The Idea of You

 

When my Internet was down for a few days I had to adopt some fairly radical practices which included actually listening to some albums.

I was listening to some  of the vinyl in the A-D section and a theme quickly began to develop in that I found myself listening exclusively to Scottish albums.

From memory the artists selected were Admiral Fallow, the Bathers, Broken Chanter, Butler Blake & Grant, Edwyn Collins, Constant Follower and Dropkick.

There's a potential series there.

The Idea of You was the 4th album by Admiral Fallow released in 2021 on  Chemikal Underground. I bought it when band members Louis Abbot and Sarah Hayes did an in house acoustic set at Some Great Reward's former premises on Glasgow's Victoria Road.

It was the first time I'd played it in ages and its fair to say that I was pretty much blown away.

When doing some "research" I found out that they released an album called First Of The Birds last year something I was blissfully unaware of. One to explore further.

Admiral Fallow -Sleepwalking

Admiral Fallow -Tuesday Grey

Song Circle 2002

 

I'm going back to a post from 27th July 2015 for this week's Americana Compilation and hope that you will allow me the liberty of a bit of cut and paste:

Sometime during 2002 I attended a concert at King Tuts billed as Song Circle 2002
It was essentially three Americana luminaries performing acoustic versions of some of their greatest songs
The three men in question were
Robert Fisher of Willard Grant Conspiracy
Steve Wynn of Dream Syndicate and The Miracle 3 fame and
Walter Salas -Humara the main man from The Silos.
There was a limited edition of 1000 CDs to accompany the tour - mine is number 332
Deanna Varagona also features on the album but as she did not appear to King Tuts (and as her songs are the weakest on the album) she is not featuring today.

Updates:

Sadly Robert Fisher died in 2017 here

My copy is signed by the three artists in attendance

A copy is up for sale on Discogs for £13.59 plus p&p

I've chosen different songs from the three artists previously featured and one by Deanna Varagona. I've forgiven her - life's too short.

Robert Fisher - Closing Time

Steve Wynn - What We Call Love

Deanna Varagona - Forgot to Breathe

Walter Salas - Humara - Dumbest On Parade

Saturday Shuffle 135

 

Today's picture is from a  1965 TV drama written by Neil Dunn and directed by Ken Loach which featured on the BBC with nearly 10 million viewers and 400 complaints. Squeeze came up with another Kitchen Drama  on the classic record of the same name released in 1979 - and so it's my assumption I'm really up the junction.

Gene Clark is probably best known for his fourth solo studio album 1974's No Other. Some Misunderstanding, the longest song on the album, is probably not the first song you would think of but there isn't a duff track on the album. Every home should have it.

From mellow to bouncy we conclude with The Hit Girl from the 1999 album Social Dancing by Thornliebank'( or is it Orchard Park?)'s finest band Bis.

Squeeze - Up The Junction

Gene Clark - Misunderstanding

Bis - The Hit Girl

More Shuffling and Social Dancing next Saturday

The Coal Porters - Find The One

 

I am vaguely familiar with the London based American singer song writer  Sid Griffin with the occasional solo song or ones with his band The Long Ryders popping up in my music folder from time to time.

I was also aware that he had another band called The Coal Porters but was blissfully unaware that this was a Bluegrass band. It was only after picking up their 2012 album Find The One on Prima Records that I discovered that this was in fact the case.

At first I was a little bit unsure but it has fairly rapidly grown on me after a few more plays. I mean what's not to love about Bluegrass covers of iconic songs by David Bowie and The Rolling Stones, and an instrumental named after the famous London Pub The Betsey Trotwood  which I'm sure Ernie is familiar with?

My version has the first 12 tracks from those featured on Bandcamp who also kindly list the band members and guests which saves me a bit of work. Sadly my version does not include Richard Thomson's guitar solo on Hush U Babe/ Burnham Thorpe live from Shetland.

Very much a grower and a find

The Coal Porters - Heroes

The Coal Porters - Gospel Shore

News of the World - 7

 

It's the penulimate day of scanning the newspapers today.

This series started off fairly promising but is gradually petering out. It seems that most folk are getting their news on line these days.

The Daily Mirror is one of the many papers which has taken a hit over the last decade or so with its circulation, like all the other papers, plummeting. Weyes Blood however is still championing the Mirror Forever

The Independent only lasted from 1986 to 2016 and is now only available online. Gretchen Peters is rueing Independence Day

Lampchop have opted for the telly and the Six O'Clock news which as Julie Durocher has suggested is likely to be full of  Bad News

As a former paper boy I find the demise of newspapers pretty sad although I don't miss getting up at the crack of dawn to deliver them in all weathers

I'll be rattling your letterboxes with your final papers next week

Weyes Blood - Mirror Forever

Gretchen Peters - Independence Day

Lambchop - 6 o'Clock News

Julie Durocher - Bad News

The Blues Collection - Lonnie Brooks

 

The post from August 2025 featuring Fats Domino gives some history as to my Blues Collection quest

This outlined how the flood has become a trickle with new acquisitions rarer than hens teeth.

A few weeks ago I was in Missing Records and lo and behold there were a couple from the Blues Collection that I didn't have.

One was number 40 featuring Lonnie Brooks with Reconsider Baby .His was a new name to me.  A quick Google search reads Lonnie Brooks was an American blues singer and guitarist. The musicologist Robert Palmer, writing in Rolling Stone, stated, "His music is witty, soulful and ferociously energetic, brimming with novel harmonic turnarounds, committed vocals and simply astonishing guitar work.

The 10 tracks on the CD are from live performances in France from December 1975 when he was blazing a trail across Europe and leaving rapturous reviews in his wake .Indeed they are none too shabby.

I ended up picking this up again in a subsequent visit to Missing. I had updated my spreadsheet after the first purchase but had forgotten to update to Google Drive from where I can access it via my phone. A schoolboy error..

Lonnie Brooks - Reconsider Baby

Lonnie Brooks - Crazy 'Bout You Baby

I- Pod Playlist - Rivers

 

This week' I-Pod Playlist is Rivers

Many on the tracks on the  I-Pod playlist have not made it to the Music folder but a good few have. There have also been many river related tracks on here including the River Deep or Mountain High compare and contrast series.

Drank Like a River by Whiskeytown has made it to these pages several times before and rightly so.

Somewhere Down the Crazy River by Robbie Robertson has appeared here only once before just over ten years ago. Time then for a second appearance.

Up on Cripple Creek by The Band has also appeared here once before in 2023 as part of the Debra Haul

The next I-Pod Playlistt will be Rockabilly Rebel featuring songs from that genre.

Whiskeytown - Drank Like A River

Robbie Robertson - Somewhere Down The Crazy River

The Band - Up On Cripple Creek