In Native American cultures, such as the Iroquois and Plains peoples, the sun was recognized as a life-giving force. And after being a long time fan of hers, Cat Power – for me has reinforced this sentiment with her 2012 album ‘Sun‘. Reportedly she’s had set-backs, health and financial problems, sadness, gone to deep dark bad places and back and all the rest of the shit that is part of the human condition. But what is absolutely brilliant about her is, she doesn’t give up despite the kicks and the knocks – she doesn’t fain to make it public but is honest and remains true to herself and I truly admire her for that.
Sun is a life giver and middle finger to whatever gets you down, despite where she gets her inspiration from when it’s out there, it’s out there and I very much hope there’ll be more on its way.
Thus this prelude to the review of her concert tonight at Volkhaus, Zürich on tomorrows reverb. Go see her! Tickets:
After a long hiatus, reverb is back on track with news from London and Broadstairs – that sleepy seaside town in the south-east of England has got a few tricks up its sleeve.
London as ever is a great place to get your teeth into all that is musical, but my travels took me further afield to Kent. The Chapel – formerly the Albion bookshop, is now a micropub. The venue remains a bookshop with amazing volumes to peruse through at your leisure while supping local ale and wine. Evenings at The Chapel transform this lovely booky haven into a small venue for local musicians to take part in Jazz open stage nights and open mic nights for budding songwriters and performers alike. It ‘s here where I met Nyle Holihan, a half Californian, half Kenyan 20-year-old studying in East London – more to the point he’s an amazing banjo player. He plays old-time folk banjo in the frailing style, along with harmonica, guitar and some fiddle. The songs he played were all traditional, mostly Appalachian, American folk songs, Shady Grove, Country Blues, Roustabout and Cindy. He says he started playing banjo as he knew a family that played in a bluegrass band together, he loved the sound of the banjo but bluegrass was too abrasive for him. And as was already a big fan of Dylan it wasn’t a stretch to reach back a bit past Woody Guthrie and listen through The Anthology of American Folk Music to pick up some tunes.
Unfortunately the recording I have of Nyle doesn’t do him justice to load up on reverb but I’m sure you’ll be hearing more from him in the future and I hope he’ll send me some footage of his talent so more news on him I hope very soon.
Heath Cullen: The best thing from Down Under since Nick Cave
Heath Cullen is set for significant things further a field of his home in New South Wales, Australia. Following his debut album “A Storm Was Coming But I Didn’t Feel Nothing” with his band The 45 (2011), his second “The Still And The Steep” hosts a cosmos of acclaimed musicians. All the following big names – drummer Jim Keltner who worked with John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, guitarist Marc Ribot who collaborated with Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss and bassist Larry “The Mole” Taylor of the famed Woodstock band Canned Heat, and also a longtime Waits collaborator have lent their talents to Cullens own.
Check him and his album out. And a big thanks to Richy for the tip!
Born in Bristol and raised in Chicago, Jamie N Commons has an abundance of talent and knowledge packed in his musical suitcase. His gravel voice and musicianship fit well with likening him to Tom Waits and Nick Cave.
He’s already received a lot of attention for his debut EP The Baron in 2011 and his second out early this year; Alex da Kid.
He’s playing at Papiersaal, Zurich, Friday 10 May and is not to be missed. Other dates to be found on his website: http://www.jamiencommons.com/live/
The Walker Brothers; Scott Engel, John Maus, Gary Leeds
The actual date is contentious, but the Walkers Brothers did bid adieu to fans in May 1967. Scott Walker (born Noel Scott Engel in Ohio on the 9th January 1944), John Walker (b. John Maus, New York, 12 Nov. 1943) and Gary Walker (b. Gary Leeds, 3. Sept 1944 in Glendale, CA). Leeds – an ex-memebr of The Standells, met Engel (former bassist of Routers) and Maus while they were performing with The Dalton Brothers. The three formed the Walker Brothers and after a dodgy start in the US, they moved to England where they were taken under the wing of manager Maurice King. Maus had debuted as lead vocalist with Pretty Girls Everywhere, but it was Scott Engel’s voice – that can still melt bricks in my opinion, which shot them in the top 20 with Love Her in May 1965.
Right place, right time, helped the Walker Brothers fill Phil Spectres Righteous Brothers shoes as they had enjoyed the success and were now starting to fall in the UK charts. Hits like ‘Make It Easy On Yourself’, ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore‘ followed, but friction in the Walker camp between Maus and Engel was starting to smoke – and the second solo EP ‘Solo Scott, Solo John’ in 1967 signalled their intentions to split. Their flirt with fame as a trio turned to tragic love affair . They attempted to weaken their decline between 1965 and ’67 with tracks like ‘You Don’t Have To Tell Me‘, ‘Another Tear‘, ‘Stay With Me Baby‘ and the film theme tune from’ Deadlier Tan The Male‘ – a James Bond spin-off with a great title, 1967. And the final nail in the coffin came with the farewell song ‘Walking In The Rain‘ – with a diluted review from Musical Express, titled; ‘Walkers Last Not Great’.
