Search This Blog

Thursday 30 June 2022

It Came From Dundee ... All the Stuff and More

 


Initially my pal Euan sent me a couple of pictures of the CDs he got off his brother to see whether I was interested in any. All the Stuff and More ... by the Vaselines immediately stood out and I quickly baggsied it.

However when he got them back to his house and I got the opportunity to look at them in the flesh, so to speak, I couldn't find it and was convinced that he had snaffled it. After two or three looks it was spotted and I quickly grabbed it before he changed his mind.

From the seemingly endless conveyor belt of bands from Bellshill in the mid 80s the Vaselines were primarily Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee sometimes with assorted band members. They were on the go from 1986-89 then briefly in 1990 and 2006. They reformed in 2008 and are still going strong.
As the name suggests this was a Best Of complilation which was released by Avalanche Records in 1992 from songs originally recorded by 53rd & 3rd records.

Many of you will be aware that Kurt Cobain was a huge fan of the band and he regularly appeared wearing Vaselines T-Shirts. Nirvana recorded Son of a Gun, Molly's Lips and the renamed Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam  with Eugene Kelly joining them on stage at the Reading Festival in 1991 when they performed Molly's Lips

The Vaselines - Molly's Lips

The Vaselines - Teenage Jesus Superstars

The Vaselines -Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam

Wednesday 29 June 2022

The Household Clearance cds. Part 9

 


George writes:

After last week’s calamity I am hoping for something better today. And a quick glance at one of the selections ensures that hope is fulfilled. And some! But first we’re off to Brazil with a cd called Meu brasil brasileiro, or “my brazilian Brazil”.  As opposed to “My Dundonian Brazil”? Or  “My brazilian- pictures enclosed”? Moving on…..I read the sleeve too quickly and somehow got it in my mind that this would be covers of famous songs done by brazilian artistes. Nope, it’s a collection of songs they (ie brazilians) bring to our (portuguese) side of the atlantic. One of the artistes is the fantastically named Fafá de Belém. There’s also a group called New Clothes (Roupa Nova) and what might be The Popes of Language (Papas de Lingua). 


I’ve no idea what Elba Ramalho is warbling about but it is causing Parsley some distress judging by the tone of his bleats. After track 5 I’m wondering if this is a cd for people who don’t like music. There’s been warbling, a crappy duet that not even some fluting can enhance, but in amongst the forgettable supper-club easy-listening tripe are a couple of decent pop songs,


Zéla Duncam - Alma


20 tracks on the cd. 17 are truly dire. Track 14 is the lowest point in the album, but the dogs seem to find it strangely soothing, they’re lying asleep about a metre from the speakers. It’s the Fafá de Belém track, if you’re interested. And track 19, by Joanna, is one that I recognised from another cd that featured previously, and, as you’d expect, made a needlessly sarcastic comment at the time.



And now, an album that will yield the best song you hear today unless you then deliberately go off and play a song you consider better.     If you do this, post the song below to see if anyone agrees with you! And if not’s not Jungle Rock then you’re quite simply wrong). The (compilation) album must be one of a series called That Loving Feeling - The all time greats. This is volume 4. Mr Mizell will, of course, be on volume 1. Amongst the 30 tracks there’s not much to dislike, although there is one that will make you want to throw yourself off the nearest bridge, and some quite bland, but you could make a damned fine 10 song compilation from this compilation. 

Anyway, here’s the song. 


Jackie Wilson - I get the sweetest feeling


Beat that!


Another two next week. By the way, I broke my rule of listening to every track on the cds I pull out, skipping track 9 of disc 1. And there was no disc 2.


CC writes - George, can I just say that from the picture at the top that you are getting better at drawing!

Tuesday 28 June 2022

Swedefest - The Silos

 


As I mentioned on my recent Joe Ely post when I met up with The Swede and other bloggers in Edinburgh in addition to Honky Tonk Masquerade he very kindly gave me a dozen or so CDs he had no further use for having digitalised them.

When I mentioned my proposed Swedefest series he was not convinced as he felt that none were in the same league as Joe. He may well be right but I cannot let his generosity go unrecognized.

