Shazam Sunday 4

I seem to have got a bit ahead of myself  this week . I had finished prepping the music and picture for SS4  when I noticed that it was actually what I had lined up for SS5. Therefore SS5 is now SS4 and next time round SS4 will feature as SS5.I'm glad we got that clear.

First up is a request from Mrs CC. The Teskey Brothers are an Australian blues rock band from Melbourne, named after the two brothers who formed the band in 2008 Josh and Sam Teskey. The song in question is a live version of Drown In My Own Tears a song written by Henry Glover but best known for the version by Ray Charles.

Today's second number is Michael by Franz Ferdinand which popped up briefly on the Scottish soap opera River City. Taken from their 2004 self-titled debut album which was massive at the time. It is playing as I type  and I am thoroughly enjoying listening to it for the first time in forever. Like many good bands they shone very brightly before quickly fading away. The second album You Could Have it So Much Better was not bad  but no-one really remembers the final three.

SS4 as SS5 next time round

The Teskey Brothers -Drown in Your Own Tears (Live)

Franz Ferdinand - Michael

I've just realised that this is scheduled for Christmas Eve. I had no idea that Christmas was this close.

Merry Christmas to you and yours . There will be no post tomorrow but I shall return on Boxing Day with my traditional post
 

Saturday Shuffle 34

 

The second last Saturday Shuffle of the year and the one nearest Christmas. Don't panic there is nothing remotely festive on the Gym MP3 player.

I don't think that a song called Ball and Chain could ever be accused of being festive. Instead this song from XTC's 1982 album English Settlement  is a song protesting about the rampant overdevelopment of English towns and countryside. The UK public didn't seem that bothered as it only reached number 58 in the singles chart.

I also appear to have songs called Ball and Chain by Sam Brown, The Rails and Broken English.

The next song surely needs no introduction. Paint it Black was a number one from the Rolling Stones from as far back as 1966. As befits such a classic song it has been covered countless times. I have versions by The Mod-ettes, Marc Almond and Lucinda Williams.

Today's final song is the only one to have graced these pages before. Crystal Frontier is a song which was a single and which also appears on the European version of the album Hot Rail by the great Calexico

The last shuffle of 2023 next Saturday.

XTC - Ball and Chain

Rolling Stones -Paint it Black

Calexico - Crystal Frontier

Live in 2023

 

I managed to attend 15 concerts this year which was an increase on the 9 I managed in 2022.

I've reviewed some but not all here so very briefly here goes:

The 7 out of 10s

19th January - Royal Concert Hall  Celtic Connections 30th Anniversary Concert.

Like the curate's egg good in parts although it jumped about various genres with more of a focus on classical and traditional music.

27th January - Theatre Royal - Songwriter's Circle

See review here

Karine Polwart was as good as ever and I enjoyed Mary Chapin Carpenter. I could take or leave Robert Vincent. It was pretty good but should have been better than it was. I suspect that this was due to a lack of rehearsal with the three of them not having time to properly gel

30/03/23 - Old Fruitmarket - Ward Thomas

Mrs CC is a much bigger fan of the English country singing sisters than me although I would say that they are good at what they do but it doesn't do much for me. Mrs CC would have probably given them an 8!

28/07/23 Glad Cafe - Brenda

The album launch of the indie punky female trio Brenda who are signed to Last Night From Glasgow. Support from Rachael Aggs. It was a bit shambolic but in a good way. I'm not sure they had played all the songs before. The  eponymous album is good though and grows on me after each listen

04/08/23 Old Hairdressers - Dropkick/ The Cheese/Vapour Trail

I attended this one primarily to see Dropkick. It was just Andrew and Alan who were first on with a brief acoustic set. The other acts did nothing for me. Still I got the chance to chat with Andrew and pick up a couple of albums.

25/11/23 Birnam Arts Centre - Heidi Talbot and Boo Hewerdine.

An eagerly  awaited sneaky overnight in Dunkeld for this one  The Birnam Arts Centre is a lovely wee venue. This was the third time we have seen Heidi who seems to be moving away from her more traditional stuff  to more of a singer/songwriter. I much prefer the former It was the first time that I had seen Boo and I was quite taken with his songs and his laconic humour.

 

The 8 out of 10s

03/02/23 Oran Mor - The Bluebells

A more detailed review here . The launch of their first album in umpteen years The Bluebells in the 21st Century which gets better with each listen. The new songs were well received with the older one having the audience dancing in the aisles.

