Concerts eh? Like Corporation buses none for ages then two come along at once.
Hot on the heels of Saturday's Carla J Easton gig Mrs CC and I are off to see Courtney Marie Andrews tonight.
The concert is at St Lukes a converted church in Glasgow's East End and is another new venue for me.
Courtney Marie first came to my attention with her contribution to Tuscon Songs an album that George very kindly sent in my direction. That one is the first one below.
The second is from her 2016 album Honest Life which I got with my birthday money.
Recorded whilst she was living in Belgium it reached number 1 in the Official UK American chart (I never knew there was such a thing) and led to an appearance on Jools Holland which I have never seen.
And now the end is near , and so we face the final curtain.
After 32 posts dating back to 11th January the final three of the ninety six debutants in this series take their bow.
Another random mix this week. We start with The Killers the most successful rock band to ever emerge from the state of Nevada.. I'm not particularly a fan but this song which I haven't heard for a while is rather good
If I was to guess where Renne Guyer comes from I would be sticking my pin in one of the Southern states of America. I would be wrong there as she hails from Melbourne, Australia.
She describes herself as a a white Hungarian Jew from Australia sounding like a 65-year-old black man from Alabama which is obviously miles better than anything I could ever come up with.
There hasn't been that much folk featured in this series probably because around the time of these burns (2006/2007) I wasn't really listening to as much as I do now. Probably an age thing.
We finish this series then with great English folk singer Anne Briggs a somewhat reluctant but extremely influential star
As you can see from the photograph David Bailey has absolutely nothing to worry about.That's Carla in the red in case you were wondering.
It does however give you some idea as to the intimacy of the venue.I was in the back row of the room which held about 50 folk. For once we were in an attic as opposed to a boiling hot basement.
What a great evening's entertainment I experienced on Saturday .Four excellent and diverse acts for a tenner.Talk about value for money. Huge thanks to Olive Grove Records and especially to Last Night from Glasgow for making it happen.
The first act on stage was Kirsty Law an artist who comes from a traditional Scottish music background.
She has written songs with the great Karine Polwart and with Carla who joined her on stage for the first time that they had sung the song they co-wrote together.
Next up was Brett Nelson a Canadian singer songwriter who Carla had met at a singer/songwriter workshop in Banff (Canada as opposed to Aberdeenshire) .He was staying at Ian from LNFG and was wearing his socks!
Some excellent songs with an Americana influence to them. There was one about a three pawed weasel which was particularly good.
Brett was followed by Irish poet Rachel McCrum who had the audience totally mesmerised with some readings from her book The First Blast to Awaken Degenerate Women
In a first for CCM here is a poem she did for the Scottish Refugee Council
Finally Carla J Easton took the stage.She advised that her mum who was in the auidence had told her to hurry up as she was going for the last train to Carluke. Sadly she never got to see the full set!
I'm useless at remembering all the songs and in the correct order but Fireworks, Vagabonds, Millions and somewhat bizarrely for August Spending Every Christmas Day with my Boy all featured
She also aired a couple of the new songs from the Work in Progress cassette (which thankfully comes with a download code) including Lights in the Dark and Girl From Before.
Just Carla and her piano but songs that are likely to be worked up with the band and which will feature on Ette's new album.
No diminution in quality - as totally brilliant as the rest of her stuff.
I've never really considered myself much of a James fan so it was a bit of a shock to note that I have their first five albums on the CD and album shelves.
I don't think I ever bought any of them new and suspect I must have picked them up cheaply somewhere along the way.
I can't say that I have listened to them for a while.
I selected their fifth album Laid for no other reason than it was the first to come to hand. I thought that it was there most successful album but apparently not given that it only reached number 3 whereas four of their other albums reached number 2 and a Best of number 1.
So there you go
It was produced by Brian Eno. I didn't know that either
I returned Chet Atkins and Friends to charity and in doing so came away with Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford.
Marginally better. About a quarter of the 12 tracks past muster - namely Sixteen Tons and these two country rockabilly numbers.
A couple of others start promisingly then descend into novelty records with silly voices thrown in. I suspect that as he became a TV personality the quality of the music was a secondary concern.
Not sure whether this one is a keeper
I'm off to see Carla J Easton tonight and I am fair looking forward to it.
As some of you will know Carla is the front woman of both Ette and Teen Canteen.
A terrific singer and musician and a great songwriter. A true talent who hopefully has a bright future ahead of her.
She is playing songs from both bands and is also showcasing some new songs which will feature on Ette's forthcoming new album.
If it is half as good as their debut album Homemade Lemonade we are in for a treat.
The gig is at the Old Hairdressers which is a new venue for me.
I haven't quite matched JC's tally of Glasgow venues but I reckon that I have now passed the 50 mark.
