What can I say about this era of Fleetwood Mac that has not been said before. Absolutely nothing so I will be brief. There is a reason why this era of the band is so well known. They sold an absolute ton of records and put out Rumours, the only classic album to have been produced whilst the band members were partaking in liberal amounts of cocaine. The classic era dates from 1975 when Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined. This line up was also the most stable in the bands history, which is surprising considering the collapse of two of the relationships that band members were in, and then two having an affair and the aforementioned drugs. How they produced anything at all, let along five albums of at worse, pretty good to at best, absolutely classic music is beyond me.
Like the first compilation of Mac material, this era had so much quality music that I put together a CD set. I didn’t finish in 1987 when Lindsey Buckingham left, but with the album that signalled the end of the band as regular recording act in ‘Behind The Mask’. This is not classic Mac, but still competent enough for inclusion here. I gave the next album after this a listen, but the ‘Time’ record is just awful. It doesn’t help that drummer Mick Fleetwood felt it was time to include a seven minute spoken word piece to see it off. Buckingham would return, and go again (or fired depending on your point of view). Nicks and Christine McVie would go and come back, but behind the ever rotating members up front are the bedrock of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. The rhythm section has pretty much been the same since day one (apart from stop gap bass player Bob Brunning from the very early days). Fleetwood Mac is now just a touring band with attempts to record a new record coming to nothing since 2003s ‘Say You Will’. I’d moved on by this point but I will always have a soft spot for the Mac as they were the first band I really got into as it were. I love the music and how they managed to survive after Peter Green left, and then come back even stronger is a testament to great song writing and great playing. For that, I say thank you. Enjoy.
It has been pretty much a year since I had a look at the early years of Fleetwood Mac, so it was about time that I had a look at their career after founder member and legendary guitar, Peter Green, left the band.
In my post from August 2020, I lamented that the blues era of the band had been poorly served by compilers of the groups archive. If I thought that the Peter Green era of Fleetwood Mac has been poorly served by the endless reissuing of only the most successful tracks from time or poorly research archive compilations, well, the next era is a virtual desert. When Peter Green left Fleetwood Mac, the band continued to make records and tour but without the blues guitar hero up front, the sound began to change from blues, to rock, to soft rock. Between 1970 and 1974, Fleetwood Mac released an album a year but from the 2018 50 Years Anniversary Compilation, you would hardly now it.
On the 1 disc set which I suspect was designed to appeal to the casual buyer did not contain a single song from this era. In fact, only three songs from the twenty on the disc came form the Peter Green Era. On the three disc set, only disc one covered the first seven and most productive (in terms of releases) period of the band. With seventeen songs to cover this period, nine songs are from this forgotten second era which is not bad and the majority were single edits that I had never heard before. Nice touch but it really shows where the band through the money is as the rest of the set is from 1975 onwards. For the average Mac fan, this is most probably all they know. All of the Reprise label releases from 1969-1974 were released in a box set in 2020, but the lack of unreleased songs, be it in the studio or live was noticeable. This is a shame as this second era from contained its fair share of top notch songs.
Mac kicked things off in the 70s by releasing the ‘Kiln House’ album and this is the weakest of this era’s records. It is a band trying to find their feet after their leading light and driving force left. It is not a great album, but it does have some good playing and a couple of good songs. As if losing one founder member wasn’t enough, by the time the next album came out, Jeremy Spencer had also left. This is where they drafted in the guitar playing who would play on all of the remaining albums throughout this era and who’s departure in 1974 would lead to Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joining the band.
This man was Bob Welch and ‘Future Games’ was the first album he appeared on. This album is one, possibly two songs away from being a lost classic. It is also as far from the blues as you can get and it is not a surprise that the band lost a lot of their key UK audience around this period. Who wants to listen to soft rock with a sunshine Californian jazzy feel that came courtesy of American Welsh? Not the bands British fan base at any rate. The same line up continued on to the next album, ‘Bare Trees’ which also contained Welsh’s signature song, ‘Sentimental Lady’ which became a top ten US hit when he recorded a solo version in 1977. For Danny Kirwan though, this would be the end of the road. He had struggled since Peter Green left and his drinking had become a problem. After one too many incidents of erratic behaviour, Kirwan was out and the band regrouped with ex Savoy Brown singer Dave Walker and guitar player for hire Bob Weston coming in.
