Song no. 7 - Top Dog Gaffo

Song No.7 – Top Dog Gaffo written by Sharon Shannon and Jim Murray and performed by Sharon Shannon

My first instrumental and my first Irish musician, and I hope a song and a video to make you smile.

Sharon Shannon is probably my favourite Irish musician. She plays the accordion. melodeon, fiddle and tin whistle and is great on all of  them. She has won numerous awards in Ireland and had top selling singles.  Her 1991 album ‘Sharon Shannon’ is the best selling traditional Irish music album ever released in Ireland.

She first came to prominence when she played with ‘The Waterboys’ during the ‘Roam to Roam’ period when she played on that album and toured with them. She also played on the original version of Steve Earle’s ‘The Galway Girl’. That is one of my all time favourite songs and I am sure will appear here very soon. To top all this she is a lovely lady and does a lot of work to help dogs that have been mistreated. 

I have chosen ‘Top Dog Gaffo’ because it is such an infectious track and the video that goes with it shows Sharon with her dogs all of which have come from a rescue home. If this does not get you jumping around your lounge then nothing will.  This version is performed with the RTE Concert Orchestra and is on the ‘flying circus’ album. 

Sharon released an album in 2000 called The Diamond Mountain Sessions. This was recorded in an Old Monastery Hostel in Letterfrack, Connemara. This included songs with various guest musicians including Carlos Nunez, Jackson Browne, John Prine and Steve Earle. In fact I prefer the mix of ‘The Galway Girl’ on this album to the version on the Steve Earle ‘transcendental blues’ album. Anyway when we had a family holiday to Ireland a couple of years later we went to Letterfrack and I wanted to re-create the photo on the back of the cover showing Diamond Mountain.  The results are below. 

 

 

Please look and listen to Sharon and then go and find more of her music it will brighten up your day and get your feet tapping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi3PsicYlHQ
Watch this video of Sharon and her dogs with the great track playing - smile and enjoy.

Cast

Sharon Shannon – Accordian

Jim Murray – Acoustic Guitar

Jack Maher – Electric Guitar

James Delaney – Piano and Organ

Jason Duffy – Drums

Aoungus Ralston – Bass Guitar

RTE Concert Orchestra

Song No.6 - Lhasa

Song No.6 – Lhasa written and performed by Cole Stacey and Joseph O’Keefe

 

‘It’s too bad

It’s too bad

Because the freedom fall

I don’t have the way with all

But I never should have said that.’

One from the leftfield for my next song. I have only owned this song for 4 days but I keep playing it and it deserves to be heard by many more people.

Cole Stacey and Joseph O’Keefe supported Show Of Hands at the concert in St. Ives on Saturday night. They are a duo from Devon who are both very good musicians. Cole has a great voice and it seems that Joseph can play any instrument.  I bought the CD ‘For Hire’ at the concert and I have been playing it ever since. 

I chose the opening track Lhasa as this is currently my favourite track. Lhasa is a direct homage to Lhasa de Sela, who inspired much of the percussion, including sounds produced by a chimney piece and a water bottle. Lhasa, was an American-born singer-songwriter who was raised in Mexico and the United States, and divided her adult life between Canada and France. Unfortunately she died of cancer on New Year’s Day 2010 aged 37.

I am now trying to find out as much as I can about this duo and try and get to see them live again soon. The album is available on iTunes as is a earlier EP. Check it out. They finished the concert with a great version of ‘Wagon Wheel’ a song originally part written by Bob Dylan but finished by ‘Old Crow Medicine Show’.  They also played a Gillian Welch song so that gives you an indication of their musical influences.

Can’t find an in concert version of this song but you can hear it via this You Tube film which has the song playing over some nice photos. Enjoy

Cast

Cole Stacey – Vocals, Congas

Joseph O’Keefe – acoustic guitar, violin, double bass & piano

If the video link does not show or you are on a mobile browser click here

Song No. 5 - Cousin Jack

Song No.5 – Cousin Jack written by Steve Knightley and performed by Show Of Hands

Where there's a mine or a hole in the ground
That's what I'm heading for that's where I'm bound
So look for me under the lode and inside the vain,
Where the copper the clay the arsenic and tin
Run in your blood and under your skin
I'll leave the county behind I'm not coming back
Oh follow me down cousin Jack.

