Hogmanay

New Year's Eve, or Hogmanay as we call it in Scotland used to be a big deal.

Indeed to some it still is. They seem to enjoy standing about in the pouring rain for hours in city centres listening to 80's bands and watching fireworks prior to a 5 mile walk home as there are no buses or taxis.

The pubs even used to shut early although more now stay open to see in the bells.

We don't really bother much if truth be told - a couple of drinks and a bit of music and telly and that's about it.

When I was younger I would go round to my pal's house where the drink would flow to the small hours with these two tracks guaranteeing a drunken sing-a-long

Hope you enjoy whatever you do to celebrate the ending of one year and the beginning of the next, if anything.

The Men They Couldn't Hang - The Colours

The Proclaimers -Cap in Hand

It's a Family Affair 3

Not so much a Mother and Child Reunion as a Father and Son one.
Paul Simon needs no introduction. Along with Art Garfunkel he was a member of the most commercially successful duo of all times
He also wrote all the songs. The George Michael to Art's Andrew Ridgley perhaps although Art could bash out a tune even if his voice annoyed many folk.
His solo output was pretty successful too.
Less well known is Paul's son Harper James Simon born in 1972 to Paul and his first wife Peggy Harper (hence the name -I'm guessing!)
He had performed in various bands and contributed music to films prior to his debut album Harper Simon in 2010.
It was critically acclaimed but it is not hard to see the links with his old man who co-wrote a few songs and also appeared on the album.
I have not heard it, but apparently his 2013 follow up Division Street is more rockier and has received less comparisons to his father

Paul Simon - Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

Harper Simon - Shooting Star

Mooner - Powerpop for the 21st Century

Here is a wee Christmas bonus for you
I know that the likes of Swiss Adam and Ernie Goggins from 27 leggies get stuff sent to them frequently from bands looking for a plug
But it is a relatively new phenomenon for me.
This however appeared recently from Chicago powerpop band Mooner and it is rather good
According to their blurb  Mooner's relentless double guitar attack and deceptively simple songwriting bear aloft the joys and pains of love, television, politics, and other detritus of modern Midwestern life.  
Well whatever - here they are for your listening pleasure

Mooner - Making Americans

Southern Soul Sunday 13

At this time of the year it is not always easy to remember what day of the week it is.
On the basis that this may be Sunday here is this week's installment of Southern Soul Sunday.
This week's featured artist is Doris Duke born in Sandersville, Georgia in 1945 as Doris Curry.
She has also recorded under two of her married names as Doris Willingham (before Duke) and Doris Logan (after).
These two songs are from her seminal 1969 album I'm a Loser which can be obtained from Kent Records on a two for one with 1971's A Legend in Her Own Time.
Both albums are produced by Jerry Williams Jr  aka Swamp Dogg with him and Gary US Bonds providing the music and lyrics to these two fine fine tracks.
Quality abounds.
Hardly surprising then that I'm a Loser was the favourite album of Dave Godin - he of Deep Soul Treasures Vols 1-4  Taken From the Vaults ... fame
Not to be confused with the tobacco heiress and philanthropist of the same name who at one stage performed with a gospel choir.

Doris Duke - I Don't Care Any More

Doris Duke - To the Other Woman (I'm the Other Woman)

Koko

Just before Christmas I popped into my local charity shop for a potter.
They had a large number of Blues CDs which had been issued with a magazine called the Blues Collection.
I purchased Wang Dang Doodle by Koko Taylor.
It features 18 of her tracks from 1964 to 1969 recorded on the Chekker record label a subsidiary of the mighty Chess records.
The quality of the recordings is pretty good.
I was so impressed that I returned  today and "made them an offer they couldn't refuse" for the other 21 CDs from the collection which they had for sale.
My Christmas present to myself.
I can feel a series coming on!

Koko Taylor - What Kind of Man is This?

Koko Taylor - I Love a Lover Like You

Classic Country

                                         
                                                              Don Williams

My brother-in-law George (no not that one of Jim McLean's Rabbit fame) cooked a fantastic Christmas meal for the family.
He tunes in to CCM but was bemoaning the lack of out and out country songs featured recently.
He mentioned that he had recently heard a busker doing " I Recall a Gypsy Woman". Whilst he said it wasn't that good he also mentioned that it took him back to his youth when his folks played that sort of thing.
So this is for him.
And also, as a wee bonus, a classic from the Charlie Daniels Band.

