Search This Blog

Tuesday 30 April 2019

Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!


As  I  said yesterday our trip to St Andrews was yielding meagre pickings from the many charity shops there.
However that all changed in the British Heart Foundation when I checked the vinyl section after Mrs CC had picked up Ennio Morriconne.
I was expecting the usual rubbish - Jim Reeves, James Last and such like and while they were all there I struck gold.
I came away with seven albums all for 99p and all in very good condition.
I thought about listing them here but then decided that I would pad it out and drip feed you with snippets over the next few weeks.
From 1978 Q: Are We Not Men? A: No We Are Devo the  debut album by the band Devo was pretty much the newest of them all and the only one from that genre (if Devo could be described as having a genre). Here are the two singles from the album which most of you will already be familiar with.



You may well be surprised with some of the other albums purchased!



Devo - Satisfaction (I Can't Get Me No)

Devo - Jocko Homo

Monday 29 April 2019

Oh Mercy Mercy Me


Shortly before leaving St Andrews we decided to have one final trawl of the Charity shops .
In the British Heart Foundation shop I spottted a CD of Oh Mercy the 26th studio album by Bob Dylan for 99p and given the paucity on show I eagerly grabbed it.
I was aware that it was from a time in Bob's career which can be kindly described as not his best and indeed it is the only one of his I have between 1981's Shot of Love and 1997's Time Out of Mind.
It is produced by the ubiquitous Daniel Lanois.
It was therefore with a degree of trepidation that I gave it a spin. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. Obviously not his best but certainly not his worse.
I've subsequently seen it described as a return to form following albums such as Empire Burlesque, Knocked Out Loaded and Down in the Groove.

Mrs CC then came over with a vinyl copy of Ennio Morricone's Soundtrack to the film The Mission.
I then decided to have a look in the vinyl section ........ and .. to be continued in due course!

Bob Dylan - Everything is Broken

Bob Dylan -What Good Am I ?

Sunday 28 April 2019

The Gospel According to the Reverend


For a long while it looked as though The Gospel Collection from Al Green was going to be the only St Andrews purchase. That all changed as will be revealed tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure that most of you know the story of how Al Green moved from recording secular music to gospel music for the duration of the 80s.
In 1974 his then girlfriend Mary Woodhouse Wilson poured a pot of burning grits over him before shooting herself. This led to him re-evaluating his life and being ordained as a pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis in 1976.
In 1979, Green injured himself falling off the stage while performing in Cincinnati and took this as a message from God. He then concentrated his energies towards pastoring his church and gospel singing
Things didn't quite go according to plan and he admitted to spousal abuse in 1982 something he allegedly had a history of..

Nevertheless he could still belt out a sweet Gospel tune. Just a pity that religion  has been responsible for so much division and atrocity over the years.

Al Green - Power

Al Green - You're Everything to Me

Saturday 27 April 2019

Double Initials - PP


Despite my initial confidence PP proved to be a lot harder than I thought it would be.
Again I came up with two and then got stumped. Fortunately you lot stepped into help me.

My first thought was an artist who appeared as an OO last week namely Peter Perrett.
He was the second thought of  Walter with his first thought PP Arnold being my second. I fairly recently featured her version of The First Cut is the Deepest so thought I would go for something else albeit it is not in the same league.

Thereafter I was stuck and had a look at some of your suggestions.A little bit of reggae from Phil Pratt as suggested by Ramone 666 and quickly seconded by the Swede seemed in order.
Swede - I'll pass on your kind suggestion of investing £298 on Pat Powdrill And The Powerdrills  with They Are The Lonely'. 


Finally I was somewhat intrigued by Dirk's suggestion:






I cannot come up with a QQ.
Some of you in the comments section have been smuggly boasting that you have something in mind.
Feel free to share what you have with me or else we are straight onto RR

