2022 Charity Shop Purchases #29 - Genie in a Bottle/Save Yourself - Speedway
Despite the fact that I am still working my way through the piles of CDs generously provided by The Swede and the Dundee ones from my pal Euan I have been getting withdrawal symptoms given my recent lack of charity shop activity.
This was maybe rectified when I visited a second hand shop in my former stomping ground Mount Florida on the South Side of Glasgow which proudly claimed that it is not for profit. I have my doubts but the less cynical among you may be happy to put it down as charity.
Anyway I came away with 2 CDs for a pound the first of which was this CD single by Paisley band Speedway. Given that I already have a charity shop copy of their only album 2003's Save Yourself I bought it in the full knowledge that I may already have both tracks. It turns out that both tracks are on the album so it is going back. It was worth a punt though. They have appeared briefly on these pages before but never with either of these songs
It turns out that Genie in a Bottle is a cover of a song by Christina Aguilera. Who knew? Certainly not me. I was totally oblivious to that fact. Probably given that connection it was the most successful of the band's four singles reaching number 10 in the UK singles charts.
If the band's singer sounds familiar that is because it is none other than Jill Jackson a subsequent Country and Torch Song singer who Rol is an admirer of.
I’ve picked out 4 this week, After going through 18 cds, and possibly nearly half way through the collection, I get the strong impression I’m not going to unearth any aural treasures; also, whilst I listen to every single track (with the single exception referred to last week), it gets a bit tedious. So I’m beginning to consider not posting a track from an album if what I consider to be the most listenable is, again in my opinion, actually just a load of old bobbins that no one would want to play. Of course, if I am instructed by CCM himself to stick to the original idea, I will do as he says.
And it’s not particularly difficult to put a cd on, sit outside at the farm, gaze at the serra, hear Parsley’s bell chiming, listen to the sparrows twittering. The first selection is a cd single that seems to be titled Cosmopolitan, that has 4 tracks by 4 artistes. And the first up, by Silence 4, called My Friends, is very listenable, the vocal reminded me of David Byrne and I convinced myself that it has a 1980s new wave feel.
The burner on this laptop has decided to malfunction, hence the video. I was surprised that a video was available, but the lead singer is a bloke called David Fonseca who is quite famous (in Portugal), and the band’s first (of two) album sold 240 000 copies. In Portugal. One for every fitty people in the country.
The other three songs are, I think, dreary ballads (so forgettable. I’m typing this having just played them). Apologies to the performers, who I’m sure are lovely and kind to their grandparents and all of god’s creatures.
Next up is a compilation, Grandes Vozes do Seculo XX, which is probably better translated as Major Voices rather than Big Voices. The latter puts me in mind of a teacher friend who although not a big man has a big voice. And he’s not on this album. A glance at the contributions does suggest that the album title is not wholly inaccurate. Here they are: Aretha Franklin (who admittedly had a BIG voice), Whitney Houston (yes, another BIG voice), CIA (who?), Joe Cocker (smallish man - 1m 74cm, big voice), Pedro Abruinhosa & os Bandemonio, Lou Reed, Marvin Gaye (major not big), Stevie Wonder (major, not big voice), Percy Sledge (neither), Otis Redding, Ben E King, The Temptations, The Platters, Ella Fitzgerald, Gloria Gaynor, Barry White, Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin, Paulo do Carvalho, Tom Jones, The Everly Brothers and Green Windows (performing “the day of the king’s birthday”). An album that maybe CCM would buy for 50p if he saw it in the Help The Aged shop in Dumbarton.
The songs by the 3 artistes unknown to you are disappointingly tedious. Here’s something that is decidedly not:
I suspect that the “1” you see on the album cover implies more albums in this series.
Today’s selections were not an unpleasant listening experience.Maybe next week I can work up more enthusiasm.
CC writes:
Enjoyed both of today's songs.
It is your slot to do what you feel fits George.
Have not been charity shopping in Dumbarton yet, may have to dig out the bus pass.I would quite possibly fork out 50p for Grandez Voices
From the cover I had absolutely no idea as to who this CD was by and had to resort to the small print in the liner notes to find out.
These tell me that the squiggles in the top left hand corner actually form the word Dodos. Once you konw it's pretty obvious but I don't think I would have worked it out without help
The Dodos are an indie band from San Francisco consisting of Meric Long on vocals, guitar , keyboards, piano and banjo and Logan Kroeber on drums and percussion.
They have released 8 albums since 2006 with this one Time to Die being their third album from 2009 on the Frenchkiss label.On this one they are joined by Keaton Snyder on vibraphone
That's pretty much all the information that I have which means that the post featured the other album by the band which the Swede also put my way will be even shorter than this one.
