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From: sidetrack11
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  • I know bill was a huge influence on Michael Schenker and Randy Rhoads but this obviously has Trower influences...Who came first? lol

  • Prince has admitting to be a BIG Bill nelson fan. This song is from 1976. The solo sounds like a big influence on Prince Purple Rain.. 1:46-2:21 and 3:02-3:44.

  • @sleepfan Absolutely dude....I remember seeing Prince in Detroit at the end of 1984 at the Joe Louis Arena where he made ref to non other than Mr Nelson!

  • I totally with they put this song on Raiding the Divine Archive!

  • Love the way the guitar seems to growl in this song before the epic solo,2 strains of feedback one one note@ 2mins 04...tangeable emotional sound few can emulate today.

  • Ah found it,I don't know,as my question "who is your uncle" was aimed at iamalwaysright22, as he said his uncle played with bill,butbi never did get an answer

  • @charlesremschel7 I can't find my original comment so can't answer your question, who IS Steve peer ??,sorry mate

  • wow fab song great guitar rift very good band

  • @army21ish I agree with you but it's riff not rift.

  • @DoorMat444 sorry about the that your right i listen to this song over and over and it just gets better

  • Saw Be Bop Deluxe @ Winterland S.F. 1975 .... Bill Nelson , you made me a Axe Victim !!!

  • Saw Be Bop Deluxe....1975 @ Winterland ,S.F. opened for Ted Nugent.. Bill Nelson was masterful that night.....Made me a Axe Victim.....

  • On many of his tracks Bill uses an 'ebow' - electronic pick. Crying to the sky - was recorded in number 2 studio, Abbey Road, London. (the Beatles studio) The unique sound comes from a 100watt Carlsbro amp with all knobs turned to maximum. Bill had to use a 100ft lead to get far enough from the amp to avoid feedback !

  • Man I used to have this album....beautiful, beautiful song....takes you to the skies and lets you ride the clouds.....

  • WOW... That solo sounds like it might be: A Phase 90 and a DOD Flanger on at the same time - sweet effect... Does anybody know for sure what the guitar effects are on that solo...

  • the first live band i saw awesome

    

  • music to make my ex wife cry.....and me

  • Bill can write melodies and lyrics like no other his guitar virtuosity is well it cant be defined only experienced my all time guitar hero

  • Awesome classic unforgettably fantastic............. wish I could go back in time

  • the first lead break in this song is devastatingly, crushingly, beautifully emotional. One of the greatest solos of all time played on a Gibson 345 and a Calsboro amp turned all the way up to eleven.

  • Bill Nelson IS one of the greats in guitar playing, I personally think in the top 5 for sure.

  • one of my favorite guitar players,i saw be bop deluxe back up blue oyster cult in the late 70's at the old Boston garden.great show.Rolled up a z and lit them all.

  • @blueoyster1000 I saw the same show in Los Angeles in 1976.

  • how they hell can i forget, whilst being in love with Janice Sturdy.in 1976...jewels and naked illusions cruise everywhere. the mans a genius

  • Message for all Bill Nelson/Be Bop Deluxe fans. Bill is to be featured on ITV' s LEGENDS TV show, March 26 at the Metropolis studios, London! Only 125 tickets available. He will play Be Bop Deluxe material with a full band, your ticket will include a meet and greet with Bill and you will be named as a sponsor on the DVD! Please let other fans know, just google Metropolis Studios for info.

  • This song males me cry and smile at the same time. One of the greatest ever to pick up an electric 6 string. I do not believe there is a style that he can not play.

    His genius shines through in whatever he wants to do!

    Jewls and naked illusions certainly do cruise everywhere!!!!

  • Bill Nelson had TONE way before other guitar players new what they where looking for.

    His idea's and structure as well as phrasing was way beyond his time.

    Rocky VonRockerson

  • And if six,  turned out to be nine.

  • I read that Bill wrote this song about Jimi.

  • Ah... a 345, a Carlsbro 100 stack flat out, and a genius...

  • I always said that Van Halen probably got his finger tapping ideas from Bill Nelson. I can't remember anyone doing finger tapping before him; Eddie Van Halen just made it popular.