Peter Perrett - How The West Was Won

P.P.Arnold - Angel of the Morning

Phil Pratt - Safe Travel

Friday 26 April 2019

Retro Saturday on a Friday


Apologies for the no show yesterday.
We were working our way back from a couple of days in St Andrews plus I was feeling a wee bit poorly.
I am giving the large number of students and indeed all the denizens of St Andrews the benefit of the doubt and assuming that they must all be into streaming as I have rarely seen such a poor and meagre show of charity shop CDs in my puff.
Seven charity shops and by the time I reached the final one on the second trawl I had only come up with one purchase which will feature on Sunday. In desperation in the last shop I resorted to this freebie from the Daily Star  -a newspaper I would be reluctant to use even if I'd run out of toilet paper.
The lady didn't even charge me their going rate of 50p and suggested instead that I make a donation to the charity tin. I did - 50p
Still there is one saving grace. It does include the great Papa Was a Rolling Stone by the Temptations which has never featured here before perhaps because I don't think I have had a copy of it until now

The Temptations - Papa Was a Rolling Stone

Wednesday 24 April 2019

State of the Union - Maine


George write:
It is with some dread that I embark on this state. Of course, I know next to nothing about it,  apart from roughly where it is (the north east), and I am hoping it turns out to be less tedious than Iowa and that some interesting people and musicians come from Maine.


Did you know that there is a connection between Manchester City Football Club and the state of Maine? Well, their former stadium was called Maine Road. And that actual road used to be called Dog Kennel Lane but was renamed Maine Road  during the 1870s thanks to the Temperance movement which owned land on Dog Kennel Lane. This name change seems to be a tribute to the state of Maine, that passed a prohibition (of alcohol) law (in the 1850s.)


Being the north-easternmost state of the USA I would not expect too many country songs about it BUT there is a great little track called Kennebunkport, last track on the album Somewhere South Of The Clef. If you like the sound of the pedal steel guitar you are in for a treat.




And I bet you did not know that Maine was the closest of all the 50 states to Africa ! Or that a topless protest in Portland (Maine) attracted several hundred more onlookers than active participants (24). Police did not arrest the protesters because nudity is only illegal if genitals are visible.




It is illegal to blow your nose in public in Waterford, so hayfever sufferers presumably just wipe their noses on their sleeves, or hawk it up and spit it out…….


It’s a bit of a struggle, unsurprisingly, to find any more songs, apart from a terrible song called Portland, Maine, by Tim McGraw, which is just another anodyne 1990s-sounding so-called country song………...but wait! Here’s another song called Portland; Maine by Donovan Woods…….oh damn it’s the same crappy song as before. So it was off to Bandcamp….and man alive I was struggling until I found  this acoustic-prog. track, about Bar Harbor.

Christian Camarao - Oct 31st Bar Harbour Maine

…..As for the album...Christian claims it took him eight months to make this…..he must have been off his face most of the time if this is all he came up with…..because it is pretty poor stuff, apart from the track above, which is worth a listen. Don’t bother with the album. There are a surprising number of songs about Bar harbour, including a ukelele track. All are rubbish, excepting the one here.


And what can we say about Androscoggin County? Well, it gives us not one but TWO songs called Androscoggin, and an album called Androscoggin River Monster. And what about Aroostook? It yields three tracks! Bandcamp, isn’t it fabulous? (unlike the three songs just mentioned). And I discovered a group called the Tofu Bibles. Who are from France.



(I hope they were not in Augusta, Maine)

And we should try and get Nigel Kennedy to take a stroll down the streets of Augusta whilst playing his violin…...for which he can be arrested…..

Almost finally, a special mention to Summer McKane, who has an album called Speedway Maine Soundtrack. It has THIRTY tracks, most of which are between 2 and 3 minutes long, all guitar instrumentals, and it is very enjoyable. I bought it

Maine, loads of interesting things, virtually no decent music named after its towns, , but one belting album about its speedway tracks.


CC adds
I'm stumped this week. All I can add is that I've been to Maine Road and also that
I have seen old Israel's arid plain.
It's magnificent, but so's Maine.

I know it won't count but it is simply too good a song not to feature

Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers - New England


Tuesday 23 April 2019

Some New Scottish Indie Music



Two new releases from two great Scottish indie labels to bring to your attention.

First up is Unravelling from Edinburgh band Mt Doubt on the Scottish Fiction label from Neilston led by Neil Wilson
Some blurb from the label
Returning with their first new music of 2019, Unravelling sees Mt. Doubt working with producer Rod Jones (Idlewild, The Birthday Suit) at Post Electric Studios, giving the band a fresh lease of life. The single builds through out with chiming keys and melodic guitars swooning behind rich, warm vocals. Lyrically the track continues to display frontman Leo Bargery's penchant for societal observations. The song rails against the negative impacts of our phones, social media and the culture of incessant self-documentation whilst yearning for a reconnection with the natural world; sequoia trees, buzzards and all. 

