Joe Strimmer

 

We were driving through East Kilbride when I saw a man strimming a grass verge.

As is my wont I shouted out Joe Strimmer! Juvenile I know but there you go.

Obviously this post calls for a song from each of the three albums by Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros namely Rock Art and the X-Ray Style (1999), Global A Go-Go (2001) and Streetcore (2003) the latter one very kindly gifted to me by JC

A reminder that I still have some strimming to do before the weather takes a turn for the worse.

Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros - Yalla, Yalla

Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros - Bhindi Bhagee 

Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros - Redemption Song

Only Connect

 

Like Jez I am a fan of the BBC2 Quiz Show Only Connect hosted by Victoria Coren- Mitchell. After his post I now find myself looking at the show in a new light.!

It's pretty difficult and you end up feeling pretty chuffed if you guess a connection correctly. I'm not bad at the missing letters round but struggle to get any connections from the other three rounds.

I think what I'm saying is that I would not be an automatic choice in the Bloggers Team.

I reckon Rol, John, and of course Jez would make a fairly formidable team!

Roy Orbison - Only The Lonely

Yazoo - Only You

Stereo MCs - Connected

Elastica - Connection

More Painter Songs

 

I'm stuck for inspiration so more painter songs today with no focus on the colour this time.

Elmer Gantry, Norah Jones, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot and Belle & Sebastian have all got their brushes out.

Please feel free to point out where they've missed a bit

Elmer Gantry - The Painter

Norah Jones - Painter Song

Neil Young - The Painter

Gordon Lightfoot - Painter Passing Through

Belle & Sebastian - Lazy Line Painter Jane

Paint It White

 

In our part of the street most of the front gardens have small white painted walls.

The neighbour's all take pride in maintaining and painting them. They can get damp from the soil and need repaired from time to time.

I finally got round to painting ours on Friday. Hopefully I can get away with only one coat. And yes that is paint on some of the leaves on the hedge. Collateral damage.

Here are some paint related songs with only Karine Polwart opting for white.

Karine Polwart - Painted It White

Lucinda Williams - Paint It Black

Billy Bragg - Must I Paint You A Picture

The Band - When I Paint My Masterpiece

Half Man Half Biscuit - Paintball's Coming Home

Saturday Shuffle 161

 

We start this week's Shuffle with a some from an album which is quite possibly the greatest of all time.

Yes, as you can see from the picture we are talking about The Byrds and Sweetheart of the Rodeo

An empty bottle, a broken heart
And you're still on my mind

Let's face it you can't follow that. Nevertheless the Shuffle has come up with another two tunes with an Americana feel to them

Next up from Viva Amricana the CD which inspired my recent Americana Compilations series we have Kieran Kane and Table Top Dancer.

We conclude with the UK Americana act The Rockingbirds and Time Drives the Truck.

More shuffled tunes Americana or otherwise next Saturday

The Byrds - You're Still On My Mind

Kieran Kane - Table Top Dancer

The Rockingbirds - Time Drives The Truck

Bellshill Bands - Thrum

 

I'm pleased to say that I have come up with a 9th band for this series

Thrum are an indie rock band from Bellshill who were active from 1992- 1995 and then from 2011 to date..Monica Queen (vocals/guitar), Johnny Smillie (guitar) and Gary Johnston on Drums have been consistent members with Rory McGregor now on  bass

I had the pleasure of seeing them at Cottiers in July when they put on a stonking show promoting a new remastered version of their 1994 classic album Rifferama 

I have little more to add from that previous post other than I have chosen some different songs for this post.

I'm delighted to say that JC has come up with a couple of suggestions which will ensure that this series reaches double figures

Thrum - Purify

Thrum - Here I Am

Thrum - Won't Be Long

Brontës

 2026 Charity Shop Purchases #30 - Brontës - Brontës (LP) 

It was a bit of a surprise to see the eponymous album Brontës in the Oxfam shop in Clarkston as it was only released in April this year. Naturally I pounced given it seemed to be available for a reasonable price ( yes a reasonable price from Oxfam!).

They are part of the Last Night From Glasgow stable .They were founded in 2021 and released a  double A single First Hand Arrogance/Groove in 2022. The album has been a long time coming but it is worth the wait.

The Skinny feels that it  infuses nostalgia through lush harmonies and confident electric guitars.feel that it  whereas LNFG ask you to Imagine  The Tom Tom Club jamming with Chrissy Hynde. For my hyperbole I'll throw Tracyanne Campbell from Camera Obscura into the mix.

The line up (which I think may have already changed) is Amelia Haldane, Katie Forest, Erin Reidy and Eva Watt).

Given the fact that it is a really new album I'm only sharing one song today namely the opener Cognitive Dissonance which according to the Skinny hides darker emotions of jealousy under sunny pop-rock.

