EVA CASSIDY - Songbird 1998

As we get closer to Christmas, TV's everywhere will be showing the old stand-bys. At some point you'll either watch or actively avoid "Love Actually". If nothing else, the scene where Laura Linney's character Sarah finally has a moment with Karl is worth it just for the soundtrack. The hauntingly beautiful voice of the late Eva Cassidy gives a rendition of Christine McVie's "Songbird" that will bring a tear to the coldest soul.

Eva only released 2 albums in her lifetime. The first, 1992's "The Other Side" was duets and solos with Chuck Brown, a 'Go-go funk' musician. Singing a range of styles from 'Let the Good Times Roll' to 'You Don't Know Me' Eva really stretched her wings. Taking 'God Bless the Child' and 'Over the Rainbow' as her solos, this was the only studio album of Eva's that was released while she was alive. Her only other recording was "Live at Blues Alley". Had it not been for Eva's tenacity this record would never have seen the light of day. She couldn't get any major record labels interested enough to back her, so she cashed in her pension savings from her day jobs and self-funded the recording of this show. The actual recording was meant to be over two nights but due to technical problems the first nights tapes couldn't be used. Twelve songs from the show were used on the album, but in 2015 the whole show was released on a 2-CD 1 DVD set called "Nightbird".

Her third album, which was in fact her first solo studio recording, was released in September 1997. Tragically, Eva had passed away a year earlier in November '96 from melanoma at the too young age of 33. 

This featured album, "Songbird" is a compilation of those 3 albums, but it too almost didn't get made. After her death her 'Blues Alley' album was recommended by a local folk singer to one of her record company execs. He put together and released this compilation but it did nothing for almost two years. Eventually a producer on Terry Wogan's BBC radio show suggested it to him and after playing the album it went on to sell over 100,000 copies within a few months.

Posthumously Eva's fame grew and grew, being praised by critics and fellow musicians alike. This album is truly representative of Eva's "lack" of style. I mean that in the best possible way. It was one of the reasons she found it difficult to get a recording contract. She refused to be pinned into one genre. As I said at the beginning of this post, Eva stretched her wings, singing what she wanted, when she wanted, how she wanted. 

I've never particularly liked Sting. His voice tends to annoy me, but I will forgive him everything for one reason. He wrote 'Fields of Gold' and Eva recorded it. It begins this album and takes the song to an other-worldly place. The traditional 'Wade in the Water' has bounce and joy and then the mood changes again for the classic Johnny Mercer song 'Autumn Leaves'. Another traditional song 'Wayfaring Stranger' gets a smoky club feeling before the title track of this compilation 'Songbird'. If this doesn't make every nerve-ending tingle, you are dead inside.

Do you want some gospel, along with swirling organ. Pete Seeger's 'Oh, I Had a Golden Thread' covers it. Ending the album with 'Over the Rainbow' is made even more poignant knowing that Eva had already passed when it was released. An amazing talent gone too soon.

Fields of Gold

Songbird

SANDIE SHAW - Love Me, Please Love Me 1967

 

                           

Here's another departure from the 'Vinyl' part of 'Vinyl Vault' ... I used to have this album on tape. Not cassette but the old school real stuff. At one point in the late 60's - early 70s, I can't quite remember, I decided to give some of my vinyl albums to a friend in exchange for a reel-to-reel tape deck and some tapes. This was one of them. I can't recall the model of deck I had but it looked something like the one pictured.

The exchange experiment was a failure, I didn't keep up any form of tape collection and soon went back to buying more vinyl, but this album was worth a listen and it was intriguing.

Sandie Shaw hit the ground running - in bare feet I might add - in 1964 with her version of '(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me'. In '63 Dionne Warwick did a demo of this Bacharach/David song, it was recorded in the US by Lou Johnson but then Sandie took it to #1 in 3 countries and charted in 9, with another two chart hits in a French language version. That wasn't unusual for her, she recorded quite a few of her singles not only in French but also German and Spanish so she created a bigger European audience.

Those singles came in a flood from '64 through '67 with 'Girl Don't Come', 'Long Live Love', 'Message Understood' and 'You've Not Changed' to name a few. In March '67 the unlikely but massive Eurovision hit 'Puppet on a String' saw Sandie on the world stage - literally. Despite it's popularity and success, Sandie is quoted as saying she totally hated the song .. "from the very first oompah to the final bang on the bass drum. I was repelled by its sexist drivel."

After all those commercial hits, this album may seem out of place. It's mainly covers of well-known songs by writers of standards, the likes of Cole Porter, Sammy Cahn and Jaques Brel. It's the Jaques Brel track 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' that drew me in. As she did with some of her earlier hits, Sandie sings in French (Rod McKuen did a popular English version of this song 'If You Go Away') but Sandie sticks to the original. There are a couple of Chris Andrews compositions - he wrote a lot of stuff for Sandie, but it's the classics that resonate, the smoky late-nightness of 'Time After Time' and the bounce of 'I Get a Kick Out of You'. It's a reflection on the change in attitudes when Sandie sings the words to 'Yes My Darling Daughter' and they can make us catch our breath ..

