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Beware of the Beautiful Stranger
Beware of the Beautiful Stranger is the first commercially released album by British musician Pete Atkin, with songs written by Atkin and Clive James. Critically acclaimed despite yielding no hit songs, it paved the way for a record deal and a string of releases that shared the esteem of critics but the indifference of the commercial market, along with an enthusiastic cult following.

Production
Atkin and James began collaborating while attending Cambridge University as members of the Footlights. They intended to write songs for other vocalists, inspired by fellow Footlights performers such as Julie Covington and Maggie Henderson. After two privately-pressed LPs and in the midst of a television series with a number of Footlights alumni, the songwriters came to the attention of David Platz, who signed them to a publishing deal at Essex Music. Platz introduced them to producer Don Paul, and recording commenced with the intention of demoing the songs to pitch to other performers. Paul gave several of the tracks to his friend, DJ Kenny Everett, who began playing them regularly. Everett was particularly enamored with "Master of the Revels" and "Girl on a Train".

The album was recorded across three sessions in March and April 1970 at Regent Sound Studio A in London. Former Vicounts member Don Paul served as producer, assisted by engineer Tom Allom. Russell Davies, a friend from Footlights, played tuba.

Numerous songs previously appeared on the privately-pressed The Party's Moving On album in 1969, sung by Julie Covington and Pete Atkin and corresponding to their television series of the same name: "Girl on the Train," "Sunrise," "Have You Got a Biro I Can Borrow?," "Luck of the Draw," "All I Ever Did," and "You Can't Expect to Be Remembered."

The production of Julie Covington's The Beautiful Changes album overlaps with Beware of the Beautiful Stranger; sessions at Abbey Road Studios with Covington took place over 1969-1971. Atkin joined Covington in the studio throughout those sessions, providing arrangements and playing piano and guitar on several tracks. Covington's album shared producer Don Paul, and featured songs such as Atkin's solo composition "The Original Original Honky Tonk Night Train Blues" and the Atkin/James "Tonight Your Love is Over" on a later reissue.

The songs cover a diverse array of subjects and inspirations. A line from John Keats provided the title of "Touch Has a Memory" (Atkin was dissatisfied with the track and it was replaced on the 1973 reissue). Lex Banning provided the title of "Rider to the World's End". On "Luck of the Draw", Atkin and James pay homage to the short, concise songs of Rodgers and Hart, a structure they would continue to value over the years. "The Original Original Honky Tonk Night Train Blues", a favorite from Footlights performances, was inspired by the classic song by Meade Lux Lewis. And "You Can't Expect to Be Remembered" echoes the conversational style of rarely-heard verses of American Songbook standards, those of which tended to transition to and from the scenic context of the musical theatre play, in which the songs were often embedded.

The album prompted other covers as well: "Girl on the Train" was recorded by Joe Stead in 1973, while "Master of the Revels" appeared on a Don Partridge album in 1974. Wizz Jones recorded "Touch Has a Memory" in 1987. Atkin and Julie Covington alos performed "The Original Original Honky Tonk Night Train Blues" in the 1977 television film and corresponding album of The Mermaid Frolics. Writer Tom Holt parodied "Rider to the World's End" in the collection Bitter Lemmings in 1997.

The title track remains one of Atkin's most performed songs.

Critical reception
The album was widely acclaimed. Sounds, which had just begun publishing a week before, noted that Atkin was likely classified as folk music, for lack of a better category and praised the quality of the music: "One of the most immediately impressive albums of the year". It was recommended by NME.

Musicians

 * Pete Atkin - lead vocals, acoustic guitar
 * Steve Cook - Bass
 * Tony Marsh - Drums
 * Henry Makenzie - Clarinet
 * Russell Davies - Tuba

Technical Personnel

 * Don Paul - Producer
 * Tom Allom - Engineer
 * Nick Harrison - String Arrangements

Driving Through Mythical America
Driving Through Mythical America is an album by British musician Pete Atkin, co-written by Atkin and songwriting partner Clive James.