Brontes - Cognitive Dissonance

What's Wrong With Right

 

Following my recent post on The Four Americana H's  which featured the eponymous debut album  by the Hacienda Brothers from 2005  George very kindly sent me What's Wrong With Right the follow uo album from 2006 

I wasn't aware that they had more than one album but it turns out they  have these two plus Music For Ranch & Town: Hacienda Brothers Live (2007), Arizona Motel (2008) and Western Soul  a compilation of demos, unreleased tracks, etc from 2019.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with What's Wrong With Right but for me unlike the debut  on occasions it veers  slightly more towards more mainstream country

Sadly Chris Gaffney, the lead singer died on early 2008 from liver cancer. I'm not sure whether I ever saw him or not on my couple of trips to Austin in the early 2000's for SXSW

Hacienda Brothers - Cry Like a Baby

Hacienda Brothers - Lifes Little Ups and Downs

A Right Load of Jessies

 

If someone from Glasgow calls you a Big Jessie it is not particularly complimentary. It tends to suggest that you are a bit of a wuss.

These insults cannot be levelled as the artists below.

Jesse Malin is a streetwise New Yorker and no one would suggest that the Queen of the Underground is a big Jessie.

Jesse Sykes with her band the Sweet Hereafter deliver their songs in a sparse, dark Gothic sort of a way so they can hold their own.

Jesse Winchester may sing in a gentle Country sort of a way but he is nobody's fool. He has his eye on a Yankee Lady. 

Jesse Ware is a Nu Soul star who shows Devotion to her art.

We may well be featuring our first Oscar winner in the shape of Jessie Buckley. She was certainly no Jessie when she played the part of Rose-Lynn Harlan in the film Wild Rose particularly when belting out Primal Scream's Country Girl.

No Wusses here.

Jesse Malin - Queen Of The Underground

Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter -The Dreaming Dead

Jesse Winchester - Yankee Lady

Jessie Ware - Devotion

Jessie Buckley - Country Girl

Bible Belt

 

 2026 Charity Shop Purchases #29 - Zeke Manyika - Bible Belt (12" Single)

It's a welcome return to CCM for former Orange Juice drummer and close personal friend of Ernie Goggins Mr Zeke Manyika

The 12 inch Single of Bible Belt  from 1988 on Parlaphone/Some Bizzare takes my total of his records to two albums and two 12 inch singles. Matt Johnson of The The fame appears as one of the producers on the title track Bible Belt which is also the opening track on side 2 of his 1989 album Mastercrime.

The other two tracks Huya Ne Keno and None So Blind seem to be exclusive to the single

Picked up from Oxfam in Troon for £1.99 it is a bit crackly in places but it cleaned up reasonably well.

Zeke Manyika - Bible Belt

Zeke Manyika - Huya Ne Kuno

Zeke Manyika - None So Blind

Rough Trade Shops Country 1

 

Well we've finally done it! 50 Americana Compilations every Sunday for the best part of a year. The well is now dry.

From Rough Trade in October 2003 this compilation features forty tracks over two CDs here

Yours for £ 5.17 on Discogs or 30.69 Euros on Amazon Both of the links give details of the tracks. The vast majority of the artists have previously graced this series.

As is now tradition I have selected three for your listening pleasure. I think that all three acts have had songs in this series before but not these ones.

Let's kick off with the Americana super group Golden Smog (who include members from the likes of Wilco, the Jayhawks and Big Star among others ) with Until You Came Along from their 1998 album Weird Tales.

Next Up are Freakwater with their fantastic cover of Dwight Yoakam's South of Cincinnati. I'm not sure if this is available elsewhere.

We conclude the series with the Gun Club  epic Ghost on the Highway. It may predate technically precede Americana but it is definitely a precursor.

In the same vein I've made a last minute decision to throw the Dream Syndicate's cover of Bob Dylan's epic Blind Willie McTell . Don't say I'm not good to you.

If you've enjoyed this series half as much as I have I've enjoyed it twice as much as you.

I haven't a scoobie as to what will come next.

Golden Smog - Until You Came Along

Freakwater - South of Cincinnati

The Gun Club - Ghost On the Highway

The Dream Syndicate - Blind Willie McTell

Saturday Shuffle 160

 

Welcome to Saturday Shuffle where we feature three debutants which is pretty impressive given that it is the 160th post in this series 

We start with Jackie Lee and the simply titled The Duck a 1966 soul song written by Fred Sledge Smith and Earl Nelson. It seems that Jackie Lee is actually Earl Nelson  and was moonlighting from the duet Bob & Earl. Not to be confused with the Jackie Lee who sang the theme tune to the TV series White Horses

Next up is Hamish Hawk who despite being from Edinburgh was the Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion back in 1973.

We conclude with this week's cover star  the wonderful Ann Peebles When she can't stand the rain she may well resort to tearing your playhouse down. You have been warned

More ducks, badminton and playhouses next Saturday

Jackie Lee -The Duck

Hamish Hawk - The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion

Ann Peebles - I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down

Bellshill Bands - Soup Dragons

 

The Soup Dragons were one of the inspirations for this series . They would have featured here much earlier if they hadn't featured a few weeks before the series was launched.

