‘Where Do I Begin’ is a perfect example of the way digitisation and the internet has changed the music business. The conventional business wouldn’t know how to deal with it; five songs (OK, six if you count the no-swearing version of ‘Living Between the Lines’) is too much for an EP and not enough for an album (unless they’re eight-minute prog rock epics). Cutting out the major label bureaucracy means that if you have five great songs that hang together well, you can get it to the market fairly easily and call it a mini album. That’s exactly what Adam Reichmann and Todd Schnitzer have done with their debut as One Adam One.
The album’s almost a two-man show with Reichmann and Schnitzer singing and playing everything apart from some background vocals from Stephanie Stewart and a bit of baritone guitar from John Horton. Two things defining the album are the layers of instruments and vocals created by producer Todd Schnitzer and the fragile, vulnerable vocal of Adam Reichmann, at times on the edge of cracking completely, combining to create a beautiful melancholy feel across the five songs using all of the country/Americana palette (including pedal steel) and even a bit of harpsichord. The layering of tracks and use of reverb create an other-worldly feel that emphasises the melancholy style of the slow tempos and the vulnerability of the lead vocals.
Apart from the uptempo ‘Cold Murmurs’ with its driving tempo, lovely harmonies and maybe a hint of Tom Petty’s ‘Running Down a Dream’. It’s a song of renewal and optimism that offers a vivid contrast to the more downbeat songs that dominate the album. The opening song, the appropriately titled ‘Where Do I Begin’, builds from a gentle strummed acoustic intro to a full band arrangement with synths as the lyrics tell a story of hopelessness and helplessness after a broken relationship, while the closer, ‘Platte River’, is a slow, organ-driven, piece of nostalgia for a lost place, time and relationship.
‘Hollywood Ending’ has an arrangement that builds to a big finish as the lyrics explore the gulf between real life and the media presentation of life; it’s powerful stuff. Finally, ‘Living Between the Lines’ (my personal favourite) has an ominous reverbed guitar intro before Adam Reichmann’s vocal comes in the higher end of his range, almost cracking at times. The song tells the story of the unsung and unnoticed who do all of the things that we take for granted. The chorus is absolutely gorgeous.
‘Where Do I Begin’ is five great songs, arranged cleverly to enhance the melancholy content of the songs and, ultimately, the upbeat sense of rebirth in ‘Cold Murmurs’. It may only be five songs, but it creates a sense of sadness, anger and nostalgia before taking a more positive turn. The album is a lovely snapshot of the genesis of One Adam One; I’m hoping there’s a lot more to come.
‘Where Do I Begin’ is released on Die Trying Records in the UK on Friday March 31st.
Don’t just take my word for it, here’s the video for ‘Living Between the Lines’:
Here’s another project that’s been touched by the shadow of COVID. Lowri Evans and Sarah Zyborska met for the first time at the 2019 Festival Interceltique de Lorient after each had been gigging individually on the Welsh circuit for several years. It’s been a long flash-to-bang time for the project, but they finally got there and the end result is an album of rare beauty influenced by Americana, country, indie the opening song ‘Tell Me World is an uptempo nod in the direction of Belle & Sebastian’s ‘The Boy with The Arab Strap’) and Celtic folk. ‘Tell Me World’ is ten original songs written by Lowri and Sarah (eight together and one each individually). At the risk of sounding blindingly obvious, ‘Tell Me World’ is an album that sounds very Welsh (both Lowri and Sarah are bilingual and two of the songs have Welsh lyrics) and generally the songs have a female, or even feminist, perspective. The one obvious exception is ‘Workshop’, inspired by the contents of an old man’s garden shed, which serves as a metaphor for a place we can escape to indulge our creative urges.