Five songs in and I get to the first Show Of Hands song. I have 313 of their songs on iTunes, some are duplicated across best of and live albums but this still represents the largest number of any artist. Show Of Hands are my favourite band and choosing a first track is difficult. 

However the choice was made for me as I am going to St. Ives in Cornwall tomorrow to see them twice at the St.Ives festival. On Friday night I am seeing a special Patrons set where Steve Knightley and Phil Beer from the band are presenting an informal, illustrated concert revealing how the West Country and Cornwall in particular has influenced their music and careers. 

This is a one off event and I am really looking forward to this. On the Saturday night they are joined by third band member Miranda Sykes for a full Show of Hands concert. The song ‘Cousin Jack’ is about Cornwall and tin mining and always provides a good sing a-long at the concerts. 

I first saw them at the Cambridge Folk Festival in 2007 and I have now seen them 18 times from venues as big as The Albert Hall to as small as a Church in Marlborough. They are fantastic musicians and I never tire of seeing them live. Steve Knightley is one of the best English songwriters we have and hopefully if you do not know of his songs you will go and out and find out more and come across songs such as AIG, Country Life and Roots. 

It is difficult for me to say how much I love Show Of Hands and I know that I probably listen to more of their songs over and over again than any other band. I know that many more of their songs will be included in this blog.  You should start with ‘Cousin Jack’ and them move on, you will not be disappointed. I think everybody needs to listen to Show Of Hands and see them in concert. They are advocates of copying their music to pass on to others to encourage you to buy albums and go to concerts. If you would like a sample CD please let me know.

I have detailed the cast for both the original album version and the re-recorded version for the best of album. You will see that the vocal group Fishermen’s Friends are on that version. Show Of Hands championed them even before they signed a major record deal. I saw them join Show Of Hands and sing this at the Show Of Hands regular summers concert in Abbotsbury sub-tropical gardens in July 2009. Sadly Trevor Grills one of the singing group and tour manager Paul McMullen were killed in a tragic accident at a theatre in Guildford earlier this year. Cousin Jack is on the new Fishermen’s Friends album released in August.

Cast

Original Dark Field Album Version - 1997

Steve Knightley – Vocals, Guitar

Phil Beer – Vocal, Mandolin

Matt Clifford – Piano

Roots – Best of Album  - Recorded Live in 2007

Steve Knightley – Vocail, Guiar

Phil Beer – Vocal, Mandolin

Miranda Sykes – Double Bass

Matt Clifford – Piano

Tom Palmer – Vocals

Fishermen’s Friends - Vocals

Click here to see a video of Cousin Jack

If on a Mobile Click hear to hear song

Song No. 4 - Thunder Road

Song No.4 – Thunder Road written and performed by Bruce Springsteen

The screen door slams
Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again
Don't run back inside
darling you know just what I'm here for

What can I say about Bruce Springsteen and what can I say about Thunder Road. Both are top of any list on anything in my life I have ever accounted, not just music.  They are both works of art that should be enjoyed by all. If you have never spent time with this song then please do so now. As Nick Hornby says in his book 31 Songs

 ‘ I can remember listening to this song and loving it in 1975; I can remember listening to this song and loving it almost as much quite recently’.

I first heard it a little later than 1975 as I was a little bit late getting into Bruce Springsteen and I thank Malcolm who we shared a house with in the late 70s/early 80s who introduced to me to his music. I have now seen him live 3 times and I hope to see him many more times if he continues to tour. His last album ‘Wrecking Ball’ was my album of 2012.