Today one of the stars from Burnt Offerings 11 makes a welcome return as we feature Jim Heath better known as the Reverend Horton Heat with a couple of songs from his 2004 album on the Yep Roc label Revival.
We feature the title track together with Octupus Mode because let's face it there are not nearly enough songs about octupuses or should that be octopi ?(the former I think)
From Dallas, Texas the Reverend and his band have been on the go since 1990 with a dozen or so albums of what he describes as country-fied punkabilly - and who are we to argue.
Terrific stuff.
A large tip of the chapeau to The Swede today.
A few weeks ago he posted a band that I had never heard of, Los Halos, with a song from their 2002 album ForRamona on the Loveless Records label
He advised that the album and others of theirs could be found on Bandcamp on a pay what you want basis.
I headed over there slightly after George and picked up the album for a few quid.
I suspect that it will not be my last visit. Very sparse yet very pleasant music.
I could have chosen any of the 10 tracks but opted for these
Nearly there - Burnt Offerings 31 the penultimate offering - one more to go.
We start with a band and a song that I could have sworn had featured before, but apparently not.
I thought it had appeared on one of the random Saturday posts but must have missed the cut.
Not this time.
If anyone ever asked me to name a Transvision Vamp song (highly unlikely I grant you) this is the one that I would come up with..However it was not one of their 11 singles and only appeared on their debut album Pop Art
Nina Persson has appeared on these pages before but as a member of the wonderful Swedish group The Cardigans rather than in her own right,
She has had one sole album Animal Heart released in 2014
However this cover of the great White Stripes number does not come from there but rather from the film Om Gud Vill (God Willing) from 2006.
Porter Wagoner's take on Committed to Parkview a song written by Johnny Cash has appeared here before but only as a video version so that doesn't count
It features on his final album Wagonmaster released in June 2017 on the Anti label shortly before his death on 28th October 2007 at the age of 80.
Probably best remembers for his duo's with Dolly Parton on his long running TV show
I picked up Architecture & Morality the third album from 1981 from Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark recently for 95p in my local charity shop.
Unfortunately it came without the rather splendid outer sleeve designed by Peter Saville and Brett Wickens. Fortunately there is some of their work on the inner sleeve
As it was only the inner sleeve I initially thought it was a 12 inch single so it was a bit of a result when it turned out to be the album.
I've featured two of the three singles from the album Joan of Arc which made number 5 in the singles chart and Souvenir which got to number 3 which was the highest for any of their singles.
It would be remiss of me to feature this without a reference to the legendary Half Man Half Biscuit and Architecture, Morality, Ted and Alice. Genius as always.
I woke up the other morning thinking about tennis players who have featured in the title of songs.As you do.
Two immediately jumped to mind.
First up is The Iceman from Sweden Bjorn Borg multiple grand slam winner and one of the all time greats
He features in the title but not in the lyrics of The Ballad of Bjorn Borg a song on the Pernice Brothers 2001 album The World Wont End
Bjorn is followed by Conchita Martinez who in 1994 was the first Spanish player to win the woman's singles title at Wimbledon her only grand slam victory although she did reach another two finals.
She is also the subject of a song on Saint Etienne's 1993 debut album So Tough.
I briefly thought of featuring Billie Jean but then thought the better of it.
Any other suggestions welcomed.
On Wednesday's Burnt Offerings post I mentioned that The Delphonics first came to my attention when their song Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time) featured in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 film Jackie Brown.
This led to some reminiscence in the comments section from Brian , Alyson and Jamie about discovering them in the same way and the tape in the car scene. I can't find a clip of that so this will have to do
In addition to introducing me to the Delphonics it also brought Bobby Womack to my attention.
I had vaguely heard of him but the fabulous Across 110th Street which starts the film completely blew me away and led to me seeking out more of his stuff.
I've posted it before but make no apologies for posting it again.
Conway Twitty - great name, great hair, great clothes - pretty average singer
He released a shed load of albums from 1959 up to his death in 1993 aged just 59 Play Guitar Play is from 1977 (just when punk rock was hitting Britain) and reached number 3 in the US Country Charts. My copy was purchased recently in the Wigtown Community shop along with a truly awful Chet Atkins album which I will not subject you to
I would describe him as a poor man's George Jones.
Sadly Mr & Mrs Twitty did not actually have a son called Conway - rather he was christened Harold Lloyd Jenkins which doesn't really have the same ring to it
The second song is for all us bloggers other halves!
Wang Dang Doodle by Koko Taylor was the first of the Blues Collection CD's I bought way back in December 2003. The following day I revisited the charity shop and negotiated a job lot.
Koko has been long overdue a re-airing. She sprung to my mind recently for two reasons.
Firstly, Drew recently played a belter of a song by Linda Jones and her voice and delivery put me in mind of Koko.