    Bill always had such a great ear for tone. Listen to how warm and rich the solo parts are in this.

  • @honeyagate EVH admitted to picking the technique up from Steve Hackett of Genesis. Steve was doing it as early as '71

  • @derrickstu Now there's another talented guitarist.

  • Janice Sturdy...... you broke my heart and still gave me the best days of my life in 1976, remember writing on the cover rof Modern Music 'Janice Loves marc'...............well i do, oh happy day

  • if anyone wanted to know where Prince 'found' purple rain............... this is genius

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  • all i have to find now is the band *boxer*

  • @sueyahoo only if they are doing the boxer beat!

  • Bill is quite great here, love the BBD era, but Mr Bill is so more than that! So my friends and all Bill Nelson fans! Go over here, Bill plays here with Takahashi in 1983, guitar work here is stunning and the tune is absolute perfect... youtube.com/watch?v=q52NPLhokv­4&feature=related

  • Saw these guys at the Dagenham Roundhouse in the mid 70's. Awsome !!!

  • One of the all time great solos...Bill has incredible soul in his playing.

  • I worked off Baker Street and met Charlie in a cafe when I was 16  in 76- lovely bloke sorry to hear about him - their fan club was based there too - I was well into them - this brings back memories - thanks a lot for the upload!

  • brilliant. I first heard bebop on Tommy Vance's Friday Rock Show about 30 years ago. He played blazing apostles and the rest from the 1976 BBC session. Blew my head off completely. Go and buy it immediately!. I think Bebop were just too good to be really successful in that sort of bizarre way.

  • Bill is performing at NELSONICA 2010 in NOvember at Park Inn, YORK, UK - his last Nelsonica. :(

  • wauw the 70's bands will be always the best

  • I agree 2perros2, Bill Nelson is hugely underrated. Aside from being a fine guitarist, he's an amazing singer/songwriter.

  • I first got into Be Bop in 1974 when a friend at school kept singing Maid In Heaven. I then bought the Futurama album and was hooked for good. Crying to the Sky is a fantastic track and the guitar solo is just awesome, I never tire of hearing it or Be Bop 36 years on from when I first played my Futurama album on vinyl on my old record player. Long live Be Bop and RIP Charlie.

  • Great album cover! I loved this album. Did too many drugs otherwise I would miss it.

  • guitar playing at its best

  • brill

  • one of my favorite solos of all time love love love this band

  • BILL NELSON IS PROBABLY THE MOST UNDERATED MUSICIAN OF ALL TIME..................TOP TACKLE THIS

  • Beautiful LP,Everysong!

  • Bill's tribute to Hendrix IIRC. A Carlsbro 100w stack turned up full driven by an ES345...

    alex

  • Bill's tribute to Hendrix IIRC. A Carlsbro 100w stack turned up full driven by an ES345...

    alex

  • beautiful song very much overlooked

    thanks for posting

  • Bill Nelson and BBD, practically unknown here in the states. Saw them twice at Winterland in the 70's, great shows. Bill was better than any number of great "rock star" guitarists back then. Fond memories.

  • Bill said this was one of his favorite solos.

  • Excellent guitar work. When interviewed, Bill said it was one of his favorite solos.

  • It' s a great pleasure to listen to Bill Nelson's guitar pickin'

  • This band gave me so much joy !!!!

  • One of the greatest. Much underrated, Where are you Bill?

  • Ah, Bill Nelson and Be-Bop Deluxe, one of my all-time fave 70's and early 80's bands. I even liked some of Bill's solo stuff he put out. I wonder what he's up to now days. Such an excellent vocalist and guitarists.

  • I love this song....makes me wanna cry

  • @FatRakoon I believe this song could be one of the most perefect well played rock songs ever

  • If you listen to electric Ladyland double album there is some good stuff on there. "A Merman I should be" one whole side of the LP is very good and creative.

  • @vinnothelizard U R AN IDIOT

  • I believe there is a young Minnesotean known as Prince who owes our Bill a few bob.

  • @MrStevedev absolutely the truth!