Here is a link to the Scottish Fiction Bandcamp page




Mt Doubt are followed by Jo Mango & Friends who have a new EP out on Lloyd Merideth's Olive Grove label called System Hold
As the blurb states

The EP is the result of a collaboration that saw Jo team-up with internationally-renowned criminologist Professor Fergus McNeill (Emerald Publishing) to soundtrack his new book, Pervasive Punishment. The outstanding result of this unique project is System Hold, a beautifully crafted EP, brought to life by the adroit Jo Mango and friends.





Here is a link to the Olive Grove Bandcamp page

Please continue to support the little guys

Monday 22 April 2019

Davies v Davis


Finally the last of my holiday haul which is just as well as I am  now off again for a couple of days so will hopefully come back with some more booty.
Gail Davies Greatest Hits (minus front cover) was purchased in the Wigton Community Shop.

I was vaguely familiar with the name and thought I may I have seen her in Glasgow's State Bar a number of years ago.A check of the Ticket Tin tells me that it was in fact the Tron Theatre Bar on the 1st of August 2002.
 The name on the tick is Gail Davis (no e) but I'm assuming it is the same person.
The music is a bit to mainstream country for my tastes. I was minded to return it but Mrs  CC quite likes it so it will remain  on the shelves meantime

Gail Davies - Jagged Edge of a Broken Heart

Gail Davies - Bucket to the South

Sunday 21 April 2019

A Genre Conundrum


Rare Blues & Soul from Nashville The 1960s Volume 2 is the last of the Ballantrae haul and the one which is causing my genre problems.
Does it go with the Soul Compilations or with the Blues Compilation? Something which has led to sleepless nights.At the moment I'm thinking Soul are there is more Soul than Blues but then again if there is more room on the Blues shelves....
First world problems, eh?

To the music. It does what it says on the tin. A collection of songs from small independent labels from Nashville
First up is Johnette  who appears on John Richbourg's Rich Record label. Other than that I know nothing..
Love Letters is  on Spar Records and is attributed to Carol Hadley but the singer is in fact Christine Kintrell using a fake name as she was signed to another label at the time.
Finally we have some Blues courtesy of Robert Garrett from Excello Records with a seemingly autobiographical song..

Johnette - I Gotta Hold On

Carol Hadley (Christine Kittrell) - Love Letters

Robert Garrett - I Don't Wanna Be Sober

Saturday 20 April 2019

Double Initials - OO


Well that was somewhat more difficult than last week.

Let's get the  ridiculous and untalented elephant out the room first..
Ozzy Osbourne has appeared on these pages before as a member of Black Sabbath performing Paranoid.
He will never appear in his own right.

The obvious one as anyone who read my last paragraph closely enough will realise was of course the brilliant Only Ones. The song below is from their Peel Sessions album specifically the session which was recorded on 05/04/78.

Thereafter I had to rely on a little help from my friends. I had managed to find a couple of songs from the band Oh-OK in the deepest recesses of my hard drive.Ramone666 then pitched in with this absolute cracker from them..Short but sweet. I shall be tracking down more by them.
They were a band from Athens, Georgia who were active from 1981-1984.. Lead singer Linda Hopper then went on to feature in the band Magnapop.

Then Ernie Goggins offered up a couple of suggestions one of which was Oliver Onions which as I'm sure you all know was a pseudonym for a couple of Italian brother Guido and Maurizio De Angelis. .Let's face it  I was never not going to feature a band called Oliver Onions. It's just a pity that it is  such a terrible song.

Next week it is PP which should be somewhat easier*. I've a couple in mind. Over to you.

The Only Ones - The Beast (Peel Sessions)

Oh- OK - Lilting

Oliver Onions - Same Situation


* update - it isn't as easy as I first thought

Friday 19 April 2019

Luminate Yer Heid




Now that he has retired regular commenter Spence has been systematically going through his music collection from A-Z deciding what to keep and what to discard (the only problem being that he keeps acquiring new stuff thus somewhat defeating the purpose!)
I had envisaged doing something similar when I come to hanging up my boots.
However as I mentioned last week lack of space has sped up this process albeit at a very slow one disc a week pace.