Secondly I have just finished reading Feel Like Going Home the first in the great roots trilogy by Peter Guralnick.
In the chapter when he visits Chess Records in Chicago he tells of meeting Koko in the lobby who was there on her day off her work as a maid..Probably only a few years after these songs were recorded in 1965.
I suspect that many of the artists in the series needed a day job from time to time to break even.
As I mentioned the other day I've finally got around to acquiring 69 Love Songs by the Magnetic Fields.
There is a lot to digest and I am taking my time and getting there slowly.
It does however give me the opportunity to finally compare and contrast the original of Papa Was a Rodeo with the cover by Kelly Hogan.
Taken from Beneath the Country Underdog a 2000 album on Bloodshot and billed as Kelly Hogan & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts it has long been a firm favourite of mine.
I would go as far as saying it is probably one of my top 10 songs ever and it has certainly appeared on just about every CD mixtape compilation I have compiled since then..
The Magnetic Fields original is of course excellent but obviously not as good as Kelly
We are off to Sheffield, Philadelphia and Maryhill this week in the 30th installment of Burnt Offerings.
We start with Sheffield indie pop band The Long Blondes who lasted from 2004 to 2008 releasing two albums in the process
In 2006 they won the NME Philip Hall Radar award and were described by the Guardian as the best unsigned band in the UK.Rough Trade took the hint and in 2006 their debut album Someone to Drive You Home.on which this song features.
Next up are Philadelphia Soul trio The Delfonics who first crossed my radar when their song Didn't I (Blow Your Mind this Time) featured in the Quentin Tarantino film from 1997 Jackie Brown. This their other big number was released in 1968 a year before Didn't I
Finally, from Maryhill in Glasgow we have the Urban Spaceman himself the hippy folkie Donovan Leitch
From 1966 Sunshine Superman topped the Billboard Hot 100 for one week and reached number 2 in the UK
He is still going strong and was inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
If you hang around long enough ....
This is the Kit have a new album out called Moonshine Freeze
The first 500 who bought it including The Swede also got a limited edition tea towel (pictured above) designed by Ava Carrère George bought it at around the same time but as he bought it digitally he did not get a free tea towel. I'm throwing out a challenge to the scientific community. We can put men on the moon, clone sheep, identify the DNA genome. Surely it is not beyond some of these great minds to successfully devise a downloadable tea towel. Over to you folks. I don't have Moonshine Freeze yet but now they have a new album out I figure I can feature something from the previous one Bashed Out. This is the Kit - Silver John This is the Kit - Spores All Settling
The other day I stumbled across a CD I didn't know I had (a rare but not unique experience)
It is Radar by a band called 34 Satellite. I suspect it may have come my way in a bunch of burns from my pal Harry.
Some research tells me that they are from Colorado and this is their second album from 2000.on Hideaway Records Both All Music and Pop Matters make comparisons with The Replacements. They put me more in mind of Teenage Fanclub, early Wilco and The Silos -the latter being hardly surprising given that Walter Salas Humara is involved in the production.
It is not bad at all and is one that will be played more frequently in future
Today sees the final instalment of the Stranraer Sixties Soul vinyl trilogy with Otis Redding in Europe from 1968 on the Stax label.
It seems to be exactly the same album as Otis Redding Live in Europe from 1967 on Volt/Alco
His first live album and the only one released during his lifetime.A recording of a concert at the Olympia Theatre, Paris on 21st March 1967 with Booker T and the MGs as his backing band.
I'm assuming that it was the same person who handed these three albums in for charity. Someone who I would happily buy a pint for.
This would have been your Friday night entertainment but for the sad demise of Glen Campbell. Now it is your Saturday night entertainment.You can thank me later. Hillbilly Moon Explosion so named because main man Oliver Beroni was previously in a band called the Hillbilly Headhunters and main woman Emanuela Hutter was in MD Moon
I was unaware up until now that they are Swiss
These are from their 2002 debut. They are still on the go. my brother saw them last year when he was working in Belfast.
Rockabilly certainly but in homage to their name I can hear a wee bit of Hillbilly putting me in mind of the great BR5-49 Hillbilly Moon Explosion - Maniac Lover
Inspired partly by Rol's inspired ICA and by a growing awareness that it really should be on the shelves I finally got round to purchasing 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields with some of my birthday money.
You will appreciate that with 69 songs to get through it will take me a few listens before it features here.
However on an initial cursory listen Stephen Merritt's voice immediately put me in mind of Noel Scott Engel or Scott Walker if you prefer
Here then are a couple of songs from the compilation Boy Child - the best of 1967-1970 which features tracks from Scott, Scott 2, Scott 3, Scott 4 and 'Til The Band Comes In.
Majestic.