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  • actually it is a tribute to Jimi Hendrix!!

  • The Jam, Tom Petty, and Be Bop Deluxe at winterland in 70 aaah something Oh My God. All of that music and screens of UFO English I think movie stills behind them and I was incredible man Bill wore an illuminated actual sized heart pin and told the audience he had a heart on. Memories man oh man

  • Simplemente fantastico, una excelente pieza con un solo exquisito y lleno de sentimiento, el talento de Bill no ha sido apreciado en su totalidad. Thanks for uploading this excelent material. Best regards

  • Bills guitar work at its best what a solo harrowing

  • What a slick tune, Bill is one heck of a player. His lead has that rare "peel your forehead back" quality few can achieve.

  • Saw him live in the 70's and you are correct what a sound. pinned back on the back wall of the concert hall! Only one other guy had that Tony McPhee, Groundhogs.. different player but same effect!

  • @WELLBRAN

    your right i never put the 2 together but there guitar sound is similar i saw Bebop about 5 times saw Tony as well great times the 70's

  • My Dad's from Hull!

  • saw these guys with the jam and horslips at winterland in 78. what a show !!

  • I am so jealous! I'm a guy from Toledo, Ohio and the Jam are (usually) my favorite band. And both of these are two of my favorite solos ever. Just beautiful...

  • wow! what a line-up! lucky u dude...Im well jealous

  • First heard this live at Oxford Poly on the Sunburst Finish tour....The recording does no justice to just how much he turned up the volume for the two solos. (Spinal Tap level 14+ :-). AWESOME, literally breathtaking.. and I remain convinced that he just did it to show off - like all true geniuses he is so good that he didn't even have to try (think Barry Richards in cricket). A brilliant guitarist.

  • I'm from Baltimore in the U.S. & I loved BeBop Deluxe as a teen. I never had the opportunity to see them live, so for that reason, I'm pissed @ Bill Nelson. Otherwise, I fuckin' love that guy. Excellent songwriter & musician. I started with Futurama & then got the rest. The 70's were the greatest!

  • I wish there was a clip for Heavenly Homes, also on Sunburst Finish.

  • Wish no more !

  • And - HOW(!) - I wish there was a clip for "Sleep That Burns".

  • @kirkg811 The man is pure class...I saw him at Manchester Poly with his Red Noise but I wish I had seen him with Be Bop...a legend!!1

  • Boy did you miss out saw them twice in Glasgow in the 70's awesome live.

  • His soloing style is the bes, just perfect blissful musict! Why isn't he more popular?

  • PART TWO. I first heard Be Bop on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1976. They played Fair Exchange and Ships in the Night. I went out and bought the album 'Sunburst Finish' the next day, it was money well spent (all of around £2.50 in those days).

    That album stayed on my turntable for about the next six weeks being played dozens of times every day! The Vinyl is safely tucked away in the attic, nowadays the CD version enchants me on a regular basis. A masterpiece an absolutely timeless gem

  • It's not often that I fall in love with a piece of music the first time I hear it, good music usually take a few plays to understand and click into place. Examples of my own personal love at first hearing are Genesis'- Selling England by the Pound; Pink Floyds'- The Dark Side of the Moon; Radioheads' - O.K. Computer; and Big Audio Dynamites'- By, Big Audio Dynamite. END OF PART ONE.

  • The guitarist from Marillion also has that whiny, emotional quality to his work... especially on 'Sugar Mice'.... Sunburst Finish is one of the top 20 albums ever.... Thanks, Bill.

  • robert brown

  • This song has the greatest Les Paul wail every recorded , it comes at the beginning of the second solo, It literally rips your heart out.

  • It might sound like a Les Paul, but it was recorded on an ES 345. Bill has never owned a Les Paul

  • I want an ES 345!!!

  • So true, I always wish it went on for another five minutes!

  • This is one of the most beautiful songs in the poignant, prolific works of Mr. Nelson. Perhaps easily, one of the most under-rated composers/recording artists of the 20th-21st century.

  • Bill was a great guitarist but a good singer also...lucky git!!