Gary Leeds went on to form his own group, Gary Walker and The Rain, in the autumn of 1967. Maus went onto a solo career and wrote songs like ‘Annabella‘ with Graham Nash that received chart success. Scott Engel started taking another route – partying antics with play boy bunnys lead to the music of Jacque Brel and Engel was hooked. He covered 3 songs by Brel, including Jacky, on his first solo album ‘Scott’.
Well, you can’t keep a good man band down and the Walkers walked back on the scene in 1975 with their comeback album ‘No Regrets‘. The follow-up ‘Lines‘ was similar to it’s predecessor but their Swansong Album ‘Nite Flights‘ took on a brave experimental flavour, one which would become better known in Scott Engels future solo work.
Walker Brothers Discography: Take It Easy With The Walker Brothers (1965), Portrait (1966), Images (1967), No Regrets (1975), Lines (1977), Nite Flights (1978), The Walkers Brothers In Japan (1987, rec. 1968). Compilations: After The Lights Go Out- Best Of 1965-1967 (1990), No Regrets – The Best Of The Walker Brothers (1991).
This is just my small way of paying respects to a band I loved as a teenager – born the year they split I can only commemorate a past I’d like to have witnessed. I’ve made a playlist of the tracks I love of theirs, and a couple of others from artists whole played a role in the Walker Brothers lives and vice versa. The Old Man is Back Again has been left out (see post Track of the Day, 27.03.13 ). David Bowie covers My Death (Scott Walker) in 1973. Tom Rush’s original version of ‘No Regrets‘ takes on a lighter, resignated sadness to the high drama of the Walker Brothers. Engel suffered from chronic nightmares which influenced a lot of his solo work. Rawhide could be one them? The Electrician – a political epitaph, written about N. America sending people to train torture in South America. Neko Case covers Engels ‘Duchess‘ in 1997, originally rec. 1969.
SCOTT WALKER THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
THE ROUTERS 1962
THE DALTON BROTHERS WITHOUT YOUR LOVE
JACQUE BREL JACKY
JOHN WALKER ANNABELLA
SCOTT WALKER THE BALLAD OF SACCO AND VANZETTI
TOM RUSH NO REGRETS
SCOTT WALKER THE COLT AND THE ROPE 1969
GARY WALKER THE VIEW
THE STANDELLS
SCOTT WALKER RAWHIDE
DAVID BOWIE MY DEATH
THE WALKER BROTHERS LOVE HER
NEKO CASE DUCHESS
THE WALKER BROTHERS THE SUN AIN’T GONNA SHINE ANYMORE
Walter Cranes’ International Solidarity of Labour 1889
The first of May – or May Day, has a load of stuff pinned to it – from way back to raucous pagan celebrations, the Celtic fest of Beltane – or in central northern Europe ‘Walpurgisnacht‘. For me it contours images of getting in a tangle round the school Maypole.
Regarded today as International Workers Day. 1st May celebrations were born out of of commemoration for the Haymarket Martyrs, 1886 in Chicago. As a demonstration gathered during a general strike for the eight-hour day, a bomb was thrown while police tried to disperse crowds – police reacted with pistol fire and 4 demonstrators were killed. Hence, a whole load of demo-ing went on between then and 1904, when the Socialist Party and Trade Unions were called in by the Second International Congress to kind of promote – in all countries, energetic demonstration, for the legal establishing of the eight-hour day, also to respect the class demands of the proletariat and let’s not forget universal peace. Quite a tall order.
As for todays playlist – eight in all, and keeping with the general theme. Never Been In A Riot by the Mekons, written in response to White Riot by The Clash seems like a good place to start.
Mekons Never Been In A Riot
Lee Dorsey Working In A Coal Mine
Merle Travis Sixteen Tons
Woodie Guthrie Talkin Hard Work
The Vogues Five O’Clock World
Jimmy Dean Big Bad John
Merle Haggard Working Mans Blues
Bob Dylan Maggie’s Farm (a totally not-fitting-into-the-dylan-60s poet image – 80’s rendition for Farm Aid)
Family Good with rhythm gurus Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky
… comes out Tuesday this week (30.4.13) on the independent label: Latent Records.
Brothers’ Dallas, Travis- their mum- Margaret, dad- Bruce, uncle- Larry Good, cousin- D’Arcy – along with the trusty other half of the Sadies Mike Belitsky and Sean Dean, are all in on the act and it’s gonna be a Good’n! So with all due respect – Buy it! – And anything of the Sadies. You won’t be sorry. End of sermon.
Here’s a taste of what’s coming your way on The Good Family Album: Coal Black Hills
I’m taking Carte Blanche and setting off the weekend with first on the menu: Afie Jurvanen, (aka Bahamas) played with the likes of The Stills, Howie Beck, Amy Millan, Jason Collett, Hayden and zeus, and was last in cahoots with Feist as pianist and guitarist. Jurvanen is Finnish/Canadian and plays beautiful music. There’s something reminiscent of Steve Miller on Bahamas second album but take a listen for yourselves. This playlist has a couple of tracks of his and the whole album – titled Barchords, is a well shined pearl.