This week's burn under the spotlight is Luminate Yer Heid by The Lanterns from 1999 which was on Columbia.
I'm not quite sure as to how this one originally crossed my radar.
From Sighthill in Edinburgh the band  were signed up by Kenny McDonald the manager of The Proclaimers. The members were singing sisters Sylvia and Gina Rae and guitarist/songwriter Jim Sutherland.


Luminate Yer Heid - the verdict.  It's a keeper. Excellent bouncy synth pop with a Scottish twang.I'm kicking myself for having neglected it for so long. It will be taken from it's new slimline case and played more regularly in the future.

The Lanterns -High Rise Town

The Lanterns - Winter in my Heart

Thursday 18 April 2019

Straightaways



The recent Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo ICAs by HYBRID SOC PROF over at JC's place are causing a lot of excitement down Portugal way.
George is having great fun exploring the back catalogues of both of these bands in which Jay Farrar features.
Me, I currently have more stuff by Uncle Tupelo than by Son Volt although George is doing his best to change that.
On the Son Volt front I only have the 1997 album Staightaways and also  Sebastapol a solo album by Jay from 2001.
Checking my ticket box for something else the other day  I  found out that I saw Son Volt at King Tuts on Saturday 8th November 1997 paying £6 for the privilege.
I also saw Jay Farrar on Saturday 31st March (the ticket doesn't say what year but some internet research says 2001) in the 13th Note Club at a cost of £10.


A quick check of the archives tells me that Son Volt have never featured on these pages before so here are a couple from Straightaways to right that wrong.
Sparse - but in a good way.

Son Volt - Back Into Your World

Son Volt - Creosote


Wednesday 17 April 2019

State of the Union - Georgia


George writes:
Georgia is named after King George II of Great Britain, and is famous for its FOUR Ps: peaches, poultry, pecans and peanuts. Which reminds me of what I and Georgia-born ex-president Jimmy Carter had in common - we were both peanut farmers. So already Georgia is way more interesting than Iowa and I’ve barely started. There are many fine songs that could have been included, by artists familiar to you all, and as with so many southern states a million crappy 1980s&90s country songs by the likes of Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, and Reba McEntire.


There used to be a practice, by baddies, of putting an ice-cream in their back pocket, thus enticing a horse to follow them and enabling them to steal the horse. Which explains why, in the state of Georgia, it is illegal to put an ice-cream in your back pocket.



And  here’s the first splendid song, by R. L. Burnside, a relentless rhythmical blues song




That is fantastic, 6 minutes 35 seconds of your life well spent listening to  track 1 of the Fat Possum compilation Mucho Mojo. If The Fall ever made a blues song it would have sounded something like that. A word of advice: do NOT type in Georgia Women into a search engine whilst at work.


In September of 1906, a race riot broke out in Atlanta after newspaper reports, never confirmed,  of black men assaulting white women. Thousands of white men gathered, killing dozens of blacks and causing extensive damage to many black-owned businesses. The Georgia state motto is: Wisdom, Justice and Moderation


Anyway,  I was overjoyed, well quite pleased, to see that on Feats Don’t Fail Me Now is a song called Oh, Atlanta, and this is almost as good, in its own way, as the R L Burnside track.




The two obvious songs you are not getting, because (a) they are obvious, and (b) I don’t like them (I don’t think I like any of Ray Charles’ songs, not even when Michael Bolton covers them).


There are some things we should all thank Georgia for, not just Coca-Cola for those mornings when your tongue is stuck to the roof of your mouth after a few artisanal beers the night before, but also that Dawson, Georgia, is the birthplace of Otis Redding, and Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Maçon. And just think how much (musical) happiness those two have given us. I would like to add the wonderfully named Washboard Willie to that list, but there’s a possibility he was not born in Columbus, Georgia but rather in Bullock County, Alabama.

That’s Georgia, whose official state food is the vidalia sweet onion.

