The brash, fearless lyrical mastermind is here for the long term and as proof he offers up his second consecutive free ep. For the price of getting on the Joe Pug email list, you get this. And it pays off: his fan base keeps building, the gigs keep getting better and better and he hasn’t shown any indication of selling out. As usual, it’s just Pug, his guitar and his harp, hammering on the strings and blowing til the reeds distort, his voice closer to Steve Earle than the John Prine-inflected style he was mining on his brilliant debut Nation of Heat (very favorably reviewed here). Because of the instrumentation, a lot of people will call this Dylanesque, and it is, but there’s a whole lot more going on here.

The opening cut is Dodging the Wind, a defiant 6/8 ballad. It’s an apt anthem for anyone who belongs to the ones who got away: “When you think of the kid who left when you did, he too will be thinking of you.” The title track is a pensive, fingerpicked cheating ballad: “We’ll be honest to each other – meaning you,” Pug sardonically rasps. The metaphors never stop: the house will never be built for lack of lumber, and he ends up sleeping in the closet, hiding from the cops.

Lock the Door picks up the pace: it has bass and drums. Like Rosalita by Springsteen, the protagonist here just won’t take no for an answer, but he makes his point in about seven fewer minutes:  

Who’s that man knee-deep in sand waiting on the tide

With an atlas and a ladder, undaunted from the height

Lock the door, I’m standing on your porch tonight

A Thousand Men is the most overtly Dylanesque cut here, rich with history, Pug alluding to the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington as he teases the listener:

See Thomas Jefferson on the eve of Bunker Hill

Writing words to die for, writing sentences to kill

They’ve come to paint his portrait

So he grabs a chair and sits

As the surgeon orders cotton

For a thousand tourniquets

Pug knows that virtually all inventions were devised for waging war: “Every good idea kills at least a thousand men,” and Pug’s thinking he’s probably number 1001.

The ep wraps up with the catchy Black Eyed Susan “When you look right through me I wonder what’s behind my back.” Pug is blowing up right now – this year’s nonstop tour includes Bonnaroo, Lolapalooza and the Newport Folk Festival. Don’t be the last one on your block to find out about the guy.

Bob Dylan’s new album , Together Through Life ,  hit the record shops here in Dublin on Saturday. For over a decade now Dylan’s has been producing albums that  are, lets face it , just not in the same league as Blood on the Tracks or Blonde on Blonde. As I type this blog post up it’s playing in the background  on my record deck and that’s how it should be played , as background music. It’s essentially no different from his previous one which after a couple of years is still in its first pressingn and most of those still sitting on the shelves of Tower Records.  It’s no worse than anything he’s done in ten years and no better. The vinyl version comes with a copy of the cd enclosed but at just 30 euros you could find better value for your money.

The Guardian newspaper has what I would consider a fair and balanced review that’s worth reading. Before you part with that 30 euros why not spend it on The Third Ear Band’s latest album , Raga Live. Third Ear used to record on the harvest label in the 60’s and 70’s and this double live album is them at their best. ……If you’ve never heard them then here’s the chance , but don’t bother downloading  some 3 minute clip from the WEB,  it’s not that kind of music. This is REAL …..This is what used to be known as pot smoking music……And this is strictly record player music ….two beautifull thick black slabs of vinyl….

  This is just by way of a reminder to all collectors of vinyl that Record Store Day is upon us. To be honest I had never heard of this until yesterday …….Be that as it may , the fact is that  Record Shops are now thin on the ground at least here in Dublin in spite of the fact that sales of vinyl are on the increase in the States…
        As I’ve said this is just a reminder……so go out tomorrow and support your local record store…. And while I’m at it , Road Records is to remain open and they are having a sale just now.

Hasło w wyszukiwarce: prison

Rezultat: murzyńskie pieśni więzienne z Misissipi (rok 1947)

Świetna rzecz.

Tutaj.

       This LP was originally released on the Tempo Label. This then is a reissue on the Ember Label. There is no date on this reissue but it would have been pressed within a few years of the original probably in the late sixties. I picked this up on Ebay just a few weeks ago but I have forgotten what I paid for it (I buy a lot of LP’s) but I’m sure I handed out a little over 100 euros.
      The music is not quite typical of Hayes. It’s not driving heavy jazz or anything like that.  It’s the sort of music you might have heard on the soundtrack of many British kitchen sink movies of the sixties. If you were not a fan you might brush it aside as library music. All the tracks are arranged by Tony Crombie and as far as I can remember about half are written by him also. The line up is….Tony Crombie , Tubby Hayes , Alan Branscombe and Jack Fallon.
     The music is ‘tight’ and very sixties and distinctly British and as I’ve said it’s not unlike British film music of the period….but it’s quality stuff and if you like classic ‘modern’ jazz you will love this. It’s the sort of album that will grow on you. You might feel it’s rather conservative for sixties jazz and that it’s not particularly exciting but you will find yourself putting it on the turntable more and more…..just to try to make up you mind if you like it or not…and it will grow on you in spite of it not being ‘progressive’……

Check out my other posts on Vinyl HERE.

Jacqui McShee - b 25 Dec 1945, Catford, London, England;  Bert Jansch - b 3 Nov 1943, Glasgow, Scotland;  John Renbourn - b 8 Aug 1944, Marylebone, London, England;   Danny Thompson - b 4 Apr 1939, Teignmouth, Devon, England;  Terry Cox - b 13 Mar 1937, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. 

Five highly gifted musicians who formed a unique band which, seemingly without effort, wove blues, jazz, and elements of rock and pop into a seamless garment.  