We are down to the last four this week and are featuring three ladies, two of whom are Canadian and not Joni Mitchell.
The lady pictured above is not Canadian but is certainly the first person called Ernestine to feature on these pages.
It is the Jazz and Blues legend Ernestine Anderson with T'aint Nobody's Bizness (If I Do) She died in 2006 aged 87 and I suspect that someone with great taste posted this as a tribute
The fist Canadian who is not Joni Mitchell is Sarah Harmer who may well also be the first Sarah to feature here
She is a singer/songwriter and also a former member of a band called The Saddletramps.
This song is from her 2005 album I'm a Mountain nominated for the Canadian album of the year.
She is also an activist co-founding PERL an organisation which campaigned to protect the Niagara Escarpment from a proposed gravel development. Good on her I say
Finally we have another Canadian who is not Joni Mitchell and who is not the first Amy to appear on these pages. Amy Millan performs both as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene. This song comes from her 2006 debut solo album Honey From The Tombs and is rather lovely.
My mum would have been 77 today.
When we were clearing out her stuff from the Care Home one of the staff gave me a copy of a Life Story type book she had been working on with my mum.
In it my mum mentioned something that I wasn't aware of when she mentioned that Magic Moments was probably her favourite song
Coincidentally Mrs CC came home a couple of weeks ago with a couple of Perry Como albums which she had picked up for 50p a pop .One was his 40 Greatest Hits one of the few records my folks owned. Magic Moments is the first track.
This week's slice of Americana comes courtesy of The Sweetback Sisters with a couple of tracks from their second album from 2011 Looking For a Fight.
Based in Brooklyn as opposed to the deep South they are actually a sextet with two co-lead singers Zara Bode and Emily Miller.
They are a sort of retro- country tribute act and to me some of their songs work and others don't.
For me these two work.A credible cover of a Dwight Yoakam classic followed by a song which has a touch of Freakwater about it
When I posted Levi Stubbs' Tears by Billy Bragg last November I confessed to owning nothing by the Four Tops. I was quite rightly taken to task by all and sundry.
I am pleased to report that Levi Stubbs is no longer crying as I picked up a copy of their 1968 Greatest Hits on Tamla Motown on my last visit to Stanraer. It is in considerably better nick than last week's British Motown Chartbusters.
So here are Levi, Duke Fakir, Obie Benson and Lawrence Payton in all their glory with two absolute belters from the mercurial pens of Holland, Dozier and Holland. Four Tops - You Keep Running Away
Along with the likes of The Stray Cats and The Shaking Pyramids , The Polecats were part of a brief new wave of rockabilly towards the end of the seventies.
They are probably best known for their covers of John I'm Only Dancing and Jeepster and also having Boz Boorer the future guitarist, musical director and co-songwriter of Morrissey within their midst.
These songs are from Polecats Are Go! their 1981 debut album on the Mercury label.
They somehow lasted up to 1989
The standout track on Burnt Offerings 28 is the cover by Camera Obscura of Modern Girl the smash hit single by Bellshill's finest Sheena Easton.
It couldn't feature yesterday as they have graced these pages before and the rules is the rules.
So instead you are getting it today . Plus it is probably illegal to feature the band without paying homage to the classic Lloyd, Are You Ready to be Heartbroken from their 2006 album Let's Get Out of this Country.
Pure quality indie pop
First up this week are The Rosy Nolan Band with a track from their self released 2006 album Phantom Hymns. Obscure Sounds describe them as following in the footsteps of fellow Southern influenced revivalists Neko Case and Jenny Lewis
Can't really see it myself
She still seems to be playing in the Los Angeles area but I don't see any evidence of a second album
On the basis of their pictures if nothing else the Melvins were getting in whether they were good or not.As it turns out their cover of Candy O by the Cars is short but pretty good fun.Doom metal (whatever that is) merchants from Montesano, Wshington The boy with the hair is Buzz Osborne Melvins - Candy O
I'm quite surprised that Andrew Bird has never appeared before. He has certainly popped up on other BO discs but has obviously been trumped by other artists.
Anyone who has been in bands called Squirrel Nut Zippers and Bowl of Fire is surely worth a mention.
He has churned out 13 albums over the last 20 years initially as part of the above bands and as a solo artist from 2003 onwards. Heretics is from his 2007 album Armchair Apocrypha
Some mellow jazzy blues for you today from Kelly Joe Phelps who would have featured in my Three Names series had I not got bored with it. Sky Like a Broken Clock ( a set of low-key abstract story-songs about voodoo,sin and prostitution - Allmusic)his fourth album from 2001 and on Rykodisc is the only one of his I have and coincides from a time that I was listening a lot to the Paul Jones Rhythm and Blues show on Radio 2.
I subsequently saw him at King Tuts which was probably the wrong venue for his mellow approach..
