E62: Bryan Ferry + Prog Rock + John Prine audio interview

In this week's episode, RBP's power trio reforms to talk about all that's new – and everything that's free – on the site this week. Los tres hombres start with the solo Bryan Ferry, a.k.a. "Byron Ferrari", a.k.a. "Friern Barnet", revisiting the Roxy Music frontman's makeover as a dinner-jacketed lounge lizard and aspiring country gentleman. 

They then mark the publication of Mike Barnes' Prog-Rock magnum opus A New Day Yesterday with a free-ranging chinwag about the pros and cons of said genre – with specific reference to Mike's great pieces on Pink Floyd and Peter Hammill.

We hear a hilarious clip of beloved country-folk troubadour John Prine reminiscing about an improbable visit to Phil Spector's L.A. mansion, followed by a good-humoured debate on the merits or otherwise of, well, country-folk troubadours such as John Prine.

Finally, Mark walks us through his personal highlights of the week's "library load", focusing on quotes from pieces about Paul Simon, the Bang(le)s and an unlikely 1997 hook-up between the Wu-Tang Clan and Sharleen Spiteri's Texas. Discussion of maverick axeman Marc Ribot and electro-swingers Caravan Palace rounds the episode.

Pieces discussed: Bryan Ferry, Brain Fury, Biryani Ferret, Pink Floyd's Ummagumma, Peter Hammill/Van der Graaf Generator, Captain Beefheart, John Prine audio, the Mersey Scene, The Supremes, Charlie Watts, Paul McCartney on Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix live, Paul Simon, Kilburn and the High Roads, The Bangs, R.E.M., Deborah Harry, Wu-Tang Clan meets Texas, Pet Shop Boys, Marc Ribot, Foals' Yannis Philippakis, Lianne La Havas and Caravan Palace

The Rock's Backpages podcast is proud to be part of the Pantheon podcast network.