Pentangle formed in 1967 for impromptu gigs in London’s Horseshoe Pub on Tottenham Court Road, Jansch and Renbourn having built up enviable reputations as soloists and already recorded an album of duets  – Bert and John, 1966.  Thompson and Cox were well known on the blues circuit, backing Alexis Korner and Duffy Power.  Both men also worked regularly as session musicians. McShee was a relatively new girl on the block but had experience singing in folk and jazz clubs. She had also appeared on Renbourn’s album Another Monday earlier the same year.  Her crystal voice added the magic ingredient for mainstream success. 

The band was signed up very quickly by agent Jo Lustig, who propelled their elite status into multi-national success. As Colin Irwin wrote in the CD reissue sleevenotes: “In 1968 alone they had 11 Radio 1 sessions, played New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Paris Olympia, headlined at numerous folk and jazz festivals and destroyed dozens of rain forests with the acres of newsprint they’d consumed”. 

There is a real sense of excitement on The Pentangle as the quintet sets out on its musical exploration. Jacqui McShee proves herself very capable of injecting sexyness into the blues on “Way Behind The Sun” as well as providing a ’sixtiess take on the traditional song  “Let No Man Steal Your Thyme” .  She also sings a haunting version of the Staples Singers’ “Hear My Call“.  The interplay between Jansch and Renbourn is superb throughout, particularly on “Bells” and “Bruton Town”.  Danny Thompson provides bass soloing of a level rarely heard outside of the jazz sphere, as well as some very dark and menacing colourings. Terry Cox doesn’t merely provide the album’s pulse, it’s as if his percussion work is a commentary on the music and lyrics surrounding him. The Pentangle offers a true fusion of very different styles of music.

May 68   The Pentangle    UK Transatlantic TRA 162     Highest Chart Position 21   

                                      US Reprise RS 6315    Highest Chart Position 192 

1  Let No Man Steal Your Thyme  (Trad; arr. Jansch, Renbourn, Cox, McShee,

                                                          Thompson)

2  Bells  (Jansch, Renbourn, Cox, McShee, Thompson)

3  Hear My Call  (Westbrooks, Staples)

4  Pentangling  ((Jansch, Renbourn, Cox, McShee, Thompson)

5  Mirage (Jansch, McShee)

6  Way Behind The Sun (Jansch, Renbourn, Cox, Thompson)

7  Bruton Town  (Trad; arr. Jansch, Renbourn, Cox, McShee, Thompson)

8  Waltz (Trad; arr. Jansch, Renbourn, Cox, McShee, Thompson)

Producer Shel Talmy; Recorded: unknown (probably IBC studios, London)

Jacqui McShee vocals; Bert Jansch guitars, vocals; John Renbourn guitars; Danny Thompson acoustic bass; Terry Cox drums, percussion, backing vocals

Cover design: Peter Blake

Sleeve notes: John Peel

Photo: Studio Hans Feurer

CD Reissue 2001 Castle CMRCD131

Bonus Tracks

9   Koan (Alternate Version)  (Sullivan)

10 The Wheel (Alternate Version)  (Jansch)

11 The Casbah  (Alternate Version)  (Jansch)

12 Bruton Town (edit 1/5/3)  (Trad; arr. Jansch, Renbourn, Cox, McShee, Thompson)

13 Hear My Call (Alternate Version) (Westbrooks, Staples)

14 Way Behind The Sun (Alternate Version)  (Jansch, Renbourn, Cox, Thompson)

15 Way Behind The Sun (Instrumental) (Jansch, Renbourn, Cox, Thompson)

documentário sobre a vida de Sonny Boy Williamson, pioneiro tocador de harmonica (gaita)!

Every so often I like to mention a blog that grabs my attention and pass the word along. MY KNITTING MACHINES AND ME is one of those blogs. I stumbled across it some time ago , why I don’t know as I have little , or rather no interest in knitting. But for some strange reason or other I found myself reading it …….there’s something very therapeutic about the sound of needles clicking. Or just the idea of needles clicking…..

I have no reason to believe that this lady is in fact mad….but I like to think of her as being just a little bit strange…….when she’s not knitting she sometimes plays the guitar..( and why not ?).

As Humphrey Bogart said in “The Desperate Hours “..”Clickity , clickity , click..”

Apart from this video she has some more videos on knitting and other stuff on LIVEVIDEO.

blogging

Every so often you come across some busker or street musician who is just too good for the street alone. I shot this footage a few months ago and posted it on Youtube so if you haven’t seen it here’s your chance.

And while I’m at it here’s a lady doing

Eric Clapton.http://sillyoldtwit.com/2007/12/05/the-intelligent-womans-blog-aka-the-mad-knitter-eric-clapton/

If your looking for video of Blues singers or Prison Work Song or Appalachian or anything of that sort there is an excellent web site that I cannot recommend highly enough. I have a link to such a site and I notice that no one has clicked on it since I first started this blog. So for the best , the very best movies (archive) on everything folk and blues just look in the side bar and click on the link that says , Folkstreams. You will find it in my Blogroll on the right on this blog. Apart from music there are also films on American culture , archive stuff that is nothing short of brilliant. You’ll find films featuring Alan Lomax and such people so if it’s Sonny Terry or stuff like that just click on the link. Or if your a bit lazy just click HERE. You’ll find archive films such as Appalachian Journey where you can see and hear real Appalachian music and people like Frank Proffit’s son singing ‘Tom Dooley” which was written by his father… wonderful stuff.

 Folkstreams.net