Crowns & Coronets #10

Two queens for  you today from opposite ends of the spectrum.
At one end we have Johnny Cash with Ballad of a Teenage Queen who is tempted by the bright lights but returns to marry the boy next door who worked at the candy store.
An alternative take from The Legendary Sun Records Story Volume 2 box set.

It is a fair bet that Tina, the Go-Go Queen never felt the urge to return home to the boy next door. A song by Tav Falco's Panther Burns from the It Came from Memphis compilation.

Ten posts seems like a good time to bring this series to a temporary halt. Not because I'm running short of material but rather because I am running short of enthusiasm.
One I will probably visit at a later stage when I'm stuck for inspiration.

Johnny Cash - Ballad of a Teenage Queen

Tav Falco's Panther Burns -Tina the Go-Go Queen

Uncut Reformation Uncut

The last charity purchase from the pile is not Reformation Post TLC by The Fall. You just don't see Fall records in charity shops or at least I don't.Mores the pity.



No, the CD in question is Uncut: The Playlist March 2007 the second Uncut compilation purchased for the combined total of a pound in the Mental Health charity shop in Stranraer. Thankfully I did not already have a copy of this one.



The more astute among you may have worked out that one of the songs which I shall feature is Reformation Uncut by the mighty Fall. from the album mentioned above.



Marissa Nadler has featured a couple of times recently and is clearly an artist who requires further exploration.This song comes from her 2006 album Songs III:Bird on the Water which is on the Peacefrog Records label



The Fall - Reformation Uncut

Marissa Nadler - Diamond Heart

Monday's Long Song

There’s the tree that never grew,

There’s the bird that never flew,

There’s the fish that never swam,

There’s the bell that never rang.

This week's offering is my longest one to date.

From 2015 The Bell That Never Rang is the title track and centerpiece of the fourth album by the Scottish folk band Lau.

They consist of Kris Drever (who composed the song and who I am seeing in January ), Martin Green and Aidan O'Rourke. The album is produced by Joan Wasser aka Joan as Policewoman.

The song was initially commissioned by the Celtic Connections festival to celebrate the Commonwealth Games which took place in Glasgow in 2014.

For a explanation as to the Glasgow coat of arms see here

This is their last album but I'm pleased to report that they are scheduled to release their next album Midnight and Closedown in February 2019.

Lau - The Bell That Never Rang

Have a Little Faith

I was playing True Faith a Mojo compilation during the week.An excellent mix of 15 tracks of soul-stirring gospel,country and blues.
I thought it was a recent acquisition but it turns out that it is from about his time last year and that I featured tracks by Bob Dylan and Odetta at the time.

It is one that is well worth featuring again. Let's start with the majestic Gospel legend Dorothy Love Coates with an absolutely stonking version of 99 and a Half Won't Do.
Dorothy is followed by the rockabilly and country legend Charlie Rich . Here the Silver Fox is paying homage to the  Big Man.

Dorothy Love Coates - 99 and a Half Won't Do

Charlie Rich - Big Man

Memphis v Nashville 8

There was an emphatic win last week for Michael Chapman with Memphis in Winter over Jon Langford's Nashville Radio.
Memphis therefore gains a slender lead again with the scores now Memphis 4 Nashville 3

This week it is two Country ladies up against each other. It is Sheryl versus Heather.
In the Memphis corner is the more famous of the two Sheryl Crow with the title track from her eight album 100 Miles from Memphis released in 2010

The Nashville offering is Heather Myles with Nashville's Gone Hollywood from her album Sweet Talk and Good Lies.
An easy one for me this week. I'm going for Honky Tonk Heather. Others, as always may chose to differ

We are getting close to the first to 5 . I'm happy to end it there or if there is any demand to try for first to 10 I will carry on if I can source some more Nashville songs.

Sheryl Crow - 100 Miles From Memphis

Heather Myles -Nashville's Gone Hollywood

Full Moon Fever

Full Moon Fever briefly joined an elite club of albums I have on vinyl and CD.
It didn't achieve this feat as it is a classic. It is good but no classic. No, the CD version was purchased as makeweight in a five CDs for two pounds offer in a charity shop in Stranraer.
I say briefly as it is going back. Not because it is bad (it isn't ) but because it is a bit gubbed in places with two or three tracks jumping or sticking.

From 1989 it was Tom Petty's first solo album  although most of the Heartbreakers and  all  the Traveling Wilburys make an appearance. It is also his most commercially successful record.
I've deliberately omitted the three hit singles Free Fallin', I Wont Back Down and Runnin' Down a Dream as you will also be familiar with them plus they have featured here before.
So instead you are getting The Apartment Song and a cover of the Gene Clark song (I'll ) Feel A Whole Lot Better first recorded by The Byrds,


Tom Petty - The Appartment Song

Tom Petty - Feel a Whole Lot Better

The Class of 2006 - August Revisited

I've just about reached the bottom of the pile of charity shop CD's picked up on my travels between September and November.
One is Uncut: The Playlist August 2006 purchased in the Mental Health charity shop in Stranraer. It was 50p so I thought I would chance it as I wasn't sure if I already had it.
Checked the shelves and it wasn't there so seems I'm sorted. Or am I?

Checked the blog archives to see which Golden Smog songs I've featured and the one on the CD Listen Joe popped up
Turns out I posted it August 2017 when I featured Uncut: The Playlist August 2006 which I had bought in Stranraer and subsequently returned. So it looks as though I have bought this twice in Stranraer and who knows it may even be the same copy.

For the obligatory Americana track then you  are getting Sufjan Stevens instead of Golden Smog.
I've featured Venus in Furs before, Indeed it was one of the very first songs to feature on the blog, However it was the version by the Ukranians as opposed to the Velvets. Here then is the original.

Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche

Velvet Underground - Venus in Furs