  • dude my uncle used to play with bill nelson in be bop deluxe

  • Hey who is your uncle m8 ?

  • @terrysteward -- was  it steve peer

  • @terrysteward  steve peer?

  • One of the most beautiful songs of all time.

    Two of the most beautiful guitar solos of all time.

  • sooooo ahead of their time

    one of the greatest bands of all time

  • Bill Nelson is probably the most underrated guitar hero of all time.

  • I agree 1000%

  • @2perros2 I must concur, what a talent... One of my favoutite and possibly the most atmospheric solo's of all time!!!

  • @2perros2 i heard him referred to as a "reluctant guitar hero".

  • fantastic .Watched guitar heroes the other day . No one comes close. Fletcher, a Manza fan.All the best Bill.Hope you get recognition.

  • watched guitar heroes the other day. None come close . Dest t you Fletch

  • manza couldn't even play this in his dreams

  • memories eh? thanks for posting

  • Bill Nelson is probably the most underrated guitar hero from his era...

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  • Their first 4 albums were amazing. I still have them on vinyl and CD.

  • yeah-underrated for sure-had this album back in 75- damn brilliant;clever melodies....

  • Look at all those beautiful Bebop Deluxe albums!

  • Found this in 75. One of the greatest guitar solos EVER. Chills.

  • Great album and the most beautiful cover ever !!

  • this song gives me chills and makes me emotinal everytime i hear it praise bebop

  • I got into BBD because the late, great Randy Rhoads cited them as one of his main influences. Hearing this song on Sunburst Finish definitely shaped me as a young developing guitarist. An amazing band with such emotional guitar playing!

  • great song,,,i bought sunburst in 75 if my memory serves me, went to see a pal in liverpool, and took the album with me,, never saw it again, 14 at the time,, good ole days

  • saw them at glasgow apollo what a gig.

  • Outrageously brilliant, nothing comes close in the past 32 years. Long live Be Bop Deluxe, thanks for the memories guys.

  • First real group I saw, City Hall Newcastle 1977. Bill's Guitar on this track is fantastic.

  • this has the most incredible Les Paul "wails" all time

  • One of the best tracks ever! Bill's a guitar genius, sadly no-one as near as good since.

  • no one better on electric guitar

  • Waht an un-guitar hero-ish guitar hero Bill Nelso was and is. I'm sadden by the fact that he is no longer with the woman he wrote all of the wonderful love songs for. It breaks my heart. Maybe I'm just more sensitive to it because of my own personal turmoil,

  • Jewels

    And

    Naked

    Illusons

    Cruise

    Everywhere

  • Like many I heard Ships in the Night and bought it as a single. Played the B side and was blown away. Have been a convert to the church of Bill Nelson ever since. This song always made me cry and still does!

  • sunburst finish

    In my collection of records over the years - this is one of the top 10 albums - and "crying to the sky" is the #1 on that record.

  • I remember buying Ships in the Night with this as the B side and just thinking Feck!!..where did that guitar solo come from...and it's still amazing...

  • The best band of all time playing the best song of all time with the best solo of all time! You may be able to tell I LIKE this! :)

  • sure sounds like one of Hendrix's ballads.

  • Superb,what else needs to be said,music goes where words are inadequate.

  • super thats all i can say

  • Try playing this in a dark room with the volume up max. It still transports me 33 years on to a place that's not on this planet. It's fantastic. Long live Bill and Be Bop Deluxe.

  • The more I listen to this the more I realise why I loved this and the band back in the 70s. This song sounds better today than it did 33 years ago. Can't believe that amount of time has passed.........fantastic song!

  • this is probably the greatest unknown song of all time

    i saw them open for blue oyster cult in boston and bill apologized for the crappy sound cuz they were not allowed a sound check

    unfortunately that was my only time for bbd

    did get to see bill do contemplation live in new york at the savoy when he did a solo tour

    after on a blue wing\getting the holy ghost across wow

  • One of my favourite guitar solos of all time!

    Fantastic feedback through his Calsbro amp.

    classic

  • Hey Bill!-you still got that that fantastic sounding Yamaha SG??? Saw you all at Halifax in the 70's - MASTERFUL...... RIP Charlie.