The album’s a very delicate piece of work, ethereal, with a nod in the direction of bands like Clannad with layers of vocals and subtle, underplayed band arrangements from a group of musicians that includes Christians’ singer and keyboard player Henry Priestman. With a variety of musical stylings and lyrical themes that range from the intensely personal ‘She’s A Lover’ (about Lowri’s Mam) and ‘Genes’ (a clever play on words inspired by the birth of Sarah’s daughter) to the more socio-political ‘Waiting in the Background’ and ‘Crazy, Crazy Times’, there’s one constant; the beautiful vocals. Sarah and Lowri’s voices blend together perfectly whether it’s in simple homophonic harmonies or as a celestial choir.
The feminist perspective is obvious in the album’s second song, ‘Waiting in the Background’, which looks at the perceptions of women’s roles in various recent historical eras and highlights the fact that there’s still a long way to go. ‘Crazy, Crazy Times’ also has a socio-political slant, asking us to take responsibility for our own actions rather than just blaming it on a crazy world. At the other end of the scale, ‘She’s A Lover’ is a hymn of (mainly) praise to Lowri’s mam which has a Celtic country feel and features some delicate pedal steel. The album’s closing song’ ‘Atgofion’ has Welsh lyrics, which is fitting for a tale of an emigré’s memories of a Wales she will never see again.
The album’s a lovely mixture of styles, band arrangements, lyrical themes and even languages which is held together by great group of musicians and two stunningly good voices. It wraps itself around you like a warm blanket while giving you plenty to think about as well. It’s certainly the best debut I’ve heard in a long time.
‘Tell Me World’ is out on Friday March 24th on Shimi Records (SHIMICD0028).
Here’s a lockdown video of ‘Crazy, Crazy Times’:
There are a couple of things you can expect from any Steve Dawson album: it’s going to be beautifully arranged and played, and definitely unpredictable. ‘Eyes Closed, Dreaming’ doesn’t disappoint on either count. It’s the third of Steve’s pandemic albums, with contributions pieced together remotely, a logical and necessary extension during lockdown of the studio practice of recording parts separately. It’s a tribute to Steve and all the superb musicians involved that the whole album feels like it was recorded by musicians playing in the same room. The arrangements on the album are trademark Steve Dawson with lots of layers of guitars and a whole raft of instruments that are unusual in any context but particularly in Americana arrangements. As ever, he makes it work, creating soundscapes that sound uncluttered while using multiple guitars, bass, drums, keyboards (including Moog and mellotron), strings, horns and even marxophone, vibraphone and pump organ.
Steve enjoys reworking other people’s songs with his own spin and there are four of those on the album, ‘Long Time to Get Old’ and ‘Guess Things Happen That Way’ get the swampy Southern rock treatment, while ‘Small Town Talk’ with its horns, nods in the direction of Muscle Shoals and ‘Let Him Go on Mama’ is a solo piece with Weissenborn backing that closes the album. There are also a couple of reworkings of traditional songs. These are all great versions that give Steve a chance to have a bit of fun and show his instrumental versatility, but the backbone of the album is the four songs co-written with Matt Patershuk.
Matt’s a hugely creative and poetic songwriter and the four co-writes are a good representation of the breadth of topics he likes to cover, from the nostalgic ‘Polaroid’, harking back to a pre-digital era to the wonders of nature expressed in ‘The Owl’. ‘Hemingway’ references, well, Ernest Hemingway, while ‘A Gift’ is about taking care of your family and showing pride in workmanship. Like all of Matt’s songs, they’re thought-provoking and occasionally spring a few surprises. As good as the rest of the album is, these four songs shine brightly.
Steve Dawson’s one of the many that accepted the pandemic lemons and made artisan lemonade by learning a completely new way of working and using the enforced break to create three superb albums. ‘Eyes Closed, Dreaming’ covers a range of styles from folk ballads through Americana to ragtime and Hawaiian music and Steve sounds convincing in all of them with his range of instruments, particularly the Weissenborn. And I almost forgot to mention that he has a great laid-back and soulful vocal style. You won’t get bored listening to this album.
‘’Eyes Closed, Dreaming’ is released on Black Hen Music (BHCD0098) on Friday March 24th.
