Los Angeles, CA (Top40 Charts/ Universal Music Enterprises) Voormann &
Friends - A Sideman's
Journey (UMe/USM/Mercury) is an extraordinary album project by renowned German graphic designer, illustrator, musician and producer Klaus Voormann. Recorded with more than 30 musicians, including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr,
Yusuf (Cat Stevens), members of Manfred Mann and Dr. John, the album tells the story of how well-known sideman Voormann retraced the footsteps of his musical biography back to where it all began.
Double Grammy winner Klaus Voormann not only left his mark on musical history as a bass player (winning the Grammy performing on the 1972 album The Concert for Bangladesh), but has also set some milestones as a graphic designer with his Grammy award for designing the Beatles' Revolver cover in 1966. That was the first time anyone had won for a graphic album cover. He is nominated for his third Grammy for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package along with Daniel Reiss for the Deluxe version of A Sideman's Journey.
Voormann's name conjures up iconic moments in pop history-in the music world, Beatles history, as well as in the cover-artwork scene. He first became involved with the Beatles back in their Hamburg days in the early 1960s. Over the ensuing years he became a member of both Manfred Mann and the Plastic Ono Band and worked as a musician and producer in the U.K. and U.S.A.with John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Carly Simon, Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, Eric Clapton and B.B. King to name a few. Since 1981 he has worked as a producer in his native Germany for many artists, including Trio ("Da Da Da" and many more hits), and in 2003 he published his autobiography, Warum spielst Du Imagine nicht auf dem weisen Klavier, John? (Why don't you play Imagine on the white Piano, John?).
But after many years he decided to reminisce with his friends and this journey was luckily documented. A Sideman's Journey is the outcome of seven studio sessions in London, Memphis, Hamburg, Los Angeles and Munich, together with the best of international session musicians and many stars:
Paul McCartney - Ringo Starr - Yusuf (Cat Stevens) - Dr. John - Jim Keltner - Albert Lee - Van Dyke Parks - Joe Walsh (The Eagles) - Max Buskohl - Bonnie Bramlett and many others. | |
|
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELwfVR7yKCg
A Sideman's Journey is released in 2 versions:
Super deluxe version, released September 2009:
Grammy nominated
Includes 14-track CD + DVD including a 10-minute recording session documentary, 68-page hardcover book and signed and numbered fine art print by Klaus Voormann. The bonus DVD, "Making of a Sideman's Journey," carries the viewer into the center of the action. This is not a staged production. This DVD is a powerful and passionate documentary showing how this audio-visual work of art came into being.
Single CD, released January 18, 2011:
Track listing: | |
1. | "I'm In Love Again" with Paul McCartney | |
2. | "Blue Suede Shoes" with Don Preston | |
3. | "All Things Must Pass" with Yusuf (Cat Stevens) | |
4. | "Have You Seen My Baby (Hold On)" with John Fohl | |
5. | "My Sweet Lord" with Bonnie Bramlett | |
6. | "Mighty Quinn" with The Manfreds | |
7. | "Short People" with Don Preston | |
8. | "The Day The World Gets 'Round" with Yusuf (Cat Stevens) | |
9. | "So Far" with Bonnie Bramlett | |
10. | "You're Sixteen" with Max Buskohl | |
11. | "Such A Night" with Dr. John | |
| *on super deluxe only | |
12. | "Mockingbird" with Bonnie Bramlett * | |
13. | "Just Like A Woman" with Mike D'Abo * | |
14. | "He Needs Me" with Inara George * | |
| |
In 1999, Paul McCartney helped launch Voormann's nonprofit organization Lakota Village Fund (LVF) on the German TV show "Wetten Dass." Some of the proceeds will go to "Water is Life - Lakota Environment and Health Project," a charity project in support of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
For over nine years, Christina Voormann has supervised all LVF projects together with board members in collaboration with officials and members of the Oglala Lakota Tribe.