"What if he’ll persist, mama darling, doing things he hadn’t oughta

Mama, what should be my answer? Yes, my darling daughter"

REALLY !! That was then, this is now.

Any 60s compilation worthy of the name will contain one or more of Sandies songs, but the 'hit parade' tracks are only a part of her catalogue. Doing a deep dive can pay dividends. Just make sure you don't invest in the reel-to-reel version.

(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me

Ne Me Quitte Pas

JOHN SEBASTIAN & ARLEN ROTH – Explore The Spoonful Songbook 2021

One thing the internet provides us - rabbit holes. You start looking for one thing and get sidetracked and before you know it you're a long way from home and finding things you knew little or nothing about. 

A while ago someone on the Bob Dylan group posted a link to a Dylan cover done by the MonaLisa Twins. I checked them out and found that they were originally from Austria, living in Liverpool and amongst other things had a 2 year residency at The Cavern doing Beatles and assorted 60's covers. They've been recording since 2007 and on their 2017 album 'Orange' they had John Sebastian playing blues harp. On a recent post they wrote "We had the absolute pleasure of singing on John Sebastian’s & Arlen Roth’s latest album!...."

So from 6 degrees of separation (or 3 or 4) I found my way to this new album of old music. And what a treat. This is a bit premature - I've listened to this album but I don't have the physical vinyl. Yet. Regardless, it's worth a mention for a number of reasons. In the interest of full disclosure though I have to say that the vinyl album contains 12 tracks whereas the CD has 14. On the vinyl copy 3 tracks are instrumentals, 'Daydream', 'Rain on the Roof' and 'You Didn't Have To Be So Nice'. The CD adds 2 more instrumentals 'Younger Girl' and 'Do You Believe in Magic'.

Some may think that's a bit of a liberty, taking away the vocals from so many popular songs, but the instrumentals stand up on their own, in no small part thanks to the brilliance of guitarist Arlen Roth. Arlen also does vocals on 'Nashville Cats' and, keeping it in the family, his daughter Lexie takes lead on 'Didn't Want to Have to do it'. Maria Muldaur (of 'Midnight at the Oasis' fame) comes in on 'Stories We Could Tell' and her husband Geoff Muldaur chimes in on 'Jug Band Music' and 'Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind'.

The inclusion of the MonaLisa Twins came from someone sending John a clip from 2015 of them doing a version of 'Daydream'. From there, as mentioned above he played on one of their albums and then he invited them to sing on this one. You can see them working together on the video clip for 'Waiting For The Waiter' - a nice blues number.

John's voice is an older voice. He's 77 now, not the kid from 1966 who gave us 'Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful' (Vinyl Vault 9 August 2021) but he's mellowed the songs to suit and he brings another quality to the tracks we've known for so long. Alongside Geoff Muldaur he rolls along to 'Jug Band Music' like a guy in a rocker just singing along to an old tune to pass the time. And it's great.

Look for this album wherever you can .. vinyl, CD or digital .. drop the needle, press the button or load the file, then close your eyes and let it wash over you. You'll feel better for it.

Jug Band Music

Waiting For The Waiter

AVERAGE WHITE BAND - AWB 1974

 

There are some instrumental tracks that cross-over into everyday listening but have specific genre roots. These are often the ones that tease people - they know the tune, they hum along but they can never think of the title. Chuck Mangione's smooth jazz 'Feels So Good' is one that comes to mind, the R&B 'Green Onions' and 'Time Is Tight' by Booker T. & The MG's and one from this album by AWB, the Funk/Soul earworm of 'Pick Up The Pieces'.

Average White Band - abbreviated to AWB for a while before reverting back to the full name - are perhaps the most unlikely funk group to appear in the 70's. Earth, Wind and Fire, Sly & The Family Stone, Parliament - Funkadelic etc. took black influenced R&B and soul and made a new style of predominately African-American music called Funk. 

Exporting the music around the world it came to the attention of some Scottish guys in London. Some of them had played together in Scotland but had all made it to London separately. Reuniting in 1972 after bumping into each other at a 'Traffic' concert, the six main members,  Alan Gorrie, Malcolm "Molly" Duncan, Owen "Onnie" McIntyre, Michael Rosen, Roger Ball and Robbie McIntosh formed AWB. Hamish Stuart replaced Michael Rosen and the line-up was ready to go.