Enjoy

Don Williams - I Recall a Gypsy Woman

Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down to Georgia

St Stephen's Day

                                           

Today is Boxing Day or more properly St Stephen's Day.
It is also Mrs CC's birthday. She never tires of asking our nephews "Who was born on the day after baby Jesus?" -although obviously not in the same year.
To celebrate we will be running around like blue bottomed flies wining and dining both arms of the family.
Plying everyone with drink usually makes the day go smoother.

So in wishing Mrs CC a happy birthday and in recognition of St Stephen's Day - there can only really be one song.

Happy Birthday

Apologies for the jump at the end

The Boys of the NYPD Choir Were Singing Galway Bay

Yes, yes - I know you have heard this countless times over the last month or so

BUT  - it features the late great Kirsty MacColl
          - it is Shane MacGowan's birthday tomorrow
         -  and it's Christmas

Plain or Pan goes into this in considerably more detail than I ever could and possibly correctly states that this is the best Christmas single of all time (although that has sparked an interesting debate). Phil Spector obviously takes the album honours.
Here are a number of cover versions courtesy of Cover Lay Down

I won't be posting tomorrow so a Merry Christmas to you and yours and I hope Santa is good to  you!

The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York

Forster & Allen -Galway Bay

Feeling Festive?

I've finally succumbed to pressure and am posting something festive, or at least as Festive as Low are likely to get.
The EP cover above is also somewhat understated.
Two or three years ago I took this in to play at the work's informal Christmas lunch where it temporarily vied for airplay with Wham, Wizard, Maria Carey et al.
It was not well received.
Says it all really.

Low - Just Like Christmas

Low - Blue Christmas

Southern Soul Sunday 12

 Joseph Arrington Jr was known to music lovers as Joe Tex, presumably a reference to his birthplace of Rogers near Baytown, Texas although he converted to Islam in the late 60's taking on the name Yusuf Hasssiez.
The two songs featured here are both from 1966 and feature on the Kent compilation Skinny Legs and All- The Classic Early DIAL Sides  24 excellent tracks  from 1962 to 1968, recorded in Nashville, Memphis, Muscle Shoals and Beaumont and all written by Joe himself.
He was one of those singers who seemed to effortlessly cross that artificial line between soul and country.
Sadly Joe died in 1982 aged 49 but not before in a Chuck Berry My Ding a Ling moment in the UK in 1977 when he charted for the only time, peaking at number 2, with Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman).
He should be more properly remembered for quality song such as these.

Joe Tex - S.Y.S.L.J.F.M. (The Letter Song)

Joe Tex - The love You Save (May Be Your Own)l

Ting A Ling

Not sure how this one will go down.
You will either consider these to be a couple of pleasant pop ditties or they will annoy you intensely.
The Ting Tings are/were Katie White and Jules De Martino.
I was under the misapprehension that they were from Sweden or Denmark but it turns out they are from the equally exotic Salford in Greater Manchester.
In my view these are pretty much perfect pop songs. Pretty catchy at the time but not really designed to stand the tests of time.Discuss.
There was a bit of a novelty feel to this band. They enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame.
This album from 2008 was a number one in the UK. The follow up Sounds from Nowheresville in 2012 pretty much bombed and I will be surprised if a third album ever see's the light of day.
Fun while it lasted

The Ting Tings - That's Not my Name

The Ting Tings -Shut Up and Let Me Go

It's A Family Affair 2

                                              Allison on the left and Shelby on the right (I think!)

