The Past is Still Alive

There is so much music out there it is virtually impossible to keep up with it all and to weed out the wheat from the chaff.

Hurray for the Riff Raff is a name which periodically crosses my radar. That is the nom de plume of Alynda Segarra from the Bronx who formed the band in New Orleans way back in 2007. Since then they have  released an EP and 10 albums.

During that time I have come across the occasional song here and there and have briefly featured on these pages before here and here

 I recently downloaded a copy of their latest album The Past is Still Alive. I quite enjoyed it but not enough to rush out and buy it or to take the time and expense to see them perform live even although I suspect they would put on a good show. In the unlikely event that I ever found any of their albums in a charity shop I would certainly swoop.

Too little time and money, too many bands

Here is one from the new album and two older ones.

Hurray for the Riff Raff - Buffalo

Hurray for the Riff Raff - Look Out Mama

Hurray for the Riff Raff - Hungry Ghost

Saturday Shuffle 47

 

Week 47 of Saturday Shuffle and we move to a new dimension a trip into outer space . Like Teenage Fanclub with this song from their 1997 masterpiece Songs from Northern Britain I feel the Planets surround me

Indeed like Cake with their first single from their 1996 album Fashion Nugget you could say that we have gone The Distance with our trip into space.

Waxahatchee on her 2020 album Saint Cloud does not get as far as space. She does manage a trip to Arkansas though where she notes that West Memphis is on Fire

More songs celestial or otherwise, distant or near, on fire or not or something completely different on next Saturday's Shuffle

Teenage Fanclub - Planets

Cake - The Distance

Waxahatchee - Fire

Sheffield Steel

 

The Sheffield Nativity

On Monday I had the enormous pleasure of meeting up with Spence from Sheffield our regular Friday night commentator.

Together with his family he had, for a birthday treat, enjoyed hospitality on his first visit to see his beloved Scottish team Stenhousemuir at Ochilview. Unfortunately for them it was a nil-nil draw with Peterhead but it seems that they had a great time no doubt comforted by the fact that Stennie are still a stick on for promotion.

Thereafter he and his wife Cathy spent a couple of days in Glasgow and I caught up with a him for a coffee. Unfortunately it was chucking it down. It is Raintown after all.

We spend a very pleasant hour or so gabbing away like old friends with the majority of the chat centring around football, blogging and music in general before venturing back out to the rain.

I said I would feature some songs today by bands from his home city. 

I hope you enjoy them Spence.

ABC - The Look of Love

Pulp - Do You Remember the First Time?

Human League - The Lebanon

Longpigs - On and On

Joe Cocker - Delta Lady

Townes

 

The Missing Haul - Steve Earle  - Townes

I used to be a fanatical fan of Steve Earle who I saw on multiple occasions and would buy his albums on vinyl and then on CD often on the day they were released.

He has released 21 studio albums and I have the first 10 on either vinyl or CD (with a couple on both) up to and including 2002's Jerusalem. Thereafter he slipped from near the top of my radar and I contented myself with burns/downloads of CDs more often than not from the library. I probably have about half a dozen or so including his 13th Townes from 2009 which was released on New West Records

It is well known that Steve was a friend and huge fan of Townes who he considered to be his mentor. There is of course his famous quote Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that"

It is also the first in a trilogy of artists who inspired him the others being Guy from 2019 paying tribute to Guy Clark and Jerry Jeff from 2022 referencing Jerry Jeff Walker .

I had this in my hand as part of the 3 for £5 deal. I thought I had put it back and replaced it with something else given I had a burn of it but no I hadn't. Still I am happy to have the upgrade  on CD and it will now replace the burn on the Americana shelves.

Steve Earle - White Freightliner Blues

Steve Earle - Loretta

Steve Earle -To Live is To Fly

Time (The Relevator)

 

The Missing Haul - Gillian Welsh - Time (The Relevator)

I’m not having much joy in terms of Charity Shop purchases of late.

Time then to adopt Plan B with a trip to Missing Records to take advantage of their 3 for £5 selections. Another benefit of this is that there is far more fairly decent Americana on offer than you average Charity shop.