I think it's funny that they met up at a 'Traffic' show, because as soon as the vocal kicks in on side 1 track 1, 'You've Got It' my mind immediately went to Steve Winwood. Apart from the "funky" intro, the voice could have been plucked directly off 'The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys' or any Winwood led track.

Going back to Sly Stone, one of my favourite Sly albums, 1971s 'There's a Riot Goin' On' (Vinyl Vault 22 July 2020) is due for a 50th Anniversary re-release in December 2021. There's quite a lot about this AWB album that reminds me of Sly et al .. it stays very true to the meaning of funk.

This was AWB's second album, the first "Show Your Hand' did nothing, but had a new lease of life after this album proved popular. It was re-issued in '75 with a fresh cover, different opening track and new title "Put It Where You Want It".

After 'Pick Up The Pieces' AWB received a nod from James Brown. One version is that he was a bit annoyed that AWB used a bass riff from his song 'Hot Pants Road' so he got his backing group, the JB's, to record 'Pick Up The Pieces One By One' under the pseudonym A.A.B.B. (Above Average Black Band). The other version is that it was done as a sincere tribute to their honest approach to funk, with a wordplay on the band's name.

The third album also contained another of their most well known single releases, the title track 'Cut The Cake'. Sadly, between the two recordings, their drummer Robbie McIntosh died of a heroin overdose. Members of the group were at a party in L.A. in 1974 when both McIntosh and Alan Gorrie OD'd, but amazingly none other than Cher kept Gorrie awake and aware until the medics arrived.

Average White Band is more than the sum of their parts. Go beyond the two well known tracks and dig into their albums. Far from being 'Average' they are a force to be reckoned with.

Pick Up The Pieces

Cut The Cake

BILLY IDOL - Billy Idol 1982 (1983 reissue)

In the 1950's Elvis Presley curled his lip and the world went wild. Everyone imitated him, including the squeaky clean Cliff Richard in his attempt to look like a bad boy singing 'Move It'. Who knew that by the early 80's that curl would turn into a full blown sneer on the face of William Michael Albert Broad .. A.K.A. Billy Idol.

The lip curl wasn't new and neither was Billy. He'd been around for a while, not as a solo artist but as co-founder and lead singer of Generation X. They were moderately popular, skirting the lower listings of the charts with their 3 studio albums and a few singles, but after releasing the 'Kiss Me Deadly' LP which failed to make a mark they broke up. With only a few exceptions all their songs were written by Billy and fellow co-founder Tony James. The only single from that album was the groups version of 'Dancing With Myself'.

Billy left the group and the country and moved to New York in 1981. To this day he holds dual British and American citizenship. His first US recording was a 1981 EP 'Don't Stop' - two of the tracks were the Tommy James cover 'Mony Mony' and a remix of Gen X's 'Dancing With Myself'. Billys mate Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols played guitar on the track.

Then came this album. 

This copy came to me through marriage. It was in Tracy's collection and has it's own claim to fame. It's a bit of a hybrid. The original album was released in 1982 with a different cover and the track 'Congo Man' closing out side 2. In 1983 it was reissued with this cover and 'Congo Man' was replaced with 'Dancing With Myself'. This copy is the 1983 reissue however it is described as "Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 2nd Cover, Original Track List". So, reissue, new cover, old tracklist. Hybrid.

Although this copy of the album didn't have 'Dancing ...' on it, there were two other stand-outs. Tracks 2 and 3 were 'White Wedding" and one of my favourites, 'Hot In The City'. All three of those songs were released as singles, none of them blew the lid off anything, although 'White Wedding' did get to US Rock #4. Nowadays of course, they are staple tracks on any radio station worth it's salt.

There's a few great anecdotes attached to Billy, firstly on how he got his name. 

On a school report he was described as being 'idle'. He wanted to incorporate that into a stage name but he was concerned that it would be a conflict with Monty Python's Eric Idle, so he changed the spelling to Billy Idol. 

When he was recording this debut eponymous album in Los Angeles he rented a bungalow at the Chatea Marmont Hotel. He woke up in the middle of the night and realised there was nothing left to drink, so he totally trashed the room. When the police arrived, Billy, who was reportedly still naked, gave himself up. Turns out the police weren't even there for him - John Belushi had died in the same hotel that night and the police had come to investigate.

'Rebel Yell' got it's name from a brand of bourbon he was swigging one night with Mick Jagger, Ron Woods and Keith Richards. 

Billy is still out there doing his 'Rebel Yell' and singing about 'Sweet Sixteen', 'Eyes Without a Face' and 'Flesh For Fantasy' and I'm pretty sure the trademark curled lip sneer has become more of a smirk these days.

Just one thing about the videos I've linked to. Can something be punk, rock, glam, new wave and camp all at the same time? I think so.

