Watch the Birdie

 

News came out last week that Camera Obscura are doing a short tour in May 2024 - details here

The final date is at Glasgow's Barrowland and I managed to get my ass into gear and acquire a ticket. It should be good.

Although familiar with a number of their songs as is often the case I was a bit late to the party. However I have since managed to pick up the majority of their back catalogue.

We also saw them play a fantastic concert in Glasgow's Saint Lukes on 5th August 2019 which was one of my gigs of that year as demonstrated in my end of the year gig review

05/08   St Lukes - Camera Obscura - 9/10
First time I have seen them and their first concert for a couple of years not that you would have known. Some magnificent musicanship complimented the wonderful voice of Tracyanne Campbell.

The blurb for the tour alludes to some new songs being featured so hopefully a new album will pop up in due course.. In the meantime they have returned to Merge Records and Underachievers Please Try Harder and Lets Get Out of this Country have recently been re-released

Here are three of their most famous songs.

Camera Obscura - French Navy

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country

Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken

Saturday Shuffle 28

 

If you were to type Sanctified Soul into the search button on this page you would find a significant number of posts. Indeed it has already featured in this series as part of Saturday Shuffle 22

I make no apologies for featuring it again given that it is quite simply one of the greatest Soul Compilations of all time namely Sanctified Soul on the Ace label . I defy anyone to tell me I'm wrong. Today's offering is the magnificent I Stole Some Love by Don Covay ( pictured above) & the Goodtimers.

I'm not sure how you follow that but follow that we must. Here is R&B singer Amos Milburn with Down the Road Apiece the first track from another excellent compilation Uncut's - The Devil's Music - Keith Richards' Personal Compilation of Blues ,Soul and R&B Classics yours on Discogs from as little as a pound.

We conclude this week with a song from one of my favourite albums from 2019. Still Here Now is taken from These Times by the mighty The Dream Syndicate which was released on the Anti- label and which you really should have.

Enjoy.

Don Covay & the Goodtimers - I Stole Some Love

Amos Milburn - Down The Road Apiece

The Dream Syndicate - Still Here Now

Hazy Friday

 

I was scrambling about for something to post today when I got an e-mail from George advising that he had been playing the Dundonian band The Hazey Janes and the band Hazy Malaze who included the late great Neal Casal amongst their members.

This had me considering all things Hazy and indeed Hazey . In addition to the two fine bands above I came up with the Greek band My Drunken Haze.

And then of course there are the songs - can Nick Drake, Jimmi Hendrix, Ray Stinnett and The Bangles please step up to the mike.

I think it is best to stop there - so no Isaac Hayes, Wade Hayes, Gemma Hayes, Hayes McMullen or Hayes Carll. We'll save them for another hayesy day.

The Hazey Janes - Toulouse

Hazy Malaze -Chicago Blondes

My Drunken Haze - Carol Wait

Nick Drake -Hazey Jane 1

Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze

Ray Stinnett - Salty Haze

The Bangles - Hazy Shade of Winter

Community Music

 

2023 Charity Shop Purchases #87  Asian Dub Foundation - Community Music

The Kinder Handl charity shop on Glasgow's Battlefield Road has literally hundreds of CDs. I spent about  half an hour last Tuesday going through them and only came away with two - Friday's Ska is the Limit compilation and this one.

From 2000 on the FFRR label Community Music is the 4th album by Asian Dub Foundation and joins 1998's Rafi's Revenge and 2003's Enemy of the Enemy on the shelves. And what a worthy edition it is too.

The NME describes it as the least laissez-faire album since Public Enemy’s ‘Fear Of A Black Planet’, ‘Community Music’ is not remotely market-honed but has a street power and rock’n’roll energy that nothing else is going to measure up to this year.  They go on to award the album with a score of 10/10

Pitchfork gives it a well deserved score of 8.7  commenting  as much musically innovative as they are politically active, Asian Dub Foundation's sound is a melting pot of jungly breakbeats, dub and dancehall flavours, and snaky guitar lines that morph from rock riffs into Indian sitars and back again, every element of which manages to stand out in the mix as often as it complements the others.

Chris Grimshaw from AllMusic commented that Community Music should be in every thinking person's collection, directly between the Clash and Public Enemy. High praise indeed and probably merited

A powerful album with some powerful messages and a good find.