Thunder Road underwent considerable evolution as it was written, with an early version titled "Wings for Wheels" first performed in February 1975. Other early versions also mention a girl named "Angelina" or "Christina" rather than the studio version's "Mary." It was the opening track on Born to Run and also opened his Live 1975-1985 album with a slower solo version.

Nick Hornby also states that he thinks he has heard this song more than any other song and not just by a small amount. He reckons he has heard Thunder Road 1,500 times over 25 years and the second song would only have just clocked up 500 plays. I think I am with him on this. Any Bruce Springsteen playlist I create always opens with Thunder Road.

It seems that many people feel a special affinity to this song. In 2008, years before ideas for his film ‘Cemetery Junction’ were put down in writing, Stephen Merchant mentioned his ambitions for the song on his self-titled BBC Radio Show:

"The more you listen to it the more you realize just how extraordinarily it is put together, and how it builds, and how it's just so cinematic. And that final line when he declares 'It's a town full of losers and we're pulling out of here to win', oh, goodness me! I've always wanted to make a movie of that song (...) I don't mean literally, I just mean a film that can invoke the spirit of that song." 

The film ‘Cemetery Junction’ which I actually quite like came out in 2010 and both Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais stated the script for Cemetery Junction was loosely based upon the lyrics of "Thunder Road".

The cast list is the E –Street band of the time and four of them are still playing with Bruce. The much missed Clarence Clemons has been replaced by his nephew Jake. Some of these names will I am sure appear again as they have played on many of my favourite songs.

Cast

Bruce Springsteen – guitar, vocals, harmonica

Gary Tallent – bass guitar

Max Weinberg – drums

Roy Bittan – piano, glockenspiel, backing vocals

Mike Appel – backing vocals

Steve Van Zandt – backing vocals

Clarence Clemons - saxaphone

Mobile Browser link to hear Thunder Road 

Song No. 3 - Underneath The Stars

Underneath The Stars written and performed by Kate Rusby

Underneath the stars I'll meet you
Underneath the stars I'll greet you
There beneath the stars I'll leave you
Before you go of your own free will
Go gently

My first female artist and my first folk song. Underneath The Stars is a special song to me as it was Kate performing this song on the BBC highlights of the 2005 Cambridge Folk Festival that started me off on the road to discovering her? I immediately went and bought the album of the same name and also her new album’ The Girl Who Couldn’t Fly’ which had just come out. I loved her music and I loved Kate. She has a voice of an angel and along with ‘Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith and Heidi Talbot will be the angels singing to me in heaven…

I have seen Kate many times in concert and have all her albums. This song remains special and I love hearing it in concert particularly if she has her’ brass boys’ accompanying her. My wife always says that I have a stupid smiley grin on my face every time I see Kate and I am sure she is right. I met her at the 2007 Cambridge Folk Festival and I think this photo proves the point.

 

I read a very good book a couple of years ago, ‘Bringing it all home’ by Ian Clayton.  It has been described as ‘One of the best books about popular music ever written’ but it is more than that. It has a slight political edge and also describes growing up in a Yorkshire mining town. Be warned it has a very sad and tragic ending. I recommend you seeking this out and reading it. My local Oxfam Books and Music shop currently has a copy on its shelves.  Anyway in this book Ian describes meeting Kate Rusby and I quote.

‘On the night Kate Rusby played I made a bit of a closet of myself by heckling her to play the Iris DeMent song ‘My Town’ halfway through her set when she had planned to do it as an encore.

I wanted to meet Kate Rusby after that and hoped that she wouldn’t remember it was me spoiling the ambience at The Wardrobe. I got my chance when I was commissioned to present a series called ‘My Yorkshire’ which explored contemporary Yorkshire through its musicians, artists and sundry other characters. Most of the filming was done at Kate’s mam’s house. We sat on the settee and by way of interview just talked about Kate’s love of folk music and where she was from. I asked her if she’d got a guitar and would she play me something. She said ‘Do you still want me to play that Iris DeMent song and then she giggled. 