On my latest trip I hit the jackpot at the start of my browsing when I stumbled across Time (The Relevator) by Gillian Welsh -  From 2001 and on the Alcony label it was her third studio album and up until now the only one of hers that I didn't have in some shape or form.

And what a record it is. Quite possible her best. The critics seem to agree giving it a whopping 86/100 on the Metacritic Aggregator. Paste go as far as to name it as number 7 in their top 50 albums of the decade. Not bad for £2 or £1.67 if you buy in bulk.

I'm not sure as to why it has taken me so long to get it but it was definitely worth the wait. The music is sparse but haunting. She truly is a unique talent.

My external CD drive is playing silly buggers so I have had to access these files via other sources.

Gillian Welch - Revelator

Gillian Welch - Elvis Presley Blues

The End of the Road

 

I'm afraid it is the end of the road as far as Caravans are concerned.

it's knackers yard time but not before we salvage what we can.

An instrumental called  Caravan you say? Why not? Here is one by George Jenkins . I also have a copy of this by Sandy Nelson.

Another version of The Isley Brothers classic Caravan of Love you say? Why not? Here are the 4th Best Band in Hull with their cover version which was the UK Christmas number 1 in 1986.

A funky song by Burano and his Gypsy Caravan you say? Why not? Here is Good Time Girl

A cover of a Clash song by a Rockabilly band called The Caravans you say? I'm not sure that is actually a good idea but let's do it nevertheless.

That's Caravans done and dusted.

Lest I am accused of being unreasonable I am willing to bow to Ernie and have Buses as the next theme for Transport Tuesday on the proviso that he provides a guest post.

I may have another exciting guest post lined up and obviously if anyone else is willing to provide one they will be more than welcome.

Sandy Nelson - Caravan

The Housemartins - Caravan of Love

Burano and his Gypsy Caravan - Good Time Girl

The Caravans -Jail Guitar Doors

The Hanging Stars at the Glad Cafe

 

John beat me to it and with a much better post and pictures to boot

On Friday at the sold out  Glad Cafe it was a privilege to see The Hanging Stats  promoting their new album  On a Golden Shore. Along with the likes of  the Rose City Band they are exponents of what I would describe as Cosmic Psychedelic Americana which is something which totally floats my boat.

I say them play at Stereo in October 2022 and they were pretty good although that set was a good bit short with no encore. This time round it was a longer and much better set with a terrific encore.

Support came from local band The Poachers. Their guitarist Seb cut my back hedge last year. He never came back to do the laurels; probably too busy rehearsing.

The band (Hanging Stars that is) were very tight and obviously were enjoying themselves. They had the audience eating out of the palm on their hand.  Richard Olson is a great front man and when Joe Harvey-Whyte lets loose on the pedal steel it is  truly something to behold.

My gig of 2024 so far by a country mile. It will take something very special to better it.

Ava is for John!

The Hanging Stars - Golden Shore

The Hanging Stars - Ava

Losing My Religion

 

Seeing as how today is Sunday I thought that I would share some religious bands with you.

Lets start then with the Baptist Generals an indie band from the town of Denton in Texas. They released a couple of albums in 1998 and 2002 with an EP in between them but it was not until 2013 that they released their third and final album to date. Pat the Rub is taken from the compilation album Awesome from Munich Records - or as the cover states - a compilation of American bands on a Dutch label named after a German town.

Frank Black surely need no introduction although you may know him better as Black Francis of Pixies fame. When I was working there was a sales rep called Frank Black who sold chairs for the elderly .I don't think he was the same one or part of the off shoot Frank Black & the Catholics

When the Silver Jews formed in 1989 they had two members of Pavement among their number  - Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovitch . By the time the band got to their fourth album Bright Flight in 2001, which is the only one I have, they were both long gone. The band was led by long time member David Berman with wife Carrie in tow.

I don't have any acts with Protestant in the title. I'm sure that there are many flute bands out there who sport that moniker but I will leave that to the knuckle draggers.