The band’s next album, ‘Penguin’ is not a great album with a pretty pedestrian cover of I’m A Road Runner making up the numbers. Penguin is notable for having a brief appearance by Peter Green on the song Nightwatch. At the time, this was the first Mac record to make any headway in the US, even though is did nothing in the UK. Walker did not last long as the band were not ready for a front person who didn’t play a guitar or keyboards and he was gone by the time the sessions for their next album which was called ‘Mystery To Me’. This was an improvement on the previous record and continued with the trend of their early 70s albums to do reasonably well in the US, but not in the UK. However, band harmony didn’t last long as it was found that Bob Weston was having an affair with Mick Fleetwood’s wife. The tour fell apart and Clifford Davis, the band’s manager sent a fake Mac on the road claiming he owned the band name. This fake Mac would end up changing their name to Stretch and release a number of records of their own.
After a suggestion from Welch, the band relocated to the US and have pretty much stayed there ever since. The recorded their first US based album and it was called ‘Heroes Are Hard To Find’. Even though the album was the first Mac album to break into the US top 40, Welch felt it was time to move on. He felt that he had given all he could to the band and with his marriage failing, he moved on to pastures new.
I was pleasantly surprised to find all of these songs on Spotify, especially as their were quite a number of songs from the Peter Green era that meant I could not create a play list on the platform. These compilations CD show a band in transition, but there is enough good songs in here to show that these albums are unduly being ignored with a lack of deluxe reissues. Bizarrely, all of the albums Danny Kirwan was on were given a Vinyl Box Set reissue in 2013 but apart from the addition of the single Oh Well (Parts 1 & 2) was the only bonus track. There have been a rare occasion when this era does get a compilation, this normally throws in a couple of rare or unreleased studio cuts with a load of live tracks. Why not put out some deluxe editions record label? Come on Warner Brothers Records, you can do better than this. The label was not swallowed up by Universal so the bands archives did not catch fire in 2008 so surely there is more in the archive?
This era might be the bridge between the blues era and the multi million dollar selling soft rock behemoth but it does show how the band went from one to the other. So for now here is, to my mind anyway, the best of the years 1970-74. Enjoy.
As there has been a couple of episodes of the podcast looking at the later years of Eric Clapton’s career, I thought it was time to have a look at one fo the seminal bands he appeared with during his early career.
Ah Cream, one of the first supergroups. Famous for the inventing the power trio, their proficiency with their instruments, their extended solos and producing some the greatest music of all time. The existence of the band was always going to be a limited affair due to volatile nature of the relationship between bassist (plus loads of other instruments) Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. Having played together in a previous band, Baker and Bruce had been known for their quarrelling, on stage fights and damaging one another’s instruments. Baker had had Bruce fired and Bruce only stopped turning up for gigs after Baker had threatened him with a knife. It was Clapton though who wanted Bruce in as he had played with him in John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. Even though Bruce and Baker were reluctant, they decided to put their differences aside and took they name, Cream. The individual members did have reputations at the time as being the best around but taking that sort of name still meant they had to prove it.
The band initially played a tight set but soon expanded the songs they were playing, mostly down to the fact that initially they did not have much in the way of original material. It was also agreed that the band would split songwriting duties between them and that Bruce would be the main vocalist. Fresh Cream, the band’s first album clearly shows this as both Baker and Bruce contributed material, but Bruce sang all the lead vocal parts except on Four Units Late, which Clapton sang. Clapton was not very confident about singing at this stage and as far as I can tell, not written any original material. Out of all of the albums Cream produced, Fresh Cream could be argued to be the most focused. The songs are mostly blues based and to the point even though the beginnings of the extended jam material can be seen here with the inclusion of Spoonful and Toad, both of which clock in at over 5 minutes each. The first two singles were also not included on this album, the rock classic I Feel Free and the ‘are you sure that is Cream’ debut record, Wrapping Paper.