The last track – Jonathan Wilson with Desert Raven is just one of the tracks from his album Gentle Spirit that delights in a Wichita Lineman and High Lamas kinda of way. Enjoy!
The sad demise of the Austin band The Weary Boys in 2007, saw the end to one of the best live bluegrass blues bands i’d seen perform. They produced six CDs in six years (2001–2007), their energy was boundless, their music: great mix of speedy ‘blues grass’ riffs and high kickin melodies, and last but not least; charisma – they had it by the bucket full. Mario Matteoli – singer and guitarist of The Weary Boys, tells in the Doug Freeman Interview below; “We worked really hard and gave it a good shot, but we burned ourselves out in the process”. http://www.facebook.com/
I found the Article / Matteoli Interview and had to share my excitement – and some of the incredible music The Weary Boys produced. Along with a track from his now band The Preservation. http://www.wearethepreservation.com/
THE WEARY BOYS: FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES
During their career, the Weary Boys emerged as one of Austin’s premier string bands, coupling manic fiddle and upright bass with a raucous rhythm guitar and songwriting that ranged from poignant ballads to hard-drinking honky tonkers. The band formed in Humbolt County, Calif., in 2000, behind Mario Matteoli, Darren Hoff, and Brian Salvi, and moved to Austin shortly afterward, where they picked up bassist Darren Sluyter and drummer Cary Ozanian. With the release of their self-titled debut in 2001 and regular gigs at the Continental Club, the Weary Boys quickly invigorated Austin’s dominant country scene with their bluegrass harmonies and youthful fervor, mixing the local outlaw aesthetic with the emerging sound of punk pickers like Old Crow Medicine Show and the Avett Brothers and locals like the Meat Purveyors. Each year brought a subsequent release from the group, including 2002’s exceptional Weary Blues and the far-reaching gospel album Holy Ghost Power in 2004, and saw primary songwriter Matteoli further honing his craft. Following the release of Jumpin’ Jolie in 2006, Matteoli left the group to pursue a solo career, and the Weary Boys added Matt Downing on banjo for the release of their final album, Coalinga, which features mostly traditional covers. The group finally disbanded in late 2007.
When the Weary Boys rolled into Austin from California in 2001, they set the town on fire with their high-octane take on string music.
Across six albums, the local quintet showcased the songwriting of Mario Matteoli and Darren Hoff atop a blazing fiddle from Brian Salvi, and the furious rhythm of Cary Ozanian on drums and upright bassist Darren Sluyter.
“Everyone remembers our shows,” admits Matteoli. “It was a really fun thing to do in Austin for a while, and I think a lot of people experienced it. It’s just this really fast, simple music, but it had this way of making people happy.
“I think that’s why people remember it and kind of miss it.”
At the moment the new Americana movement was beginning to gain national traction behind acts like Old Crow Medicine Show and the Avett Brothers in 2007, the Wearies disbanded.
“We worked really hard and gave it a good shot, but we burned ourselves out in the process,” Matteoli reckons. “And the bands from that era that have come to more commercial success were on that path anyway. Weary Boys was always really raw and not that commercial.”
While the members have forged new projects – Matteoli’s The Preservation; Darren Hoff & the Hard Times; the remaining trio’s WoodsBoss – the Weary Boys’ chemistry still endures five years after parting, as evidenced by a preview of the one-off reunion two weeks ago at the Do512 Lounge.
“It was pretty natural,” agrees the frontman. “We’ve had it instilled in us, but it’s not our lives anymore and that’s how we want it to stay.
“At the same time, it’s something we can still do and it’s been fun getting together and doing it.”
It’s been observed since April 1970 – was pioneered by John McConnell in 1969. However, a second Earth Day was founded by US State Senator Gaylord Nelson, after he witnessed the consequences of the Santa Barbara Oil Spill in 1969. He planned it as a general educational forum to discuss complicated issues (a Teach-in). While the event was kept Stateside in the beginning, an organisation launched by Denis Hayes- who was the original national coordinator in 1970, made the effort to take it internationally – to 141 nations, and today it’s coordinated by Earth Day Network.
The day’s 30th anniversary in 2000 was used to promote a global call for cleaner energy while 2010 saw the launch an initiative to plant 1m trees. But in light of the report from the IEA (Input To Clean Energy) the figures have been underwhelming and could be doing better: http://www.iea.org/publications/TCEP_web.pdf.
As for the 1 million trees, New York alone has reached 662,111 trees to date, The Big Tree Plant, UK website claims to have planted 239,514 in towns, cities and neighbourhoods over England.
There are always pros and contras and people singing about the Planet, about the dire situation but as Funkadelic so aptly put it with Maggot Brain (the song unintended to be an earth anthem);
Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time
For y’all have knocked her up.
I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe
I was not offended
For I knew I had to rise above it all
Or drown in my own shit.
John Denver also wrote the song ‘Plant A Tree’ for the National Arbor Day Foundation, but I can’t quite bring myself to download and blog it. Instead heres ELOs Everyones Born To Die to start your day – a jolly old song where Jeff Lynne seems to be under the Influence of Dylan.
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