Two years after I had rudely shouted out from the audience at Leeds I sat on Kate Rusby’s mam’s settee and got my own private concert. ‘My Town’ is a lovely song about where you grow up and the things you recall about what shapes you. Kate sang it four times for different camera angles, each time I stared wide-eyed at her like a kid who’d just rubbed the sleep out of his eyes on a Christmas morning.’

The last sentence is how I feel when I see or listen to Kate

 

I have three versions of this song. The original from the album of the same name. The new version recorded for her latest album 20 which celebrates her 20 years in the business where she gets to re-do 20 of her favourite songs and a live version on of that 2005 Cambridge Folk Festival appearance on the ‘Cool as folk’ compilation album which has 36 live performances from different artists at Cambridge over the years.

I find the dedication in the ‘Underneath the Stars’ album cover to be very poignant. It says’ Especially to John. May we lay underneath the stars for many years to come’. This dedication is to John McCusker her husband, producer and band member at the time. Sadly they are now divorced but Kate is now happily married to Damien O’Kane another musician who now plays in her band and on the new album.  John McCusker is married to Heidi Talbot another of my singing angels. It all works out happily in the end.

Cast

Underneath The Stars Album version

Kate Rusby – vocal, acoustic guitar

John McCusker -ukelele

James Mackintosh – wee bells

Richard Marshall – cornet

Jim Fletcher – Eb horn

James Hartley – tuba

Robert Shires – flugel horn

Michael Dodd - euphonium

20 Album version

Kate Rusby – vocal, acoustic guitar

Brass – Grimethorpe Colliery Band

Mobile Browser Link

Song No.2 – New York, New York

New York, New York written and performed by Ryan Adams

 Well, I shuffled through the city on the 4th of July I had a firecracker waiting to blow.  Breakin' like a rocket who makin' its way to the cities of Mexico. Lived in an apartment out on Avenue-A. I had a tar-hut on the corner of 10th. Had myself a lover who was finer than gold. But I've broken up and busted up since And love don't play any games with me anymore like she did before
The world won't wait, so I better shake
That thing right out there through the door
Hell, I still love you, New York

I was always going to have a Ryan Adams song for my second blog but the song changed late last night when I realised that today is the 11^th September. 12 years on from the 9/11 terror attacks. In remembrance to the victims of those attacks I changed the song to ‘New York, New York’.

‘New York, New York’ was the first single from the Gold album which came out in late September 2001. The video was filmed 4 days before the attacks and features prominently the skyline of New York including the twin towers. The video is dedicated at the end to the victims of the attacks and those that tried to save them. Profits from the video were donated to a September 11 charity.

Ryan Adams is one of my all time favourite artists and Gold in my opinion is his best album and would still get in my top five best albums ever. I have the extended addition with an extra disk.

Ryan intended for the album to be a double album but his record label, Lost Highway condensed the album into a single disc. According to Ryan:

  

"the label took the last five songs, made it a bonus disc and put it on the first hundred and fifty thousand copies. F**king my fans over and making them pay extra for a record I wanted to be a double album. They counted that as one record’ 

This bonus disc is known as Side Four; the disc's title reflects the fact that the bonus material makes up the fourth side of the double LP edition of the album.

‘New York, New York’ was featured in my favourite ever piece of music writing. Music (The Revelator) was the last page Screen Door article in the November/December 2001 edition of No Depression the much missed US music magazine. Written by 'Silas House' it talks about the 9/11 attacks and how music can be your balm.  Below is the line talking about ‘New York, New York?’

‘I listened to everything. I found myself tapping my foot along to Ryan Adams singing “New York New York”. One line in there filled me up with that stubborn American pride again: “Hell, I still love you New York.’

It is the last paragraph of the article that I think sums up my love of music:

'In fact, all of these songs seemed to say things they hadn’t before. They seemed to be saying all the right things. Music can do that. It can shape itself to the situation; can speak to the listener in their time of need. It can make you want to get up and dance or break down crying or join along to sing for joy. And in doing all of those things, it made me feel better. Just like in that old song “The Balm Of Gilead”, music was the balm to heal my soul. Music did its job. What a power that is. What an awesome power, right there in our record collections'.