Disraeli Gears, the second effort is most probably their most famous record. With its memorable sleeve and including such classics as Sunshine of Your Love, it is let down by two of the weakest efforts in the band’s catalogue. Blue Condition and Mother’s Lament. When a box set and deluxe edition of this album came out, there were a number of songs that had been demoed for this album but these were not put on the record because the record label thought of them as uncommercial. Surely a song needs to be good, not just commercial? The majority of the music for this compilation comes from these two albums, and they are the best. After this, the standard of the music on the LPs in my opinions diminishes somewhat.
Wheels on Fire did include the classic White Room, but after that, the original material is possibly a bit too experimental, or just not good enough for me. The live album suffers from the same problem that most records of that nature suffer from, in that a three piece has a big hole in the sound once the lead guitar player goes for a solo. There are also limitations in what you can do with a three piece, and when it sounds like all of them are taking a solo at the same time, it is no wonder that they turned the sound up so they could hear themselves. Goodbye sounds as though it was knocked out to fulfil their contract, with each member supplying a song each and the rest of the record containing more live material of songs released on their previous albums. This album also included Badge, a song that would would become one of the bands most famous pieces but was not included on here as I don’t like it.
This is the problem I have with Cream. They have a great reputation and can be said to be one of the precursors for heavy rock/metal, but for a band with such a great reputation, their recording legacy does not quite match up. Yes, they produced some classic songs which are still played on the radio today, but there was so many that were not very good. There is also their reputation as a live act, which I have also struggled with. I bought all of the live recordings up to a point but after a while, the constant soloing can become quite hard to listen to . When they got it right, as shown here by the covers of Steppin’ Out and Crossroads, they were great. Most of the time, it was just too self indulgent for my tastes. However, there was enough material for me to compile a CD and I am sure there will be those that will disagree with this playlist and feel other songs should have been included, or that I have been a bit harsh on their live reputation, but its just my opinion folks.
Wrapping Paper
I Feel Free
N.S.U.
Cat’s Squirrel
Four Until Late
Dreaming
Rollin’ & Tumblin’
Strange Brew
Sunshine Of Your Love
Steppin’ Out
Crossroads
World Of Pain
Dance The Night Away
Tales Of Brave Ulysses
White Room
Born Under A Bad Sign
The Coffee Song
SWLABR
Outside Woman Blues
Take It Back
I’m So Glad
Doing The Scrapyard Thing
Deserted Cities Of The Heart
What A Bringdown
The cover is taken from https://www.redbubble.com/shop/cream+band+posters
Here on the third volume of my Under The Influence Series, the theme is once again 60’s soul but we have moved later into the decade with some songs coming from the early 70’s.
Disc 1
Sweet Soul Music – Arthur Conley
In The Midnight Hour – Wilson Pickett
Do The Funky Chicken – Rufus Thomas
I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown
A Certain Girl – Ernie K-Doe
Mojo Hannah – Little Esther Phillips
See Saw – Don Covay & The Goodtimers
I’ve Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do) – Eddie Floyd
Walk On By – Dionne Warwick
I’d Rather Go Blind – Etta James
I Was Made To Love Her – Stevie Wonder
25 Miles – Edwin Starr
Ain’t To Proud To Beg – The Temptations
Memphis Soul Stew – King Curtis
(Love Is Like A) Heatwave – Martha & The Vandellas
Shop Around – The Miracle
I Thank You – Sam & Dave
You Can’t Hurry Love – The Supremes
Land Of 1000 Dances – Wilson Pickett
Respect – Aretha Franklin
Mr. Pitiful – Otis Redding
Heaven Must Have Have Sent You – The Elgins
Wonderful World – Sam Cooke
Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever – The Four Tops
Lonely Lover – Marvin Gaye
You’re No Good – Betty Everette
Under The Boardwalk – The Drifters
You Don’t Miss Your Water – William Bell
I Don’t Know What You’re Got (But It’s Not Me) Parts 1 & 2
I have a real soft spot for music that came out in the Psychedelic Years of 1966-1969, and when I first getting into ‘it’, I only thought that this sort of music was produced in the UK and USA. A little digging though on the surface, it wasn’t hard to discover that the rest of the world wasn’t that far behind. I covered this topic in Episode 80 and 81 of the my podcast under the title of ‘Mundo Psych’. Those shows only scratched the service of what there was, and so this month I present Volume 1 in a more comprehensive look at this genre from around the world.