Finally with reference to the post title - all right then if you insist.

Baptist Generals - Pats the Rub

Frank Black and the Catholics - California Bound

Silver Jews - Tennessee

Nina Persson and Nathan Larsen - Losing My Religion

Saturday Shuffle 46

 

My MP3 player enjoyed its jaunt to Broughty Ferry. I got a lift up but it came in handy on the bus on the way back.

We are starting with today's cover star Willie DeVille from the CBGB's band Mink DeVille. I'm sure that you are all familiar with their song Spanish Stroll but perhaps less so with She's So Tough which also features on their 1977 debut album Cabretta.

Again if you are familiar with the band Hefner at all it may well be from their song The Day That Thatcher Dies which is taken from their 2000 album We Love The City. Today you are getting the title track off said album.

We conclude with Arizona alternative rock band (whatever that is) Gin Blossoms with the song Found Out About You the fourth and final single taken from their 1992 second album New Miserable Experience.

None of these three popped up on the bus.

More shuffling next Saturday.

Mink DeVille - She's So Tough

Hefner - We Love The City

Gin Blossoms -Found Out About You

A Return to Choctaw Ridge

 

When I converted the great demo of Joanne by Mike Nesmith  which featured the other day at Martin's place from video to MP3 for inclusion in my 2024 memory stick the blurb said that it was taken from the above Ace compilation

Now I have the said album Choctaw Ridge (New Fables of the American South 1968-1973) and was pretty sure that it wasn't on it. It wasn't as this track list  confirms.

It doesn't really matter as it is still a great song. I'm a bit pleased  though that for once my memory hadn't let me down.

I have featured the album here once before when I featured 3 of the 24 tracks. Plenty more to chose from then.

I'm going to start with the ladies who contribute to about a quarter of the tunes. Most folk, including me, would be struggling to name a song by Jeannie C Riley other than Harper Valley PTA. This one, The Dark Side of Dallas is a tad more darker

Mr Walker, It's All Over by Billie Jo Spears on the other hand has more than a touch of Harper Valley about it.

As with the album there is only one way to finish and that is with the Silver Fox himself Charlie Rich with the epic Feel Like Going Home. You wont hear a better song today

Jeannie C Riley - The Dark Side of Dallas

Billie Jo Spears - Mr Walker, It's All Over

Charlie Rich - Feel Like Going Home

The Home Nations

 

New Series Alert

I have been stuck for new series of late and this was all I could come up with. Any suggestions are welcome (yes Ernie I know, buses!)

I don't follow rugby but I believe that the Four Nations is now the Six Nations. As I have only a few songs from France and none from Italy that was never going to be an option.

I am restricting myself to what are known as the Home Nations - ie The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. United Kingdom? There is a misnomer if ever there was one

The idea is to feature a track from each of the four nations until I get stuck - most probably at Northern Ireland with Wales as a close second. For the avoidance of bias I will list the countries in alphabetical order - so England first as per usual!

Plenty to choose from obviously but let's start with the Only Band that Matters with This is England which is probably the only good track off their final album Cut the Crap.

The Undertones are perhaps the most obvious band to choose when it comes to Northern Ireland but I am going for Jimmy Jimmy rather than the more obvious Teenage Kicks.

For my own country I am going for The Proclaimers who don't really want to be part of the Home Nations as the song Cap in Hand would suggest.

From a Welsh point of view maybe Manic Street Preachers feel the same with the warning that If You Tolerate This Your Children Will be Next.

More Home Nations songs next week while stock lasts

The Clash - This is England

The Undertones - Jimmy Jimmy

The Proclaimers - Cap in Hand

Manic Street Preachers -If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

PS - I am conscious that the crest on the picture covers the whole of Ireland

Buffalos of the Springfield Variety

 

I was playing Retrospective - The Best of Buffalo Springfield over Sunday Brunch and felt that it was probably worthy of its 5 or 6 yearly outing here.

Before Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Crosby Stills and Nash and even Crosby Stills Nash and Young there was Buffalo Springfield. They were only on the go from 1966 to 1968 (with the obligatory reunion from 2010 to 2012) but they set the bar for what was to follow.