Production
The album was recorded across four sessions in March 1971 at Morgan Studios in London. The producer was Don Paul and the engineer was Roger Quested.

"The Flowers and the Wine" was covered by other artists. Doug Ashdown first recorded it in 1974, followed by John the Fish a year later. Val Doonican's version in 1980 provided royalties to Atkin and James that the songwriters jokingly claim surpassed their previous album sales. Sarah Moule recorded it in 2008.

Writer Tom Holt parodied "Practical Man" in the collection Bitter Lemmings in 1997.

Critical reception
"From the first minute of the first track this album is clearly in another class altogether," said an enthusiastic review by Dave Gelly in Creem.

A King at Nightfall
A King at Nightfall is an album by British musician Pete Atkin, co-written by Atkin and songwriting partner Clive James.

Production
The album was recorded and mixed across twelve sessions in May, July and August 1972 at Morgan Studios in London. The producer was Don Paul and the engineer was Roger Quested.

Critical reception
"I look forward to their albums with impatience," wrote Dave Gelly in a favorable review for Creem magazine

Road of Silk
The Road of Silk is an album by British musician Pete Atkin, co-written by Atkin and songwriting partner Clive James. The release coincided with Atkin's first national tour, accompanied by a backing band with the prog rock group Riff Raff as the opening act.

Production
The album was recorded over 16 sessions in July, September and October 1973 at Morgan Studios in London. It was produced by Pete Atkin, his first solo production effort, with Roger Quested as engineer.

The Beautiful Changes
The Beautiful Changes is the debut album by British performer Julie Covington, released in 1971 on Columbia Records. All songs were written by songwriting team of Pete Atkin and Clive James, except "The Original Original Honky Tonk Night Train Blues" (an Atkin solo composition), "He Just Don't Appeal to Me" and "My Silks and Fine Array." Covington's previous recordings had been private releases and demos.

Production
The album was recorded across 11 sessions spanning 1969-71, primarily at Abbey Road Studios, supplemented by sessions at Morgan Studios and Spot Studios.

Covington, James and Atkin met at Cambridge University as members of the Footlights. As James and Atkin began writing songs together, many of their tunes were written for Covington in mind, as one of the key performers in Footlights at the time. The three collaborated on the 1967 album While the Music Lasts and 1969's The Party's Moving On, both private pressings. They also appeared on two television series: The Party's Moving On and the longer-formatted What Are You Doing After the Show?.

The genesis of The Beautiful Changes began in 1968, when Covington recorded a song by Pete Atkin called "Duet" as a demo for EMI (this recording has since been lost and as a result has never been re-released). "Duet" had been popular from their Footlights reviews. On the strength of this track, which proved too long and elaborate to release as a single, EMI agreed to record "The Magic Wasn't There" as a single, and subsequently signed Covington for a full album. Columbia released two singles in 1970, ahead of the full album: "The Magic Wasn't There"/"The Way Things Ought to Be" and "Tonight Your Love is Over/If I Had My Time Again".

While most of the songs were written by Atkin and James, "The Original Original Honky Tonk Night Train Blues" was an Atkin solo composition. It previously appeared on 1970's Beware of the Beautiful Stranger album. Subsequently, it appeared in the 1977 television film and related album releases of The Mermaid Frolics where it was performed by Atkin and Covington with the Bowles Brothers Band.

Secret Drinker
Secret Drinker is an album by British musician Pete Atkin, co-written by Atkin and songwriting partner Clive James.

Production
The album was recorded across 13 sessions in June and July 1974 at Morgan Studios in London. Atkin again produced, with Roger Quested as engineer.

Live Libel
Live Libel is an album by British musician Pete Atkin, co-written by Atkin and songwriting partner Clive James.