It's another couple of Country sisters who feature today on this occasional series of family members who have found musical fame in their own right as opposed to a family collective.
We'll start with the eldest first.
Shelby Lynne was born as Shelby Lynn Moorer in 1968. She is probably most famous for her breakthrough  1999 album I Am Shelby Lynne released 10 years after her debut album Sunrise.
It would be a further 9 years before she released her fantastic Dusty Springfield tribute album Just a Little Lovin' the title track of which is featured here.
Her younger sister Allison Moorer was born in 1972.
She has released 8 albums to date  along with a couple of compilations but probably has not had the same commercial success as her big sister although many are critically acclaimed
The track featured is from her second album 2000's The Hardest Part.
She is currently Mrs Steve Earle the 6th or 7th (not sure which given that he has married one of his wives twice!)
Tragically in 1986 their estranged father shot and killed their mother before killing himself.
A good grounding for a career in country music then!


Shelby Lynne - Just A Little Lovin'

Allison Moorer - Think It Over

Black By Design

This week I have been mostly reading Black By Design the autobiography of Pauline Black the lead singer of The Selecter as opposed to The Selector as she is at pains to point out.
It is an interesting read and is quite funny and opinionated in places.
She was adopted as a baby in the late 50's by a white couple in overtly racist Romford in Essex.
She subsequently was working as a radiographer and singing Dylan covers in pubs and clubs when she was in the right place at the right time when the 2-Tone revolution in Coventry kicked off.
There is the usual story of the formation and dynamics of band life before the inevitable musical differences kicked in.
Interestingly, and somewhat sadly, The Selecter of hit record fame lasted for a considerably shorter period of time than the reformed version cashing in on the demand for retro 70's and 80's bands pumping out the songs from yesteryear.
Well worth a read.

The Selecter - On My Radio

The Selecter -Three Minute Hero

The Wisdom of Solomon

Whereas O.V. Wright may not have been a physical giant of a man, Solomon Burke certainly was.
He was also prone to performing from a throne as befits the King of Rock n' Soul.
He was also an ordained bishop with Solomon's Temple - the House of God for All People and he fathered at least 14 children.
What with around 40 albums and a multiple of singles over his 55 year recording career he was a bit of a busy man.
He enjoyed a degree of success in the 60's on the mighty Atlantic label.
His career somewhat inevitably took a dip over the years before being resurrected in 2002 by the Joe Henry produced Don't Give Up On Me on the not so mighty but ever splendid Fat Possum Records.
It is nearly on a par with Johnny Cash's American Recordings. Yes, it's that good.
And here's the proof.
I was listening to The Delivery Man by Elvis Costello the other day and his original version of The Judgement is mighty fine but Solomon takes it to an even higher level.
The second offering is with the Blind Boys of Alabama and in the sleevenotes Joe Henry describes how this was recorded in one take on a semi impromptu jamming session.It is absolutely awesome.
If this does not move you I'm afraid you have no soul!

Solomon Burke - The Judgement

Solomon Burke - None of Us Are Free

Bloodshot Tuesday 20

It's the final week of Bloodshot Tuesday and we end with an artist and album which have also appeared on Mexican Monday
Alejandro Escovedo has recorded over a dozen albums in his long and varied career with a couple including 2001's A Man Under the Influence (BS064) appearing on Bloodshot.

                                

As Rolling Stone put it "musically Alejandro Escovedo is his own genre"
If you ever get the chance to see him live, take it - you will not regret it
He is a true legend on the Austin Music scene and his entry on the Bloodshot artists page gives a potted history of his various guises.

Hope you have enjoyed Bloodshot Tuesday and that it has tempted you to check out some more stuff from the artists featured.
And a big thanks to all those who  inadvertently tuned into Bloodshot 16 thinking it referred to the comic or to an episode from The Mentalist.You gave CCM it's biggest hit to date and hopefully some of you even hung around.

Alejandro Escovedo - Rosalie

Alejandro Escovedo - Velvet Guitar

The Drum is Everything

A bit hungover today after a trip to Kilmarnock to see Dundee United slaughter the home team followed by beers in the Clansman and Fanny By Gaslight and a rather fine curry in the Jewel in the Crown.(Written on Sunday - it was not that big a hangover!)
Now back to the music.
My recent purchasing foray which netted Show People by Mari Wilson also yielded No. 10 Upping Street by Big Audio Dynamite (Swiss Adam will be pleased) and the Drum is Everything by Carmel.
I had both of these on cassette once upon a time but they will now be buried deep in a landfill somewhere.
Carmel enjoyed a brief period of success in the UK but were huge in France.
I saw them a couple of times back in the day  including once at Glasgow Art School where Ms McCourt was even drunker than I was but still put on a splendid show.