Here’s a live studio video for ‘Small Town Talk’:
There are some song-by-song notes in the press kit for Annie Capps’ album which offer a few glimpses inside the songs and their meanings, but it only scratches the surface. There’s a lot you have to work out for yourself and that’s exactly how it should be; when an artist puts a lot of work and ability into creating an album, then it’s only fair that the listener should be willing to put in a bit of effort to get the maximum out of it.
The press release focusses on the personal nature of the album’s twelve songs, but there’s a wider agenda: “the personal is political”. The songs are personal and autobiographical, but there’s also a wide current of feminism running through with songs highlighting misogyny, coercive control and bullying, and the hypocrisy in organised religion on gender and original sin. If you need to be convinced about the album’s feminist credentials, every person involved in the project, from start to finish, is female; from the artists to all of the production team. ‘How Can I Say This?’ is very much about the female experience.
The message is there from the opening song; ‘My Eden’ with its folk arrangement and string section spelling out the institutional sexism of the Catholic church and the way in which girls are made to feel guilt from a very early age through the concept of original sin. The sequencing of the album takes the story from this early indoctrination into coercive parental control and distorted self-perception. Ultimately, the journey takes us through grief and towards the melancholic fiddle-led closer, ‘Yesterday’, with its recognition of all the little daily events that signpost the path away from grief and back into normal life.
The arrangements for the songs are basically Americana settings with string band instrumentation and sprinklings of piano and organ and loads of backing vocals and harmonies and the songs themselves are beautifully crafted, poetic and memorable. A classic example is the album’s midpoint ‘My Father’s House’, where the story is a perfectly conceived tale of a woman visiting the house of her violent alcoholic father before its demolition. It’s not just a great story, there’s true poetry there as well: “My father’s House had eggshells across every floor, that’s bad news for this clumsy child” – and that’s just one example, the album’s full of poetry as well as memorable stories.
‘How Can I Say This?’ deserves your attention not just because it’s a pioneering project but because it’s packed with great songs and great performances. It’s the first great album I’ve heard this year.
Here’s a link to ‘My Eden’:
With the return of Rosko to the Caroline North airwaves and my show sitting in for Paul Brown on the main album channel done and dusted, we had a weekend ‘at large’ to enjoy and spent it irresponsibly at the final, or so we’re told, annual Skegness Rock and Blues festival at Butlins Skeggy. The night before we set off we went to the New Vic in Stoke to catch Paul Jones and Dave Kelly and to be honest, if any of the acts we were due to see and hear over the weekend were on a level playing field with them, I’d have been happy. And happy I was. A Fab weekend, too much to mention, but for me, the three highlights (other views are available but, clearly, they’re all wrong) were…
Full House. Frankie Miller’s old band, still featuring the stunning guitar work of Ray Minhinnett.
I have previous to declare here. Back in early October 1976, at the University Of Dundee, (who were remarkably well disposed, thank the Lord, to taking in English duffers who’d not exactly exceeded expectations in their A-levels) the band booked for freshers week, just before I started my three-year stint as a resident DJ there, was Frankie Miller’s Full House.
And what a ‘Welcome to Scotland’ that was. My mate the celebrated rock snapper Allan McKay and I had one of those moments where we both knew that was it, whatever happens, we’re doing rock ‘n’ roll in some shape or form for the rest of our lives. It was like facing a full-on storm force wind – and it was the first time I’d been to a gig where a band had successfully welded Rock to Soul to the Blues with some damn strong pop tunes as well. To this day on Radio Caroline I use the personal strapline ‘Rock n Soul Radio’; get these two to meet on a stage somewhere, stir in a pinch of the blues and you’ve cracked it.