In addition to Neil Young and Stephen Stills they also included  Richie Furay, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin.

The Retrospective was originally from 1969 and therefore still fresh. Here is For What It's Worth (Stills), Broken Arrow (Young) and I Am a Child (Young). A perfect template for Country Rock and with the the exception of Sweetheart of the Rodeo by The Byrds never bettered.

Quality

Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth

Buffalo Springfield - Broken Arrow

Buffalo Springfield - I Am a Child

Another Trip with the Caravan Club

 

It's the second week of our caravan adventures and true to form it rained all last week .Still it didn't keep us in as my ex-neighbours were wont to say.

Let's get rolling

It's hard to imagine the late great John Prine holidaying in a caravan although I could imagine him shacked up in a trailer park. I'm sure that he would be the first to say that caravans are for fools.

I wonder how long it takes to get across Australia in a caravan. Courtney Barnett might know. If not I'm sure that her friend Kim would.

Sadly no more Mt Doubt were a great band from Edinburgh led by Leo Bargery and who included Annie Booth among their number. Here they appear to be involved in the arduous effort of getting a caravan up a hill.

At the moment it is touch and go as to whether our caravan adventure will continue. We may well call it a day or perhaps soldier on for another week

John Prine - Caravan of Fools

Courtney Barnett - Kim's Caravan

Mt Doubt - Caravans on a Hill

Steve Harley R.I.P.

 

It was sad to read over the weekend of the death of Steve Harley aged just 73. His real name was Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice but I suppose that Steve Nice was not as edgy and poppy as Steve Harley.

He was no age at all when Cockney Rebel became one of the stalwarts of the Glam Rock scene in the early to mid 1970s. They are probably best remembered for Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) which reached number one in 1975 but they had plenty of good songs around then although their popularity dwindled in the 80s.

I bought the 1977 album Face to Face - A Live Recording for 50p in a Library Sale in the late 80s/early 90s and it remains one of the best live albums in my collection. Sebastian is playing as I type.

Rest easy Steve and thanks for the music.

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Mr Soft

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - (I Believe) Love is a Prima Donna

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Sebastian

Hong Kong Songs

 

Our friends from Singapore appear to have handed over the bot baton to their colleagues from Hong Kong. It makes the stats look more acceptable but it can be pretty annoying.

On a more positive note it got me thinking about Hong Kong songs. The obvious one immediately sprung to mind but I was quite surprised that I actually had a good few more. 

Let's start with reggae band The Ethiopians who appear to be having a bout of Hong Kong Flu. Let's hope they get better soon.

I'm not sure that Hong Kong would be the first place you would think about when it comes to Hillbillies unless of course you were Clarence White.

Next up are Leicester indie band Cornershop who give us the Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu from their 1995 album Woman's Gotta Have It.

The obvious one? It is of course Hong Kong Garden by Siouxsie and the Banshees which almost certainly have been cancelled were it released today.

Something else which would probably be cancelled would be Hong Kong Phooey the  great cartoon featuring Penry the Mild Mannered Janitor. For years I was under the misapprehension that he was called Henry

Ethiopeans -Hong Kong Flu

Clarence White -Hong Kong Hillbilly

Cornershop - Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Hong Kong Garden

Saturday Shuffle 45

 

We are starting in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland this week with the band Ash. The song Shining Light was the lead single from their 2001 album Free All Angels. I don't have that one but I do have Intergalactic Sonic 7's - The Best of Ash from where this is taken.

From Northern Ireland it is a trip across the Atlantic and then across the continent to catch up with Americana singer Jonny Kaplan and the title song off his  fantastic 1999 album California Heart.

From the West Coast of America we cross the Atlantic again to the North Sea and the East Neuk of Fife. From his epic 2014 masterpiece (gosh  10 years ago!) From Scotland With Love we conclude with  our cover star Kenny Anderson aka King Creosote as we rise above the gutter with Pauper's Dough.

More rising above the gutters next Saturday.

