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Bob Harris Saturday Show 16/06/07 - a review by Cherskiy

 
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Cherskiy



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 3701
Location: near Amble, Northumberland

PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:23 pm    Post subject: Bob Harris Saturday Show 16/06/07 - a review by Cherskiy Reply with quote

Back to ‘normal service’ after last week’s live link-up with the North By North-East Festival in Toronto: Bob had a cracking selection lined up for this programme, taking note of several comments similar to Barkingbiker’s about Gordon Lightfoot being missing from the Canadian-themed programme (BB, you did contact Bob, didn't you!). This week’s live session was performed by Anais Mitchell, a re-arranged date due to illness. Spurred on by a complimentary e-mail from Bob himself about these reviews, I’m back with this week’s – enjoy!

The “Birth of Surf” album featured a couple of weeks ago got another outing when Bob opened the show with the Surfaris’ legendary and iconic “Wipe Out” from (wait for it) 44 years ago! You can’t fail to associate this absolutely classic tune with the surfing experience unless you’ve been asleep as long as Rip Van Winkle himself! This recently-released album traces the history of surf music from its rock ‘n’ roll roots onwards – sounds really interesting and I suspect I’ll be buying it myself shortly.
The Steve Miller Band have been occasional favourites of mine since I heard Annie Nightingale play their ‘long song’ “Macho City” on her Request Show more years ago than I care to remember. From there, I progressed to listening to some of their early stuff (“Living in the USA”, “The Joker”, etc.) and right up to “Abracadabra”. “Swingtown” received an airing tonight, taken from the “Young Hearts: Complete Greatest Hits” album, the original “Book of Dreams” featuring in the charts this week back in 1977. It’s so easy to fall into this song: the production values make it virtually impossible not to kick back and relax whilst doing so.
Brand new from Mumm-Ra was “She’s Got You High”, from their album “These Things Move In Threes”. With vocals somewhat reminiscent of Nizlopi’s Luke Concannon, the end product here is a bouncy, energetic, eager mess with overlapping vocals and twangy guitars, although one which is quite endearing – definitely summer R2 mainstream airplay fodder if I’ve ever heard it and worth several more airings yet before it starts to grate.
Manassas was the ‘super-group’ headed by Stephen Stills, one that he shared his creative skills with even whilst part of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young back in the early 1970s. “Both of Us (Bound to Lose)” comes from the re-mastered original album “Manassas” released back in 1996, and despite the fact that I was only five or six when this was originally released doesn’t make me like it any less. Any song that combines Latin rhythms with country and experimental influences can’t be bad, can it?
So to Gordon Lightfoot (qv), “If You Could Read My Mind” being lifted from his “Complete Greatest Hits” album. I wasn’t too au fait with his music (so shoot me now, BB!) but I realised I have heard this song before. Mellow vocals and some lovely backing arrangements that compliment rather than vie for attention with the artist feature here, adding up to what numerous Canadian artists must have taken as inspiration for their own efforts.
The Guggenheim Grotto was a new name for me, but the vocals were eerily reminiscent of Gordon Lightfoot’s. They are three Dublin lads, and their shortly to be re-released album “….Waltzing Alone” yielded the track “Rosanna”, a wonderful descent into alt-folk territory, precisely-delivered yet heartfelt vocals and minimal accompaniment. This album was originally released last September and based on this track alone it would appear to be a crime that it didn’t get much airplay at the time.
Some of the ‘world music’ played on the show doesn’t always appeal to me, I must confess, but Nitin Sawhney’s “Dead Man” certainly did, and that was surprising given the mixture of styles. Kicking off with an audible cough(!), the song mixed Bollywood with rap influences, neither of which I particularly go for on their own, but together it seemed to work well. While it’ll never make it into my car stereo, I wouldn’t turn the radio off because it was playing – unlike that “Umbrella-ella-ella” tripe!
I hadn’t heard anything by the late Eddie Hinton before, either, and wasn’t sure what I’d make of “Everybody Needs Love” from his “Letters From Mississippi” album whilst scanning through the playlist in advance of listening to the show. I needn’t have worried. Billed as having ‘more gravel than an Alabama back road’, he played session guitar for the likes of Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin and Boz Scaggs, among others. Soulful, with brilliant lyrics – plenty here to like.
Biffy Clyro was number three in this week’s unknowns for me, a Scots trio that have come up with “Folding Stars”, taken from their forthcoming album “Puzzle”. Actually, it was a bit of a puzzle to me as to where to pigeonhole them. Suffice it to say they’ve got a sound of their own which is pleasant enough. If I had to label them, it would be among the AOR bands since they have an REM thing going on in places, but just when I thought that summed them up, the vocals and arrangements go off on another tack entirely.
Tom Petty couldn’t come up with a bad song if he tried. Don’t believe me? Listen to “Home”, the first of the bonus tracks on the enhanced version of his newly-released album “Highway Companion”. Granted, it’s never going to push the latest American Idol wannabe off the top of the download charts, but as something worthwhile to listen to, it beats anything a reality show can throw up. Like Steve Miller (qv), he almost makes writing and performing sound easy.
The sound of a passenger jet taking off heralded the start of “Fear of Flying”, lifted from Farrah’s also newly-released “Cut Out and Keep”. Almost-but-not-quite Fountains of Wayne territory here, all jangly guitars and soaring harmonies, but that’s not really a slap in the face for this outfit since the end result is pretty good stuff. I could happily delve into whatever else they’ve done on the strength of this track alone, and probably will end up doing so considering this is the first I’ve heard of them (and they’ve been around for years!).
Iowa might be known for being the birthplace of the fictional Captain James Tiberius Kirk, but it really should be better known for producing such wonderful music as that from The Pines, a couple of natives that combine traditional roots, blues and country styles to great effect in an acoustic setting. This is evident on “Midnight Sun”, taken from their second album “Sparrows in the Bell”. Gentle vocals and minimal backing are the critical ingredients here, a recipe for success if there ever was one.

