sekrit – Drums, percussion & Backing Vocals
Paul Campbell – Electric Guitar
Rob Kirtley – Backing Vocals
Engineered by Steve Daggart
All songs written by Tim Jones
Recorded & mixed at Hi Level Studios, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK 1991

7) The Ladder (4.23)
8) Love Is (5.33)
9) Love Is (Slight Return) (2.37)

Tim Jones – Vocals & Electric Guitar
Friz – Fretless Bass
Steve Sekrit – Drums & Backing Vocals
Engineered by Mickey Sweeney
All songs written by Tim Jones
Recorded & mixed at The Cluny Studio, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK 1991

The Permanent Haze:

10) Shine On (2.49)
11) Drift Away (4.15)

Tim Jones – Vocals & Acoustic Guitar
Terri~B – Vocals & Keyboards
Finn Millar – Vocals
Steve Sekrit – Drums & Percussion
Engineered by Tim Jones in 1992 at The Stone Studio, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, UK. All songs written by Tim Jones

The Rabbit’s Hat:

12) Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere (3.32)
13) Bottles (2.26)
14) I’m Only Little (2.35)
15) Nothing To Lose (2.36)
16) Feed Your Head (3.36)
17) Sara Jane (3.24)
18) Soap Opera Mentality Free Zone (3.09)
19) Hello And How Are You? (2.55)

Terri~B – Vocals
Tim Jones – Vocals, Electric Lead & Bass Guitars & Programming
Steve Ellis – Keyboards
Engineered by Tim Jones at Stone Premonitions, South Moor, Derwentside, UK 1993-1994
Lyrics on tracks 12, 13, 14, 18 & 19 written by Tim Jones & Terri~B with music by Paddi, Mark Dunn & Tim Jones. Tracks 15, 16 & 17 written by Tim Jones & Terri~B

The Phoenix Tapes Volume 7 is the final volume in the series and demonstrates the transition from Tim Jones’ earlier musical projects such as Somebody Famous and The Permanent Haze into what became officially known as the Stone Premonitions label. Terri~B is at this point essential to the Stone Premonitions story. Terri was the catalyst for all subsequent events. Tim Jones met Terri~B in 1991 through performing in Somebody Famous at the superb King’s Head venue in Stanley, Co. Durham. It was there that Tim and Terri initially got to know each other, often singing at jam sessions together in the pub.

The King’s Head was lovingly run by Paddy Elwood and his wife Linda. Paddy and Tim became very good friends and he actually put a lot of faith into Tim’s music in the early 1990s. Paddy was one hell of a nice bloke.

Terri~B was singing in a rock band called Vagrant at the time that also performed at The King’s Head. In addition, she did stints working behind the bar. Of all of the many gigs that Somebody Famous played, The King’s Head was probably the most vibrant. The audiences were wonderfully wild people in both dress and personality and playing there on a Saturday evening into the early hours of the morning just couldn’t be beaten for a terrific atmosphere. At the time, Terri~B was also running an excellent rehearsal space in an old ex pub in Dipton, Co. Durham where she lived with her partner Gary MacPhail.

Gary was another extremely talented guy from the north east who did a lot of work for local bands behind the scenes from the goodness of his heart basically. Terri and Gary kindly invited Somebody Famous to rehearse at their place free of charge and would even leave them a case of beer in the fridge! After the break up of Somebody Famous, Terri & Tim began working together in various musical projects. This culminated in the formation of The Stone Premonitions label and the band The Rabbit’s Hat, alongside keyboard player Steve Ellis. Steve Ellis was a well known piano player from the area, having worked with many local bands. During his time spent performing sessions and live work at Stone Premonitions, Steve became increasingly involved with new keyboard technology. For Tim & Terri, working with such an imaginative player as Steve was an extremely productive experience. Terri~B and Tim Jones have lived and worked closely together for the last 16 years. They have also produced a new recruit, their wonderful son James, now four years old. In fact it was James Jones that inspired the making of The Phoenix Tapes. The primary motivation was to preserve the early recordings should he take an interest in Stone Premonitions as he grows up.

As regards the studios where the Somebody Famous tracks on this CD were recorded, Hi Level was run by Ray Laidlaw, the drummer with folk rock band Lindisfarne. It was situated next to the High Level Bridge in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, hence its name and was also a base for the band. Ray managed an excellent songwriter from the north east of England called Paul Campbell who was a good friend of Steve Sekrit, the drummer in Somebody Famous. Tim & Paul also became good friends and the Somebody Famous band became session musicians for Paul at Hi Level studios for a while. The resident studio engineer at Hi Level was Steve Daggart, a superb technician. In payment for the sessions that Somebody Famous performed for Paul, they were given studio time to record some of their own songs with Paul guesting on guitar. It was a worthwhile swop as Paul’s songs were great and the studio was excellent. It was one of the only studios in the area at that time with a computerized mixing console (Solid State Logic) and it was an interesting place to learn about new studio techniques. Another great old friend of Tim’s was involved in these sessions, namely Rob Kirtley. Rob was a brilliant singer/songwriter from Durham. He was also an accomplished regional actor. Rob eventually joined The Rabbit’s Hat for a while playing bass guitar before be coming a DJ in dance clubs and writing commercially successful songs about Newcastle United football club. Paul Campbell is a fantastic guitarist and played live with Somebody Famous on many occasions. He went on to perform guitar in The Christians. Steve Daggart is now a well known singer/songwriter performing in the north of England.

The Cluny Studio in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne was run by Archie Brown, the sax player from a well known 1970s North East band called The Young Bucks. It was another excellent 24 track studio in an atmospheric location, situated amongst the big old industrial warehouses in the heart of Newcastle. The engineer was a lovely and extremely talented guy called Mickey Sweeney. You will see Mickey Sweeney’s name associated with many of the records that came out of the North East of England from the 1970s onwards. Somebody Famous wanted a record of the live sound of the band at the sessions with Mickey and the recordings are essentially what the band sounded like at gigs. The Cluny Studio had a big performance space with microphones placed in the old attic roof to record the reverb. This natural reverberation gave a unique atmosphere to recordings produced at The Cluny.

The Permanent Haze tracks were recorded at what was essentially the first Stone Premonitions HQ in Gateshead, Tyne & Wear. After the break up of Somebody Famous, Tim and Steve Sekrit continued to work together for some time. Steve’s partner Finn Millar is, like him, a naturally gifted artist and musician. Tim had actually worked with Finn on numerous occasions in the past, mainly engineering Finn’s demo tapes. In 1992, Terri~B and Tim teamed up with Finn and Steve to form a project called The Permanent Haze that lasted for a few months and sparked off lots of new ideas. Finn and Steve went on perform together under the name Shay Tal, a uniquely atmospheric and evocative folk rock band. You can find more information about Shay Tal at www.myspace.com/shaymusic

The Rabbit’s Hat tracks were recorded in the second set up of the Stone Premonitions studio in South Moor, Co. Durham.

All of the tracks on this CD apart from tracks 1, 2 & 3 are previously unreleased. Please see the sleeve notes for volume 6 of The Phoenix Tapes for further information on Euro Media Promotions.

All tracks digitally re-mastered by Tim Jones for Stone Premonitions 2008