Carmel - The Drum is Everything

Carmel - Rue St Denis (Version)

Southern Soul Sunday 11

Memphis  native Overton Vertis Wright (known to you and me as O.V.) is described in the Backbeat compilation of 25 of his finest tracks from 1965 to 1975 as a Giant of Southern Soul.
Now, in any picture I have ever seen of him he does not strike me as a particularly tall fellow so I am assuming this is a reference to his music which is indeed rather splendid.
He was a member of a number of gospel groups in his youth including The Five Harmonaires, The Spirit of Memphis Quartet and the Highway QCs - surely a project there for Jim McLean's rabbit
You can hear the gospel influence in his subsequent songs.
Unfortunately O.V. died aged just 41 from a heart attack most probably brought about by his on-going drug problems. He had previously been jailed for narcotics offences.
So famous that they named a quaint garden suburb of Wishaw in North Lanarkshire after him  allegedly

O.V. Wright - Eight Men Four Women

O.V. Wright - A Nickel and A Nail

Caroline laughs and it's raining all day

I've been threatening to post this for ages.
Along with Another Girl Another Planet, Give Me Back My Man and Ever Fallen in Love  it was a mainstay of the musical soundtrack of my drunken youth.
Confession time - although you have an image of the cover of Talk Talk Talk ,due to my abject laziness you are getting the CD version from my Sounds of the Suburbs compilation rather than a rip of the vinyl version which would probably taken me all of 10 minutes more.
However, you do get, as an added bonus, Echo Beach from the same CD which I do not have on vinyl.
My job is indeed very boring- I'm an office clerk!
Enjoy and relive your youth!

Psychedelic Furs - Pretty in Pink

Martha & the Muffins - Echo Beach

The Voice of a Beehive

A few months ago I posted versions of Cry Me a River by Diana Krall, Kim Edgar and Julie London here
Drew, quite rightly, took me to task for not featuring the version by Neasden's Queen of Soul Mari Wilson.
The reason for this was reasonably simple - I did not have it at the time.
This has since been rectified with the purchasing of her 1983 album Showpeople.(£1.99 Oxfam).
I have also included her biggest hit Just What I Always Wanted her only song to trouble the top 20 peaking at no 8.
30 years on it still sounds pretty good to me.
I had a notion that Tracey Ullman had also covered this but it seems that I was getting mixed up with her cover of Kirsty MacColl's They Don't Know.
Old age, it doesn't come itself

Mari Wilson - Cry Me a River

Mari Wilson - Just What I Always Wanted

The Original British Americana Band

Thursday night is once again British Americana Night on Charity Chic Music!
A recent post on the New Vinyl Villain featured Jonathan, Jonathan the Rockingbirds tribute to the one and only Mr Richman.
This led to me digging out my 12 inch single of Gradually Learning.
First time I've listened to it for ages and very good it is too.
And as an added bonus a postcard of the cover which I didn't know I had popped out of the sleeve.
From 1992 it pretty much outdates any other British band of this genre.
Their lead singer Alan Tyler pops up on the previously featured Divided by A Common Language on Clubhouse Records from 2010 which no discerning record collection should be without

The Rockingbirds - Gradually Learning

I Come From Another Planet Baby

I'm not 100% convinced that the great Arch Druid is not being autobiographical on this song cos let's face it he is as mad as a box of frogs!
The former Teardrop Explodes front man has been pretty prolific over the years with every record being seemingly stranger that the last.
His autobiographical books Head On and Repossessed are must reads for anyone who considers  themselves to be a music fan.
He is a renowned musicologist championing the obscure and is a huge fan of Krautrock.
He has also written a couple of well received books on archaeology and antiquarianism and is something of an authority on stone circles and other Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments.
Live, he is never less than entertaining.
A national treasure and as the NME put it in January 2011 "this man should have his own blue plaque"
Oh and the music is pretty good too.

