Dark Enough To See The Stars

 

2026 Charity Shop Purchases # 38 - Mary Gauthier - Dark Enough To See The Stars

When I was courting Mrs CC I took her to see Mary Gauthier. It is fair to say that she was not impressed describing it as the most depressing concert she had ever been to.

Despite that I quite enjoyed her first few albums before and after the Millennium.

Step forward twenty years and we have her 12th album Dark Enough To See The Stars from 2022 on the Thirty Tigers label

And yes it is an album primarily about grief ! However for me it is far from depressing and I wonder just how personal an album it is .

John Apice from Americana Highways gives a good review and writes mourning those who passed is a way of celebrating them and certain songs can be therapy

I was pretty surprised as to how much this album moved me and I will certainly be dipping in on occasions whenever melancholia kicks in.

Mary Gauthier - Amsterdam

Mary Gauthier - Dark Enough To See The Stars

At our first holiday cottage a few miles south of Portpatrick it was dark enough to see the stars

Pokey La Farge & the South City Three

 

2026 Charity Shop Purchases # 37 - Pokey La Farge & the South City Three - River Boat Soul 

From Bandcamp. If this does not pique your interest I don't know what will:

From St. Louis, Missouri comes a wonderfully fresh and quirky kind of pop music that combines a riverboat ragtime sound with Delta-meets-Appalachia songwriting, all laid down in front of a big, big swingin’ beat. LaFarge is a neo-hobo, constantly traveling and continually inspired by early American roots music from throughout the land

 

I was vaguely aware of the name with a couple of songs in the music folder although I am unaware from whence they came. That and the cover were enough for me to take a punt 

From 2010 on the Free Dirt Records label Riverboat Soul is his 3rd out of 12 albums  by Pokey to date.

I wasn't to sure of the first few tracks at first but I gradually grew into the album. I suspect that it will quicky become a grower and one that I will reach for reasonably often

Wiki describes their genres as Blues, Folk,Country, Swing and Jazz. I think it will sit rather nicely on the Blue Americana shelves

Pokey La Farge & the South City Three - Hard Times Come And Go

Pokey LaFarage & the South City Three - In The Graveyard Now

Not to be confused with the frog-faced fascist grifter!

 

Melissa Etheridge - Yes I Am

 2026 Charity Shop Purchases # 36 - Melissa Etheridge - Yes I Am.

I had heard the name Melissa Etheridge before but knew nothing about her music. There were a few of her albums dotted about the shelves in Sue Ryder and I decided to take a punt on Yes I Am.

From 1993 and on the Island label Yes I Am is her third album and allegedly the one that catapulted her into stardom. Indeed by 2010 it had sold 4,348,000 copies (yet it has never crossed my radar!)

Wiki describes her music on the album as Blues Rock and Hard Rock. i can see where they are coming from.

It's really not for me and I think it is the first one from the Sue Ryder haul that will be going back to charity. It was worth a purchase if only to confirm that. i'm glad I picked up only one!

Melissa Etheridge - I'm The Only One

Melissa Etheridge - Come To My Window

Dwight Sings Buck

 

2026 Charity Shop Purchases # 35 - Dwight Yoakam - Dwight Sings Buck

I am on record for saying that when it comes to the music of Dwight Yoakam that you are best to concentrate on his pre 2000 Albums.

However, I am prepared to make an exception when he is covering the songs of Buck Owens.

As AllMusic writes Is there any singer better suited to record an album of Buck Owens covers than Dwight Yoakam? ... this is a tribute in the purest sense of the word, and an album no fan of either artist should miss

The album was released on 23rd October 2007 on New West Records so not as new as I originally thought.

There were a couple of other post 2000 albums but I thought I should quit while I was ahead

Dwight Yoakam - My Heart Skips A Beat

Dwight Yoakam - Cryin' Time

Dwight Yoakam - Excuse Me ( I Think I've Got a Heartache)

Best of Dave Edmunds

 

2026 Charity Shop Purchases # 34 - Dave Edmunds - The Best Of

I hit gold over two or three visits to the Sue Ryder shop in Newton Stewart. Someone had obviously handed in a decent number of decent CDs and I was in the right place at the right time to fill my boots.

The Best of  Dave Edmunds CD is a 13 track album on Swan Song from 1981- track list here

When I got home I discovered I already had The Many Sides of Dave Edmunds -The Greatest Hits and More here

Fortunately there are a few songs on this one which don't appear on the other so I will draw from them.

Normally I would have checked the spreadsheet on my phone but I was too busy stripping the shelves.

Space may dictate that this one will require to go back. We'll see.

Dave Edmunds - Deborah

Dave Edmunds - A.1. On The Juke Box

Dave Edmunds - The Creature From The Black Lagoon

Faith, Hope, Charity and Lightfoot

 

2026 Charity Shop Purchases # 33 - Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits

He's back! We have returned from deepest, darkest Galloway with purchases.

I got a huge haul from Sue Ryder in Newton Stewart but more of that later. Let's start with my solitary purchase from the Faith, Hope and Charity Shop in Whithorn.

I've amassed a good few Gordon Lightfoot songs but didn't have any CDs or Records by him. Complete Greatest Hits at 50p seemed as good as any to start with for 50p.

It is a bit battered and torn but with the exception of the first track it plays ok.

I've decided to forego the three classics which we all know and love and which have featured here before namely If You Could Read My Mind, Sundown and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

I'm sure you'll agree that the three substitutes are none too shabby

Gordon Lightfoot - Canadian Railroad Trilogy

Gordon Lightfoot - Bitter Green

Gordon Lightfoot - Rainy Day People

Blog Country 151 - Zimbabwe

 

I was a bit surprised that 50 countries since I started recording them after the first 100 have appeared here before Zimbabwe.

The landlocked Republic of Zimbabwe is a country in the South of Africa  formerly known as Southern Rhodesia a self governing British colony. It officially gained internationally recognised independence on 18th April 1980.

Fortunately I  didn't have to go searching too far for music as I have music from a few Zimbabwean artists.

First up are the magnificent Bhundu Boys with Baba Munini Francis. Championed by John Peel and Andy Kershaw they somehow ended up residing in Hawick in the Scottish Borders. I saw them put on a couple of brilliant concerts in Glasgow. From their 1986 album Shabini, which is a must have, here is Baba Munini Francis.

Zeke Manyika, who somehow became the drummer with Orange Juice, is also no stranger to these pages. Here he is walking in Kelvingrove, one of Glasgow's many fine parks.

The Real Sounds of Africa came to my attention via Cooking Vinyl samplers . Here they turn out as football commentators  for Dynamos vs Tornados.

Oliver Mtukudzi, Tuko, to his fans , came to my attention via his song Rirongere  from The Essential African Album another sampler this time from the magazine Songlines.

Last, but certainly not least we have The Lion of Zimbabwe  namely Thomas Mapfumo with his band The Blacks Unlimited .The song Moyo Wambo is from their 1989 album Corruption.

I suspect BC152 will be slightly trickier!

Bhundu Boys - Baba Munini Francis

Zeke Manyika - Kelvingrove

The Real Sounds of Africa - Dynamos vs Tornados

Oliver Mtukozi - Rirongere

Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited - Moyo Wango

There will be nothing to see here for a couple of weeks as we are off to deepest, darkest Galloway fora well deserved holiday.