CC writes:
I suspect that this might  well be the third most obvious



Tuesday 16 April 2019

Ramshackle Beauty


When I featured Deliverance the debut album by Cosmic Rough Riders a few days ago George advised that he had been experiencing problems tracking down a copy of this record.
He asked me for a copy and being a generous sort he offered to share Ramshackle Beauty by their former lead singer Daniel Wylie in return.
From 2003 on the Measured Records label it is not radically different from the Cosmics. Melodic pop tunes with a country or power pop tinge on occasions.Very pleasing on the ear.
Checking discogs  I was surprised to see that he released five solo albums between 2003 and 2010 and even released a Best of the Solo Years in 2016.

However impressive that is we now know that his main claim to fame is that he married a girl who lived across the road from Drew's family home.

Daniel Wylie - Maybe I've Changed

Daniel Wylie - Consoling The Girl


Monday 15 April 2019

The Blues Collection - Magic Sam


The Ballantrae haul saw yet another one of the Blues Collection snaffled up.
All Your Love by Magic Sam is number 21 in the series but the 51st one to grace the CC shelves.

Born in 1937 in Grenada County, Mississippi as Samuel Gene Maghett  like many fellow Bluesmen he moved to Chicago's West side where he sadly died in 1969 following a heart attack at the ridiculously young age of 32.
Whilst an accomplished Blues guitarist he was willing to experiment  by augmenting his blues with the likes of soul and rockabilly.
The first song here is recorded in Chicago in 1957 and the second in 1958.
Not to be confused with his good friend Magic Slim who has featured here before

51 down 39 to go!

Magic Sam - Everything Gonna Be Alright

Magic Sam - 21 Days in Jail

Sunday 14 April 2019

O Sister Where Art Though?


Still working my way through the holiday purchases.
In addition to the previously featured  Tift Merritt album a trip to the charity shops of Newton Stewart resulted  in the purchase of O Sister Where Art Thou? which has become an instant favourite of Mrs CC.

Released in 2002 on the WEA label it is a 40 track 2 CD compilation of female country artists cashing in on the hype and success of the music from the film Oh Brother Where Art Though?
40 tracks but only 37 artists given that Dolly Parton, Nanci Griffith and Eva Cassidy all feature twice.
Those artists give a clue to the fact that it is mainly mainstream acts who feature some of whom attempt some Bluegrass covers some succesfully, others not quite so.
As you would expect I've decided to feature some of the more Alternative Country acts

Laura Cantrell - Mountain Fern

Oh Susanna - Sleepy Little Sister

The Be Good Tanyas - The Littlest Birds

Saturday 13 April 2019

Double Initials - NN



As suspected this week's post has proven to be somewhat more difficult than last weeks.
I was quite chuffed with the two acts that I had in mind and thought that maybe at least one would stump you all.
That thought was quickly shattered by 08.34!


The Swede was right in quicker than a Brexiteer with a World War reference with the one I first thought off Nina Nastasia. An American artist although her name sounds almost Transylvanian.
There is certainly a Gothic tinge to her work as this song from her 2003 album Road to Ruin demonstrates.It is not exactly laugh a minute stuff.


Fortunately our second act is. Nervous Norvus was referenced similtaneously by George and Ramone666 .His was a name I had in mind as I'm sure I had some stuff by him. If I have I couldn't find it . Fortutately Ramone was on hand to help me out.


Sorry Walter the I in Nine Inch Nails excludes them. Actually I'm not sorry at all.


Spence came in at the 11th hour with a suggestion for  The Nectarine No. 9. That's more like it!


Next week will probably be even trickier. I can only come up with one OO and I suspect that I will not by the only one to come up with it. Over to you.


Nina Nastasia - Regrets

Nervous Norvus - Ape Call

The Nectarine No. 9 - Don't Worry Babe You're Not The Only One Awake

Friday 12 April 2019

How I Learned to Love the Bootboys




The lack of space problem is now at a critical level particularly with respect to the Indie/Pop shelves.
Drastic measures are  therefore clearly called for.
As an initial measure I am revisiting a number of burns that I haven't listened to in a number of years with a view to either binning or transfering to slimline CD cases thus saving a modicum of space.
The first album up for scrutiny is How I Learned to Love the Bootboys by The Auteurs from 1999.
If I have listened to it this century I would be surprised.
Listening to it afresh it's not doing much for me I'm afraid.
Talented though he undoubtedly  is Luke Haines always comes across to me as somewhat smug both as a person and in his writing. I don't think I would last a night out without decking him.