Psychic Relief in the mid-90's - indeed

Julian Cope - I Come From Another Planet Baby

Julian Cope - How Do I Understand My Motorman

Bloodshot Tuesday 19

Bloodshot Tuesday is gradually petering out. I could extend it by playing tracks from other albums by those previously featured or tracks from the various Bloodshot compilations I have but you can probably get too much of a good thing.
It can always be revisited further down the line or I can sneak some tracks in elsewhere.
We will however meander along for another couple of weeks longer.
Dean Schlabowske features today for the second week running .Last week he was a Waco Brother, here he features with his own band Dollar Store from their eponymous debut album from 2003 (BS098).

He is joined by Joe Camarillo on drums and Alan Doughty on bass with guest appearances by Celine, Tex Schmidt, the mighty Jon Rauhouse and the even mightier Dave Alvin
Followed up with Money Music in 2007.
These days he plays as Deano and the Purvs- along with members of the previously featured Meat Purveyors.

Dollar Store -Around The Bend

Dollar Store - North Central Plain

Guitar Man and Harmonica Man

In the early 1990's the CCA in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street put on the occasional Blues night.
One act I saw was Catfish Keith who I subsequently saw several times but never got round to acquiring any of his records - I suspect he was better live.
Someone else I saw, and who's record I did purchase were Cephas and Wiggins , or to give them their full title Bowling Green John Cephas and Harmonica Phil Wiggins.
The album I purchased and got signed was Guitar Man from 1989 on Flying Fish Records. I spent all the money I had left on this and some kind soul took pity on me and stood me a pint.
According to the sleevenotes they perform, preach and teach a brand of traditional music known as Piedmont blues. Geographically the Piedmont stretches from Richmond to Atlanta.
Sadly Bowling Green John passed on in 2009 although thankfully Harmonica Phil is still alive and kicking and presumably still playing the moothie
Here is the title track from said album.

Cephas & Wiggins - Guitar Man

Southern Soul Sunday 10

A native of St Louis, Missouri Ann Peebles shot to prominence in the 1970's with a number of hits on the Hi label out of Memphis.
Probably best known for  I Can't Stand the Rain, co-written as were many of her songs by her husband Don Bryant, and I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down.
I would imagine most of you are familiar with these two so I have selected a couple of others from her Greatest Hits collection for your enjoyment.
So famous that a town in the Scottish Borders was named after her - allegedly

Ann Peebles -I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home

Ann Peebles- A Love Vibration

PaInting By Numbers

James McMurtry is one of those song writers who catalogues the trials and tribulations of the dispossessed and those who live on the margins of society.
He was a late  developer having had varied life experiences prior to his debut album in 1989 Too Long in the Wasteland from which the first track is taken.
His father was the  novelist Larry McMurtry, so writing is obviously in the blood.
He currently resides in Austin but as you can see from his homepage he is no fan of the Bush dynasty of Republican Texas Governors and subsequent Presidents. There you can obtain a free download of his song We Can Make it Here - although if you download it that will make you an enemy of the State(s)!
As a wee bonus I have included fellow bearded and hairy Austin resident Ray Wylie Hubbard's version of McMurtry's phenomenal  Choctaw Bingo.
Enjoy


James McMurtry - Painting By Numbers

Ray Wylie Hubbard - Choctaw Bingo

Nelson Mandela

Branded a terrorist by Thatcher at the same time as she was cosying up to Pinochet

Awarded  the Freedom of the City of Glasgow in 1981 whilst still in captivity

Arguably the most influential and important man of his generation and a humble soul prepared to forgive rather than seek revenge.

South Africa, and the world in general, is a poorer place following Nelson Mandela's passing

Rest in peace Madiba

The Special AKA - Nelson Mandela

Simple Minds - Mandela Day

Welch Rarebits

It's mellow time again.
Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings have hardly been the most prolific artists on the planet with only 5 albums since 1996 - 6 if you count the album by Dave Rawlings Machine.
However in their case it is very much quality over quantity.
Their music seems to be of a bygone age. It is quite sparse with more than a hint of gospel and bluegrass to it.
Their involvement in Oh Brother Where Art Thou? brought their music to a wider audience.
I saw them play at a sold out Barrowlands- just the two of them and  their guitars on stage. You could have heard a pin drop- absolutely awesome.
This is from The Harrow and the Harvest her most recent album from 2011 purchased in Oxfam in Vicky Road, Glasgow.
You are only getting one track as you should really acquire all their albums for yourself. You will not regret it.

