Bible Belt

 

 2026 Charity Shop Purchases #29 - Zeke Manyika - Bible Belt (12" Single)

It's a welcome return to CCM for former Orange Juice drummer and close personal friend of Ernie Goggins Mr Zeke Manyika

The 12 inch Single of Bible Belt  from 1988 on Parlaphone/Some Bizzare takes my total of his records to two albums and two 12 inch singles. Matt Johnson of The The fame appears as one of the producers on the title track Bible Belt which is also the opening track on side 2 of his 1989 album Mastercrime.

The other two tracks Huya Ne Keno and None So Blind seem to be exclusive to the single

Picked up from Oxfam in Troon for £1.99 it is a bit crackly in places but it cleaned up reasonably well.

Zeke Manyika - Bible Belt

Zeke Manyika - Huya Ne Kuno

Zeke Manyika - None So Blind

Rough Trade Shops Country 1

 

Well we've finally done it! 50 Americana Compilations every Sunday for the best part of a year. The well is now dry.

From Rough Trade in October 2003 this compilation features forty tracks over two CDs here

Yours for £ 5.17 on Discogs or 30.69 Euros on Amazon Both of the links give details of the tracks. The vast majority of the artists have previously graced this series.

As is now tradition I have selected three for your listening pleasure. I think that all three acts have had songs in this series before but not these ones.

Let's kick off with the Americana super group Golden Smog (who include members from the likes of Wilco, the Jayhawks and Big Star among others ) with Until You Came Along from their 1998 album Weird Tales.

Next Up are Freakwater with their fantastic cover of Dwight Yoakam's South of Cincinnati. I'm not sure if this is available elsewhere.

We conclude the series with the Gun Club  epic Ghost on the Highway. It may predate technically precede Americana but it is definitely a precursor.

In the same vein I've made a last minute decision to throw the Dream Syndicate's cover of Bob Dylan's epic Blind Willie McTell . Don't say I'm not good to you.

If you've enjoyed this series half as much as I have I've enjoyed it twice as much as you.

I haven't a scoobie as to what will come next.

Golden Smog - Until You Came Along

Freakwater - South of Cincinnati

The Gun Club - Ghost On the Highway

The Dream Syndicate - Blind Willie McTell

Saturday Shuffle 160

 

Welcome to Saturday Shuffle where we feature three debutants which is pretty impressive given that it is the 160th post in this series 

We start with Jackie Lee and the simply titled The Duck a 1966 soul song written by Fred Sledge Smith and Earl Nelson. It seems that Jackie Lee is actually Earl Nelson  and was moonlighting from the duet Bob & Earl. Not to be confused with the Jackie Lee who sang the theme tune to the TV series White Horses

Next up is Hamish Hawk who despite being from Edinburgh was the Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion back in 1973.

We conclude with this week's cover star  the wonderful Ann Peebles When she can't stand the rain she may well resort to tearing your playhouse down. You have been warned

More ducks, badminton and playhouses next Saturday

Jackie Lee -The Duck

Hamish Hawk - The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion

Ann Peebles - I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down

Bellshill Bands - Soup Dragons

 

The Soup Dragons were one of the inspirations for this series . They would have featured here much earlier if they hadn't featured a few weeks before the series was launched.

Better late than never plus it is sometimes sensible to keep your powder dry and to save some of  the big hitters on the back burner. Was

That post was raving about their Past Night From Glasgow compilation Raw Products -Singles & Rarities.
I shared three songs from that album but panic not as there are plenty more tunes to choose from. 

They take the number of bands featured up to 8 with one more scheduled .I would love to get to 1o so any suggestions welcomed.

I've ruled out The Pastels, the Vaselines  and anything featuring Eugene Kelly on the grounds of geography as they appear to have originated from Glasgow. I would be delighted if anyone can tell me differently

I've checked musicians born in Bellshill Maternity and so far have come up with Sheena Easton and Sharleen Spiteri!

