February 2012
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“This record is about recognising in myself that I am not this one-dimensional...”
– Richard Ashcroft on Urban Hymn’s lyrical core.
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Just breathe in the air But don’t be afraid There’s a time for us to make Sense of all this pain Sense of all this pain
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“Noel asked me to do the Oasis artwork after he saw the early Verve sleeves.”
– Brian Cannon, on how he got involved with working for Oasis.
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“It’s great when you do a gig and you talk to someone who’s...”
– Simon Jones, Melody Maker, August 1995.
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Brian Cannon on working with The Verve
ZANI: Tell me how you met The Verve ?
Brian Cannon: I first met Richard (Ashcroft) at a party in Wigan in 1989; he was a 17-year-old student at the time who I had nothing in common with it seemed: he was wearing a floppy hat with flowers on it and I was 23 at the time, dressing in Adidas trainers. We got talking and he found out that I was just starting out and designed record sleeves – he found that interesting as he was just starting out with his band. I didn’t see him again for another two years when I bumped into him at a petrol station at six in the morning buying a pint of milk... He recognised me, told me his band (Verve as they were known then) had been signed and that he wanted me to design their covers.. Stroke of luck...
ZANI: Didn’t you go on tour with them? What is your lasting moment being in the “Verve bubble”?
Brian Cannon: I went on tour with The Verve A LOT. I’ve seen them play over a hundred times. The best times were, as with most bands, when they first started to get a following nationally – turning up in a city where you don’t know anyone and there being a couple of hundred kids who are into the band. My lasting memory was from the Gravity Grave tour of 1992; I was the only member of the posse over 25 for the sake of the insurance to drive the tour bus – a Volkswagen LT 35. In the evening, we drove into Edinburgh and could see the city in the distance, while the band in the back were watching Rolling Stones videos. It was something else.
ZANI: Some of The Verve’s artwork is outstanding – was it a collaborative effort? Or were you just left to produce the pieces for approval?
Brian Cannon: In each case I had a chat with Richard, sometimes he would have specific ideas but, on the whole, it was left to me and the ideas were mine.
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ZANI: You’ve put together a book celebrating Microdot, including all the work you did with The Super Furry Animals, The Verve and Oasis. Out of all of these photographs, which one was the most difficult to pull off and which was the most enjoyable?
Brian Cannon : The Verve’s first album, A Storm In Heaven, was a massive undertaking and nearly did me in, but it remains my best piece of work to date. As for the most enjoyable, Roll With It on Weston-Super-Mare beach was a great laugh, and shooting the Lucky Man sleeve for The Verve in New York was ace.
[Read the full interview linked below next to "source".]
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Jeff Wootton
jeffwootton:
Jeff Wootton is a guitarist and composer from Manchester.
Jeff has worked and played with Damon Albarn, Liam Gallagher, Damo Suzuki of CAN, Si Jones and Nick McCabe of The Verve, Mark Heaney of Gang Of Four, UNKLE and more.
His band, The Black Marquee, gained alot of attention in the past few years for its innovative psychedelic sound and brilliant live performance. The Black...
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“We’ve taken on five times the amount of people that we had eighteen months...”
– Richard Ashcroft on The Verve’s success following the release of Bitter Sweet Symphony.
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God knows you're lonely souls.
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“We need to start setting new standards. Make 1997 Year Zero. People say rock...”
– Richard Ashcroft, NME, 1997.
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I wander lonely streets
Behind where the old Thames does flow And in every face I meet Reminds me of what I have run for In every man, in every hand In every kiss, you understand That living is for other men I hope you too will understand
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jo2fatjokes:
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I've gotta tell you my tale
Of how I loved and how I failed I hope you understand These feelings should not be in the man In every child, in every eye In every sky, above my head I hope that I know So come with me in bed Because it’s you and me, we’re history There ain’t nothing left to say When I will get you alone
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“Living in Wigan, there’s been no constraints. We’ve got George Formby and The...”
– Richard Ashcroft (via absentmindedpancakes)
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We came back To the same place We didn’t speak Just danced in our minds Oh lover I know This ain’t what it should be But let me take you home I’ll show you what you should see
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I must be feeling low..
absentmindedpancakes:
I talked to God in a phone box on my way home.
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Give me your powder and pills
I want to see if they cure my ills I’ve no time for love and devotion No time for old fashioned potion I want to see if you know me Take a look into my eyes I tell you so many lies and then I’ll I’ll let you go into the night And I don’t think I’m coming down I’m alive with something inside of me And I can’t seem to get it out
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I have once again added to Verve Trivia Post #7.
With the help of a “new” photo I have solved the mystery of which edition of William Blake’s The Complete Poems Richard is holding in the photos from that shoot. The new photo and the deductions I made from it can be seen/ read from the paragraph beginning with “Edit:” here.
I promise this is the last you’ll hear from me on this topic (unless a new photo...
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Verve Trivia Post #19
When it came to the cover artwork for The Verve’s single History, the idea was to reflect the song’s themes about the broken relationship between Richard and his girlfriend of six years, Sarah Carpenter (their break up highly influenced the entire album - you can read more on that here).
Designed by Brian Cannon, the cover artwork contained pictures of the band in Times Square. In...
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