Donnerstag, 19. Januar 2012

Mad Ray Cooper

Ein Musikstück, welches ich zur Zeit ziemlich oft höre und das ich auch gern – obwohl die Soundqualität etwas eingeschränkt ist – als youtube-Video sehe ist die »Something«-Version auf dem »Concert for George«:




Zu Weihnachten habe ich eine DVD geschenkt bekommen: The Six Wives of Henry VIII.
Auf Wikipedia ist unter Punkt »Öffentliche Aufführung« zu lesen:
»Nachdem das Werk bis dato nie in seiner Gesamtheit öffentlich aufgeführt wurde, fanden am 1. und 2. Mai 2009 anlässlich des 500. Jubiläums der Thronbesteigung Heinrichs VIII. beim Hampton Court Palace zwei Open Air-Konzerte statt. Neben allen ursprünglichen Titeln wurden mit „Henry's Fanfare“, „Tudorture '1485'“, „Defender Of The Faith“ und „Tudorock“ auch neue Kompositionen präsentiert. Neben Rick und dessen Sohn Oliver Wakeman traten The English Rock Ensemble, The English Chamber Choir, Orchestra Europa und der Schauspieler Brian Blessed als Erzähler auf. Die Konzerte sind bei Eagle Vision auf DVD und BD erschienen.«

In der einleitenden Sequenz sieht man einen Typen mit Glatze und dickrandiger Brille, der sich ziemlich exzentrisch bewegt:

Rick Wakeman - Tudorture 1485

Ray Cooper (* 19. August 1942 in WatfordHertfordshire) ist ein englischer Perkussionist.
Er arbeitete als Studio- und Live-Musiker mit Bands und Künstlern wie Pink FloydThe Rolling StonesStingPhil CollinsGeorge HarrisonEric ClaptonPeter Maffay und Elton John. Sein exzentrisches, bisweilen ausgeflipptes Auftreten auf der Bühne brachte ihm den Spitznamen „Mad Ray Cooper“ ein.
Coopers Karriere begann in den 1960er Jahren mit Aufnahmen der Band The Who. Es folgten Produktionen mit Carly SimonDavid Essex und Blue Mink. Bekannt wurde er durch die Zusammenarbeit mit Elton John, bei dem er auf fast allen Alben aus den 1970er Jahren mitwirkte. Auch auf dem Live Aid-Konzert 1985 gehörte er zu dessen Begleitband. Am 29. November 2002 nahm er als Musiker und Mitproduzent am Gedenkkonzert für seinen Freund George Harrison teil. 2009 arbeitete Cooper mit Peter Maffay, 2010 erneut mit Elton John. In Albert Dupontels Filmkomödie 9 mois ferme war Cooper 2013 in einem Cameo-Auftritt als Nachrichtensprecher zu sehen. [Ray Cooper, Wikipedia, abgerufen am 24.05.2017]
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Hier – völlig unsortiert – ein paar Videos mit „Mad Ray Cooper“:

RAY COOPER - The master of percussion - live at Zenith in Strasbourg 28th may 2011 {12:04}

Hochgeladen am 29.05.2011
RAY COOPER - The master of percussion - live at Zenith in Strasbourg 28th may 2011 supported by Elton John

Percussionist Ray Cooper Performs "Indian Sunset" With Elton John, Honolulu {7:19}

Hochgeladen am 09.01.2010
Legendary percussionist Ray Cooper performs "Indian Sunset" with Elton John at Elton's January 6, 2010 concert at Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii.

You may want to ignore the video until about 1/4th in because the drunk jerk sitting in my row kept walking in and out of the row to get more beer. So I had to keep standing up (and hence the camera moves around a lot).

Elton John with Ray Cooper - Royal Albert Hall - Collection - 22 Sept 2009 {9:37}

Hochgeladen am 23.09.2009
This is a collection of recordings from the Albert Hall Performance. Sorry for the poor camera work, i was just hoping to get decent sound!
Includes Sixty Years On, Ballad of the boy in the red shoes, Emperor's new clothes, Weight of the world, American Triangle, Tonight, Levon, Indian Sunset, Carla Etude, Blessed, Concert ending.
Original Sin and Saturday nights alright for fighting are on other videos.

Elton John and Ray Cooper- Funeral for a friend/Tonight - Live in Toulon, France, 29.09.2010 {10:53}

Hochgeladen am 06.10.2010

An evening with Elton John and Ray Cooper - 29 Settembre 2009 - Forum di Assago - Tonight {9:00}

Hochgeladen am 29.09.2009
An evening with Elton John and Ray Cooper - 29 Settembre 2009 - Forum di Assago - Tonight.