  • As a college DJ back in the late 70's I had a chance to play records of groups I had never heard of. I remember finding Sunburst Finish and playing this song. Now years later it still moves me the same way even though a lot has changed.........

  • This album is great, but Axe Victim and Modern Music and Live in the Air Age are just as good. These guys got me laid a few times. What more is there?

  • I bought Ships in the night as a 16 year old, with this as the B side, the gitar solo had a massive impact on me. Love it still

  • What a sound.Great band,Bill is one of the best guitar player vocalists.And miss Charlie [R.i.p] check out what he did b4 "BBD" with in 1971-72,Healing force "golden miles & poem of joy [at garyco34]

  • Saw them once and it's still in my top 10 of concerts of all time... They were amazing!

  • most exelent band forever bbd

  • Wonderful, timeless, long live BBD !!!

  • I Wish I Could Go Back In Time.............and Hear It again for the First Time...over and over ...No way to explain this mans music it holds my soul...

  • what a beautiful piece. I'm ashamed to say I've not heard of the band before. I suppose we can't hear all music.

  • Sunburst Finish is one of the best albums ever.

  • Love Bill Nelson, the best of the best. Buy Whimsy from 2003

    the best guitar record ever. He just get younger and younger....

  • Great track off a great album.Brings back lots of memories from the 70,s.

  • my favorite be bop deluxe track !!!

  • A magnificent song from a fantastic band,whose premature cessation was so sad, but probably wise in hindsight...Bill had nowhere else to go with them really. Bless you for the memories William.

  • Guitar with such expression...every nerve end is reached!

  • what do u mean he was a genius. He is still around!! I saw Be Bop several times in Cleveland during the 70s and 80s and they were fabulous!!

    I would like to see them again. Hope he tours and comes to the house of Blues in cleveland or Tangiers in Akron. What a group!!!

  • Yes Bill is still around (he'll be 60 this December and still recording prolifically as a solo artist), but you're mistaken in thinking you saw Be Bop Deluxe in the 80's, Bill split Be Bop Deluxe in 1978.

  • Fantastic song from a wonderful album. Remember buying Sunburst Finish when I was 16 and it blew me away...hooked for life! Saw Be Bop 3 times at the Glasgow Apollo in the late 70s, their music was before it's time and is most definitely timeless.Bill Nelson was just a genius!

  • Oh WoW ,

    The absolute bollocks, if there has ever been a better recorded song please let me know this has has every emotion totally covered ..well done

    Be-Bop , I'm a massive Bolan fan ,but fuck you're good . MAB Sunderland

  • Wonderful - specially closing guitar when it slides down an octave and back up again - aways brings a tear to my eye - funny geezer!

  • The 2 best things about this band were Nelson's guitar playing and the way he could weave a story into the perfect melody.  When I hear this tune with its 2 blazing solos, I'm convinced Bill was simply way ahead of his time. There's no other explanation as to why his talent went essentially unnoticed.

  • Regret Charlie Tumahai died from a sudden heart attack around 10 years ago, aged 45.

    Be Bop Deluxe were a magnificent band and a huge part of my early teens. Their music still sounds brilliant today - always the acid test.

  • i think one of the band was in the lockerbie plane crash

  • If I remember it was the bass player out of Cockney Rebel who was murdered in the Lockerbie plane crash.

  • Thats right,he also played briefly with be bop deluxe after the late charles tumahai went back to his homeland.

  • Favourite guitar solo of all time. Axe victim also one of my fav's. Bill Nelson has the Best tone along with Leslie West from the group 'Mountain'. Check out their version of Jack Bruces's classic 'Theme for an imaginary Western'....

  • Yes, we all love Be-Bop Deluxe but we keep on talk about Bill Nelson all the time.

    What happen with Charles Tumahai, Andrew Clark and Simon Fox?????

    They also are Be-Bop Deluxe.

  • ahead of there time

  • One of my all time favourite guitar tracks. Cheers for posting!

  • saw them at the apollo in 77 amazin.even though they were punting drastic plastic the set was incredible.

  • HEAVEN...