And to my absolute delight – and Butlins true intent is all for your delight, (it says so, it always did!) they absolutely nailed it. What a line up band leader and guitarist Ray Minhinnett has assembled here! They say the best musicians attract the best musicians and there’s not a duffer or time-server amongst this lot. From the opening bars of ‘Be Good To Yourself’ through an impassioned ‘Fool In Love’ right though to the final tongue in cheek disdain for the singalonga ‘Darlin’ at the end, (Miller hated the song, which he knew he was going to be stuck with forever once it became a massive top ten single hit, even when he returned to play our venue in ’78, and so do the rest of the band even now, but at least they had the honesty not to short change the punters who wanted to hear it and played it straightish) it was like standing in the eye of the storm again, only 47 years removed. Magic.
For most people in situations such as these, the elephant in the room would be that Frankie Miller was such a unique talent. Which was part of the problem, the record company just didn’t seem to know what to do with him. Nobody, and that’s nobody, could lay a glove on him in his pomp so the guy on the mic is on a hiding to nothing, right? So I was nothing less than astonished to hear the man tasked with bringing the vocal delivery of these songs to life wasn’t just joining up the dots…he was absolutely giving this the best shot you could reasonably expect another human being to give. What a voice has yer man Gregor! Go See wherever and whenever. They had to play a shorter set than normal and I’ve got to catch them out on the road somewhere else now. Truly the Celtic Soul Vision. If you go around not going to see these you might just as well give your ears away.
And I’d have been happy to go home at that point but…..Dana Gillespie and her band finished the proceeding late on Saturday night in the smallest of the four venues; but with mobile phones etc good news travels fast and by the time she was three songs in they were hanging off the rafters. For the uninitiated, Dana Gillespie was signed to Bowie’s MainMan management group and sang backing vocals on Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album before releasing the album ‘Weren’t Born A Man’ on RCA records in 1973 which was produced by Bowie and his guitarist Mick Ronson. Since then she’s been largely concentrating on singing and recording the blues alongside her acting work and is a well known and respected member of the Blues fraternity. But all this just falls away when she lets rip with that band of hers, including the astonishing keyboard thumper Dino Baptiste who is just boogie on legs. Her main area of concern in the songs she performs are those highlighting the strange balance between the attraction and the fractiousness which exists between men and women – exclusively from a female perspective and we’re treated to a set of ripe old blues songs which made the walls blush, starting at Bessie Smith and working downwards. Imagine a more glamorous Jo Brand with A Voice belting out the blues in front of a band who are absolutely on fire and you get the gist. When I say the housewives’ favourite, Jimmy Young, had to be quite forcibly dissuaded from playing her version of ‘Ten Inch’ on Radio One back in the day, you probably get the idea. Time – she’s into her 70s now but you wouldn’t know it for the energy and ‘twinkle’ in the performance – has blessed her with a mellowed, husky set of pipes which just so suit the task in hand. Always good to see a ‘survivor’ thriving, but this was much, much more – an object lesson in how to work a room. This isn’t a relic of the wild times relishing last woman standing status; this is overdue recognition of an outstanding talent. That David Bowie, he knew what he was about.
Sunday afternoon and the Chicago Blues Legends Show is on in Reds which is by far and away the best of the ‘big’ venues. The sound in Centre Stage is usually horrible and woolly and the big tent is, well, a big tent. But Reds is crisp, precise and usually a very good listen and so it was on the Sunday afternoon in question. Giles Robson and the aforementioned Dino Baptiste did a sterling job opening for them and on came the first of the Legends, a hand-picked hot Chicago player already doing great things and destined for greater. Jamiah Rogers was the unanimous choice of the old stagers who were due to follow him on the package and it was a brave move as this guy is HOT. We’ve all heard ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’; not like this, you haven’t. And, like all really talented American entertainers, he knows how to grab an audience without seeming to make the effort and in the tradition of the Blues, it tends to be BS-free as well. If you’re rising to the top of a scene as competitive as the Chicago blues scene – at the age of 27 – well…no disrespect but those old lads better be At It, that’s all I’m saying.