Ash - Shining Light

Jonny Kaplan - California Heart

King Creosote -Pauper's Dough

Low

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #21 - David Bowie - Low

I'm still shivering at Rol's tale of opening a copy of The Next Day in a charity shop only to discover a Will Young CD!

As I mentioned to C  in the comments of Sunday's Alladin Sane post I actually picked up two David Bowie CDs in the Tatty Shack farmshop in Troon. Fortunately neither contained a Will Young album. There were actually three on the shelves containing books and CDs available for a charity donation. There was also a copy of Heathen but I already had that on CD.

Unlike Aladdin Sane which I initially got at the time it was not until 2022 that I got round to acquiring a copy of Low until late 2022. As Sound and Vision and  Breaking Glass were probably the only two songs that I was familiar with I have still to become totally immersed in this album. A good few do appear on the live album Stage but that is one I haven't listened to in years

Originally from 1977 just as Punk was taking off it is the first of his Berlin Trilogy  collaborations with Eno ("Heroes" and Lodger being the others)

A plus point in picking up the CD to accompany my vinyl version is that it contains three bonus tracks the previously unreleased Some Are and All Saints and a remixed version of Sound and Vision.

David Bowie - What in the World

David Bowie - Warszawa

There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

 

As I mentioned on Monday I have started a cull on the  boxes of Mojo and Uncut compilations  in a bid to free up space. There were only two CDs that I have kept from the first box tackled - Monday's Instant Garage and the one above.

From Mojo in October 2012 I give you There is a Light That Never Goes Out -Indie Classics 1982-1987. Don't worry the Manchester Racist does not feature.

As I mentioned when I first posted a couple of songs from this CD in January 2015 I was not necessarily familiar with too many of the featured bands when the songs were initially published thanks to the Blogging community I am much more familiar with many of them now as I was then. Here is the tracklist on the off chance that anyone is interested.

The Weather Prophets and The Flatmates featured last time round which leaves 13 to choose from. 

I'm going to go for The Chesterfields as I know that Jez is a huge fan. I'll also include The Nightingales once they return from a Crafty Fag. And lets finish with The Go-Betweens and Cattle and Cane.

Most of you will recognize the young lad on the cover as Billy Casper from Ken Loach's majestic film Kes

The Chesterfields - Completely and Utterly

The Nightingales - Crafty Fag

The Go-Betweens - Cattle and Cane

Broughty Ferry Bound

 

I'm off to Broughty Ferry today with a couple of pals to catch up with George who is home from Portugal to see his mum.

I was wondering if there are any bands from the Ferry and the best that I could come up with was that some of Deacon Blue may come from or live there. I am aware that some of George's pals from there are in a Genesis tribute band but I have my standards to maintain.

There are plenty of acts from neighbouring Dundee to choose from. So many in fact that I have had to omit the likes of Danny Wilson, Michael Marra, Swiss Family Orbison and The View from my choices for today. I'm sure that there are more that I have missed. I'll bear them in mind for next time round.

The ones who survived my somewhat arbitrary cut are The Hazy Janes, Spare Snare and The Average White Band.

Deacon Blue - Fergus Sings the Blues

The Hazy Janes - Toulouse

Spare Snare - We Are The Snare

Average White Band - Pick Up The Pieces

The Caravan Club

 

If there is one thing worse than being stuck behind a truck it is being stuck behind a caravan.

Welcome then to the Caravan Club who will be pitching their wagons for the next couple of Transport Tuesdays.

This mode of transport was inspired by Barbara Dickson and her great Caravan Song which appeared here recently

How to you follow that? With the Isley Brothers of course and Caravan of Love which was in contention for the title of this mini series.

Obviously they are not the only two acts to extol this particular mode of transport. Portland band Blitzen Trapper for instance appear to be proud owners of a Country Caravan.

Finally, for this week on the 2008 ethereal album Seventh Tree the singer Alison Goldfrapp proudly proclaims that she is in fact a Caravan Girl.

More Caravan girls and boys next week as we unshackle our caravans and head off to our next pitch

Isley Brothers - Caravan of Love

Blitzen Trapper - Country Caravan

Goldfrapp - Caravan Girl

We're a Garage Band ....

