2022 Charity Shop Purchases #63 - Loudon Wainwright III - The Atlantic Recordings.
Apologies to those of you who saw the post title before the picture and thought that you were in for some stonking 60's American Soul.
Instead you are getting The Atlantic Sessions from 1999 on Rhino which is essentially a CD containing Loudon Wainwright III's first two albums namely the imaginatively named 1970's Loudon Wainwright III and the equally imaginative 1971 album Album II
LW3 (as I think I will call him) and I have a somewhat checkered history. I loved some of his songs which Andy Kershaw used to feature on his radio show. However, when it comes to the physical product I have not been too fortunate.
I've had a live album So Damn Happy for years and it's a bit meh. Last year in Kingussie I picked up One Man Guy a best of from 1982-1986 which I wrote about here. I ended up sending it back.
After a first listen to The Atlantic Recordings again I'm not entirely convinced. There is quite a lot of chaff but the occasional ear of wheat which means that I think it deserves some further attention.
After an initial listen these two from the first album were the ones which stood out.most.
I'm the same, 4 of his albums are on the shelves, but they tend to disappoint, unlike his Peel sessions. Some very clever songs, and some not so good. Rarely played. He's best when it's just him and his guitar, but somehow the album tracks lose the intimacy of the sessions.
ReplyDeleteAgreed - liked his stuff on Keshaw more than anything I've heard on record
DeletePersevere CC, persevere. You will be rewarded I promise. Many thanks for your link back to that earlier Loudon post. I read my comments again and I think that they were probably the most coherent 8 or 9 lines that I have ever uttered or strung together in my entire life! Loudon Wainwright's back catalogue is deep so you will come across a fair bit of chaff. School Days though is a powerful song (incidentally the school he attended was the one featured in Dead Poet's Society). The thing with Loudon is that his song writing style is confessional and since he's brutally honest then sometimes he's going to come over as a cad at best or a bit of a shit at worst. Let's face it most other singer songwriters just want to be liked. As for his sessions with Peel and Kershaw I agree with you and George that he does come over as a much warmer, mellower person than might have been expected.
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