Journey Through The Past : Maggie Bell : Queen of the Night

I first became aware of  Maggie Bell when, along with The Pretty Things she was signed to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song Label. Years later I picked up Queen of the Night in a sale bin somewhere. What a great buy.

A soul classic,  And it comes from bloody Scotland!!

Her version of After Midnight is certainly my favourite version but she also gives a gutsy versions of We had it all (one of my all time favourite songs), John Prine's Souvenirs, Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham's A woman left Lonely.

However the piece de resistance has to be As the Year's go Passing By.

She has only released a few albums but what is apparently missing and never released are two albums she recorded with Jerry Wexler for Atlantic before this was released. Hard to imagine they are not terrific and I would really love to hear those.

Not sure why this is the only Maggie Bell Album I have. Perhaps I need more.

Postnote : Many people will remember her No Mean City that was the theme song to the Glaswegian TV series Taggart. 

I do not know much about Jazz but I like ....................Charlie Christian's Solo Flight (with Benny Goodman's Sextet)

My son Chris first told me about Charlie Christian - one of the earliest and most proficient exponents of the electric guitar.  You can certainly hear echoes of his playing in later players like Kenny Burrell, George Benson and Grant Green.

On this collection of tracks, recorded between 1939 and 1941 you get to hear some of the best of what he recorded with Goodman - who sought him out on the recommendation of John Hammond - when he passed through Oklahoma.  A improvisation style that would progress into the bop style of the 50s.

Check out Solo Flight and Waiting for Benny where you hear not only Charlie but Benny Goodman on Clarinet and Lionel Hampton on vibes.

Journey Through The Past : Lloyd Cole and the Commotions : Rattlesnakes

Rattlesnakes was released in NZ in 1984.  It was preceded by the single Forest Fire, the video of which played extensively on TV.

I bought the LP early and find that it is one album from the period that I still play regularly.  It is packed with wry observant songs and was/is simply a tremendous debut album.  I have a few other albums by Cole but none to me have the same consistency.

From the opening Perfect Skin, through Down on Mission St, Charlotte Street, 2CV and Four Flights Up Cole and the band hardly put a foot wrong.

Great stuff!!

I do not know much about Jazz but I like ......... Nina Simone's Nina at Town Hall

I have a few Nina CDs and records including this one At Town Hall. A presumably short extract from a longer show but it certainly gets some great tracks out.

I was originally drawn to it because of her (original) version of Wild Is The Wind a song Bowie made his own on his Station to Station Album. However she makes songs like Black is the Colour of My True Love's Hair and Summertime her own as well.

Sublime

Journey Through The Past : Elvis Presley Sun Sessions

I am not a big Elvis Fan.  To me he was a star who burnt brightly and then became dull and even a parody of himself.  I have explored his music a few times, have a few greatest hits and each time I come to  the same conclusion.  That little of what he recorded after returning from the Army was either innovative or particularly interesting.  There were exceptions of course but that is how he engaged with me.

However the album I never tire of, and which captures that burst of innovation and a moment in music history, is this one The Sun Sessions.

Released in 1976 it supposedly collected all the tracks Elvis recorded at Sun together (but was outdone later by the Sunrise Collection  which added a few extra takes and some contemporary live recordings from the Louisiana Hayride.  Whether it be the stuttering That's Alright Mama, Baby Let's Play House, I'm Left You're Right, She's Gone or Mystery Train.

I really enjoyed going to Sun Studios when I was in Memphis, apparently it is unchanged from  when these were recorded in 1955.  Got the spine tingles and got the real sense of history.

That is what you get when you listen to these songs as well.

Favourites : Tindersticks - Can Our Love

I only bought Can Our Love because I read such an enthusiastic review in, I think, Q Magazine.  It referred to Tindersticks as being the greatest band in the UK at the time.  Somehow until this release they had passed me by and I was so intrigued by the claim that I picked up the album (at the St Leonards Railway Station - back when railway Stations had music stores).  While I am not sure that I can completely agree with the claim, I can certainly relate to people making it.

The album has a distinctive soulful feeling tipping its hat to early 70's soul however it brings a distinctive British and European feel.  Check out Dying Slowly, Can Our Love, Sweet Release, and the gentle groove of Chilite Time.

Recent Additions : The Delines : Colfax

I had been meaning to check out The Delines' Colfax since it was released last year but it was always hard to find.  I finally found a CD of it that was not prohibitively priced on my last trip to Christchurch.  I was not disappointed, other than I had waited to long to hear it.

The Delines are the next installment in the artistic development of Willy Vlautin. I first became aware of Vlautin and his music with the track Calm on the Loose Records Collection New Sounds of the Old West.  However I did not  really become enthralled by his muse and music until the much trumpeted album Post to Wire, by his original band Richmond Fontaine.

Vlautin and Richmond Fontaine's albums are like mini-plays - his lyrics achieve a balance of personal, evocative and cinematic all at the same time. At the same time he was producing a series of great albums he also started a career as a novelist and has since written 4 novels that explore the dark side of life and are populated by losers, murderers and gamblers.

In 2014 this album appeared on the scene, familiar sounding characters and themes but presented with Amy Boone presenting more soulful vocals than  Vlautin's rasp.  The result is nothing short of stunning. One of the best "total albums" I have heard in a long time. This live radio/tv session gives some idea of the power and depth of the album.  A favourite track already is The Oil Rigs at Night.