Better late than never plus it is sometimes sensible to keep your powder dry and to save some of  the big hitters on the back burner. Was

That post was raving about their Past Night From Glasgow compilation Raw Products -Singles & Rarities.
I shared three songs from that album but panic not as there are plenty more tunes to choose from. 

They take the number of bands featured up to 8 with one more scheduled .I would love to get to 1o so any suggestions welcomed.

I've ruled out The Pastels, the Vaselines  and anything featuring Eugene Kelly on the grounds of geography as they appear to have originated from Glasgow. I would be delighted if anyone can tell me differently

I've checked musicians born in Bellshill Maternity and so far have come up with Sheena Easton and Sharleen Spiteri!

Soup Dragons - Just Mind Your Step Girl

Soup Dragons - Slow Things Down

Soup Dragons - Pleasantly Surprised

Soup Dragons - Hang - Ten

Leaving Traces

 

I found myself listening to the Neal Casal compilation Leaving Traces: Songs 1994- 2004 on the Fargo label here.

He was an artist I saw a few times and had music by either solo stuff or with Hazy Malaze and Lucinda Williams. Sadly he took his own life in 2019 and I wrote a piece here

He was a great musician and singer/songwriter who had written some powerful songs. There are, however, some references to his state of mind in songs such as Just Getting By  and Free Light of Day which can make it a hard listen in places

In 2020, the Neal Casal Music Foundation was founded to honour his memory. In addition to preserving his artistic legacy, the NCMF provides musical instruments and lessons to students in New Jersey and New York state schools an donations to mental health organizations that support musicians in need

A tribute album Highway Butterfly was released in 2021  with fellow musicians covering 41 of his songs over 3 CD  here .Physical copies have long since sold out but it should still be available digitally here

 A sadly missed talent

If you are struggling, and we all do at sometime, please remember that there is help out there. It's good to talk. Here are contact details for two organisations in Scotland. You should have something similar in your own local area.

Breathing Space

Samaritans

Neal Casal - Just Getting By

Neal Casal - Free Light Of Day

The Blues Collection - James Booker

 

We have reached the dizzy heights of number 79 in the Blues Collection with James Booker the New Orleans Keyboard King.

I'm not sure whether that title was bestowed upon him or self proclaimed. Perhaps the latter as he was also dubbed the Black Liberace or even The Bayou Maharajah. I think it's safe to say that he wasn't known for his modesty.

Booker died aged 43 on November 8, 1983, while seated in a wheelchair in the emergency room at New Orleans'Charity Hospital , waiting to receive medical attention. The cause of death, as cited in the Orleans Parish Coroner's Death Certificate, was renal failure related to chronic abuse of heroin and alcohol. Pretty much the compulsory ending of a Bluesman from that era.

The songs on the album are taken from concerts in Hamburg c 1977. When searching for images of the album I came across a recording  on You Tube of the whole album which you might enjoy. 112 out of the 3.3K viewers seem to.

For those of you who prefer something more tangible here are a couple of the tracks

James Brooker - Please Send Me Someone To Love

James Brooker - Ain't Nobody's Business

The Four Americana H's

 

I know that many of you will be familiar with John Medd's monthly photo challenge. If not you should make yourself familiar with it.

August's theme was simple the letter H which led to a wide and diverse collection of pictures.

I was sat on a chair in the Music Room looking for inspiration when I found myself staring at the Blue Americana shelves.

These four albums were side by side and it seemed like a good idea to take a collective photo of them and submit it to John.

In alphabetical order the first one up was the eponymous 2005 Hacienda Brothers album on the Proper label. If you google Hacienda at CCM you will get this as opposed to anything from Manchester! The two main participants were Dave Gonzales and the late great Chris Gaffney. I saw them play once up a close in Glasgow's Trongate.

Next alphabetically is Wayne Hancock with That's What Daddy Wants a 1998 album from Ark 21. He subsequently signed to Bloodshot and plays an Americana form of Western Swing. I saw him a lunchtime set at the long gone Virgin Megastore on Glasgow's Buchanan Street.

Greg Hawk & the Tremblers are the ones that I know the littleist about. Indeed it looks like they are making their debut on these pages. I'm not quite sure how they crossed my radar Fool's Paradise is an album from 2001 on the Yep Roc label They are the only one of the four acts that I haven't seen live.

Finally we have the eponymous 2003 album by the band Hazy Malaze on the Fargo label. They were a trio featuring the late Neal Casal on guitars, lead vocals and harmonica; Dan Fadel on drums,vocals, percussion and Jeff Hill on bass and vocals. I saw them put on an excellent show at King Tuts.

Which one(s) float your boat?

Hacienda Brothers - South Of Lonesome

Wayne Hancock - 87 Southbound

Greg Hawks & the Tremblers -Fool's Paradise

Hazy Malaze - Chicago Blondes