Some of these songs could be argued to be bordering on Progressive Rock, but this works well as a compilation and a genre label is pretty loose anyway.
Disc 1
Same – McCully Workshop Inc.
I Wonder Who – Aguaturbia
Hang Out – The Kaleidoscope (Mexico)
Hop Dedik – Erol Buyukburc
Dark Thoughts – New Dawn
People – Ladies W.C.
Turkuz Turku Cagiririz (Sur Efem Atini) – Mahzar Ve Faut
Quero Companheira – Rubinho E Mauro Assumpção
Sweet Sixteen – Ros Sereysothea
A Madman’s Cry – Otis Waygood
Lenon Blues – Three Souls In My Mind
Run & Hide – Speed, Glue & Shinki
Yesterday – Lightyears Away – Astral Navigation
Magic Colours – Teddy Robin & The Playboys
En Medio De La Lluvia – La Revolución De Emiliano Zapata
Glória Ao Rei Nos Confins Do Além – Os Mutantes
Así Serás – Congreso
Spring – Kim Jung Mi
The Evening Sun – Shin Jung-Hyeon & There Men
Foto De Primera Comunión – Los Jaivas
Disc 2
Toward The Sunlight – Kim Jung Mi
Hermano Perro – Almendra
Sniffin’ & Snortin’ Part 2 (Vitamin C) – Speed, Glue & Shinki
Inferno No Mundo – Bango
Sen Varson – Bulent Ortacgil & Benimle Oynar Misin
Walderez Walderea – Flavio Kurt
Inento N°.2 – Antorcha
Tatli Dillum – Cem Karaca & Kardaslar Apaslar
E.V.O.L. – Aguaturbia
Planetario – Geraldo Azevedo
Parque Industrial – Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes & Caetano Veloso
Cuando Era Nio – Los Ovnis
Vous – Michel Pagliaro
Une Petite Fille – Empreintes
No Mundo Da Lua – Rubinho E Mauro Assumpçao
Valley Of Sadness – The Third Eye
Los Pajaros – Kissing Spell
Beautiful Rivers & Mountains – Shin Joong Hyun & The Men
Michael Of Hair – Tokedashita Garasu Baku
Towards The Sunlight (Reprise) – Kim Jung Mi
Some of these songs have had a bit of an edit in places. A intro taken off here, and outro edited down there. The biggest edit is to Kim Jung Mi’s song ‘Towards The Sunlight’. I took the coda from the song and used is as the last song on Disc 2. It sounded better there than as the end of the opening song.
The title for this compilation comes from a CD released back in 2011 of the same name. It was a Various Artists disc looking at the music scene in Pernambuco, and area in northeast Brazil that had its own thriving music scene outside of the hubs of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The cover is also adapted from that compilation as well.
With a new Tom Jones having dropped onto my doorstep (six years after his previous effort, which is far too long in my opinion considering the albums that went into making this this playlist were absolutely fantastic), I thought it was time to offer up a playlist of the great mans work. Now, Mr Jones has been a recording artist since 1964 and like any artist that has been recording as long as he has, there are going to be some duds in there with the gold. But what gold I would have had to choose from. His stellar A-Sides such as ‘Green, Grass of Home’, ‘Delilah’ and the immortal ‘It’s Not Unusual’. I could have looked deep cuts such as his first single ‘Chills & Fever’ or an overlooked B-Side such as ‘Looking Out My Window’ with a drum break that has been sampled numerous times. There was the resurrection of his career in the late 80s as well as the classic ‘Reload’ album for 1999. Even records from the wilderness years of the mid to late 70s have their nuggets included, but it is with the albums that Jones has released since 2010 that have inspired this playlist.