Twice Grammy-nominated, John Primer was part of Willie Dixon’s Chicago All-Stars and led Muddy Waters Band from 1981 onwards. A small figure hunched behind a big red Gibson (I think, I was a long way back. Sunday afternoon, I like a nice sit down then) and promptly brought the fields, the city and the Hard Times right to my table.
I don’t know how they do that. How can a musician bring you that Shakespeare’s catharsis thing right to your table when you’re gently sipping a pint of Guinness and are comfortably at your leisure? And there you are, head down and nodding quietly to yourself while the man plays turbocharged Jeremy Kylesque stories of poverty and misery and extreme deprivation and there you go. You Got The Blues. First Time all weekend I genuinely Got ‘Em. And then on comes Billy Branch. He’s recorded and / or toured with Willie Dixon, Johnny Winter, Lou Rawls, Taj Mahal……and he plays the old gob iron like the living spit of Little Walter. And he played ‘My Babe’ and it was 1955, it was Chicago, and it was January, and cold. And then they all joined together and hollered and stomped and wailed.
And when I stepped outside after that because my head was full it was January, and cold.
And the fourth of my three top choices for the weekend – King Pleasure and The Biscuit Boys. Now you couldn’t get further away on the blues spectrum then these. We felt, myself and the legendary Mrs Jenner, that a bit of a knees-up would be a suitable way to round off proceedings for the weekend and this lot did not disappoint and they’re no mugs either, having been in with BB King amongst others. A sort of turbo swing, Jumping Jive / Big Jay McNeely / Cab Calloway / Louis Jordan mash-up meets Bill Haley and the Comets, Madness and Lord Rockingham’s Eleven with Eric Morecombe on slap bass. The lead singer chose the purtiest girl in the room to dance with when he went walkabout and so I graciously donated the Legendary Mrs J to the cause, as if I had a choice in the matter and we went to our very clean and comfy billet, I have to say, back to tea and toast and the back end of Match of the Day, utterly convinced of the stupidity of the decision, whatever the politics to make this the last Rock n Blues Festy weekender.
Outright winner? For me, Full House on points. But then again I got reasons!
Two years after their debut ‘Just Beyond the Shine’, Peach & Quiet are back with another bunch of great songs aided and abetted by producer and guitarist extraordinaire Steve Dawson. The album continues where the debut left off with some gorgeous Americana/country rock/blues stylings with a few influences creeping in from the background of the duo Jonny Miller and Heather Reed. Our review of their debut referenced the usual Laurel Canyon influences but ‘Beautiful Thing’ pulls in some slightly rockier influences like seventies Fleetwood Mac (or particularly Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks) and a lot of that’s down to Steve Dawson’s production and playing with layers of guitars from resonators through electrics to pedal steel.
The gentle title track sets the tone for the album; its country feel with those guitar layers, lovely harmonies and Jonny Miller’s slightly raspy vocal are things that you hear in varying degrees throughout the album. As an added bonus (for me, anyway), the song opens with one of my favourite chord progressions, falling from the tonic to the subdominant. Want to know why I like this progression? It features in two of my favourite songs, ‘These Days’ by Jackson Browne and Graham Parker’s ’Watch the Moon Come Down’. And honestly, speaking as a mediocre guitarist, it’s easy to play and sounds good.
With a title ‘Horse and Saddle’ you’d be expecting a country arrangement; that would be too predictable. Jonny’s dad is a reggae DJ and he was brought up around reggae musicians, so the influence was always going to come out somewhere. Heather’s dad was a Hammond player and Hammond’s very much in evidence on the slow blues of ‘This Time’, the rock vibe of ‘Behind the Sun’ with a nod in the direction of Crazy Horse and ‘Pockets Empty’, the story of a relationship with a charismatic psychopath.
At a time when temperatures are heading below zero again, ‘Beautiful Thing’ brings a welcome splash of California sunshine with its infectious melodies, exquisite harmonies and perfect arrangements, balancing multiple guitar parts with piano and Hammond to create perfect settings for Jonny and Heather’s solo and duet vocals. Summer feels a long way away at the moment, but this album brings it a bit closer.
