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UID:6ca27e15-6ea9-489b-b665-1648957d318a@360exp.net
SEQUENCE:29843131
DTSTAMP:20260928T153007Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260928T093129Z
DTSTART:20261124T193000Z
DTEND:20261124T223000Z
SUMMARY:Scott Fagan - Playing the songs of Soon and South Atlantic Blues
LOCATION:St John On Bethnal Green
DESCRIPTION:Baba Yaga's Hut presents:\n\nScott Fagan - Playing the songs of
  Soon and South Atlantic Blues\n\nat St John on Bethnal Green - November 2
 4th\n\nScott Fagan’s New Album Soon\, 55 Years in the Making\, revives s
 ongs from his lost 1971 Broadway Rock Opera starring a young Richard Gere.
 \n\nSoon has been a long time coming. The new album from Scott Fagan has b
 een some 55 years in the making. Its songs\, all drawn from the 1971 Broad
 way rock opera of the same name that Fagan conceived and wrote with songwr
 iting partner Joe Kookoolis\, were originally intended as the follow-up to
  his classic 1968 debut\, South Atlantic Blues\, but fate intervened.\n\nA
  radical call-to-arms against the complacency of the modern world\, and a 
 tone poem about art\, radicalism\, commerce\, and corruption\, the rock op
 era told an age-old story\, of an artist forced to make a devil’s bargai
 n between their principles and success. It drew on Fagan’s own experienc
 es in the music industry\, and featured him in the lead role\, alongside R
 ichard Gere\, Barry Bostwick (later the lead in Grease and The Rocky Horro
 r Show)\, Joe Butler (of Lovin’ Spoonful)\, Vicki Sue Robinson\, and Pet
 er Allen.\n\nThe original Broadway production\, subject to creative meddli
 ng that compromised its creators’ vision\, closed the day after its open
 ing. A year later\, it was restaged in Los Angeles for a brief two-week ru
 n. Then Fagan’s opus was lost to time. The album was shelved\, never to 
 be recorded or heard. Until now.\n\nRecorded over seven days in July 2025 
 at Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis\, a hallowed studio that has 
 hosted Johnny Cash\, Bob Dylan\, Alex Chilton\, and The Cramps among other
 s\, the sessions found the now 80-year-old singer-songwriter working with 
 a crack Memphis rhythm section—drummer Terence Clark (Brandi Carlisle\, 
 Keith Urban)\, guitarist Steve Selvidge (The Hold Steady\, North Mississip
 pi All Stars) and keyboardist Rick Steff (Cat Power\, Dexy’s Midnight Ru
 nners\, Lucero).\n\nThe thirteen songs on Soon\, every one a gem\, illustr
 ate Fagan’s extraordinary facility and range as a singer and songwriter 
 of great sensitivity\, passion\, and humour. From its rousing opener\, “
 Let The World Begin Again”\, through fiery protest songs\, and tender\, 
 heart-wrenching ballads\, the album is by turns\, uplifting\, mournful\, r
 ighteous\, giddy\, soulful\, and anthemic.\n\nFirst single\, “Faces Name
 s and Places”\, a rousing rocker calling for a thorough accounting of th
 ose responsible for the world’s ills\, is a near-perfect fit for the cur
 rent moment. It finds its opposite number in “Please Be Well”\, the up
 lifting album closer\, an empathetic plea to take care of one’s self in 
 a mixed-up\, inside-out world. In an album that feels as if it’s made up
  of lost classics\, the title track “Soon”—a masterclass in classic 
 songwriting that could easily have slipped into Sinatra’s repertoire— 
 may top them all. A ballad about hope\, faith\, yearning\, and the promise
  of a brighter tomorrow\, it’s a song Fagan wrote as a 24-year-old that 
 feels all the more poignant and affecting sung by him now\, in the autumn 
 of his years.\n\nScott Fagan’s own path through the music industry is a 
 tale in itself\, one that found him rubbing shoulders with legendary Brill
  Building songwriting team Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman (“Viva Las Vegas”
 \, “Save the Last Dance For Me”\, “This Magic Moment”) who mentore
 d and managed him at the start of his career\, in the mid-60s\; and sharin
 g stages with Jimi Hendrix\, Odetta\, Ritchie Havens\, and Tiny Tim. He ha
 d a succession of managers who promised to lay the world at his feet and c
 ame up empty-handed\; deals with a series of labels—Columbia\, Bang\, At
 co\, Epic\, and RCA—left a trail of breadcrumbs\, in a series of singles
  that form a small catalogue of largely-unheard masterpieces. Somewhere al
 ong the way\, he fathered a son\, in acclaimed songwriter Stephin Merritt
 \, although the two never met until 2012. Fagan also developed the musicia
 ns’ treatment and support program that became MusiCares. But recognition
  for his music eluded him\, until a 2016 reissue of South Atlantic Blues w
 as rightfully heralded as a lost classic.\n\nWhere Fagan’s debut dealt w
 ith the extreme poverty and privation of his childhood and teenage years\,
  growing up in the US Virgin Islands\, the songs he wrote for Soon (with J
 oe Kookolis) cast their net into the wider world. As a songwriter\, Fagan 
 was instilled with a purpose\, to inform\, agitate\, and uplift.\n\nAlthou
 gh written over a half a century ago\, against the backdrop of Nixon\, stu
 dent protests\, Sixties radicalism\, and the Vietnam War\, these songs are
  timeless. They speak to the world as it is now\, awash with chaos\, war\,
  inequities\, and inequality\, and act as a salve for tired souls\, offeri
 ng some measure of salvation.\n\nScott Fagan has been waiting a long time 
 for the world to hear these songs. This time is the right time. The long\,
  long wait is over\, Soon.\n\nBoletos: https://dice.fm/event/ryr8kv-scott-
 fagan-playing-the-songs-of-soon-and-south-atlantic-blues-24th-nov-st-john-
 on-bethnal-green-london-tickets
URL;VALUE=URI:https://360exp.net/events/6ca27e15-6ea9-489b-b665-1648957d318
 a
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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