The Auteurs - The Rubettes







An anecdote about The Rubettes.
Many years ago a pal was working as a manager in a bingo hall in Glasgow's East End. One of his staff asked what kind of music he liked. "The Ramones" was his reply which lead to "Oh, those guys in the white suits and caps?" as the response.




The verdict on HILTLTB? - it's getting binned. Sorry Rol

The Auteurs - Future Generation

Thursday 11 April 2019

Under the Western Freeway



On my way back from Some Great Reward record cafe in Glasgow's Victoria Road on Saturday (where I  got the excellent Better Oblivion Community Center album which will feature in due course) I popped in to my local charity shop.
They had a Matthew Sweet CD on the shelves! Unfortunately it was 100% Fun one of the two of his I already have.
Undettered I pressed on and came away with Under the Western Freeway the 1997 debut album by Grandaddy. I'm only guessing but I suspect it may well have been the same person who handed both in.
It's the third of their albums that I have managed to pick up in charity shops the other two being album 2 The Sophtware Slump and album 3 Sumday.
There are some good tracks on it but it is not in the same league as it's successors.Having said that it could well be a grower.


If they keep selling them for 50p I'll keep buying them.

Grandaddy - A.M. 180

Grandaddy - Summer Here Kids

Wednesday 10 April 2019

State of the Union - Iowa


George writes:
This week it’s Iowa. And I have again found evidence that songs from musicals are absolutely terrible. This week I listened to 44 seconds of Iowa Stubborn, from a Disney musical of 2003 called The Music Man. I wanted to puncture my own eardrums. There’s an album called Iowa by Slipknot, the last track of which lasts 15 minutes and is called Iowa, it gets going after three minutes of meandering nothingness, and after a further five minutes I wish it hadn’t bothered.



(Run for the hills! It’s a musical)

Non-country fans, if there are or even could be, such a thing, will be delighted to learn that no country songs will feature this week. That’s because the only one I could unearth was Sioux City Sue by the singing cowboy Gene Autry. Rubbish is too generous a description.

So off to Bandcamp I went and found a Russian prog. track called Iowa! Which, at $2.50 was not getting purchased. And it’s not prog. either, despite labelling itself thus. And then I found this joyful, weird,  lo-fi track, called Des Moines, by an outfit call Prahnas. I have no idea if it is one person or a group. But the album also has tracks called Phone Call From Your Ex-wife At A Bad Time and Love Letter To Putting On Your Shoes. I think I heard a kazoo too. I bought the album.


And after confirming that Cedar Rapids was in Iowa I found this joyful instrumental by The Jet Stole Home, called Cedar Rapids. And yes, I did purchase the album.


I see I have used the word joyful twice, it must be hysteria’-related after listening to so many ghastly songs with an Iowa connection.
I also purchased an album by an artiste called Lucy Bucket, called Cedar Rapids (although no song of that name is on it)

(I typed in Lucy Bucket into a search engine and it gave me this)

Other complete balderdash I listened to includes the execrable Dry Cleaner From Des Moines by Joni Mitchell, well, 45 seconds of it. That was the worst thing I listened to, even worse than that song from the musical mentioned above. Yes, even worse. And there was a song blethering about growing up in the “Hawkeye State with a combine on every corner”, and going to bed at 9 0’clock and getting up at 4. Good god almighty, the things I listen to on your behalf…….and for the sake of your own sanity steer clear of Iowa Gold by Jane Roman Pitt (after 25 seconds of that I went out to throw myself under the next bus, but it would have meant a three hour wait, so I went for soup instead).


(A very interesting view of a very interesting state………)

So far, no interesting facts about Iowa. and that’s because there are none, it is the most tedious of the 14 states in the series so far, there is nothing noteworthy about the place. Except this: Captain James Tiberius Kirk will be born there in 109 years time.

I associate Iowa with the presidential candidate caucus , and potatoes…...and now, some excruciatingly awful songs

Another one next week.  

CC writes:
I didn't know that Sioux City was in Iowa. Here are The Jayhawks from the Blue Earth album with a song that I wish Johnny Cash had featured in his American Recordings series.
I've also been to see a Blues guitarist called Catfish Keith who comes from Iowa.

Tuesday 9 April 2019

The Essential Sly and the Family Stone??