Dancing With Myself

Hot In The City

Alternate Take - BOB DYLAN - Carnegie Chapter Hall 4 Nov 1961

 OK, a word before we start. The recording(s) I have of this concert are not vinyl, which is why I've placed it in the 'Alternate Take' category. In fact apart from one song, none of it is official. It is however a milestone - exactly 60 years to the day that Bob Dylan made "His First New York Concert" appearance. Arriving in New York in January '61 Bob started playing around the clubs - Gerdes Folk City, Cafe Wha!, Gaslight Café. Reviewed at Gerdes by critic Robert Sheldon he was signed to Columbia by John Hammond. On 29 September he made it to the recording studios, not for his own work but playing harmonica on a Carolyn Hester album. A few weeks later Izzy Young promoted him for a concert at the Carnegie Chapter Hall, a part of the main Carnegie Hall building. Although it is capable of holding up to 200 people, only 53 seats were sold - at $2 each !!

Dylan sang 22 songs, mainly traditional, some Woody Guthrie and a bit of Leadbelly and Bukka White, but importantly there were also some of his own compositions. 'Song to Woody', his homage to the aforementioned Woody Guthrie and his tongue in cheek autobiographical 'Talkin' New York'.

Out of those 22 songs, 7 have never been circulated and the remaining 15 are on a variety of incomplete recordings. The first 7 are on the unofficial 'Dylan's Root(s)' and 'Hard Times in NYC'. More appear on the 'Bob Dylan Live at Carnegie Chapter Hall, 1961 [SOUNDBOARD RECORDING]' boot with one track 'This Land is Your Land' included on the official 'Bootleg Series Vol.7 - No Direction Home'.

Two weeks after this concert, Bob was back in the studio recording his first album, the eponymous 'Bob Dylan' produced by John Hammond. Both 'Song to Woody' and 'Talkin' New York' appeared on this album and although it's probably more folklore than fact, John Hammond is famously quoted as saying the album cost a total of $402 to record.

Today is a landmark day in the history of Bob Dylan and his followers. Just two days ago, now aged 80, Bob started touring again. To be honest he never really stopped. Held up by the pandemic, after an unexpected hiatus, 'The Rough and Rowdy Ways' tour is on the road.

Bob Dylan Live at Carnegie Chapter Hall, 1961 [SOUNDBOARD RECORDING]

J.D. SOUTHER - You're Only Lonely 1979

Today is John David Southers 76th birthday so it's fitting to give him a re-run. I posted about him briefly before I started the Vinyl Vault blog so it's only right that I expand my first entry and include it on the V V page too.

J.D. Souther is the guy you've never heard of but you know him well. In his early career he teamed with Glenn Frey (Eagles) and performed as a duo - "Longbranch Pennywhistle", releasing their only album in 1970. He went solo for his 1972 eponymous album, then joined with Chris Hillman and Richie Furay as the "Souther-Hillman-Furay Band". Going back to solo work as a singer he is also widely known as a song-writer. Amongst the ones everybody knows he co-wrote ..
Eagles - 'Best of My Love', 'Heartache Tonight', 'New Kid in Town' and more ..
Linda Ronstandt - 'Faithless Love', 'Heart Like a Wheel', 'White Rhythm and Blues' etc
w/ James Taylor - 'Her Town Too'

He famously performed and did the vocal arrangements on the video "Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night", a stunning video and soundtrack showcasing not only Roy Orbison but also a whole raft of incredible musicians.

It's hard to pick a favourite from JD's work - I have 4 albums on vinyl and 3 more digital, but I think this one, 'You're Only Lonely' would have to be my go-to. The title track sets the scene for JD's gentle laid-back style and he follows through with the heart-wrenching 'Last In Love' and his definitive version of the song he gave to Linda Ronstandt - 'White Rhythm and Blues'
"All I need is black roses
White rhythm and blues
And somebody who cares when you lose
Black roses, white rhythm and blues"

That's not to say he's locked into tear-jerkers. He turns to rockabilly and solid C&W, even foot-stomping goodtime music. 'Til the Bars Burn Down' and 'The Moon Turned Blue' offer a change of pace and mood evoking sawdust floors and 'Fifteen Bucks' took a collaboration of 6 people to write !!

The guests who came along for the ride on this album are impressive. Glenn Frey co-wrote a couple of the tracks and played guitar. Don Henley took vocals, Phil Everly did harmony on 'White Rhythm and Blues', Jackson Browne popped up on the title track. John Sebastian (Lovin' Spoonful), Don Felder (The Eagles) and Kenny Edwards, founding member of Linda Ronstands old group The Stone Poneys were all there. The sound was filled out by some of the best session musicians in the business.

When you're in the mood for some country rock, JD is the one to call. If you can't dig out the vinyl you should look for his 2011 CD 'Natural History' - it's new recordings of some of his great songs. 

Her Town Too

White Rhythm and Blues