A CAT Club presentation

AN AUDIENCE WITH JOHN ALTMAN

John Altman has four Lifetime Achievement Awards and four Grammy Participation Certificates. He has composed music for over fifty movies – winning, and being nominated for BAFTAS, Golden Globes, Golden Reels and Emmy Awards long the way for Titanic, Monty Python’s Life Of Brian, Goldeneye, Hear My Song, Sheltering Sky, Léon: The Professional, RKO281, The Roman Spring Of Mrs. Stone, Little Voice and No Time To Die.

A gifted arranger, John has worked on 19 platinum albums, including George Michael's 1989 album Faith, which won several Grammys (he was also nominated for The Rutles film, All You Need Is Cash).

Some of the artists he has written for include Simple Minds, Barry White, Tina Turner, Björk, Diana Ross, Tom Jones, Pretenders, Rod Stewart and Michael Jackson.

As an in-demand woodwind player, he has played with artists as diverse as Prince, Nick Drake, Muddy Waters, Peter Green, Kevin Ayers, Amy Winehouse (whom he mentored) and he was also musical director for Hot Chocolate and Van Morrison. As a jazz musician and band leader John has played with Chet Baker, Slim Gaillard, Quincy Jones, Bud Freeman, Les McCann and many others.

A renowned raconteur, Altman’s acclaimed autobiography, Hidden Man was published in 2022 by Equinox.

This terrific CAT Club gathering saw JASON BARNARD in the interviewer’s chair doing a splendid job opposite the truly wonderful JOHN ALTMAN.

Please note: John was also our guest for George Michael’s Faith album. Podcast also available and well worth a listen!

Happy Trails

This event took place on 24th April 2025 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk

This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons.

Happy Trails.

OH MERCY – BOB DYLAN with special guest Michael Gray

In 1989 Bob Dylan appeared to be a busted flush, the God bothering had faded and the glory decades were long gone but with Daniel Lanois at the helm ‘Oh Mercy’ smashed any preconceptions of creative malaise and delivered his most vital work for years. For many ‘Oh Mercy' was a gateway drug to both Dylan and the genre of Americana. It is a genuine classic album that stands up to repeated listens.” (Rolling Stone).

MICHAEL GRAY was the man who in 1972 wrote the first critical study of Bob Dylan’s work – the first to take him seriously as an artist and to discuss his work alongside that of the literary majors – all this more than 40 years before Dylan received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Michael has remained at the forefront of Dylan Studies and his books are widely used in colleges and libraries on both sides of the Atlantic.

We were delighted to welcome the author of ‘Song & Dance Man,’ ‘The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia’ and ‘Outtakes On Bob Dylan’ for what proved to be a memorable evening – Dr. Michael Gray.

This event took place on 26th September 2024 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk

Happy Trails.

The CAT Club presents a classic vinyl album:

COMBAT ROCK – THE CLASH

Released in 1982, ‘Combat Rock’ covers old ground with almost gleeful energy, stakes out new territory with confidence, and delivers more than enough timeless classics to make it stand proudly next to any of their earlier work.

With special guest CHRIS SALEWICZ

The author of Redemption Song: 'The Definitive Biography Of Joe Strummer,' Chris Salewicz was an intimate friend with Joe Strummer for over 25 years. An NME golden era veteran, he has written seventeen books, including acclaimed biographies of Paul McCartney, Bob Marley and Jimmy Page. The first group that Chris saw was the Beatles.

CHRIS MADDEN was in the interviewer’s chair.

This event took place on 16th January 2025 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk

This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons.

Happy Trails.