Still working my way slowly through the Ballantrae haul.
Another one which caught my eye was The Essential Sly and the Family Stone.
From 2005 on Mastercuts it features a number of sessions from 1979 with some of the original Family Stone members and Keni Burke on bass.
A number of the songs including the two featured below also appear on the 1979 album Back on the Right Track.
Pretty good yes but essential? I don't think so.
That would by 1971's There's a Riot Goin' On.

Sly and the Family Stone - Back On The Right Track

Sly and the Family Stone - The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry)

Monday 8 April 2019

Youth of a Sonic Variety


A splendid racket to accompany your Monday morning cornflakes courtesy of Sonic Youth with a couple of belters from their 1992 album Dirty.
I'm fast approaching 58 years of age and this is the first music by Sonic Youth that I have ever owned in a physical format.
 Better late than never I suppose.Yet another one from the Ballantrae haul and well worth the 30p.


Great cover too. I have a vague memory of doing knitting at primary school and coming away with something like that.

The kind of album that if I had kids I would be yelling at them to turn it down. I should imagine that Mrs CC will be doing that to me!
I've still to get round to reading Kim Gordon's memoir Girl in a Band. It is on the list.

Sonic Youth - Youth Against Fascism

Sonic Youth - Sugar Kane

Sunday 7 April 2019

Motor City Soul


Not quite sure how these things work but I managed to pick up the May 2019 edition of Mojo when I was on holiday in March.
The main article was about Fleetwood Mac  * yawn*
There was also an article on the early days of Motown which was obviously much more interesting. The accompanying CD was Motor City Soul - 15 nuggets that made Detroit move.
Here are three of the said nuggets.
The first is from Marv Johnson who is accompanied by the Band of Harold "Beans" Bowles.
The second is from The Ohio Untouchables a band from Dayton, Ohio who were led by Robert Ward.
I have an album by Robert Ward (and the Black Top All -Stars) called Fear No Evil which was released some 30 or so years later and was championed by Andy Kershaw.
The final of my selections is the easily most well known of the three, the great Jackie Wilson with To Be Loved a single from way back as far as 1957.
Terrific stuff.

Marv Johnson with the Band of Harold "Beans" Bowles - Once Upon a Time

The Ohio Untouchables - Love is Amazing

Jackie Wilson - To Be Loved

Saturday 6 April 2019

Double Initials MM

That's us half way through the alphabet!
Plenty to choose from this week and a number of brilliant suggestions. I think that this has probably been my most interactive series to date.
When folk get stuck at Rol's Saturday Snapshots they seem to pop over here.



Walter was first off the mark with Martha and the Muffins. This suggestion was followed up by Lynchie. He didn't go for the obvious one but I did.

If anyone was going to come up with  Michael Marra the Bard of Dundee it was going to be Ernie. He was always going to feature (Mick that is not Ernie).



Ramone666 sent me his by now customary eclectic mix of choices. He was advocating  for The Mississippi Moaner but I have opted for another of his nuggets namely the great Moon Mullican.

Finally one of the Swede's five (count 'em) seperately submitted requests was Malcolm McLaren with Double Dutch. You're getting Malcolm Swede but Buffalo Gals instead.



I  don't think that NN is going to be as easy. I've come up with two so far. I'm sure you can come up with others.



Martha & the Muffins - Echo Beach

Michael Marra - Scribbled Down Drunk (But Posted Sober)

Moon Mullican - Nine Tenths of the Tennessee River

Malcolm McLaren - Buffalo Gals

Friday 5 April 2019

From Skid Row to Beasley Street


Rewind is another Ballantrae acquisition, a compilation CD comprising of 12 seemingly random artists and songs
It starts with some Blues rock from Chicken Shack, Skid Row , Fleetwood Mac and Argent.
Then a bit of psychedelia courtesy of Donovan and Spirit .
The Only Ones are next up followed by Ian Hunter, John Cale, the Walker Brothers and New Musik (no, me neither).
The best is saved for last with an appearance by the good Doctor.

A 17 year old Gary Moore is on guitar on the Skid Row track.

Reading the sleeve notes it turns out this is a sampler for Rewind a series of re-issues of classic recordings on the Columbia label which makes things slightly less confusing.

Skid Row -Unco-op Showband Blues

John Cooper Clarke - Beasley Street