 

After almost three years of dithering I have finally got round to starting to sort out the boxes of Mojo and Uncut compilations piled up in a corner of the Music Room.

Some drastic action was required as there is no room for them .I've tackled one box. About 25 CDs have been downloaded to the hard drive and also put on a memory stick and are on their way to charity. From the box I have only kept two physical CDs.

One is the one pictured above. Instant Garage - Mojo Music Guide Vol 1 is from June 2003. I featured it here back in October 2017 to a fair degree of critical acclaim . Here is the tracklist. You can see why I'm keeping it.

A stonking 28 tracks which gives me 25 to choose from if I exclude the 3 I featured last time around. They are all of a similar quality so it was pretty much a lucky dip.

Let's start with one that some of you will probably be familiar with. From 1967 and taken from the Nuggets Boxset  here are The Electric Prunes with I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night).

Next up are The Count Five with Psychotic Reaction. Originally from 1966 it features on the Ace compilation Psychotic Reaction - The Ultimate Count Five.

We conclude with The Alarm Clock with the song No Reason to Complain again from 1966 and on the Yeah! album from the Norton label.

Terrific stuff

The Electric Prunes - I Had To Much To Dream (Last Night)

The Count Five - Psychotic Reaction

The Alarm Clock - No Reason To Complain

Who Will Love Aladdin Sane?

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #20 - David Bowie - Aladdin Sane

The last time we were in Troon we popped into a new Farm Shop on the road out on our way home.

In addition to what you would expect in a farm shop on a couple of shelves there were a few books and CDs along side a collection tin. After confirming that they were available for a donation to charity I picked up a couple which was more that I got from Oxfam.

One was the above album which has the greatest cover of all time. If you are shaking your head and saying surely he already has that? Please stop shaking. Of course I have it. I have had a vinyl copy for as many years as I can remember but I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to pick up a cheap CD copy.

From 1973 Aladdin Sane was David Bowie's 6th album .It is a terrific record with some great songs but has perhaps suffered over the years as having followed hard on the heels of Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust.

Any of the 10 songs on the album would be worthy of inclusion today. Here are two which I don't think have featured here before

David Bowie - Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)

David Bowie -The Jean Genie

Saturday Shuffle 44

 

During the week I charged the Gym MP3 player and took the opportunity to add a good few new tracks. Therefore this series could well run and run. I'll leave it for you to decide as to whether that is a good thing or not.

The first song this week is from Canadian Americana artist Neko Case. In California is from an 8 track EP called Canadian Amp  released on the Lady Pilot label in 2001. It follows on from the success of her first two albums on Bloodshot 1997's The Virginian and 2000's Furnace Room Lullaby both released under the name Neko Case and her Boyfriends. I was a huge fan around then.

The next song Suspect Device by Stiff Little Fingers was first released as a single back in 1979. I have it on the 2001 re-issue of their 1979 debut album Inflammable Material. That would certainly get the legs pumping.

We have had Americana and Punk so lets round things of with some Sanctified Soul. In the 1960's rhythm and blues music broke out of the churches and went into the night clubs, on the radio and permeated throughout black America's soul. In 2000 the great Ace amassed a compilation of 26 such songs under the title Sanctified Soul. Cheer Up (Daddy's Coming Home) by Rudy Mockabee is the 25th.

More assorted nonsense, sanctified or otherwise, next Saturday

Neko Case - In California

Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device

Rudy Mockabee - Cheer Up (Daddy's Coming Home)

Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #19 - Waterson Carthy - Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man

It's Folk Friday

Now I like Folk Music as much as the next person, probably more. I am also an admirer of the work of Martin Carthy, Norma Waterson and Eliza Carthy  in preserving old traditional songs and bringing them to a new audience. Martin's Famous Flower of Serving Men is a particular favourite of mine.

From 2006 on the Topic label (where else?) Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man  despite its title has a Christian flavour and is an album of traditional  and ritual magical songs.

