Hello Hello

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases # 63 - Laura Cantrell - The Hello Recordings

It is rare to see anything by Laura Cantrell in the wild. It is even rarer to see something by her which you did not know existed.

From 2004  The Hello Recordings is a 15 minute 5 track mini CD consisting of 4 tracks originally recorded for the Hello CD  of the Month Club a subscription only record company which operated from 1993 to 1996. It was organised by John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants and Marjorie Green.

The first four tracks appeared on the July 1996 version with the final track Lee Harvey Was a Friend of Mine being taken from a back porch barbeque at Quiet Life in Brooklyn, New York on 13th June 1993. There is a roll call of those involved  given at the end of the song which saves me doing it.

Discogs has the label as Diesel Only Records but my copy is attributed to Glasgow's Spit & Polish label which seems to have been the home for early stuff by her released  in the UK. Discogs also confirms that I got a slight bargain given that I paid a pound whereas their median price is £2.93 with the highest price paid a whopping £4.43. Add postage to that and it is even better.

Laura Cantrell - The Curse of Hook Mountain

Laura Cantrell - Lee Harvey Was a Friend of Mine

Keeping It Local

 

A quick update on some recent purchases all of which are by acts which are relatively local to me.

On the back of Constant Follower's recent show at Webster's Theatre I picked up a copy of Even Days Dissolve a collaboration with Scott William Urquhart on the  Golden Hum label  which is also available on Bandcamp . It is well worth a listen and will keep me going until Constant Follower's new record The Smile You Send Out Returns to You comes out early next year.

Glasgow based Alison Eales is a member of Butcher Boy as well as a solo artist and has been championed on more than one occasion by JC (he even gets a name check on the album!) . I have a copy of her 4 track EP  Four For a Boy and followed it up last Bandcamp Friday with her album Mox Nox on the Fika label - Link here

I have long been an admirer of Martin John Henry and have music by him as a solo artist, as part of the band De Rosa and  with the duet Henry and Fleetwood. His latest project is Jewel Scheme named after a housing scheme in his native Bellshill . Here is some blurb courtesy of the Skinny. Bandcamp link here.

Support your local artists.

Scott William Urquhart & Constant Follower - Watching the Black River Run

Alison Eales - Fifty-Five North

Jewel Scheme -You're Not Wrong

Revolutionary Spirit

 

About a month ago Swiss Adam reviewed Paul Simpson's book Revolutionary Spirit- A Post Punk Exorcism.

I had seen it in the library a few times but I  didn't recognize the name or feel tempted to take it out. All that changed after I read Adam's review . It is a terrific read - amusing, informative and bitchy at the same time. It is up there with his friend Julian Cope's book Head On.

He seemed to know everyone in Liverpool at that time and all the in places which Adam would have been aware of as a student.

The Wild Swans passed me by at the time but have since crossed my radar thanks to Blogging chums with JC  including Revolutionary Spirit as part of a guest post.

Please read Adam's review which is much better and more informative than anything I could do and read the book.

It seems that Paul is now living in Glasgow and given that he includes Last Night from Glasgow in the credits some new material and/or re-releases may be forthcoming.

The Wild Swans - Revolutionary Spirit

The Wild Swans - God Forbid

The Jones Boy

 

I was playing George Jones the other day and I found myself wondering when he had last featured here.

4th April 2022 was the answer as part of my Keeping Up with the Joneses series.Before that it was as far back as 2016.

Jez featured him yesterday but I figure that you can't have too much of a good thing.

Here are what I consider to be his three greatest songs. Feel free to disagree.

George Jones - He Stopped Loving Her Today

George Jones -She Still Thinks I Care

George Jones - Things Have Gone to Pieces

Washington Bullets - The Final Salvo

 

Before things went awry on the technical front I had posted two Washington related posts here and here. I thought I just about had enough material for a third and final post and somewhat belatedly here it is.

Initially the posts focussed on musical artists with Washington as either their first name or surname.As is the way of such things when it gets trickier it gets more flexible or for the more cynical among you more spurious.

Cecil Washington was a 60's Soul Singer and a big Northern Soul favourite from Washington DC. His featured song here is I Don't Like to Lose

I'm indebted to Ernie for providing me with some songs by Blues artist  Walter "Wolfman" Washington, one of which is Goody Man.

Albert Washington was a Georgian Blues and Soul singer who led a group called The Kings Variations.Today's offering is Hold Me Baby.

That's the artists called Washington exhausted which leaves us with Woodie Guthrie and his Washington Talking Blues.

We conclude this mini series with the great Iris DeMent and a song called There is a Wall in Washington about the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial which attracts more than five million people each year.

That's all folks.

Cecil Washington - I Don't Like to Lose

Walter "Wolfman" Washington - Groovy Man

Albert Washington - Hold Me Baby

Woodie Guthrie - Washington Talkin' Blues

Iris DeMent - There is a Wall in Washington

Saturday Shuffle 72

 

No more skiving - Saturday Shuffle is back with three random beauties.

First up is Hillbilly Country Blues artist the late great Junior Kimbrough who is joined by the Soul Blues Boys on Slow Lightnin' from a Mojo compilation The Black Keys present The Hill Country Blues.

Next up are Bloodshot act Sarah Shook and the Destroyers with Solitary Confinement from the album Sidelong the only thing by Bloodshot that I have on vinyl.

Finally we have Hefner with The Day That Thatcher Dies. It may be dated  but those of us that lived through her regime can all still sign up to the sentiment.

More Shuffling next Saturday.

Junior Kimbrough & the Soul Blues Boys -Slow Lightnin'

Sarah Shook & the Destroyers - Solitary Confinement

Hefner - The Day That Thatcher Dies

i Like Birds 13 - The Flamingo

 

He's back!

The laptop has finally been discharged by the doctor. The good news is that all my music has been retained. The not so good news is that I have had to reinstate various music related apps. Slowly after a bit of effing and jeffing things seem to be gradually getting back to normal.

We start normality with the 13th post in this series and with one of the more unusual birds, the Flamingo, a wading bird from the family  Phonicopteridae  with  four species native to the Americas and two native to Afro- Eurasia.

The song which will immediately spring to most of your minds is Pretty Flamingo by Mannfred Mann. However, for some strange reason, it does not feature in my music folder and given that I have others available I have not bothered to source it.

For example we have the simply titled Flamingo by former Scottish Indie favourites Tuff Love. 

The Subterraneans were a band led by Nick Kent who released My Flamingo in 1980. The Royaltones were an instrumental band from Dearborn in Michigan who released Flamingo Express way back in 1961.

Van Morrison surely needs no introduction. Flamingos Fly is a song from his 1977 album A Period of Transition.

And finally, if only to wind up Rol  and Ernie   we conclude with Chicago doo wop band The Flamingos and Love Walked In.

I feel this series may well be reaching its conclusion but I will try to eek it out for a few more weeks.

Tuff Love - Flamingo

The Subterraneans - My Flamingo

The Royaltones - Flamingo Express

Van Morrison -Flamingos Fly

The Flamingos - Love Walked In