Production
The album was recorded across ten sessions in March and May 1975, at Rockfield Studios in Wales and Morgan Studios in London. It was produced by Pete Atkin, with engineers Dave Charles at Rockfield and Roger Quested at Morgan.

Bill Morrissey
Bill Morrissey is an album by the American musician Bill Morrissey, released in 1984 on private label Reckless Records, before being re-released for national distribution on Philo Records. It was subsequently re-recorded in 1991.

Musicians

 * Bill Morrissey - guitar and vocals

Technical Personnel

 * Kari Estrin - design
 * Alan Mattes, Bruce Bartone - engineering
 * Hiram Maine - liner notes
 * Ren Norton - photography
 * Elijah Wald - producer
 * Bill Morrissey - producer, design, written-by

Production
Recorded at Blue Jay Studios in Carlisle, MA in the summer and fall of 1985.

Musicians

 * Bill Morrissey - guitar and vocals, arrangements
 * Bill Morrison - acoustic bass, electric bass
 * Edward Gerhard - acoustic guitar, steel guitar, slide guitar
 * Charlie Jennison - clarinet, bass clarinet, synthesizer

Technical Personnel

 * Bill Morrissey and Edward Gerhard - producer
 * Gregg Lunsford - engineer
 * Susan Wilson - photography

American Theatre
The American Theatre is a restored, historic cinema theatre located in downtown Troy, NY in the Central Troy Historic District. It was added to the National Historic Register in 2024.

Early years
Benjamin Apple was an early cinema operator in Troy. In 1916, he (along with a partner, his brother Michael) opened the King Theatre at 24 King Street (now demolished), which he operated for the owners, local businessmen the Weinstein Brothers. Apple later was hired by F.F. Proctor to manage the Griswold Theatre nearby. In 1920, Benjamin and Michael constructed their own theatre, the American, at 285 River Street. The building was designed by British-born architect Abraham K. Mosley. Mosley, a Troy resident, designed the now-demolished Rose Theatre (later called the State Theatre) and was one of three architects on the famed campus of Emma Willard School.

The American Theatre opened on Saturday, April 3, 1920, with the Troy Sunday Budget calling it "a beauty." Its first ticket was purchased by Phillip Casey and the first screening was the Alice Joyce drama The Sporting Duchess accompanied by a Larry Semon two-reeler The Fly-Cop.

The theatre boasted that it was a fireproof construction with 850 seats (each seat was 21 inches wide). The projection room housed two Simplex film projectors operated by projectionist William Jarvis. In keeping with his other operations, Apple booked first run films but was not an exclusive distributor of any one studio's content. Afternoon admission was 15 cents, and evening admission was priced at 25.

In 1925,_____

Later, the American was operated by ____, though Benjamin Apple retained ownership of the property until shortly before his death in 1955.

In _____, the aging theatre moved to an art house and second-run program.

Cinema Arts era
In ___, the American was purchased by ____ and began exhibiting pornographic films. As the downtown neighborhood declined, the theatre became increasingly notorious. It was raided by police in ____. After the ___ raid, its film exhibition closed and it was converted into a retail shop for pornographic materials with upstairs "viewing booths." In 2006, citing numerous code violations, city workers conducted an emergency demolition of the marquee. The building closed.

Redevelopment
After ___ years of vacancy, plans emerged to revive the historic building. It was first touted as part of a multi-parcel redevelopment of Monument Square in ____, but the project never emerged. In ____ it was announced that Proctors, a not-for-profit arts organization in Schenectady, was interested in redeveloping the property. The pandemic paused this effort, but the project was finally announced in ____. In ____ the renovation was completed, returning the century-old cinema to its original use, screening first run studio and independent movie titles.

Present Day
In 1947, the Cranesville Block company was founded in Cranesville by Raymond Francisco, Richard Furman and John Tesiero, Jr. By 1964, the company had expanded and was located on Erie Street in Amsterdam, when it purchased the historic Niagra-Mohawk Steam Plant on the south side of the river, opposite to Cranesville.