Gillian Welch - The Way The Whole Thing End

Enter the Dragons

It's all been a bit mellow on CCM recently
So time for some California punk from the Dragons  and according to the CD "this disc is meant to be played at full volume."
From 1999 on Junk Records R*L*F is apparently an abbreviation of Rock Like Feck or something similar.
Bought on the strength of vocalist and guitarist Mario Escovedo being the kid brother of Alejandro and seeing the Dragons support him at the Continental Club in Austin in the days when I could afford such things

The Dragons - Sleep When I'm Dead

A Fledg'ling Star

Helen Watson is an English singer- songwriter who has produced 3 great records on Fledg'ling Records a specialised folk label based in the UK.
Starting with Somersault in 1997 , she followed this with Doffing in 1999 and Lifesize in 2002.
Her music is a blend of folk, blues, jazz and soul combing her own stuff and covers (particularly on Doffing)
On Somersault she produces the best version of Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham's Out of Left Field which I have ever heard, although I suspect that Drew may well take issue with this sentiment!
Her version of I'm Your Puppet on Doffing of I'm Your Puppet is not too shabby either.
Check her out.

Helen Watson - Out of Left Field

Helen Watson - I'm Your Puppet

Bloodshot Tuesday 18

I think I have solved the mystery of the phenomenal success of Bloodshot Tuesday 16. It seems it coincided with the launch of a comic here
I have a picture in my mind's eye of a lot of young turks reading their comics with Bob Wills , the King of Western Swing warbling away in the background.
The solution to get more hits is obviously by linking your title to something more topical eg  Tom Daly or Santa Claus or some such thing.
In the unlikely event of any of the comic readers having hung about I'm sure they will be impressed by the Waco Brothers and Electric Waco Chair (BS054) from 2000

As I've said before they may not be the most musically accomplished band in the world but what they lack in technical expertise they more than make up for in raw enthusiasm.
They are terrific life. One fellow blogger, who shall remain nameless, once managed to sleep through their entire set in a drunken stupor which is pretty impressive

Waco Brothers - Jamaican Radio Obituary

Waco Brothers -Walking on Hell's Roof Looking at the Flowers

A Girl Called Eddy

New Jersey native Erin Morin relocated to  England and came up with an album A Girl Called Eddy on Anti Records  in 2004.
It was produced by Richard Hawley who plays the majority of the instruments on the album.
One album in 2004 and to my knowledge nothing since which is a shame as it is rather pleasant.
There are some startling similarities on  Rumer's Seasons of My Soul  released in 2010 both in terms of voice and style,although Rumer is perhaps slightly more one-dimensional.
Purchased by Mrs CC in St Andrews.
It has the potential to feature on Drew's splendid Mellow Sunday series I feel..
The record marks on the cover are intentional just in case you hadn't guessed!

A Girl Called Eddy - Tears All Over Town

A Girl Called Eddy - Golden

Southern Soul Sunday 9

Canzetta Maria Staton, more commonly known is Candi, is best known for her 1976 disco smash Young Hearts Run Free.
However she has been producing great soul, country and gospel music since the 50s
Born in Hanceville, Alabama she didn't have far to travel to the Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals where from 1968 she churned out a wheen of great singles earning her the title of the Queen of Southern Soul. An accolade indeed when you consider the opposition.
She returned to gospel in the 1980s.
In the 2000's her career enjoyed somewhat of a renaissance in Europe when London's Honest Jon records (previously featured here)  released an eponymous compilation of her hits from Fame in 2003. This was followed in 2006 by His Hands  and in 2009 by Who's Hurting Now? from which this terrific Mary Gauthier cover is taken.
There is always a dilemma as to how to pronounce her surname - is it Staton as in statistics or Staton as in states?We should be told.
The Fame stuff will feature later. And yes, you are getting Young Hearts Run Free!


Candi Staton - Mercy Now

Candi Staton - Young Hearts Run Free