At the moment I have no plans to jettison this one.
We are staying with Gospel and Soul ladies in this the final instalment of this series.
Let's start with Bessie Jones a gospel and folk singer credited with bringing folk songs and stories to a wider audience following field recordings by Alan Lomax in 1959. Born in Georgia in 1902 as a granddaughter of a slave she lived to the age of 82
Although I suspect that it may well have been previously released So Glad I'm Here was the title track from an album on Rounder in 2015 subtitled Songs & Games from the Georgia Sea Islands
Linda Jones was another American soul singer with a gospel influenced style who became a star on the Northern Soul circuit. From Newark, New Jersey she tragically died in 1972 aged just 27 following a diabetic coma
What Can I Do (Without You) was a 1968 single on the Loma label.It also appears on Volume 5 of Dave Godin's DeepSoul Treasues -Taken from the Vaults which I only have digitally and from where this was taken
Finally, I am cheating a little bit with my final selection which is a band rather than an individual artist. The Jones Girls were three sisters from Detroit - Brenda,Shirley and Valorie - so three for the price of one.
They were a Philly band active from 1970 -1993 (shortly after the death of Valorie) releasing half a dozen albums in the process.Here is a brief potted history of the band
You're the Only Bargain I've Got was the b-side to the single Your Love Controls Me from the Music Merchant label in 1972
Not only do I have this on both CD and Vinyl I also have it on DVD and I went to see the film at the pictures.
Described in Empire magazine as a bona fida classic and a perfectly measured snapshot of a widely loved and respected band playing at the height of their powers .
If this doesn't make you want to jump up and strut your funky stuff then there is something seriously wrong with you. It is playing as I type so if the characters start jumping I'm sure that you will forgive me.
For the uninitiated - have you been living under a rock since 1984?- the album is a soundtrack to the film of the same name directed by Jonathan Demme of the band live shot over 3 days at the Patanges Theater in Hollywood in December 1983. The album is 39 minutes and 37 minutes long and not a second is wasted.
I've had the album pretty much from when it came out and picked up the CD much more recently as it contains all the songs from the classic movie and seven previously unreleased life tracks. The CD is enjoyable enough but it is quite hard to get your head around after listening to the nine tracks from the album in the same order for almost 38 years
In the unlikely event that you do not have this album or have not seen the film you know what to do. That's right - catch yourself on!
I'm pretty sure that I had seen Canadian band the Sadies prior to this in one of Glasgow's smaller venues like Barfly or the 13th Note but I can't find any photographic proof i.e a ticket. I definitely saw them in Austin at one of the Bloodshot showcase events.
They started out with a self released album in 1995 before moving to Bloodshot and then onto YepRoc. 2004 was still within the Bloodshot window so songs from albums such as Precious Moments (1998),Pure Diamond Gold (1999),Tremendous Efforts (2001) and Jon Langford and his Sadies (2002) would probably have featured.
However this tour was to promote 2004's FavoriteColours .Pitchfork describe their music as an amalgam of surf, country and garage-rock and this is what this album and the concert both deliver. They also draw inspiration from the Byrds with a version of Wasn't Born to Follow appearing on Tremendous Efforts.
I gradually lost touch with them once they had moved on from Bloodshot and haven't seen them since.
This is the second time they have featured this year as I posted a tribute in February following the death of singer and guitarist Dallas Good at the ridiculously young age of 48. He and his brother Travis were very much the mainstays of the band.
It seems that the band are carrying on without Dallas with tour dates scheduled for Europe but not the UK which is probably down to Brexit and the complications it is bringing to bands.
Was Dinah Washington a Blues singer or a Jazz singer. The answer I think is probably both.
Mrs CC is a bit of a fan and there are four Dinah CDs on the sheleves. I would describe two as Jazz and the other two as Blues. Obviously I've gone for one of the Blues compilations as Dinah makes her debut on these pages.
From 1997 on the Hallmark label Low Down Blues is a cheap and cheerful compilation with Ms Washington belting out some blues numbers accompanied by various Jazz orchestras.All the songs are from the mid 40s
She was pretty prolific with 45 R&B chart hits between 1948 and 1961 with 16 top 15 placements from 1948 -1950,She was obviously not on the Atlantic label given that she doesn't feature on Atlantic R&B Volume 1 1947-1952. Wiki confirms this by advising that she recorded for Keynote, Mercury, EmArcy and Roulette.
Born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1924 she was married six times (one less than Steve Earle!) before her death in Detroit in December 1963 aged just 39. The autopsy concluded that she died from a combination of prescription drugs (Secobarbital and Amobarbital) prescribed for her insomnia and diet
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