Elton John & Ray Cooper - Better Off Dead - Live in Denmark {2:59}

Hochgeladen am 12.12.2010
Elton John and Ray Cooper did a gig in MCH Multiarena, Herning, Denmark 9th December 2010

Ray Cooper - Breakdown {6:00}

Hochgeladen am 25.01.2008
One of the Best Italo Disco hits,
Ray Cooper - Breakdown,
Gatti - Bais
Prod. Stefano Secchi - Maurizio Pavesi
1984

Ray Cooper Percussion-Layla {6:45}

Hochgeladen am 20.09.2008
Clapton, Beck, Jimmy Page, Andy Fairweather, Wyman, Winwood , Kenny Jones and Charlie Watts on drums, and Ray Cooper.

#7 - Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John & Ray Cooper - Live in Herning 2010 {6:23}

Hochgeladen am 20.10.2011
Finally a show from Denmark with reasonable sound quality and that I attended! It's from Herning 9th of December 2010 during the Ray Cooper tour. The show is about 50 % complete, but has almost 1½ hour of music and on Bennie And The Jets there is some muffling.
Instead of talking about (or writing about) the show, I've attached this fan report which describes the whole show. The picture is from the very show!

Elton and Ray! What more to ask for? I've got tickets on row 7 on the floor, with an awesome sight to Elton and Ray. I was so excited about what the night would bring and I knew, this was going to be a night to remember.

Elton entered the stage during Aida-music at 8 pm sharp and the audience rose when they saw the shape of Elton. Elton sat down in front of the piano and started to play the hit "The One". After "The One" Elton thanked us and he said, that he was honoured to be here because it was his first time in Herning.

Elton introduced some songs from the album "Elton John", which came out 40 years ago. Elton played a powerful version of "Sixty Years On" and a beautiful rendition of "The Greatest Discovery" and right from that moment I was not in doubt: this gig would be extraordinary.

Elton introduced "Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes" and told the audience, about the conditions during the government of Ronald Reagan which did absolutely nothing for people with AIDS, which Elton called a disgrace. He played the song with emotions and anger at the same time and made a beautiful edition of the song.

Afterwards Elton talked about "The Union", which he made with his dear friend Leon Russell and started to play "When Love Is Dying" which was the first time I've heard that live. Good to hear that Elton still can make gems of his own!

The next song was "I Guess that's Why They Call It the Blues", which he made up very bluesy and added another solo between the verses. The audience couldn't stop rocking. Then Elton played "Nikita" and what a blast! The audience gave Elton a big applause, when they heard the first lines of the song. Now the hits came streaming.

"Rocket Man". Breathless! What a solo version of the song! The audience made up a loud applause for Elton and he really deserved it. Elton went back to "The Union" and started to play "Never Too Old" and I really liked that song - and the rest of the audience seemed to do as well. Elton switched out the piano sound with a bluesy, electric piano sound and started to play "Philadelphia Freedom", which I really couldn't keep clapping to. "Tiny Dancer" and "Your Song" were both phenomenal and now Ray Cooper entered the stage:

Ray Cooper appeared on stage, when Elton played "Funeral For A Friend" and we couldn't stop laughing at Ray's funny moves. "Funeral for a Friend" faded out into "Tonight. "Better off Dead" and "Levon" made the arena boiling and now people seemed to have fun. Elton played a third song from "The Union" now with Ray Cooper on percussion. Elton played the song "Gone to Shiloh", which is about the American Civil War and with Bernie Taupin's beautiful lyrics this was a very memorial moment. "Indian Sunset" showed off, that Elton's voice's still better than ever and "I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself" with a western-saloon sound on the piano showed off that Elton's still at the top! Take Me To The Pilot with a 7 minute intro?! Probably one of the longest intros for that song. "Don't Let the Sun Go down on Me" was fantastic.

Now Elton asked the fans to come up in front of the stage. People ran up there and the first chord of "Bennie and the Jets" was making the entire arena screaming. Oh My God! What a rendition! Elton played the "In the Mood" part the best he could and he played it like never before with a little bit of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer! Crazy Water was making the climax on the show and when he finished the song he left the stage.

Elton came back and started to sign autographs. Elton went all across the stage signing and of course I got my autograph. After that Elton thanked the audience for being so kind to him and he said that he'd always loved coming to Denmark. Elton wished us a happy Christmas and a happy new year. Then the sound of "Candle in the Wind" came into our ears. Beautiful, breath-taking, unbelievable. Elton left the stage and the concert was over.

Ray Copper in Knebworth 1990 {9:59}
Hochgeladen am 06.02.2009

LEONARD ETO & RAY COOPER {8:30}

Hochgeladen am 05.11.2010
Great Music exsperience 1994
Created with Video Easy RYVT Edition 2

… und das hier ist ohne Ray Cooper, aber trotzdem »mad«:



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