http://www.budstikka.no/sec_kultur/sec_hva_skjer/article240917.ece?instance=12557&cat=279Musikk The Flame, The Byrds, The Band, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, They’re all Blondie’s bands! He’s the only person who’s been a member of The Flame, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, The Band and The Rolling Stones. Blondie Chaplin is still touring and recording with The Stones, and has done so since 1994. Blondie Chaplin is from South Africa, (born July 7th 1951) the son of a Zulu princess, and on his father’s side he’s related to his band mate, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. Blondie left his native South Africa at 15. The apartheid regime made life tough for a young rock musician, and also for the majority of the population. So Blondie, and his band, The Flame, left for London, where Carl Wilson discovered them during a performance. Wilson signed The Flame to The Beach Boys own record company, Brother Records. After a couple of years in the UK, he was asked to join The Beach Boys as a singer and guitarist, so he headed off to the US, and has lived there ever since. He now resides in Los Angeles, with his wife and daughter. Close to Keith During the late 1980’s, Blondie toured with The Band, replacing some of Richard Manuel’s vocals, and playing guitar. For quite a few years, he’s been a close friend of Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. Keith included Blondie Chaplin on his very personal reggae project: The Wingless Angels, recorded at Keith’s house in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and before the 1997/98 “Bridges to Babylon” tour, he was asked to join Keith’s band, The Rolling Stones. And Blondie was happy to! He’s been on every tour and album since then and never missed a gig… He’s popular among the boys and is one of very few people who are great friends with all four Stones. Among Blondie’s favourite things to do is exploring the history of the blues, preferably with connoisseur for the blues, Keith. Shopping for carpets, rugs and kelims is another favourite. All band members are passionate collectors of such items. He was recently in New York, working on material in a recording studio with Keith Richards. The only thing Blondie’s willing to comment on is: “Yeah, we played music and had a few drinks.” They didn’t leave the studio for a week! A new Stones tour of Asia is rumoured to happen late this year, and then there’s rumours of a tour of Europe and the US in 2010, and perhaps the opening show for the London Olympics in 2012 will see the Stones celebrating their 50th anniversary. Solo work Blondie has an interesting solo career and has released three albums, so far. The most recent, “Between Us”, came out in 2006. He’s been doing studio work on his fourth solo album this spring, between recording sessions with some of his band mates, like Ronnie Wood and Bernard Fowler. The new solo album is scheduled for release this summer. Blondie in Norway Blondie Chaplin will be in Norway between June 5th and June 29th. Blondie will be accompanied by Dutch-Norwegian Pieter Kentrop on vocals and guitar. He’ll be performing songs from his solo albums as well as Rolling Stones classics. He has done a couple of shows in Norway previously. Hønefoss – a crowd of 600, sold out 2 weeks in advance. Bekkestua: Onkel Blaa – full house. For more information about Blondie:
www.blondiechaplin.com Or: Wikipedia.com The Stones about Blondie: Ronnie Wood: - Blondie’s great, both as a singer and guitar player. He’s very useful when it comes to filling in on some songs. It doesn’t tie us down, it broadens our range. It gives you a new sort of freedom when a defined part of a song is covered by the back up singers or the horns. It gives you the opportunity to find the one exact tone, or a certain riff, because you’re always certain that they’re covering your ass. Charlie Watts: Keith takes things a lot more relaxed. He’s just fine with songs that have been lying there for years, marinating, though he has some recordings with fragments and ideas, that he’s recorded himself or with Blondie Chaplin. They’re usually fantastic, magical little pieces. Wonderful moments.
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