Original Seeds: Songs that inspired Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds -. Volume 1 (1998), Volume 2 (2004).

I am always pleased to be able to respond to requests, and this is for regular correspondent Mona.
I mentioned these two compilations in last week's posting on Kicking Against The Pricks. If you already downloaded that, don’t worry, there are only 2 repeats on here.

Volume One:



1. Tim Rose - Long Time Man
2. Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps - Cat Man
3. Leonard Cohen - Avalanche
4. Karen Dalton - Katie Cruel
5. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Hammer Song
6. Tom Jones - Weeping Annaleah
7. The Loved Ones - Sad Dark Eyes
8. Scott Walker - The Big Hurt
9. John Lee Hooker - Tupelo Blues
10. Lefty Frizzell - The Long Black Veil
11. Johnny Cash - The Folk Singer
12. Odetta - Another Man Done Gone
13. Blind Willie Johnson - I'm Gonna Run to the City of Refuge
14. Edwin Hawkins Singers - Oh Happy Day
15. Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin - Je t'aime... moi non plus
16. Isaac Hayes - By the Time I Get to Phoenix




Volume Two:



1. Harry Belafonte - Did You Hear About Jerry?
2. Tom Waits - Way Down in the Hole
3. Fred Neil - A Little Bit of Rain
4. Gang of Four - Love Like Anthrax
5. Bob Dylan - Sara
6. Tim Rose - Hey Joe
7. The First Edition - Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was in)
8. Elvis Presley - In the Ghetto
9. Nina Simone - Plain Gold Ring
10. The Stooges - Loose
11. Leadbelly - Looky Looky Yonder/Black Betty/Yellow Women's Door Bells
12. Hoyt Axton - Double Dare
13. Lou Reed - Perfect Day
14. Alice Cooper - Street Fight

Earlier takes of songs featured on Kicking Against The Pricks by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

In 1986, for their, third studio album, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, looking like the house band from a David Lynch dream sequence, released a selection of cover versions- Kicking Against The Pricks.
What we have here are earlier versions of the songs featured on that LP.
I’m not saying that these are the original or even definitive versions of the songs- just earlier versions.
Not to be confused with Original Seeds (vol 1&2) or The Roots of Nick Cave- I ploughed/ plowed through /thru my collection to put this one together, so the br is extremely v. I was going to post The Bad Seeds versions as well, but the album was re issued back in April.

Let’s see:
Muddy Waters- Johnny Cash
I’m Gonna Kill That Woman- John Lee Hooker
Sleeping Anneleah- Tom Jones
The Long Black Veil- Johnny Cash
Hey Joe- The Leaves
The Folk Singer- Johnny Cash
Black Betty- James Ironhead Baker
Running Scared- Roy Orbison
All Tomorrow’s Parties- The Velvet Underground and Nico
By The Time I Get To Phoenix- Glenn Campbell
The Hammer Song- Alex Harvey
Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart- Gene Pitney
Jesus Met The Woman At The Well- Mahalia Jackson
The Carnival Is Over- The Seekers

The Fabulous Thunderbirds- What's the Word (1980)

Well, I succumbed.
This LP cost £1.99 at the YMCA shop. It looks and sounds brand new.
So, white men play the blues- a damned fine record too. The second LP by the Texan band who whilst not commercially successful won critical acclaim in the era when RnB still meant solid 12 bar boogie music with some raw harmonica thrown in.

Jimmie Vaughan*-guitar
Kim Wilson-vocals, harmonica
Keith Ferguson-bass
Mike Buck/ Fran Christina -drums


* Apparently Jimmie had a brother called Stevie Ray who was quite handy on the blues guitar...

Jeffrey Lee Pierce- Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee & Cypress Grove with Willie Love (1992)

I beat scars into my arms waiting for an early death- JLP

Here’s a blues album.
Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee, is of course,Jeffrey Lee Pierce (June 27 1958 - March 31 1996) frontman of one of the most exciting bands of the 1980's, The Gun Club, who churned out a haunting mix of blues and punk . If you like high octane music with a dark edge and you haven't heard their 1981 masterpiece Fire of Love, then get it today. If you can't find it anywhere let me know and i'll post it.
Go Tell The Mountain, Pierce's slim volume of autobiography and lyrics, is much sought after, often changing hands for £100 or more, so if you see it in the local Oxfam it's a good investment.
This 1992 LP features a couple of Pierce numbers and versions of songs by blues masters such as Howlin Wolf, Skip James and Son House.
I don’t know much about guitarist Cypress Grove except that he took his name from a Skip James number.Of the others i know even less.
Line up:
Ramblin'Jeffrey Lee - guitars & vocals
Cypress Grove - guitars
Willie Love - drums
Carl La Fong - acoustic bass, bass guitar
Kimberley S. - bluesharp
produced by Jeffrey Lee Pierce