And so to tonight’s live session, performed by Anais Mitchell, who had to cry off a previously-arranged visit last year due to unexpected illness. Bob has held faith with her music for a few years now, but their first conversation dealt with the aforementioned The Pines, who she knows. Anais started her session with “Before the Eyes of Storytelling Girls” with only an acoustic guitar and a lap steel guitar for accompaniment. This features on her 2004 album “Hymns for the Exiled”, and was a minor revelation for me, especially as I’d almost written her off as a roots version of Cyndi Lauper some time ago. Yes, her voice could take a little getting used to, it could be described as a little twee and yes it does sound like the aforementioned Ms Lauper in places, but there the similarities end. This song was lovely and it was delivered beautifully. Bob mentioned that this was the first he ever heard, in fact. They talked about her first (now ‘extinct’ album) “The Songs They Sang When Rome Fell”, which was released for a few years before her first ‘real’ studio album, “Hymns”. Hailing from Vermont, she re-located to ‘the live music capital of the world’, namely Austin, Texas, but both “Hymns” and her latest album, “The Brightness”, were recorded in a converted church in her home state. “Old Fashioned Hat” came along next, from “The Brightness” – this tune was written about and for her husband. If anything, her vocals came across as even more childlike here, but I was struck by their similarity to that on some of Katie Melua’s album tracks(!). Don’t let that put you off – it works in a live setting like this one. If anything, I’d describe her performance as ‘intimate’ – I know it’s a small studio setting but this is one of the rare occasions that I’ve felt as though I was sitting right next to the performer. Legendary female acoustic artist Ani DiFranco was one of her childhood heroes, and Anais is honoured to be on her record labels, being signed after a meeting at a gig the latter was performing at. Her last offering was something ‘newer than the recordings’, which necessitated a slight retuning of the guitar. “The Wall” comes from a street project called ‘Hades Town’ which is based on the Orpheus myth, but set in a post-apocalyptic American scene. She described “The Wall” as Hades’ song of indoctrination – there was a slight edge to her vocals here and each word was clearly sung as if to make a statement, which of course what the song was about in the first place. Forget anything you’ve seen me write about Anais Mitchell in the past – I take it all back, she’s wonderful in a live setting and came across as a very confident performer and conversationalist.