Asian Dub Foundation - Real Great Britain

Asian Dub Foundation - Collective Mode

Brothers , Sisters ..... 5

 

                                                          

Only one record from each today  primarily because I have only one song by the Hewlett Sisters. As you can see from the picture above the song in question is In the Last Day and the picture is included as I couldn't find a picture of the sisters or indeed their first names or any other information about them.

Discogs advises that the single was from 1974 on the JPR label with On Gospel's Programme on the   b-side. It also features on a 2020 compilation The Last Shall Be First: The JCR Records Story, Volume 1 which is available from Bandcamp. I suspect that it probably came from George.

I have slightly more material from this weeks Brothers act Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. I have a whole albums worth as I have Reach For The Sky from 1975, on the CBS label, which I picked up in a charity shop. You should all be familiar with their best known song Arms of Mary so I don't think it would be fair to feature it today. Instead I have gone for the album's opening track When the Train Comes.

I was going to say that Arms of Mary was probably Gavin Sutherland's best earner until I remember that he also wrote Sailing which was a massive hit for Rod Stewart. Don't worry that is not going to feature!

It's the elusive Gospel sisters for me!

The Hewlett Sisters - In The Lat Day

Sutherland Brothers & Quiver - When The Train Comes

Too Long Away

 

2023 Charity Shop Purchases #86 - Emily Smith - Too Long Away

Many years ago when it was still I thing I picked up a copy of Traiveller's Joy by Dumfries and Galloway folk singer/songwriter Emily Smith from the record library. It quickly became a firm favourite of both me and Mrs CC. This in turn led to us picking up more of her stuff and seeing her at Celtic Connections in 2019 as part of a duo with her Jamie McLennan. Unfortunately this proved to be disappointing as it was pretty average singer/songwriter stuff as opposed to her excellent interpretations of traditional songs.

Fortunately 2008's Too Long Away on the Spit & Polish label (run by Francis McDonald of Teenage Fanclub fame) is old enough to reflect her traditional roots and therefore goes down as a good find.

I bought it for 25p in the Re-Use Clothes charity shop in Stranraer. When we got home I couldn't find it and had Mrs CC and her mum searching their bags to no avail. I found it about a week later in my anorak pocked (it had been chucking it down that day)

Chronologically this should have appeared before Friday's Ska is the Limit. I had featured Karine Polwart earlier in the week and thought that two folk acts in the one week may have been too much for some of you although arguably you can't have too much of a good thing!

Emily Smith - As I Was a Wand'ring

Emily Smith -The Mermaid of Galloway

Dropkick at the Glad Cafe

 

A cold Saturday night saw me making the short journey to the Glad Cafe on Glasgow's South Side (thanks for the lifts Mrs CC!) to see Dropkick for the second time this year and the third time in total.

There were two good support acts. Airdrie singer/songwriter  Adriana Spina was the first act up and delivered some excellent Americana style songs. She advised that she had taken part in a songwriters course led by Dar Williams and followed this up with a powerful song about the death of  Sheku Bayoh . She was also raising money for a stroke charity so clearly someone with a social conscience.

Adriana was followed by Neil Sturgeon & the Infomaniacs who I had seen supporting Dropkick the first time I saw them. They delivered a high energy set of what I would describe as pub rock in the style of Dr Feelgood and Graham Parker and the Rumour. I had to send Mrs CC a picture of Neil as he is a doppleganger for John the Joiner who did our kitchen!

Dropkick are currently a threesome with songwriter Andrew Taylor on drums and vocals, Ian Grier on bass and  Alan Shields on guitar and vocals. As you might expect there were a good few songs from their current album The Wireless Revolution but there were plenty more from over the years including one which Andrew and Ian had performed as pupils at Arbroath Academy over 30 years ago!

The chap sitting next to me, who was from Carlisle, said they reminded him of a Toronto band  called the Paperboys. I wasn't aware of them but have since given them a listen and I am not convinced. I responded that they were similar to the Jayhawks (who he hadn't heard of!) and this was seconded by the lady in front of us. To back up my claim Alan delivered a cover of Save it for a Rainy Day about 10 minutes later.

All in all another excellent evening.

Dropkick - Don't Give Yourself Away

Dropkick -Feeling Never Goes Away