22/09/23 - Mono - Teenage Fanclub

An in-store album launch for their latest album Nothing Lasts For Ever. Mono's was rammed but I had an excellent view. They rattled through 8 songs from the album before finishing with Everything Flows. Only the brevity of the show stopped it being a 9.

11/11/23 - Glad Cafe - Dropkick

Review here . The whole band on show this time with a blistering set with a couple of excellent support acts. Plenty of songs from their latest album The Wireless Revolution alongside a good few from their extensive back catalogue.

19/12/23 Royal Concert Hall - Phil Cunningham's Christmas Show.

Every year Mrs CC and I take her mum to the Concert hall to see this. Phil  (on accordion and pater)is joined by John McCusker(fiddle), Kris Drever (guitar and vocals), Ian Kerr (guitar), Kevin Maguire (double bass) and Karen Mathieson and Eddie Reader on vocals. A mix of traditional music and Christmas songs it is great fun. Eddi Reader's Ave Maria was pretty special.

The 9 out of 10's

23/01/23 - Royal Concert Hall - Lucinda Williams

Review here. 70 years old and recovering from a stroke Lucinda Williams took to the stage in the Concert Hall and totally bossed it. I've seen here a few times and this was the best yet. Rarely have I seen an artist enjoying themselves this much. She is a total force of nature throwing everything at the rockier numbers off  her latest album Stories From a Rock'n'Roll Heart

25/01/23 - Barrowlands - The Delgados

Review here

Two absolute top drawer concerts in three days in January set a very high bar which no one else was quite able to better. Their first concert in years in their hometown and the Barrowlands was totally jumping. I had the pleasure of bumping into JC and my review gives a link to his excellent review. There wasn't much chatter from the band as they got their heads down and rattled out an impressive number of great songs from their back catalogue. Terrific stuff

01/03/23 - Mono - Robyn Hitchcock

Review here

His last gig as a sexagenarian. What is it with older artists like him and Lucinda? They are like fine wines which get better over the years, The first time I have seen him and he was totally brilliant and totally bonkers in equal measures. 

11/03/12 - The Hug and Pint - The Dream Syndicate

Review here

A mere 10 days after Robyn Hitchcock and another great gig. The Dream Syndicate put on a blistering set and were ably supported by Rain Parade. I'd seen Steve Wynn two or three times before but I had never seen the band before. It was well worth the wait. The Hug and Pint is hot and very small but I stayed rooted to the spot for the entire show which was an absolute treat.

05/11/23 - The Tramway - Teenage Fanclub

Review here

There were certainly fireworks at the Tramway on Bonfire Night when Teenage Fanclub took the stage.My second time seeing them in two months but this was a much longer and fuller show than the in-store at Mono. As it was a seated venue I was joined by Mrs CC who thoroughly enjoyed it.

Gig of the Year?

All 5 of the 9 out of 10s were very much in contention. However, if you were to put a gun to my head I would say that Lucinda just about shaded it over the Delgados.

One from each of the top 5 I feel since it's nearly Christmas.

Lucinda Williams - Stolen Moments

The Delgados -Accused of Stealing

Robyn Hitchcock - Belltown Ramble

The Dream Syndicate - The Days of Wine and Roses

Teenage Fanclub - Everything Flows

In Praise of Glasgow Record Shops

 

This year I have bought a paltry 22 records compared to 50 from the year before.

Three were bought at concerts(The Dream Syndicate, Dropkick and The Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness) and four from charity/second hand shops. A second hand Boxtops record was bought from Europa Records in Stirling and Monday's Lucinda Williams album from HMV in East Kilbride.

All the others were from Glasgow record shops

The majority were from the Music from Big Blue record shop in the Hidden Lane off Argyle St in Finnieston which doubles as the HQ of Last Night from Glasgow. Most were as part of my annual subscription but I did take advantage of a couple more using my membership discount.

Just along Argyle Street from the Hidden Lane is a pub called Strip Joint which as well as selling beer sells records. I don't need to tell you that that is a dangerous combination. I came away from there with Cruel Country by Wilco.

On the subject of record shops and beer I am sure that many of you will be familiar with Monorail the record shop run by Stephen Pastel which is an integral part of Mono bar/restaurant off King Street. Nothing Lasts For Ever by Teenage Fanclub was my purchase there picked up at the fantastic in-store show by Teenage Fanclub

Love Music on Dundas Street at the side of Queen Street Station and run by Sandy McLean is a Glasgow institution. Over a couple of visits I came away with a few bargain CDs and yet another Wilco album in Cousin.