‘Beautiful Thing’ is released on Peach & Quiet Music (P&QCD002) on 20th January 2023.
Here’s a live video of ‘This Time’:
Here’s a fascinating first album to review in 2023. Grey DeLisle put her musical career on hold for fifteen years while raising a family but, like many others, the pandemic changed her plans and she found herself revisiting her favourite songs and uploading covers of them to social media. In turn, this led to working with producer Marvin Etzioni on a covers album, and what an interesting set of covers they are. She’s now working on an album of originals for release this year. Grey’s been compared to Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette but, with the odd exception, these songs aren’t heartbreak country.
You wouldn’t expect a country artist to be covering ‘Another Brick in the Wall’, would you? No, but that’s the album’s opening song and Grey obeys the First Rule of Covers Club; make the song your own. Whereas the Pink Floyd original is strident and confrontational, with a full band sound, Grey’s version is much slower and built around an arrangement that’s paradoxically minimal but with a full band plus strings and horns. Grey’s vocal doesn’t push hard, but it’s close-miked and dominates the mix.
The straightforward country songs like ‘Tonight You Belong to Me’, ‘Borrowed and Blue’ and ‘Valentine’ are delivered beautifully with Grey’s voice evoking the Queens of Country (more Dolly and Patsy than Loretta and Tammy to my way of thinking) with the usual side orders of strings and pedal steel; it’s on the songs with less traditional arrangements that Grey and the band work their magic.
Just a few examples for you. ‘Girl’ is a reworking of an ’Electric Warrior’ T Rex song in triple time with a gorgeous string section replacing the horns from the original, while Marie Knight’s ‘Calvary’ starts as a straightforward gospel song at the lower end of Grey’s vocal range before the first chorus erupts into a New Orleans jazz funeral with strident horns. And let’s not forget John Barry’s Bond theme ‘You Only Live Twice’, (with The Satellites Four) delivered in a very easy listening style Grey’s take on ‘Georgia on My Mind’ at the higher end of her vocal range adorned by some plaintive harmonica from Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson’s harmonica player).
‘Borrowed’ certainly demonstrates the eclecticism of Grey DeLisle’s musical tastes and her willingness to deconstruct and rebuild a song to create a whole new work. There’s an art to reinterpreting just one song, but it’s a completely different challenge creating a coherent album full of reworkings; Grey DeLisle aces it.
‘Borrowed’ is released in the UK on Regional Records (RR0617) on Friday January 6th.
Here’s a link to the video for ‘Another Brick in the Wall’:
Apologies on this one folks. This album has been out for a while and despite being delivered through the letterbox rather than into the inbox, it got shuffled to the bottom of the pile. Anyway, it’s so good that I had to tell you about it. Better late than never, and it’s now the first Music Riot review of 2023.
The Boneshakers, led by world-renowned former Was (Not Was) guitarist Randy Jacobs, and now fronted by singer Jenny Langer (channelling Janis Joplin and Tina Turner), are celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary in 2022, sixteen years since the release of their last album. The list of megastars that the band members have worked and played with, live and in the studio, is almost endless and covers a huge variety of musical styles. ‘One Foot in the Groove’ isn’t so much a new album as a celebration of the artists and styles that have influenced The Boneshakers sound over the years. They’ve also called in a few guest appearances to add a few more colours to the tonal palette. More about that later.
Of the ten tracks on ‘One Foot in the Groove’, only two are originals, Randy Jacobs’ ‘Powerful Notions’ which closes the album and the Jacobs/Jenny Langer co-write, ‘Big Legged Man’. The remainder are mainly lesser-known songs, with the exception of The Stones’ ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’. They’re delivered in soul/blues/funk stylings that seem to be almost effortless because of the quality of the musicians involved. These guys can play.