2010 saw Jones leave the hair and beard dye at home, and come back with an album of blues and gospel songs called ‘Praise & Blame’ Before the album came out, David Sharpe, who was the Vice-President of Jones’ record label thought the album was a joke and wanted “to get my money back”. Showing that the people who run record labels don’t necessarily know a good thing when they hear it, the LP reached Number 2 in the UK album charts and make headway in other markets around the world. Jones seems to be in his element. The production is stripped back and it allows the songs to breath as well showing the power in Jones’ voice has not diminished over time. He followed this up this up with ‘Spirit In The Room’, which cast its net a bit wider when it came to the songs as this included material from his contemporaries such as Paul Simon, Paul McCartney and Leonard Cohen. A third album in this style followed in 2015 in the shape of ‘Long Lost Suitcase’ and it is from these three that this playlist comes from. I do hope we do not have to wait another six years for the next Tom Jones album.
What Good Am I?
Burning Hell
Lord Help
Take My Love (I Want To Give it)
Honey, Honey (With Imelda May)
Love & Blessings
Soul Of A Man
Elvis Presley Blues
Did Trouble Me
Opportunity To Cry
He Was A Friend of Mine
Tower Of Song
Run On
Don’t Knock
I Wish You Would
Factory Girl
Ain’t No Grave
Didn’t It Rain
All Blues Hail Mary
If I Give My Soul
Charlie Darwin
Strange Things
I picked the title for this playlist as “Praise & Blame’ because it was a great cover and sums up perfectly the music contained within. The cover is the same as the original LP.
After compiling Volume 2 earlier, this month, I found that I had enough songs to complete another set. Like Volume 2, this kicks off with a cover of “Gotta Get Up’. After that, there is a mix of songs Nilsson wrote but didn’t always record a version of himself. These include songs from before he signed his contract with RCA such as ‘A Travellin’ Man’ and ‘Paradise’ as wells many recorded afterwards. There is the other side of the single that Kenny Everett released (with the first being included on Vol.2) as well as more performances by The Turtles and Jimmy Cross. George Tipton, Nilsson’s arranger on his early records makes another appearance but there is also room for a novelty recording such as the version of ‘Without Her’ by Telly Savalas. The disc finishes with a special bonus in that it contains the song ‘Little More Rain’ from the ‘New Nilsson Songs’ demo album. As of now, no one has been able to find out who the singer is.
Once again, unlike Ace Record, I do not have access to the original tapes so some of these have been taken from vinyl transfers, so please excuse the pops etc. The sleeve is similar in style to the Ace Records volume. The differences being that I could not match the original font and there are no dates under the title. I decided that that was unnecessary as this was meant to highlight Nilsson songs throughout the years. Its not really the covers you are here for though, but the music. Well, that is top notch. Enjoy!
Gotta Get Up – Marty Finkel
Everybody Philly – The Citations
Maybe – Labi Siffre
1941 – Joel Grey
It’s Been So Long – Kenny Everett
Me & My Arrow – Davy Jones
Wailing Of The Willow – Liza Minnelli
Remember (Christmas) – Johnny Mathis
Countin’ – Mike Clifford
Don’t Leave Me – Robert John
I Guess The Lord Must be In New York City – The New Yorkers
Chicken Track – Jimmie Cross
The Story Of Rock ’n’ Roll – The Turtles
The Puppy Song – David Cassidy
Open Your Window – George Tipton
One – Chris Clark
All My Life – The Walkmen (feat. Allesanora Mario)
Back in 2017, Ace Records released a wonderful collection dedicated to Harry Nilsson, the songwriter, not the performer. The collection was a curious mix of the well known (The Monkees), the family member (his daughter Annie Nilsson) and the down right obscure (Jimmie Cross). The album sleeve said that all of the songs came from 1965-1972, and then opened with a song recorded in 2013. Oh well. That is a bit of nit picking on my part, but Ace Records did a really good job with this compilation as it made some of the pre fame singles that I had only ever heard on scratchy vinyl transfer, available in crystal clear sound for what could have been the first time.