A shout out her for Missing Records on Oswald Street near Central Station .No vinyl purchases this year but plenty cheap and cheerful CDs.

Finally we are off to the South Side and Some Great Reward which was formerly on Victoria Road. It has now relocated to the Cooperage off Pollokshaws Road about half a mile away. It is the Southside equivalent of the Hidden Lane with a lovely courtyard which should be ideal for the in -store  gigs they regularly put on. No beer but they do coffee. This was the scene of my most recent purchase Exit Light the excellent debut album by Raveloe on Lloyd Merideth's  Olive Grove Records a favourite of this blog.

Teenage Fanclub - Falling into the Sun

Wilco - Infinite Desire

Brothers, Sisters 10 ....

 

   

It's a battle today between two of my favourite genres with the Sisters in the Americana corner and the Brothers representing Southern Soul.

First up today are the Sisters. Emily Miller and Zara Bode are an Americana duo from Brooklyn, New York who are known collectively as The Sweetback Sisters. They have released five albums between 2009 and 2017 all on the Signature Sounds label.

The one I have is a burn of their 2011 album Looking For a Fight which I took from Langside Library's CD library when that was still a thing. For your listening pleasure today I give you the title track and their cover of Dwight Yoakam's It Won't Hurt When I Fall Down From This Barstool.

Representing the Brothers this week are Richard Dunbar and Jimmy Diggs from Washington DC who recorded as The Knight Brothers until they split in 1968. Both of these numbers come from the  brilliant Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures - Taken From the Vaults series on Kent Records.

Tried So Hard to Please Her is from Volume1 with Temptation 'Bout to Get Me being the opening track on Volume 4.

A really tough call this week but I think that the Brothers just about shade it primarily because of Temptation. 

The Sweetback Sisters - Looking For a Fight

The Sweetback Sisters - It Won't Hurt When I Fall Down From This Barstool

The Knight Brothers - Tried So Hard to Please Her

The Knight Brothers - Temptation 'Bout To Get Me

Trains and Boats and Planes 5 - Another Guest Post

 

George writes (again) 

It has been suggested, by some (one -Ed) readers of these pages, and justifiably so, that the younger brother of CC has a better taste in music than the man himself. My younger brother, on the other hand, has a terrible record collection, truly awful; he purchased that War Of The Worlds Jeff Lynne album thingy, for example. But I think, and I’m going back over 40 years, he bought one of the records below. Of course, I might be wrong, and given my recent history of leaving cafés without paying I could be wrong. Here is said song, a fine example of NWOBHM, a genre that is sadly not represented here very often:

Saxon - 747 Strangers in the Night

Yes, that’s Dobby on bass, and Biff doing the vocal.

So that’s planes. Boats now, and I gave CC a choice of two tracks, and he picked this memorable 1974 pop-soul song. And I bet I’m not the only one here who knows more lyrics to this than most of the records we have acquired over the last 20 years:

The Hues Corporation - Rock The Boat

Trains, and a song that could easily be attributed to our favourite German band (NO!, not FSK before he inserts that), Can.  It’s a remarkable track, worth casting aside any pre-conceptions about inane wailing and screeching from Ms Ono, and just put your listening ears for this marvel

Yoko Ono - Mind Train

And to end, a version of the song that inspired the series:

CC writes:

Thanks again George - where else on the Internet would you find Saxon, The Hues Corporation and Yoko Ono on the same post?

Stories From a Rock'n'Roll Heart

 

I actually bought an album from HMV earlier this year and  it was less that £20 (albeit only by a penny). Hard to believe but it is true.

As you have probably worked out by now the album in question was Stories From a Rock'n'Roll Heart the 15th studio album by the legend that is Lucinda Williams which was released on 30th June this year on Highway 20/Thirty Tigers.

Seventy years young and recovering from a stroke and she has still got it. No nonsense rock'n'roll numbers with a tight band and help from pals such as Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, Tommy Stinson (from the Replacements), Angel Olsen and Margo Price with Jesse Malin involved in the composition. When Lucinda calls, you come running.

Described by the Guardian as containing rousing barroom rockers with Lucinda being as thought-provoking and moving as ever.

She proclaims on the last track that I'm never gonna fade away.

Long may she reign.

Her Celtic Connections performance in January remains one on my gigs of the year.

Rock'n'Roll!

Lucinda Williams - Let's Get The Band Back Together

Lucinda Williams - Jukebox