‘Ain’t Got the Fever No More’ is a good example of the type of song covered on the album. The song was written by Steven Van Zandt for Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes’ second album ‘This Time It’s for Real’. The Boneshakers stick to the mid-tempo shuffle of the original but take it in a more bluesy direction. This may be a coincidence, it may not, but former Juke and E Street Band trumpet player Mark Pender guests on this song along with Joe Sublett of the Texicali Horns. The other guest appearance is by Stones’ backing singer Bernard Fowler on ‘I Forgot to Be Your Lover’ and, of course, ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’. Let’s not forget Was (Not Was) legend Sir Harry Bowens, who appears on half of the songs on the album.
The album’s opener sets the tone for what’s to come. ‘Mr Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore’ is built around a slow groove with funky guitar, horns and Hammond and Jenny Langer’s raw vocal. From here on in, the funk runs through the album whether it’s blues (‘Big Legged Man’), soul (‘I Forgot to be Your Lover’) or jazz-tinged (‘Powerful Notions’). The combination of smooth playing and powerful vocals makes this an album that’s impossible to ignore. Turn it up to eleven.
‘One Foot in the Groove’ is out now on Take it to The Bridge Records.
Here’s a quick snippet from the ‘Making of…’ video for the album:
The timing of this piece could not have been better. Dean Owens has had a great year, which has just been crowned by the announcement earlier today that he has won not one, but two, Americana UK awards. ‘Sinner’s Shrine’ has been voted UK Americana album of the year and Dean has been voted UK Americana Act of the Year. Both awards are well-deserved and couldn’t have gone to a nicer guy. So, over to Dean.
In no particular order:
The new Calexico album – ‘El Mirador’
There’s some cracking stuff on this record. Their first since Joey Burns moved away from Tucson. It very much sounds like a love letter to that city and the Sonoran Desert.
An Ian Rankin mention
Finding out that Ian Rankin had written me into the new Rebus book – ‘A Heart Full of Headstones’. Rebus is listening to my new album ‘Sinner’s Shrine’ in his car. Very cool indeed.
Kirsten Adamson album
Hearing the mixes of the new Kirsten Adamson album ‘Landing Place’, which comes out in February. I had the privilege of producing this lovely album and hearing one of our co-writes, the beautiful ‘Father’s Songs’, was a special moment.
‘Sinner’s Shrine’
I have to be a bit selfish here and say that finally seeing the release of ‘Sinner’s Shrine’ in 2022 was a big deal for me. This album means so much to me. To be able to make this record with one of my favourite bands, Calexico, in Tucson, was one of the thrills of my life.
Playing Edinburgh Castle
This was a truly amazing moment for me. Edinburgh Castle is one of the biggest shows you can play in Scotland. An amazing backdrop for a gig. I was invited to open for Texas. A night to remember.
Happy New Year everyone.
Graeme Wheatley is a songwriter and bass player with band Color Colour and he’s made a few contributions to High Fives in previous years. I think we’ll just leave Graeme to set the scene for this one (by the way there is a bit of creative swearing):
Sitting in the New Cross House the other night with Allan McKay talking about the year in review, cos we are eminent Victorian scholars, I was again struck by how many gigs he’d been to, how many new artists he’d seen and would recommend and his undiminished enthusiasm for all things music and in particular live music. Pretty much the opposite of me! Once again, due to a bundle of things, I’ve not really had my gig going head hands and feet on and so I have to once again cast around for other things to yabber on about in my High 5 blog. But what? Last year it was 5 best music related Christmas presents, previous years include 5 best cover versions and 5 fav lyrics as we stumbled through the covid years. Now, I’m lost for words.
So that’s it then, words. 5 words wot i like.
A couple of these have only appeared to me this year, so I guess it’s got half a valid reason for being here. And we can’t ask for more than that…
1. The Laughing Cavalier.
Now, these words are all known to me. As is the painting, the artist and the location of the painting. You can go see the chap yourself, he’s upstairs in The Wallace Collection, Manchester Square, just off Oxford Street. However, I didn’t know the history of how he got here and how he got his name. Sir Richard Wallace bought the painting in or around 1870 when he was in Paris during the siege of Paris. Dunno if he was a communard but he did fund the installation of drinking fountains in the city to provide the people with water.