Soup Dragons - Just Mind Your Step Girl

Soup Dragons - Slow Things Down

Soup Dragons - Pleasantly Surprised

Soup Dragons - Hang - Ten

Leaving Traces

 

I found myself listening to the Neal Casal compilation Leaving Traces: Songs 1994- 2004 on the Fargo label here.

He was an artist I saw a few times and had music by either solo stuff or with Hazy Malaze and Lucinda Williams. Sadly he took his own life in 2019 and I wrote a piece here

He was a great musician and singer/songwriter who had written some powerful songs. There are, however, some references to his state of mind in songs such as Just Getting By  and Free Light of Day which can make it a hard listen in places

In 2020, the Neal Casal Music Foundation was founded to honour his memory. In addition to preserving his artistic legacy, the NCMF provides musical instruments and lessons to students in New Jersey and New York state schools an donations to mental health organizations that support musicians in need

A tribute album Highway Butterfly was released in 2021  with fellow musicians covering 41 of his songs over 3 CD  here .Physical copies have long since sold out but it should still be available digitally here

 A sadly missed talent

If you are struggling, and we all do at sometime, please remember that there is help out there. It's good to talk. Here are contact details for two organisations in Scotland. You should have something similar in your own local area.

Breathing Space

Samaritans

Neal Casal - Just Getting By

Neal Casal - Free Light Of Day

The Blues Collection - James Booker

 

We have reached the dizzy heights of number 79 in the Blues Collection with James Booker the New Orleans Keyboard King.

I'm not sure whether that title was bestowed upon him or self proclaimed. Perhaps the latter as he was also dubbed the Black Liberace or even The Bayou Maharajah. I think it's safe to say that he wasn't known for his modesty.

Booker died aged 43 on November 8, 1983, while seated in a wheelchair in the emergency room at New Orleans'Charity Hospital , waiting to receive medical attention. The cause of death, as cited in the Orleans Parish Coroner's Death Certificate, was renal failure related to chronic abuse of heroin and alcohol. Pretty much the compulsory ending of a Bluesman from that era.

The songs on the album are taken from concerts in Hamburg c 1977. When searching for images of the album I came across a recording  on You Tube of the whole album which you might enjoy. 112 out of the 3.3K viewers seem to.

For those of you who prefer something more tangible here are a couple of the tracks

James Brooker - Please Send Me Someone To Love

James Brooker - Ain't Nobody's Business

The Four Americana H's

 

I know that many of you will be familiar with John Medd's monthly photo challenge. If not you should make yourself familiar with it.

August's theme was simple the letter H which led to a wide and diverse collection of pictures.

I was sat on a chair in the Music Room looking for inspiration when I found myself staring at the Blue Americana shelves.

These four albums were side by side and it seemed like a good idea to take a collective photo of them and submit it to John.

In alphabetical order the first one up was the eponymous 2005 Hacienda Brothers album on the Proper label. If you google Hacienda at CCM you will get this as opposed to anything from Manchester! The two main participants were Dave Gonzales and the late great Chris Gaffney. I saw them play once up a close in Glasgow's Trongate.

Next alphabetically is Wayne Hancock with That's What Daddy Wants a 1998 album from Ark 21. He subsequently signed to Bloodshot and plays an Americana form of Western Swing. I saw him a lunchtime set at the long gone Virgin Megastore on Glasgow's Buchanan Street.

Greg Hawk & the Tremblers are the ones that I know the littleist about. Indeed it looks like they are making their debut on these pages. I'm not quite sure how they crossed my radar Fool's Paradise is an album from 2001 on the Yep Roc label They are the only one of the four acts that I haven't seen live.

Finally we have the eponymous 2003 album by the band Hazy Malaze on the Fargo label. They were a trio featuring the late Neal Casal on guitars, lead vocals and harmonica; Dan Fadel on drums,vocals, percussion and Jeff Hill on bass and vocals. I saw them put on an excellent show at King Tuts.

Which one(s) float your boat?

Hacienda Brothers - South Of Lonesome

Wayne Hancock - 87 Southbound

Greg Hawks & the Tremblers -Fool's Paradise

Hazy Malaze - Chicago Blondes