I have a framed copy of that article on my desk as I type this. If you want to read the full article click here:

 Music (The Revelator) - Silas House

I am sure I will return to this article over the coming weeks as I will Ryan Adams. I may even tell you the story of how bad he was when I saw him live for the only time!

Finally the cast list shows our friend ‘Ethan Johns’ again. He produced the album as well as playing multiple instruments.  Stephen Stills son Chris is on bass guitar.

Hope you read the full ‘Silas House’ article and watch the video of the song it really is moving to think that four days later two of those buildings had gone. I dedicate today’s blog to the memory of all those lost in the attacks on 9/11.

Cast

Ryan Adams – vocal, acoustic guitar

Richard Causon – piano

Chris Stills – bass guitar

Kamasi Washington – saxophone

Ethan Johns – electric guitar, Hammond B-3, congas, drums

Use the Mobile Browser link if the video link is not shown.

 Mobile Browser Link

Song No. 1 - Real Fine Love

The idea for this music type blog came from a book I read several years ago called 31 Songs by Nick Hornby. In 31 Songs he writes about, funnily enough 31 songs that he loves or once loved, all of them significant to him.

I don’t intend to stop at 31 songs. I just want to keep on going; after all I currently have 12,780 songs on my iPod. I don’t love all of them and some get very little airplay unless I am on shuffle. I just want to be able to choose a song tell you all a little bit about it and hopefully provide a link so that you can listen to it yourself. Some of these songs you may know, others will be new to you. You may find yourself liking songs and artists you have never heard of.

I may post a song a day for a couple of weeks or only one a week. At this stage I don’t know. It will cross many music genres but please give each song a chance.

Where do I start, well that was difficult? In the end I went for a song that I think is one of the best opening songs ever and deserves to be the first song in my ‘Never Ending Songs’ blog.

Song no. 1 - Real Fine Love – written and performed by John Hiatt from the album ‘Stolen Moments’

 

Well I never went to college babe,

I did not have the luck,

Stole out of Indiana in the back of a

Pickup truck.

With no education higher

Than the streets of my hometown

I went looking for a fire

Just to burn it all down.

I have never seen John Hiatt in concert but if I ever do I will be really disappointed if he does not roll on stage and hit this song from the get go. I can’t think of a better opening song.  I have never been to Indiana or ridden in the back of a pick up truck but I can feel this character wanting to get out of town and set fire to the world.

This track comes from ‘Stolen Moment’s’ probably his best album. I first heard this at a friend’s house.  ‘Dave’ you know who you are and fell in love with it. Several John Hiatt albums later and it still get’s played regularly and is still available for only £4.00, used from Amazon.  Produced by the great ‘Glyn Johns’ (look him up if you don’t know who he is), this track also has his son Ethan playing drums and guitars.

Well that is the first song done and dusted. I hope you take a listen and let me have your comments. I will wherever possible also give you the ‘cast’ list from the song. As the songs progress I am sure you will see the same names appear regularly.

For example from the cast below Ethan Johns will appear again as he produced and played on several Ryan Adams albums and believe me Ryan Adams will appear here very soon.  Pat Donaldson played with Nanci Griffith and Richard Thompson. Michael Henderson is a ‘Dead Reckoner’ one of my favourite record labels and you will hear from him again. Ashley Cleveland appeared with ‘Transatlantic Sessions’ recently and you will see tracks from their many albums here as well. The whole business is incestuous especially in the Folk and Country genres.  Enjoy and see you all again soon.

Cast

John Hiatt – Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar

Pat Donaldson – Bass Guitar

Ethan Johns – Drums, Electric and Rhythm Guitar

Michael Henderson – Slide Guitar

Ashley Cleveland – Background Vocals

Russ Taff – Background Vocals

 

If on a mobile device use this link 

http://www.last.fm/music/John+Hiatt/_/Real+Fine+Love