Along with Tim Van Eyken they are joined  by a vocal trio The Devil's Interval

The album was critically acclaimed but for me I'm not so sure. It puts me in mind of gents in Morris Dancing attire with a finger in one ear dancing round a Maypole on one leg. That is not necessarily a good thing.

It may well benefit from another hearing but as things stand it is not a keeper.

Waterson Carthy - Jack Frost

Waterson Carthy - Time to Remember the Poor

Trouble Will Find Me

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #18  - The National - Trouble Will Find Me

My belated attempt to obtain the back catalogue of albums by The National from charity shops continues with my acquisition of Trouble Will Find Me their 6th album from 2013 on the 4AD label.

That's 4 out of the first 6 now on the shelves. I paid £3 for it in a charity shop in Oban which could be seen as pretty steep but I would probably have paid more than that in a record shop. Plus it was still sealed and so was quite possibly actually new.

What can I say - it is The National. If you like the band then you will like the album. Lots of folk seem to do as it has a score of 84/100 on the Metacritic review aggregator. It reached number 3 on both the Billboard 200 and UK Albums charts and was even nominated for a Grammy

I think that it is one of those albums that is best consumed whole with no particular songs particularly jumping out. Therefore I could have chosen pretty much any of them but I have gone for two which were also released as singles.

The National - Demons

The National - Don't Swallow The Cap

Brothers Beyond

 

Last Wednesday saw the conclusion of the 20 week Brothers and Sisters series.

Fairly early on it became apparent that I had far more music with Brothers in the title than with Sisters. This led to me scrabbling about for songs by Sisters bands while having to miss out on some  Brothers bands who deserved to feature.

Here are a few Brothers who were not in the first 20 that I initially jotted down 

The first band descend from royalty. Christiaan, Justin and James known collectively as the Webb Brothers are the songs of songwriting legend Jimmy Webb and Patsy Sullivan. They are best known for their 2000 psychedelic indie country album Maroon. They were like an American Cosmic Rough Riders (which is a good thing). I saw them play in Austin around then.

Rather that a transatlantic journey I only had to travel to Glasgow's Merchant City to see the Hacienda Brothers. An Americana band fronted by Dave Gonzales and the late great Chris Gaffney they released an excellent self titled album in 2005.

To my great regret I have never seen the American band Radar Bros. whose albums in the UK were released on Glasgow's Chemikal Underground label. I only belatedly discovered them in 2020 when I picked up their 2002 album And The Surrounding Mountains in a charity shop in Muir of Ord.

Webb Brothers - Summer People

Hacienda Brothers - I'm So Proud

Radar Bros. - Shoveling Sons

And especially for Rol

Trucked Off

 

I’ve just about exhausted my supply of truck songs. 

Rol very generously provided me with a list of suggestions but tracking them down seemed like too much hard work.I’m sure that they will pop up on a Saturday Snapshots somewhere further on down the line.

To put this theme to bed I am going to finish off with two truck related bands.

 You will probably all be familiar with the Alabama rock/ Americana band Drive- By Truckers. Led by Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley they also included Jason Isbel  (2001-2006) when they were at their best. More recently had a return to form with the 2020 album The Unraveling.

A quick search of this blog will give you more information about them than you will probably ever need. 

I would imagine that the majority of you will be less familiar with the brilliantly named Truckstop Honeymoon led by husband and wife Mike and Katie West. I was oblivious to them when I took a punt on their 2014 album The Madness of Happiness and I was pleasantly surprised see here

Transport Tuesday will return next week with a different focus.

Any guesses?

Drive - By Truckers - Outfit

Drive-By Truckers - The Sands of Iwo Gima

Truckstop Honeymoon - Couch Surfing with a Family of Six

Truckstop Honeymoon - Sunday in Ponca City

This Is Proper Folk Too!!

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #17 - Various Artists -This is Proper Folk Too!!

The final CD from the Auchterarder Folk Haul. I have a few compilations by Proper Records and I was 95% sure that I had this one from 2012.