As Nilsson has had his songs covered by a myriad of artists that were not covered by this compilation, I thought I would see if there was enough material to make a volume 2. What I found is there was indeed enough for not only a second volume, but a third as well. I decided to try and follow the template of the original compilation as close as I can, starting the disc with a cover of the song ‘Gotta Get Up’. This is not one of Nilsson’s most covered songs but luckily there were two additional covers I could use. Both discs contain 24 songs and once again, they feature a mix of well known artists as well as the obscure. These include Hugo Montenegros’s rather bizarre cover of ‘Me & My Arrow’; a song from The Walkman, who decided to cover the entire ‘Pussy Cats’ album and are a couple of novelty covers from The Muppets and British DJ Kenny Everett (who on this occasion, plays it quite straight).
Unlike Ace Record, I do not have access to the original tapes so some of these have been taken from vinyl transfers, so please excuse the pops etc. The sleeve is similar in style to the Ace Records volume. The differences being that I could not match the original font and there are no dates under the title. I decided that that was unnecessary as this was meant to highlight Nilsson songs throughout the years. Its not really the covers you are here for though, but the music. Well, that is top notch. Enjoy!
Gotta Get Up – Davy Jones & Mickey Dolenz
Rainmaker – Bobbie Gentry
All For The Beatles (Stand Up & Holler) – The Originals
The Battle Of The Bands – The Turtles
Daddy’s Song – The Casuals
Baby, It’s Over – Debbie Burton
Wailing Of The Willow – Astrid Gilberto
Me & My Arrow – Hugo Montenegro
Super-Dupa Man – Jimmie Cross
Nobody Cares About The Railroads Anymore – George Tipton
Sister Sue – The Soul Men
So Proud Of You – Vivian Roberts
I’d Do It All Again – Dore Alpert
Readin’ Ridin’ & Racin’ – The Super Stocks
Open Your Window – Ella Fitzgerald
Don’t Leave Me – Griffin
One – Three Dog Night
Coconut – The Muppets
Without Her – Kenny Everett
Maybe – Barbra Streisand
Chicago – The Citations
Headlines – The Sunday Funnies
Paradise – The Ronettes
I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City – Sagittarius
Here on the second volume of my Under The Influence Series, the theme is 60’s soul with a smattering of songs that would later become known as Northern Soul.
Disc 1
Seven Days Too Long – Chuck Wood
Sliced Tomatoes – Just Brothers
Tainted Love – Gloria Jones
Losing Boy – Eddie Giles
Wade In The Water – Ramsey Lewis Trio
Bring Your Love Back – Linda Lyndell
Sister Lee – Sam Ward
(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher – Jackie Wilson
Do You Love Me – The Contours
Money (That’s What I Want) – Barrett Strong
You Keep Me Hanging On – The Supremes
The Girl Across The Street – Moses Smith
Nothing Can Help You Now – Lenny Curtis
I’ll Do Anything (He Wants Me To) – Doris Troy
Jimmy Mack – Martha & The Vandellas
This Old Heart of Mine – The Isley Brothers
Try It Baby – Marvin Gaye
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love – Soloman Burke
Helpless – Kim Weston
Uptight (Everything’s Alright) – Stevie Wonder
Leaving Here – Eddie Holland
Cool Jerk – The Capitols
Lonely, Lonely Girl Am I – The Velvelettes
Going To A Go-Go – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
How Sweet IS It To Be Loved by You – Jr. Walker & The All Stars
Put Yourself In My Place – The Elgins
Every Little Bit Hurts – Brenda Holloway
Time Is On My Side – Irma Thomas
Disc 2
Moonlight, Music & You – Laura Greene
Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) – Frank Wilson
Soul Time – Shirley Ellis
The Snake – Al Wilson
Bari Track – Doni Burdick
Out On The Floor – Dobie Gray
You Don’t Love Me – Epitome Of Sound
Just A Little Misunderstanding – The Contours
A Lot Of Love – Homer Banks
Long After Tonight Is All Over – Jimmy Radcliffe
Time Will Pass You By – Tobi Legend
Lonely For You Baby –Sam Dees
Come On Train – Don Thomas
Girls Are Out To Get You – The Fascinations
You Shook Me Up – Roy Hamilton
Get Ready – The Miracles
Landslide – Tony Clarke
