OffBeat is New Orleans' and Louisiana's music and entertainment magazine. In the December 1997 issue, they have an interview called BackTalk with George Porter, Jr. George Porter Jr. is a guitarist and musician who has been a part of the New Orleans music scene for over 30 years. He is featured on Tori's Under The Pink and Boys For Pele albums. He also plays on Tori's upcoming 1998 album. This recent interview mentions the fact that George just finished working with Tori, and he explains a little bit about what he did. You can read the Tori part of the interview below, and you can read the entire article online at the Offbeat web site. You can read more about George Porter on my Musicians page, a page about the musicians helping Tori on her new album/tour.

BackTalk with George Porter, Jr.
by Alex Oliver

Here is the Tori part of the interview:

You just finished working on a new Tori Amos records, correct?

Yes, we just recorded that last month in a little town up in Eastern England. I played on her two prior records, so his will be my third album with her.

How does that go, when she hires you on is she looking for that signature George Porter funk bass, or does she dictate more of the sound she's looking for?

What happened was, we overdubbed all of our parts to Tori's existing, completed tracks. Myself, the drummer and the guitar player were the last guys to come in. I let the drummer put his parts on first, and then I would come in and just play from start to finish by myself. Then she'd come in and we'd go through it and find parts that fit with what she was hearing. We'd kind of go through it a verse at a time and find out what worked and what didn't work. Generally, I just play what I felt worked well with the parts. There are probably only a few signature George Porter things where you can sit down and listen to the record and say, "Oh, that's George Porter." Most of the time, when I'm playing on someone's session, I'm very much trying to make what I play fit with the music. I tend towards being able to play in all the musical fields. I like playing, and I consider myself a musician's musician, I don't just play funk. Hey, if they've got a country and western session out there, I'll play it, and not only that, I'll know how to play it.

Read this article/news item.

Ice Magazine had a short article about the Great Expectations soundtrack shortly before it was released. I am guessing that the article appeared in the December 1997 issue. I am not totally sure however.

"On January 6, Atlantic Records will ring in the new year with Great Expectations, a 16-song soundtrack featuring new music by Tori Amos.... [list of other bands & stuff] The complete track list, in sequence: Tori Amos -- "Finn" and "Siren" [followed by all the other tracks]...

"One thing that makes GE unusual is that the composer of the film's classical score, Patrick Doyle, worked closely with the rock artists on the soundtrack. (Doyle is best known for his work with actor/director Kenneth Branagh) 'We brought together these two different worlds of music,' [executive producer Darren] Higman says. 'We wanted the rock musicians to work with Patrick in creating songs that were evocative of the score and vice versa, which no one has really done before.'

"'In particular,' he says, 'Patrick and Tori talked a lot about what they wanted the song ["Siren"] to say. The scene Tori wrote for is one where the Ethan Hawke character has finally decided to get on with his life, but like a siren he's always drawn back to Gwyneth Paltrow. So there's a literal connection to the lyrics.'

"On the same day, Atlantic will release GE: The Score Music by Patrick Doyle, which contains additional vocalizing by Amos not found on the soundtrack."

Great Music - Great Cause

Here's a nice tip for a new year: There's a way that average citizens like us can help a great cause - and hear some great music in the bargain.

RAINN (the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, DC that opeates America's only national toll-free hotline for survivors of sexual assault.

RAINN and recording artist Tori Amos have joined together to provide a great opportunity to help the organization. With a minimum $5 donation to RAINN, you can see and hear 13 music videos by Amos through the Internet, including the unreleased-in-the-US video for "Cornflake Girl."

You can make your donation at http://www3.rbn.com/realaid/ or http://www.atlantic-records.com. I ponied up a few bucks myself and can endorse RAINN without reservation. It's great music for a great cause.

The Addicted To Noise web site published their top 10 lists, and in the Music News Of The World for December 29, Associate Editor Beth Winegarner gave her top 10 list for 1997. Tori was listed at number one for her concert for RAINN. Beth said, "Amos' January concert to benefit her Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (aired on Lifetime) was not only a rare treat for folks who haven't seen Amos' amazing live shows, but raised some $250,000 and opened the floor to discussion of one of the most gruesome -- and most hidden -- of topics." I wish more publications would have recognized the importance of that event! Read the rest of Beth's top 10 at Addicted To Noise.

Most bizarre quote: Perhaps not surprising, Atlantic"s heady Tori Amos came up with the oddest statement of the year. Describing how her "Silent All These Years" has fostered a confident base for her writing, she metaphorically referred to her songs as girls, explaining, " "Silent" helped usher a lot of new girls through the doorway. Now that ("Silent") is getting attention, there"s a lot of well-wishing from all the new girls, because she taught them how to put their lipstick on. Now that she"s getting her picture taken, there is no jealousy amid the troops. That song is always there for me when I need her."

...

Personally speaking: Talking with budding Canadian singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, I asked how the Columbia artist perceived comparisons to Rickie Lee Jones, Alanis Morissette, and Tori Amos. Her response: "I don"t really think about it. That"s something that journalists feel they have to do." Hey, now wait just a minute . . .

Finally, a seperate publication called the Top 40 Monitor, briefly mentions Tori in it's December 27, 1997 year-end issue. (This is a magazine that many radio stations subscribe to.) In an article called "Local Hits You Might Have Missed", it mentions that Silent All These Years was the #13 single for the year at WXKS-FM (Kiss 108) in Boston.

Billboard Magazine has an article in the December 20, 1997 issue called "Web Event Features Amos Vids." It says, "In a charitable effort aimed at raising funds for the Washington, D.C.-based Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), Atlantic Records artist Tori Amos will open up her music video catalog to consumers for the first-ever online pay-per-view charity event."

Read the entire Billboard Article From The Dec. 20th issue.

Mark H. Weidman also reports that in the December issue of spin magazine (with a scary but cool pic of bjork on the cover), there is an article on electronica artists whom spin magazine considers pretty good i guess. these artists include bt, Hardkiss, and Rabbit in the Moon. Spin includes a composite of their best songs incuding blue skies w/ tori by bt, and then spin tells their recommended work, which includes blue skies by bt again along with ima which it appears on. under hardkiss they include "delusions of grandeur," which includes "out of body experience(the song that samples "Precious Things"). under rabbit in the moon they include "out of body experience"(i guess the same song) which again features "precious things."