As the folk compilations had not yet been recorded on the database (since rectified) and it was only 50p I picked it up in the knowledge that I almost certainly had it. And so it turned out and back to charity it goes. It was worth the punt as I would have been kicking myself if I had left it and subsequently found that I didn't have it.

As you can see from the list  of artists providing new and unreleased music it was a bit of a no brainer.

A good few of these artists have graced these pages before and in particular Karine Polwart and Heidi Talbot so I will focus on a couple of the other acts today.

I had a burn of a Bellowhead album which has since down downgraded to digital to free up space so I feel that it only fair that they get their moment of glory today by featuring Lillibulero from the album Broadside.

Similarly  I previously picked up Freedom Fields by Seth Lakeman in a charity shop prior to subsequently returning it. Blacksmiths Prayer is taken from his album Tales From the Barrel House.

Bellowhead - Lillibulero

Seth Lakeman - Blacksmith's Prayer

Why Don't You Try Me Tonight?

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #16 - Ry Cooder - Why Don't You Try Me Tonight? - The Best Of

When I went to the counter in Oxfam in Troon to pay for my Iggy Pop CD the lady at the till was sorting out a number of CDs." Are these new I asked? and do you mind if I have a look at them?" She confirmed that they were indeed new along with the Ry Cooder CD which was being played behind her.

There were none which caught my fancy but I asked if she minded whether I could have the Ry Cooder one. Apologies to her for not having the opportunity to hear it to the end.

The CD in question as you can see above was Why Don't You Try Me Tonight ? The Best of Ry Cooder from 1986 on the WEA label. By my calculations (ie Google) he had released  10  studio albums by then. He has released a further 7 since then.

It looks as though songs from 8 of the 10 albums are included here. They only one I have and am therefore familiar with is 1979's Bop Till You Drop so I will include Down in Hollywood from there.

The second selection  Crazy 'Bout an Automobile (Every Woman I Know) is taken from 1980's Borderline.

Had the record company held out for another year they could have included tracks from the great 1987  album Get Rhythm. There is a further Best of from 1994 and an Anthology from 2008 so I'm sure that Get Rhythm and Across the Borderline are covered there.

Ry Cooder - Down in Hollywood

Ry Cooder -Crazy 'bout an Autmobile (Every Woman I Know)

Saturday Shuffle 43

 

It's Shuffle time again and this week we will start with the second greatest act to have come out of  Auchtermuchty. The Proclaimers don't have a statue there yet unlike Jimmy Shand but surely it is only a matter of time.

Over and Done With is taken from their 1987 debut This is the Story released just after  they blew everyone away following their performance on the Tube.

Tupelo Honey is a song written by Van Morrison. His version is very good as is the cover by Dusty Springfield. However, the best version for me will always be the one by the R&B singer Little Milton. It has appeared here before and doubtless it will do so again.

I don't think that Brighton band Hadda Be have featured here under that name but they have done so under their previous name Foundlings which I think they had to change for contractual reasons. This song is taken from their 2021 album Another Life which was released by Last Night From Glasgow. Their back catalogue can be found here

More shuffling next Saturday.

The Proclaimers - Over and Done With

Little Milton - Tupelo Honey

Hadda Be - Another Life

Bert Jansch

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #15  - Bert Jansch - Bert Jansch/It Don't Bother Me

Ever since I first tentatively dipped my toes into the world of Folk Music I have been vaguely aware of the name Bert Jansch (probably partly because he was Scottish) and also of the iconic cover of his self titled 1965 debut album.

I couldn't have told you much if anything about the music. That has now changed with the acquisition of a two albums on one CD  in Auchterarder - the aforementioned eponymous album and the  follow up (also from1965) It Don't Bother Me. 27 tracks for 50p which if my arithmetic  calculator is correct  is 1.85 pence per track

There are a further 19 studio albums, 8 live albums and 36 compilations and that's not counting the stuff he did with Pentangle.

I've played it a couple of times now and definitely got more from it second time around. It seems to be a good one to stick on as background music.

One from each album I think

Bert Jansch - Strolling Down The Highway

Bert Jansch - Anti - Apartheid