“Does this remind you of anything?”, Bob asked before playing Humphrey Lyttleton and Johnny Parker’s “Bad Penny Blues”, lifted from the album “Great British Skiffle 1948-1956: Just About As Good As It Gets”. Well, it reminded me of “Lady Madonna” straight away – and Bob agreed!
Wisconsin-born Stephanie Dosen was another new name for me, her debut album “A Lily for the Spectre” yielding “This Joy”. Looking at the album cover, she looks more than a little like Gwen Stefani but there the similarity ends. Acoustic guitar gave way to some polished yet understated backing, allowing her slightly breathy vocals to come to the fore. I’m not entirely sure that the song itself is particularly coherent but it was performed well, and there was enough here to make me want to hear some more tracks off the album.
If you had to select one track that summed up The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, then chances are it would be “Under the Bridge”, taken from their 1991 album “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”. Anthony Kiedis appears to be at his most soulful and placid in the intro, but that’s lulling you into a false sense of security as the song gets ramped up notch by notch, guitars playing their part before the track descends into dramatic closure.
Despite hearing Midway State a few times recently, I’ve never quite been able to get away with Nathan Ferraro’s vocals even though there’s nothing really wrong with them. “Change for You” might be the track that finally changes my mind, however – part of this Canadian band’s “Met a Man On Top of the Hill” EP, this is quite good without trying too hard to please.
Oi Va Voi’s self-titled album provided the track “Worry Lines”, which had some really interesting accompaniment to start off with, bubbling undercurrents gelling with Eastern European instrumental breaks, that Balkan influence that apparently is a feature of the band’s output definitely nailed down here. Quirky without being too weird, the end result is actually rather engaging, although I still can’t quite work out what makes it so, since individually the elements shouldn’t work.
Chris Stout was yet another new name – “Bobodansarna” comes from his album “Devil’s Advocate” and is an instrumental piece. A Shetland fiddler, his choice of instrument kicks in during the mid-section to great effect – whilst you might regard this sort of music as more akin to the theme music to say “Hamish Macbeth”, it’s definitely the sort of thing you would enjoy as a live performance at a ceildith over a dram or two. I know I would – and have done.
“Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn” was taken from The White Stripes’ latest album “Icky Thump”. Not from Yorkshire, try Detroit instead, but no sign of any motor town influence here either. In fact, I swear I heard my old classmate, now well-known performer Kathryn Tickell’s Northumbrian pipes on this track! Definitely a change in tack from what the band is better known for producing, and pretty likeable, too.
John Doe’s track “The Golden State”, taken from his newly-released album “A Year in the Wilderness”, features Kathleen Edwards so I knew it would be worthwhile listening – if anything, she’s got a stronger voice though and comes through much more on the recorded version. Still, it’s a good duet and deserves to be in the mainstream playlist – of course, it won’t get anywhere near.
And how to round a great show off in equally great style? Simply play The Doobie Brothers’ classic hit “Long Train Running”, which features on the new “California Dreaming” compilation that includes contemporaries such as Stephen Stills, Randy Newman, Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon…. I can see myself buying this before long! (Did I also say that Bob played this track for me? Cheers, Bob, that was totally unexpected!)

Don’t just read this review though: why not make some time available to listen again yourself to each show, even if it’s just for the middle hour with the live session.

Scots folk musician Jackie Leven provides the live entertainment on next weekend’s show.
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Barkingbiker



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 2313
Location: Lincolnshire

PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Cherskiy,
Smashing review, worth waiting for and I am so plesed that you liked Gordon Lightfoot, I have been a fan since the late 60's and early 70's. I had not heard the Pines before and really enjoyed Midnight Sun, another favourite of mine, especially when I am feeling melancholy, is Blues Stay Away From Me, although not the version played by the Delmore Brothers, which, IMHO, was excellent. I have this track on The Notting Hillbillies album, Missing, Presumed Having A Good Time and my favourite track off the album is the Charlie Rich Song, Feel Like Going Home. Oi Va Voi I first heard played by the "likely lads" one night last week, just don't know how this gels, but boy did it work for me. Enjoyed the Steve Miller Band and the Stones, all in all another excellent mix of new and old music presented with knowledge & passion.

BB Twisted Evil
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