So here goes. I'm starting with the self-titled album by The Silos from 1990 on RCA/BMG. You might think with that title that it was there debut but you would have been wrong there.They had two previous albums on Record Collect 1985's About Her Step and 1987's Cuba.

I'm quite surprised that they go back that far. They crossed my radar around the Millennium. I had nothing by them but think I may have seen them at least once. I have the album Lean by lead singer Walter Salas-Humara and saw him at King Tuts in 2002 as part of a Song Circle with Steve Wynn and Robert Fisher.

There were actually two Silos CDs but I haven't got round to listening to the other one yet.I did enjoy this one though and it is very much a keeper which has already been catalogued and which will find a home on the Americana shelves.

The Silos - Caroline

The Silos - Picture of Helen

Monday 27 June 2022

Keeping Up with the Digital Joneses -5

 

Beverley


It's ladies day on Digital Joneses this week

We start with Beverley who was from Coventry and who enjoyed a modicum of success in the 60s and who sadly died aged 66 in 2012 .At some stage she teamed up with London band the Prestons and recorded the song Hear You Talking. This song made an appearance on the Ace compilation Destroy That Boy! - More Girls with Guitars which has featured on these pages before

Beverley Jones with the Prestons -Hear You Talking

September

I haven't been able to find out that much about September Jones .It seems that she was a Northern Soul singer who has also appeared on Ace with her song I'm Coming Home which was originally released on Kapp Records in 1966. Not to be confused with September Jones the overarching antagonist of the entire Death Race franchise

September Jones - I'm Coming Home

Janie



Janie Jones was immortalised by a song with the same name on the Clash's debut album.
She was a 60's pop singer in London but achieved fame as a brothel keeper jailed for her involvement in  a BBC Radio 1 sex for airplay  payola scanda

Here is the lady herself backed by members of the Clash and the Blockheads with House of the Juju Queen

Sunday 26 June 2022

Albums on both CD and Vinyl - Johnny Cash at San Quentin

 


My vinyl copy of the epic Johnny Cash at San Quentin was acquired a good few years before the CD version.
I'd stopped off in Carlisle after a trip down south and bought it from a shop for £1. There were a number of other Johnny Cash albums on sale ( Orange Blossom Special was one) and for the life of me I can't figure out why I didn't buy  any more.
It was obviously a once in a lifetime opportunity as subsequent stop offs proved to be unfruitful.

The album was recorded at San Quentin prison on 24th February 1969 and released on June 16th 1969 on CBS. Five songs on each side with San Quentin featuring twice.

Sony Music subsequently released a CD of the complete concert in 2000 with 18 tracks. It was a no brainer to acquire this as well which I duly did together with the 1999 complete concert Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison from 1968. Two absolute classics.

It would be remiss of me not to concentrate on the prison songs






Saturday 25 June 2022

Seen at King Tuts - Stacey Earle

 


Stacey Earle

Thursday 29th July 1999                               £5.00         Ticket No: 00015


Did I go to see Stacey Earle purely on the basis that she was Steve Earle's sister? How shallow do you think I am?

Around about this time Stacey had two solo albums out or due shortly - Simple Gearle (she what she did there?) on her own Gearle Records in 1998 and Dancin' With Them that Brung Me on the same label in 2020. Therefore I would like to imagine that I had maybe heard something by her and was curious enough to find out more but I suspect that I would be being economical with the truth.

I could only find one song by her either digitally or physically namely Promise You Anything from 2000 which appears on the compilation O Sister Where Art Thou? I had to resort to You Tube to come up with a couple more to share with you.

It looks like her solo career was relatively short lived . She subsequently released another four albums with her husband Mark Stuart between 2001 and 2008. She also had her own band called the Jewels Both were members of Steve Earle's band so I suppose that technically means that I have seen her on more than one occasion.

She also gets a bit of one -upwomanship in that I have never seen her brother at King Tuts

Stacey Earle - Promise You Anything

Stacey Earle - Good - By

Stacey Earle - Next Door Down



Friday 24 June 2022

It Came From Dundee - Lively Up Yourself

 


For years the only thing I had by Bob Marley was Live! the great 1975 album recorded at the Lyceum Theatre in London.

I then got a copy of Legend when I inherited my brother and sister -in- laws CD collection.

