Antion’s Blog
The Scotch – Part 2
After we played our first set, it was time for Jimi to do his thing. Chas introduced him and he took the stage with Brian, Roger Sutton on bass and Clive Thacker on drums. And James Marshall Hendrix playing for the first time on a James Marshall amp, a pleasant association that would endure for the rest of Jimi’s short life. For sure he played Hey Joe, as I already said, I remember the other songs - maybe three more – as all being blues based. They would have had to have been, just because of...
The Scotch – Part 1
On that fateful night, exactly 50 years ago, I left home at around 7:45 pm. Climbing into my 63 Yellow VW Beetle (Bug), I drove the 15 miles to the West End of London in about half an hour. Often Brian Auger (see pic) and I would drive together to gigs like this but that night we drove separately. As I look back now, it didn’t feel to me like this would be a night that would change – well, maybe not EVERYTHING – but would change music history. For me it was going to be just another gig,...
Newsletter updates 09-MAY-2021
BIG NEWS – 3 – ALL AT THE SAME TIME! 1. Medical Diagnosis for Antion, “Cancer Stage 4. Incurable. Terminal.” 2. Release of Antion’s new REVOLUTIONARY LIFE CHANGING Kirtan album 3. Our 49th Wedding Anniversary May 11th I like that my Beloved husband Antion Vikram Singh Meredith posts on Facebook: Let me be VERY clear. I have NOT been ‘given’ 6 months. I have no interest in bullshit medical diagnoses. The doctor said, “the normal life expectancy in cases like this is 6 months”. I do NOT accept...
Paris Olympia part 2
Tuesday October 18, 1966 Fifty years ago I was working with Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity. We were in Paris at the famous L’Olympia Music Hall with top French music idol, Johnny Halliday. Also on the bill was an unknown newcomer performing his first ever show in Paris with a brand new band. His name: Jimi Hendrix; his band: The Jimi Hendrix Experience. We had arrived in Paris the previous morning and spent the day rehearsing. Next day – after a suitable Gallic continental...
Paris Olympia part 1
Monday October 17, 1966 It’s no fun to be driving into Paris at the start of the rush hour, on a cold and stormy Monday morning in a car that had been built to be driven on the opposite side of the road. Especially when you have had no sleep, having spent the night crossing the English Channel on a tossing car ferry. This was my lot over 50 years ago, Monday October 17, 1966. I was still working with Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity and we were in France for a concert with Johnny...
3HO Summer Solstice 1970 part 2
I have had several requests to write about YB’s relationship with Virsa Singh and what I know about the first India trip. I will do that, but I feel the need to move forward chronologically. Also, I want to finish the story of the 1970 Summer Solstice. At the end of part 1, a group of ashram heads were being schooled in Native American spiritual practices in an all-night session, while occupying a tepee brought to the site by Tom and Lisa Law. The rest of us stayed up all night chanting....
Chanting for the Governor
A unique sequence of events ... The Hawaiian Islands and the Hawaiian people are unique in many ways. Their indigenous culture is rich in story, song and chant and is uniquely different from other Polynesian cultures. “Oli”, chanting in the Hawaiian language, is still a living art form and Hawaiian chanters hold a very respected place in Island society. I had first visited the Hawaiian island of Kauai in 1989. In subsequent visits, I had fallen in love with the music and culture and we had...
3HO Summer Solstice 1970 part 1
I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into when I left LA in June of 1970 to drive to New Mexico for 3HO’s Summer Solstice Gathering. You might have thought of me as a Hippy – and I certainly looked like one – but I was never very good at Hippiedom. Still, even if I was driving 1400 miles to spend 10 days with a bunch of Hippies, I knew at least they were spiritual Hippies. It also seemed fairly certain that there would be no alcohol, drugs or tobacco at this gathering. I was,...
Sikh Sacred Kirtan from a 500 year Mystical Tradition with Antion Vikram Singh
RARE MEDITATIVE MUSICAL OPPORTUNITY! Aloha friends! We are on our beloved island of Kauai for one more week, inspired to be presenting Sikh Sacred Gurbani Kirtan – outside the temples for almost the first time ever. We lived on Kauai for 13 years leading Sacred Sound Celebrations weekly in our yurt in Kilauea and home in Anahola. I will present in Kilauea Gurbani Kirtan, spiritual music and singing to honor Guru Nanak. This will be held in a very special, inspiring and beautiful space,...
Sacred Kirtan from a 500 year Mystical Tradition
RARE MEDITATIVE MUSICAL OPPORTUNITY with ANTION! Antion is back on island for a month. On Sunday, October 27th, 4.30-6.30pm, Antion Vikram Singh will present the first in a program of Gurbani Kirtan, spiritual music and singing, especially to honor Guru Nanak. Sikh Sacred Kirtan is so divinely devotional and complex in its Sanskrit-based language, ragas and musical traditions that it has been sung only in Sikh temples – so far! This is a rare opportunity to experience a hitherto secret...
Serge & Brigitte
Magic Moments in the Summer of Love #5– Recording with Serge Gainsbourg I don’t know if this next story can be exactly described as magical, but it was definitely interesting. Having worked with America’s greatest songwriters at the beginning of 1967 (Bacharach and David), and having hung out with arguably the UK’s greatest (Paul McCartney), it seemed only logical that I would find myself working with France’s greatest songwriter of the time, albeit in a minor supporting role. The...
Jim Garrison
This is a story I might not have told had I not visited Dealey Plaza recently and been so vividly reminded of the Kennedy Assassination. In the spring of 1968, while I was still with The Animals, we flew to New Orleans for a gig. When we arrived at the airport we were met by a dapper, good looking man in his 30s. He informed us that he was with the NO Police Department and had been sent to welcome us to NO and make sure everything went smoothly with our visit. Naturally, we assumed that he was...
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