My friend Colleen can’t stand Willie Nelson which may be why her husband Jens loves him so much. I’ve always admired him but the records of his that I’ve got out from the library have always disappointed.

Then I heard a track of his on the Phil Jupitus breakfast show which had me instantly searching for it on ebay. Turns out to be an album called Songbird (2006) a collection of covers thats produced by Ryan Adams with his band ‘The Cardinals’ as Willies backing band. The title track (a Fleetwood Mac song) is just to die for!

songbird

Why does it take a young upstart to get involved with such legends before the masses (like myself) take note? Perhaps us indie kids need something to get us past the established image in order to actually listen?

Uncut championed Ryan Adams first solo LP Heartbreaker in 2000. I got it on their recommendation and it became an instant favourite amongst the Leeds gang. I dont usually buy what mags tell you (they invariably disappoint) however, the opening track had been on the free Uncut CD for that month. In the intro to Winding Wheel theres an argument about which Mozzer LP Suedehead had come from and that swayed me.

ryan adams

Come Pick Me Up must rank amongst the best break up records ever committed to vinyl steal all my records, screw all my friends I was impressed enough to get the Strangers Almanac LP (1997) by his band Whiskeytown which contains the wonderful Everything I DoNOT the same song as (Everything I Do) I Do It For You by Bryan Adams

ryan adams

His next solo LP Gold (2001) sounded quite different commercial and familiar from the first play. New York, New York and Firecracker are breezy wondrous slices of pop the sound of an artist breaking into his stride. Our pal Morgan could belt out a mean version of Rescue Blues at the time. Its since been slagged off for being MOR/revisionist/unoriginal – but I still stand by it I dare you not to like it!

ryan adams

2001 also saw the last Whiskeytown LP Pneumonia a strangely subdued LP and not a patch on their other stuff..maybe its a grower and I havent given it time.however since writing this Ive listened to it another few times and it hasnt grown yet..

ryan adams

Demolition (2002) was an album of 10 quick demos with the raucous Nuclear and bitchy Cry On Demand that showed expensive production wasnt needed. Hes a prolific songwriter, releasing one or two albums a year since (in fact there were 3 of them in 2003) with tons of tracks on each. He also has a reputation for the varying quality of his live appearances, but as I havent seen him live I cant comment on that one.

Rubin and Cash, White and Lynn, Adams and Nelsonyou know it makes sense!

Bob The Chiropodist 2006

The first time I bought the excellent Uncut magazine was in 1998 when there was New Order on the cover and a free CD of Alternative Country Americana. It was an area I knew precious little about, apart from a Long Ryders LP (as heard on Kershaw) and some Flying Burrito Brothers tracks on a compilation tape Way out west of Kirkstall from my mate Tim Gough – Where are you Tim?

The free CD Songs from the new west was excellent with loads of names that, now common place, were unknown to me at the time – Calexico, Vic Chestnut, William Oldham

Calexico take their name from a Mexican border town and their track The Ballad of Cable Hogue sounded like a distillation of that place great stuff.

I wrote to Calexico after hearing them in session on Peel early in 1999 – I loved the story that their early recordings were done on an answering machine and wrote to ask if they were available. Joey Burns replied ..
Calexico 2calexico 1

I had the great pleasure of seeing Calexico at the Leeds Festival (August 2000). It turned into one of the best gigs Ive been to, in a criminally under attended tent Oasis could still pull a big crowd in those days. The wonderful Mojave 3 (if you havent got their Out of Tune CD shame on you!) and the bizarre Dirty 3 played that night too. Calexico however stole the show with their amazing Mariachi band who transported us all from West Yorkshire to South of the boarder, the atmosphere was electric.

If you were looking for a place to start, the track that sums up their sound for me is The Crystal Frontier all pulsating guitars and Mexican horns .wonderful. Burns and Convertino have been involved in many a quality band in the past too including Howe Gelbs Giant Sand (loads of free stuff available from http://www.giantsand.com) and the ABBC Tete a tete CD.

The Ballad of Cable Hogue is available on Hot Rail
Crystal Frontier is available on Even My Sure Things Fall Through


Posted in Miscellania, News | 1 Comment

One definition of ‘Americana’ is “The culture of America” but in musical terms it has become the label for ‘Alternative’ country music…..ie not Nashville cheese or line dancing rhinestone excess.

With excellent magazines like Mojo, Uncut and The Word offering ‘free’ CDs on a monthly basis there’s an opportunity to be introduced to stuff you wouldn’t normally listen to. I say ‘free’ but the mags aren’t cheap – and if you’re like me, you invariably hear something you like and end up spending a fortune.

You’d be forgiven for passing them by on the newsagents shelf (“Oh look there’s the Beatles/Dylan/Who/Springsteen/REM/U2/Oasis on the cover again”) but I’m here to encourage you to take a dip in unchartered waters…….

The summer of 1976 was very long and very hot, I was 12 years old. I had spent most of the summer playing cricket and generally lounging around, a friend of mine Steve Page offered me the chance of either listening to the best of the Everleys or the strangely entitled ‘changesonebowie’. I think it must have been the art work but I chose the Bowie album.

The songs on the album seemed magical, mysterious the cover was simple but still unique to any thing I had seen and that was it I was and still am a Bowie fan.

Living in a pigeon hole can be difficult and at times restricting but I wouldnt change a thing, I soon began to collect the back catalogue and read and found out as much as possible. This was a time when the music press consisted of the NME and Melody Maker, the only music television was TOTPS and The old grey whistle test.

After leaving school me Pagey, Dins, and Greeny headed for PiPs, the club had 9 dance floors two of which were set aside for Bowie and Roxy Music. The music played at the club introduced me to Simple Minds, Talking Heads , Joy Division the very gothic Bauhaus, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground were in there, Banshees , the god fathers of house and trance Kraftwerk and even the easily forgotten Fad Gadget.

I first got to see Bowie in West Germany in 1983, although the first time is always special looking back bowie had entered one of the most successful periods in his career but also his most soulless, the Serious Moonlight tour followed by the glass spider tour was bowies spinal tap period.

The last ten years for bowie has seen him gain a lot more of his credibility, he has come to terms with his songs he can now just stand and deliver them for what they are , classic songs.

Listening to Bowie has taken me to a lot of places, PiPs and pernod, wearing 18 peg canary yellow pants, braces, cloud nine and legends on a Thursday night, lous frontroom, dancing in nightclubs in Cologne the night before a gig only to be told he was playing in Bochum 60 miles away, a night in Milton Keynes bus station, the front page of the Manchester evening news queuing for live aid tickets, the Hacienda, the night in a car park in Milton Keynes, the 91 bus, pneumonia at Old Trafford, bootlegs, the bbc radio theatre, tinternet , hair dye and quims.

Alice Cooper was my Gran