I was therefore quite interested to check out Lively Up Yourself which is a 3 CD collection of  his classic early recordings  on a 2010 compilation from Demon Records.

The three CDs are titled CD1 - Soul Rebel, CD2 - Riding High and CD3 -Keep on Moving.

The quality of the recordings is not great and I can't work out whether this is because it is a cheap and cheerful  budget compilation or because these were early recordings using less than sophisticated equipment.

I probably recognize about a dozen or so of the 38 tracks and it seems only fair to select one each from the 3 CDs in the order above.

I'm not totally convinced that this one is a keeper.

Bob Marley - Lively Up Yourself

Bob Marley -Fussing and Fighting

Bob Marley - Small Axe



Thursday 23 June 2022

Pleasure

 


Girls at Our Best! were one of the many, many bands that passed me by at the time. A post punk band from Leeds they were only on the go from 1979-1982 releasing only one album during this period Pleasure on Happy Birthday Records in 1981 which reached number 60 in the UK albums charts.

I would have probably remained ignorant about them were it not for blogging where fortunately I have stumbled across them on a number of occassions.

Cherry Red have just released a de-luxe version of Pleasure consisting of 3 discs  - i) Pleasure plus Singles and Radio Sessions, ii) Live at Edinburgh University 02/11/81 plus demos and iii) Live at the Peppermint Lounge 06/11/81 bootleg.

It is probably more than you really need but it is good to see them getting some belated recognition.

Girls at Our Best! - Pleasure

Girls at Our Best! - Fast Boyfriends

Girls at Our Best! -Getting Nowhere Fast

Wednesday 22 June 2022

The Household Clearance cds. Part 8


 George writes:

Finally I must accept defeat. Today’s cds, one a single and one album, failed, miserably, to provide anything I could stand to listen to again. I simply cannot pollute the good pages of Charity Chic Music with a selection from either. The first cd is a single, featuring Sarah Tavares amongst others. She is famous here, a winner for the Portugal Song of the Year in 1994 which became the country’s entry for the eurovision song contest. Anyway, the song on this cd is featureless, bland and gives nondescript a bad name. The next track is equally tiresome, by BABY, then Luís Represas, and finally Santos e Pescadores, which as you know translates as Saints and Fishermen.


So I’ll have to shoehorn something in, and will choose the least imaginative and obvious. That would of course either be Andrew Gold, as Andrew is the patron saint of fishermen, or the group Fishermen. Far far too  obvious


The Tavares brothers are of Cape Verdean descent, as is Sara Tavares. 

This Sara Tavares track is worth listening to:



The album I picked out is called As Mais Belas Melodias para de Dia de São Valentin. I thought that amongst the soppy nonsense therein would be at least one quality track. How wrong I was, it’s 7 pieces of classical music. With that in mind, I thought it best to play on a sunday morning, maybe it would capture the mood, the ambience of the peacefulness at the farm. How wrong I was. It just annoyed me. And let me tell you this, I will not serenading my partner with this music in the background on February 14th. Or any other day. 



The collection is associated (sponsored by?) Ballantines whisky. Hence the following, which could very well be the best song you hear today:



I feel I’ve let you down by not selecting a track from the selection. Hopefully the next two will be more productive.



CC writes: You redeemed yourself towards the end!

Tuesday 21 June 2022

Honky Tonk Masquerade

 


Among others on our recent visit to Edinburgh I had the honour of meeting the legend that is The Swede

Before we  met up he had contacted me to see if I wanted a copy of Honky Tonk Masquerade  the second album by Country troupadour Joe Ely from 1978. Needless to say I didn't take much persuading.

An album which was critically acclaimed it featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Here Before You Die and which was placed at number 50 in Rolling Stones 50 Essential Albums of the 70s

In addition to the songs written by himself there are numbers written by his fellow Flatlanders Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore as well as a cover of Hank Williams' Honky Tonkin'

Being an incredibly generous fellow The Swede also threw in around a dozen or so CDs which he had digitalised but thought that I might like. I'm slowly working my way through them and I think that there would be merit in a series which I shall christen Swedefest.