Anyways, he brought Mr Hals painting back to London as part of his gallery he was creating. The gallery was to be bequeathed to the nation and to be free to all. In order to get things sorted, he shipped all the paintings off to Bethnal Green where they were available for viewing in a temporary gallery by the local chirpy chappy cockneys while the gallery was refurbished.
At this time, the painting was known as “Unknown gentleman, aged 26”. But the cockneys are a creative, inventive and clever bunch of wordy wordsmiths and immediately christened the chap The Laughing Cavalier.
Now, my bit. It occurs to me, cockneys are most famous for their rhyming slang and there’s a certain nonchalant smirky twinkle in the chap’s eyes, his ruff is in full plumage and the embroidery on his doublet is of very, very fine detail. I just think the cockneys took one look at him and coined the phrase Laughing Cavalier in much the same way as they use Lillian Gish (fish), Amber Heard (turd), Rees Mogg (utter spunktrumpetting cockwomble). I might be wrong, but I might not care.
2 & 3. Meccano
Back in the day, Meccano was the toy of the year. The Buzz Lightyear of that moment. Every kid wanted a box for Christmas. It was imported from the USA and displayed in Hamley’s available in two sizes. The first box was Box Standard. The good citizens of London immediately christened this Bog Standard.
The second box was Box Deluxe. and again, within seconds, this became Dog’s Bollox.
Genius.
Mainly, genius cos I have no idea why Dog’s Bollox means something great, but it does. If someone says to you “it’s the dogs” or “it’s the bollox” you know its great. Just the same as you know if someone says “that’s bollox” that it’s rubbish!
4. Teddington
Not rhyming slang, stop trying to think of something that rhymes with Teddington, it’s not worth the effort.
Back in medieval times and onwards, until probably the 19th century, the life of London was dictated for many by the river. The Thames is tidal. When people worked up and down the city they timed their trips by the tide. When it came in, they went up west. When it went out, they went east. The Thames is a tidal river all the way up to Teddington, or Tiding-Turn. Isn’t that a lovely bit of language?
I’m a big fan of new words coming into existence or being twisted into new use and it’s great to see it happened way back in 13th Century too. Of course, in the current climate, new words have a rather topically down beat tinge – warmbank – library or similar provided by the council to keep people warm during the cost of living crisis and thriftifarians – rich people who pretend to be economising when they don’t need to so as to appear part of the affected as opposed to part of the effecters (ie – tories).
5. Elephant & Castle
We have been welcoming Spanish people to London for many years, despite what Iago Banet says. But he does have a point when he complains about being called Llargo, Jargo, Frodo, Draco et al. Sometimes we struggle to get our coarse tongues around the llanguage – in his case, despite Shakespeare naming one of his most cruel and cunning villains after Mr Banet. Quite how Will knew Iago was going to be such a villain is a source of amazement – but he had Will Power – he was a clever bastard as Ian Dury might have said. Or Jan Deténgase might have said.
Something similar happened back in the 12th or 13th century – I forget which – it happened so quickly. The King, let’s call him Richard 11 – was contracted to marry a Spanish princess as was the norm in those days, pre tinder. She was shipped over and parked herself just outside of London to get herself cleaned up and all Magaluf-ed (waxed, oiled, full MOT etc). This took some 9 months and in that period a small settlement was founded in the area of locals all employed in the aforementioned buffing.
The locals, much like those of today who struggle with Iago, couldn’t get their tongues around The Infanta of Castile (even if she was in the mood), so they called the area Elephant and Castle.
Don’t tell me it isn’t true. It is in my mind – and that’s good enough!
Next year, I’m going to get out to more gigs, plays, films, events. festivals and raves and I’ll have something to report, including the return of ColorColour. Honest.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah
Sinter Klaas
