Get Together

Every four to six weeks, Mrs S and I get together with two other couples, old friends from my record shop days, to eat lunch, drink wine and catch up with each other's lives. We take turns to host what has come to be known as, 'The Tummy Club', and yesterday it was our turn. After licking our plates clean, we headed out into the late afternoon sunshine to walk off our hearty meal, returning an hour later to enjoy a slice (or two) of Mrs S's outstanding homemade cheesecake, in front of a roaring fire.

The Tummy Club reconvenes in the middle of March. Can't wait.

Here's the great Sid Griffin with a bluegrass interpretation of a much recorded Chet Powers song, taken from his fine 2014 LP, 'The Trick Is to Breathe'.

Lost On the Hard Drive #4 - Callers

I'm currently putting together a new feature, which, all being well, should kick-off in about ten day's time. While strolling through my physical and digital archives in preparation, I unearthed a few more good ol' good 'uns that I've not yet shared. Take 'Rone' by Brooklyn band Callers for instance. A delicious slice from their 2008 debut LP, 'Fortune', and a big favourite in this house at the time.

Version City #39 - Please Don't Take My Sunshine Away

You might want to grab a torch. Things are about to get dark. Very dark indeed. Until an hour ago I'd never heard of Jamey Johnson, Twiggy Ramirez or Shooter Jennings, but it appears that in 2013 these three artists combined to release the very arrangement of perennial favourite, 'You Are My Sunshine', that I might have recorded myself, were I in their position. Unsettling, brooding, menacing - the way I've long thought the song should be approached. And these guys nail it.

Jamey Johnson

Turns out that Shooter is Waylon's son, Jamey's very big on the contemporary country scene and Twiggy, believe it or not, is Marilyn Manson's bassist! 'You Are My Sunshine' was recorded for the soundtrack of an American TV Series, 'Sons of Anarchy'. Brace yourself.

Saturday Scratch #44 - Burning Fire

In addition to the vacuuming duties that I detailed in a recent post, my other key role in this house is, much like Keith Flint, as a firestarter. That is to say I bring in logs, saw up the scrap, chop the kindling and generally prep the wood-burner for action.

Thus it was that last night I diligently screwed up several sheets of newspaper, liberally sprinkled some finely chopped kindling, applied a match and then added scrap wood to get the flames really burning. It was only when I sat back to bask in the warming glow that I sensed something was amiss. What was it? Then it hit me. As I've already mentioned, any fire in our house is traditionally located within the confines of a wood-burner, this one though, was roaring away on the sofa. I'd accidentally lit a fire on the sofa! Panicking, I ran into the garden, grabbed a spade and lifted the whole blazing, popping pile of scrap as one, throwing it into the wood-burner and slamming the doors to seal it in. Needless to say, the room was full of smoke by this point, making me cough, splutter and retch. And it was coughing and spluttering that I jolted awoke to find that, thankfully, I'd been having another particularly vivid dream. So vivid in fact, I swear I could taste the smoke and feel the heat of the flames. It was a weird one.

A fire on our allotment a couple years ago, far from any household furniture.

Hence today's trio of Fire related tunes taken from the vaults of the Black Ark. First up, Truth Fact And Correct's 'Babylon Deh Pon Fire' from 1976, written and produced by Lee Perry.

Next, Jah Stitch, who definitely taped 'Burning Fire' at the Black Ark, though I can't confirm if Scratch was behind the desk for this session.

Finally, from 1975, Phil Pratt handles production duties at the Black Ark for Roman Stewart's 'Fire at Your Heel' (also known as 'Run Come Feel').

Daevid Allen

If you're of a similar vintage to me, chances are that I can name two LPs that, at some point in your youth, made an appearance in your record collection, however briefly. 'The Faust Tapes' and Gong's 'Camembert Electrique' were both marketed by Virgin at 59p each, the price of a single, and were gratefully snapped up by fiscally challenged kids the length and breadth of the country. These two records (along with the Sunset budget reissue of Amon Düül II's 'Phallus Dei') became early far-out favourites for me and my little gang of musical adventurers. We weren't always sure what exactly was going on within the grooves of these LPs, but we were totally thrilled by the strange new noises we were hearing.

There are no doubt a few battered old copies of 'Camembert Electrique' being dug out and dusted off today, following yesterday's sad statement from Daevid Allen, original Gong main man and co-founder of The Soft Machine. In case you haven't seen it, I quote this from his website;

'Hello you Kookaburras, 

OK so I have had my PET-CAT scans (which is essentially a full body viewing gallery for cancer specialists) and so it is now confirmed that the invading cancer has returned to successfully establish dominant residency in my neck. The original surgery took much of it out, but the cancer has now recreated itself with renewed vigor while also spreading to my lung. The cancer is now so well established that I have now been given approximately six months to live. 

So My view has Changed: I am not interested in endless surgical operations and in fact it has come as a relief to know that the end is in sight. 

I am a great believer in "The Will of the Way Things Are" and I also believe that the time has come to stop resisting and denying and to surrender to the way it is. 

I can only hope that during this journey, I have somehow contributed to the happiness in the lives of a few other fellow humans. 

I believe I have done my best to heal, dear friends and that you have been enormously helpful in supporting me through this time So Thank you SO much for being there with me, for the Ocean of Love and Now, importantly, Thank you for starting the process of letting go of me, of mourning then transforming and celebrating this death coming up - this is how you can contribute, this would be a great gift from those emotionally and spiritually involved with me. I love you and will be with you always - Daevid xxx -'

Awful news indeed. We can only send good vibes, hope for a miracle and celebrate the music Allen leaves us with. Here's a fantastic piece of footage from 1973, featuring a live performance of 'I Never Glid Before', originally released on that year's 'Angel's Egg' LP.

Stewart Lee / Richard Dawson

The diary's been looking a bit threadbare recently, but last Sunday, Stewart Lee's latest stand-up show, 'Room With a Stew', became my first gig of 2015. Lee is a master of the demystification of live comedy. For example, when a laugh failed to arrive from the audience at an expected moment, he pressed pause on the performance, stepped out of character and walked us through the elaborate verbal scaffolding he'd erected to take us to that point, castigating us repeatedly for not sufficiently appreciating the quality of the humour. After reaching an apparent crescendo of rage, verging on a nervous breakdown, with the subtlest of movements he revealed that this too was all a device. The tension was released and a huge roar of laughter followed. The show really was a masterclass of a performance, thought provoking and very, very funny. I'm picking up the tour again in May.

When I briefly caught up with Stewart in the foyer after the show, we took a moment to share our mutual enthusiasm for the brilliant Richard Dawson. Dawson's musical palette is broad, from Faheyesque instrumentals, to cacophonous drones via unaccompanied traditional ballads. Sometimes there aren't adequate words to do justice to such a prodigious talent, so here are three examples of his work, I urge you to seek out more. This live show (here) is a good place to start.

Version City #38 - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy sings Bob Dylan

It's an exciting week in the Dylan community, with the long-awaited release of Bob's new album, 'Shadows in the Night', a re-imagining of songs previously recorded by Frank Sinatra. So this seems an appropriate moment to share my own favourite re-imagining of a Bob Dylan song of recent years, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's terrific reading of 'Brownsville Girl', performed at the finale of the Louisville Motherlodge Festival in 2012. It's an audience recording and there are a lot of people playing, so it distorts here and there, but thank goodness someone captured it. How great is this?

Old Pa over at Tune Doctor is king of the Bob Dylan cover version - he's got hundreds of 'em! 

Check 'em out here.