Stay tuned

Joe Ely - Honky Tonk Masquerade

Joe Ely - Boxcars

Monday 20 June 2022

Keeping Up with the Digital Joneses - 4

 

Fern


We kick off with Gospel on this week's random selection of Joneses. Fern Jones (1923 - 1996) was an American gospel singer from Arkansas who blended traditional gospel music with elements of country and rockabilly a la Wanda Jackson.
You will probably be more familiar with the version by The Byrds on the majestic Sweetheart of the Rodeo album

Fern Jones -I Am a Pilgrim


Wizz

Raymond Ronald Jones - an English acoustic guitar singer songwriter was better known as Wizz Jones on the British folk circuit.Now 83 he has been recording since the 50's. First Girl I Loved was written by Robin Williamson and was released by the Incredible String Band in 1967.Wizz recorded it in 1973 on his album When I Leave Berlin


Ronnie

Ronald Hugo Jones was born in 1937 in Springfield , Massachusetts and started his career as an R&B singer when he came to Europe with the United States air force when he joined the Blues Incorporated.He later formed a band called the Nightimers before moving to Italy.

Put Your Tears Away was a single in 1967 along side Little Billy Pretty One


More assorted digital Joneses next week



Sunday 19 June 2022

Albums on both CD and Vinyl -The Luxury Gap

 



From 1983 on the Virgin label The Luxury Gap was the second album by Sheffield synth poppers Heaven 17. Nine songs  (of which 5 were released as singles) with a total running time of just 37 minutes and 21 seconds

A decent pop album but not as good as their 1981 debut Penthouse and Pavement which I only have on vinyl. I'm not sure of the reason that I have this in two formats and can only imaging that the CD was a cheap charity shop purchase even although I knew that I already had the LP.

The three gents featured above Martyn Ware (synth programming), Glen Gregory (vocals) and Ian Craig Marsh (synth programming)formed the nucleous of the band..This was their most succesful album spending 36 weeks in the UK albums chart peaking at number 4.
They released a further 6 albums with only 3 of them charting and it was a a fairly rapid downhill trajectory with the synth pop genre suddenly sounding very dated.

Sadly they are still trading their wares on the retro circuit





Saturday 18 June 2022

Seen at King Tuts - Alabama 3

 


Alabama 3

Thursday 14th May 1998                                £5.50         Ticket No: 00247


I was fortunate enough to see Alabama 3  at King Tuts when they were startitng out and before they became famous courtesy of Woke Up this Morning featuring as the opening theme to the brilliant TV series The Sopranos from 1999 onwards.

I had heard a couple of their songs on Radio Scotland and subsequqntly picked up a promotional copy of their debut album Exile on Coldhardour Lane from Vinyl Exchange in Manchster. The attached sticker gives notice of the release date of 17/11/97 and interestingly highlights the single Speed of the Sound of Loneleiness (a cover of the John Prine classic) as opposed to Woke Up this Morning.

This was enough for me to grab a ticket for a solo mission to their show at Tuts and what a terrific show it was too..Most,if not all, of the tracks on Exile featured and there was terrific interaction with the audience including a mock marriage on stage by the holy Reverend Doctor D.W.A.Y.N.E. Love first Reverend of The First Presleyterian Church of Elvis the Divine.

I subsequently saw them a few years later at the Carling Academy when they were riding high on the back of Woke Up this Morning.They appeared to be going through the motions and resting on their laurels and that show was very much a disappointment

A version of the band is still going but I wouldn't cross the street to see them. I only have La Peste from the myriad of albums they have released since but nothing  I've heard comes close to the debut. I'm glad that I saw them when I did.




Friday 17 June 2022

Begonias

 


I have been an admirer of Caitlin Cary since her days in Whiskeytown and have seen her live in a solo capacity on a couple of occassions.

For a while I had heard very little by Thad Cockrell but what I have heard I liked. Following a conversation or two with Ernie Goggins as to their relative virtues and as solo artists he very kindly sent me a copy of Begonias the 2005 album on Yep Roc on which they appear as a duo. I have no logical explanation as to why I had never got round to picking up a copy before.

Notionally alternative country there are also tinges of soul together with some Everly Brothers harmonies.

As far as I am aware this was their only collaboration which is a bit of a shame as they make for a very pleasant listen.

Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell - Warm and Tender Love

Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell - Conversation About a Friend (Who is in Love with Katie)

Thursday 16 June 2022

The Household Clearance cds. Part 7

 


George writes:

Here’s a first for these pages, The Lighthouse Family, and a song that got to number 3 in 2001 in this country.  

The cd is confusingly priced, at €9.94 on the front, and €4.94 on the back. Both are ridiculously steep prices for something that is too bland to be described as bland.  To be positive, it has in no way put the goats off their food. And it was a perfectly pleasant listen.  I can’t be bothered putting this onto mp3



The third track on the cd single is a remix of the above song, and I’m sure you can find it on youtube, just don’t ask me for a link. Another one for the bird.scarer pile.


Next out is what I think is an album. On opening the booklet in the case a picture opens out, like in those pop-up books some of us had as children. (Mine was a pop-out of 20 Leagues Under The Sea, a book that is in my music room).



The cd is titled Passenger, and underneath is Whispers, so my first guess is the name of the band is Passenger. Good god, it’s a bloke who uses his old band’s name. And there’s a wiki page about the album! And it looks like I have the version with the bonus disc.




Here goes…….The vocal sounds like a slightly speeded up Cat Stevens (The Guardian said it was a “snaggle-toothed rasp”), or someone who’d had a very brief blast of helium. Despite the slightly annoying vocal it’s surprisingly almost good, a mostly upbeat folk-pop album. I’ve heard a lot worse. Christ, I’ve BOUGHT a lot worse than this. By the time track 10 came on I was thinking that this might be a keeper. Track 11 made my mind up. Here it is:

Passenger - scare away the darkl


The bonus cd contains 7 tracks, acoustic, slower and more melancholic versions of some of the tracks on the first disc. Just Mr Rosenberg plinking away on his guitar and singing. All good, by the way.

Passenger - Rolling stone (accoustic)


And rather appropriately to the mood of the music, the goats are peacefully lying down chewing their cud. 


Another two next week.


CC writes: Worth waiting an extra day for. I can't decide which is the most impressive - the quality of the music or the pictures!


Wednesday 15 June 2022

Auld Reekie

 


Back in the dim and distant days before Lockdown when the world was a different place John MeddAlyson and C began some preliminary discussions around meeting up with Edinburgh being suggested as a venue.

Naturally everything was put on hold but recently as a degree of normality began to emerge Alyson took the bull by the horns and arrangements were duly made with the Swede and Martin joining in the party.

Most folk are already in situ and Mrs CC and I are traveling through today to join then. I've met Alyson before when we were on holiday in Beauly and am looking forward to seeing her again and to meeting all the others for the first time.

To get in the mood here are some tunes from Edinburgh artists

Blue Rose Code -Edina

Ballboy - I Lost You, But I Found Country Music

Dropkick - Out of Tune

The Household Clearance CDs will be back tomorrow


Tuesday 14 June 2022

It Came From Dundee - Twelve

Covers albums can be very much a hit or a miss so I was interested to see which camp Patti Smith fell into with her 2007 album Twelve on Columbia records.

You will recognise most of the songs on the album which are mainly from 60s artists who influenced her and by and large she covers them faithfully . It was released to very much mixed reviews. Pitchfork are particularly scathing calling it shockingly conservative and predicable and giving it a mark of 2.7 (not sure if that is out of 5 or 10!)

The Guardian is more genrous giving it 4 out of 5 while acknowledging that there are few radical reworkings. Chris Jones on Amazon writes that it is  in turns revalatory, misjudged and evin, in places, banal.He (or is it she?) concludes that it may remain an oddity in her canon, destined for selective downloading rather than a fully-formed experience. 

I would go along with that.It is interesting to hear them in her unique almost spoken voice but there is nothing special there

Patti Smith -Are You Experienced?

Patti Smith - Soul Kitchen

 

Monday 13 June 2022

Keeping Up with the Digital Joneses -3

 


Mick Jones surely needs no intoduction. Guitarist with the Clash, front man of Big Audio Dynamite and collaborator with Aztec Camera on Good Morning Britain to name but a few of his many guises.Long Island is a song from the soundtrack to the 1993 film Amongst Friends. Mick appears on four of the tracks to the soundtrack which gets a measely 2 out of 5 from Allmusic.