Hit & Run – Rose Batiste
Breakin’ Down The Walls Of Heartache – The Bandwagon
Looking For You – Garnet Mimms
Here I Go Again – Archie Bell & The Drells
1-2-3 – Len Barry
He Was Really Saying Something – The Velvelettes
Come See About Me – The Supremes
There’s Nothing Else To Say – The Incredibles
Get Out Of Life Woman – Lee Dorsey
Whatcha Gonna Do About It – Doris Troy
Cry Baby – Garnet Mimms & The Encharters
Big Bird – Eddie Floyd
Everything’s Gonna Be Alright – P.P. Arnold
A playlist for this complication could not be produced due to one or more songs not being available on Spotify.
I have tried listening to records by BIlly Bragg and Wilco released without each other, but there was something about them that meant they were never quite made my shopping list. However, I was quite surprised when listening to Bob Geldof on XFM that a song came on which I instantly fell in love with. This was 1998 so I hoped that he would say who the artist was at the end of the record because this was before the internet had really caught on so if I missed it, there was no way I could look it up afterwards to find out who it was. To my (pleasant) surprise, he said that it was Billy Bragg and Wilco. My interest was peaked.
Going a local record shop (these existed in 1998) and buying the CD (this wasn’t released on vinyl in the UK at that time), I gave it a spin and fell in love with it. The limited sleeves notes in the accompanying booklet told me that all of the lyrics had been written by left wing songwriter Woody Guthrie. In the years since his death, his daughter Nora had been running an archive of her father’s work which included over a thousand sets of lyrics that Guthrie had not recorded himself. Nora had an idea of having a number of contemporary artists record these songs to these lyrics and had asked Billy Bragg to come on board after he had taken part in a Woodie Guthrie tribute concert. Braggs reputation as a left wing activist may also have helped Nora make this decision. Guthrie did not write music and apart from some vague notation, there was little in the way of clues as to what these songs should sound like. The reason these songs were left in this state was down to the fact that Guthrie was suffering from Huntington’s disease, which causes the sufferer to lack co-ordination. That and an injury to his arm in the mid 50’s meant he could no longer play his guitar. Guthrie continued to write lyrics until he was unable to hold a pencil. The songs Guthrie was writing ranged from politics, his fantasy’s about actress Ingrid Bergman, nonsense songs for children and reflections on his own childhood.
Bragg did not gather together a cast of contemporary musicians to help work on this project apart from American band Wilco, who were given their own set of lyrics to work on. Natalie Merchant also came on board to provide vocals on a couple of the songs. It was mentioned at the time that there was enough material in the can for another album and in 2000, a second volume was released. It was easy to tell that the A-grade material was used on Volume 1, but this was still a good album. It was when the second collection came out that I put together a compilation taking what I considered to be the best tunes from both of these volume into one extended edition. In 2012, a compilation was released that contained Volumes 1 & 2, along with a third disc of additional outtakes. I did not feel that any of these songs were strong enough to make appearance on this collection, which I had been playing off and on since 2000.
Billy Bragg and Wilco would not be the only artists to make an album using unused Woody Guthrie lyrics. The Klezmatics would release two albums in 2006, Jonatha Brooke in 2008 and Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker with Jim James in 2012. This has also lead to other artists such Sandy Denny having their own archives of unreleased lyrics set to music by modern musicians and released as albums.
The cover is the same as the one used for Volume 1. It did not feel the need anything added to it. The entire collection is available to listen to via Spotify. Enjoy.