Salena Jones is an American jazz and caberet singer who originally appeared under her original name Joan Shaw until the mid 60s. She then moved to England and performed jazz and R&B as Salena Jones

I'm afraid that I can't find much information at all about Devon "Evan" Jones other than he released this  reggae number. Any additional information will be gratefully received.

I checked in at Ernie's place to see if it came from him and discovered that  he had come up with this idea for a post as for back as June 2016 and which I commented on at the time. However I can assure you that there has been no plagiarim - honest!

Mick Jones -Long Island

Salena Jones - Right Now

Devon "Evan" Jones - 4 and Twenty Dreadlocks


Sunday 12 June 2022

Albums on both CD and Vinyl - Grand Prix

 

I've had a CD copy of Grand Prix the 1995 5th album by Teenage Fanclub on Creation for a number of years. Maybe not from when it was first released but I reckon from well before this Blog started.

At Christmas 2020 I decided to upgrade my copy  and also Songs From Northern Britain to vinyl.This was helped in no small measure by a sale on for the Super Deluxe re-issues originally from 2018 with the albums coming with a bonus single.

I've featured tracks on the single and also at least three of the songs on the album before but was quite surprised that the two featured below have not as yet appeared on these pages.Time to right that wrong. Here then are track 5 Versimilitude written by Raymond McGinley and track 6 Neil Jung written by Norman Blake.

To save you the bother I have looked up the meaning of Versimilitude and it is the appearance or semblance of truth ; likelihood; probability. Every day is a school day at CCM

Teenage Fanclub - Versimilitude

Teenage Fanclub - Neil Jung

Saturday 11 June 2022

Seen at King Tuts - Kelly Joe Phelps

 



Kelly Joe Phelps

Monday 7th March 2005                                £13.50         Ticket No: GA2 24


This series has been random in nature. However, I am making an exception this week to mark the passing of Jazz/Blues guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps who sadly died at his home in Iowa on 31st March at the age of just 62

I discovered him via the Paul Jones Rhythm and Blues Show on Radio 2. He played the song Taylor John a couple of times and it made enough of an impression on me that I tracked down the album from which it was taken 2001's Sky Like a Broken Clock on Rykodisc.

This was all the knowledge of him at the time when I when to see him at King Tuts.As anyone with knowledge of the venue knows the upstairs bar is adjacent to the stage and standing area where the shows take place. Normally this is not an issue but when a quietly spoken acoustic guitarist such as Kelly is playing it can become a bit of a problem. Sadly he was pretty much drowned out by the background hum. I would have liked to have had the opportunity to see him in a more intimate venue where I suspect I would have been in for a bit of a treat.

He never really crossed my radar again until two separate visits last year, a few months apart, led me to coming away with a further 3 of his albums from the Community Shop in Kingussie.

Here is the aforementioned Taylor John and a couple of tracks from his 1997 album Roll Away the Stone which have just become even more poignant.

Rest easy Kelly Joe.

Kelly Joe Phelps - Taylor John

Kelly Joe Phelps - When the Roll is Called Up Yonder

Kelly Joe Phelps - See That Me Grave is Kept Clean

Friday 10 June 2022

The Return of The Return of Fairport Friday - The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood

 


2022 Charity Shop Purchases 28  - Fairport Convention - The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood

Disc 2 - Cropredy Festival August 1987


I've  been looking over the list of folk who have played at Cropredy over the years here and it is quiet impressive. 1987 saw Gordon Giltrap, John Martyn & Danny Thompson and Chickenshack amongst others. I should imagine that it is a rite of passage for folk minded acts to tick off an appearance.

Fairport Convention traditionally end the Festival/Convention on the last night (well that's only fair) when they are joined on stage by "Friends" In 1987 the Friends included Ralph McTell and June Tabor as well as Ian Anderson and Martin Berrie from Jethro Tull (calm down George!)

Here are John the Gun with June Tabor on lead vocals and Bridge of Sighs with Ralph McTell doing the honours.

I haven't got round to listening to disc 3 which is a DVD interview with Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg yet!

Fairport Convention (ft June Tabor) - John the Gun

Fairport Convention (ft Ralph McTell) - Bridge of Sighs