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Bob Harris Saturday Show 14/07/07 - a review by Cherskiy

 
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Cherskiy



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

PostPosted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 3:49 pm    Post subject: Bob Harris Saturday Show 14/07/07 - a review by Cherskiy Reply with quote

Tia McGraff provided the live session tonight: I remember her being on Bob’s Thursday programme back in November 2005 so was looking forward to this. Elsewhere, there was the usual mix of old and new, favourites and newly-discovered gems.

The first of the new artists for me tonight was Kelly Willis, Bob playing “Teddy Boys” from her recently-released album “Translated From Love”. This being her seventh studio album, by the cover picture she looks all the world like a traditional female country singer-songwriter but on listening to this track that is where the similarity ends. Her vocals are strong in the Shania Twain mould but there’s a straight-forwardness here that is quite refreshing, no trappings of stardom to get in the way of a cracking record. This album is in the top three of the current Americana chart, so it can’t be that bad.
“It’s not a rock show, but I will be playing rock”, said Bob. Velvet Revolver fell into this category, “She’s Mine” coming from their newly-released album “Libertad”. If the Fountains of Wayne had gone down the rock route, chances are they’d sound a bit like this: it probably falls within the ‘soft’ end of the spectrum, complete with overlapping harmonies and instrumentals. Not bad, but it’ll never catch on.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were up next, their album “Take Them On, On Your Own” yielding the track “Stop”. This was miles better than the previous effort, the infectious underlying beat forging an alliance with Robert Turner’s wannabe-wild-child lyrics. Whilst the band isn’t exactly going out of its way to make itself people-friendly (some of the tracks suggest killing the US Government, for instance), this particular one isn’t half bad.
Some of the world music that Bob plays is a little beyond me, but at times he plays some real gems. One that fell within the latter category was Mari Boine’s Maid Áiggot Muinna Eallin (translated as “What Do You Want, Life?”). She’s Norwegian – well, Sami if you want to be picky, and appears to be quite a prolific artist – Amazon list something in the region of ten albums. I have absolutely no idea what the song was about, but that’s not the point, it was absolutely entrancing at times. It comes from her album “Leahkastin” (“Unfolding”). You’ll not be surprised to know that she’s collaborated with Peter Gabriel in the past.
The Gentle Good were another new band to me, a Welsh folk outfit responsible for “Dawel Disgyn”, a track from the EP of the same name. Not really a ‘band’ in the true sense, it is really the nom-de-plume of Gareth Bonello. Sang in Welsh, again it was impenetrable as far as lyrics went, but that didn’t stop me enjoying the song itself. Acoustic guitar accompaniment and nothing else – lovely.
Speaking of acoustic guitar, Nick Drake’s “Fruit Tree” followed next, taken from “A Treasury”, the ‘cleaned-up’ 16-track collection released back in 2004. Not many had heard of him prior to Brad Pitt’s R2 documentary – I count myself among them. It’s hard not to like this song, despite its downbeat, melancholy lyrics, vocals and arrangements. Whilst I’m never likely to jump on the bandwagon and start feverishly buying the Nick Drake back catalogue, I don’t mind hearing a track or two now and again.
“The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get” was Joe Walsh’s second solo album, released in 1973, three years before he joined The Eagles. “Rocky Mountain Way” is probably the best known track from this album– this song using the ‘talk box’ to estrange his vocals. It is a rather strong slice of rock albeit without the ‘heavy’ overtones that sometimes become a millstone. This particular album features a rather interesting painting of Sopwith Snipe E6837 on the cover – he seemed to have something going with the aviation theme, wearing flying goggles and a scarf on the cover of “So What” and sitting on what appears to be a park bench on the flight deck of the burning aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on “You Bought It, You Name It”!
Bob rather liked Sam Baker’s “Broken Fingers”, from his forthcoming album “Pretty World”: this would have been something of a minor revelation if not for the fact that it seems that the artist can’t really sing, or if he can, he restricts himself to virtually one note. This is a great pity, since the lyrics were pretty good and the accompaniment was excellent. Hopefully the rest of the album is different but somehow I doubt it.
Hard-Fi’s “Suburban Knights” started out promisingly enough, clashing guitars striking a balance with Richard Archer’s eager-to-please vocals. Ultimately, however, it didn’t really display a great deal that made the effort to listen worthwhile, although I’m sure the R1 generation will lap it up as some kind of contemporary urban anthem.
‘Neo-traditional Americana’ isn’t a term I’ve used before, but it applies to the material of Alistair Moock, whose recently-released album “Fortune Street” yielded the song of the same name. This Boston-based artist produces some cracking electric roots music – this particular track being a case in point. Slow-paced, yes, but shut your eyes, breathe deeply, allow your fingers to tap gently on the chair’s armrest and let all that tension drain away….

So to Canadian Tia McGraff, who’s been on my Amazon wish-list for nearly two years now with her 2005 album “Outside of the Circle”, due to me finding something else more imperative to buy. Listening to the four tracks played from her new album “Day in My Shoes” (three of them live). Together with Tommy Parham, who plays guitar when she is on tour (and also happens to be her husband), she launched into “Hope is Everything”, but not before cracking up after Bob asked Tommy whether he’d had any ‘trouble from the locals’ – “You’re not from around here!”. This first track simply re-affirmed everything I’d liked about this artist when I heard her live back in November 2005 – her rich voice performing a traditional folk-roots song with just a guitar for backing. By the time the chorus came around for a second time, I felt like I was intimately familiar with the song, it was that good. “Oughta Be Rock” was next, ‘a saying from the South’. A ballad, it still possessed the positive outlook she injects into all of her songs, this being understated without any ‘happy-clappy’ trappings. Having said that, her vocals took on an angelic tone at times here, which sat nicely with the subject matter at hand. Conversation turned to the Nashville song-writing ‘factories’, where people lock themselves away and churn out hit after hit – an anecdote about how “All Shook Up” was written must be true! Tia’s music, however, is home-grown despite being involved with big-name Nashville writers – indeed, one famous name advised them to go it alone, since ‘Nashville wouldn’t get it’. “I Can’t Quit’ was a love song – she says she doesn’t really write them, preferring instead ‘story’ songs. However, it was written for her soon-to-be husband a few years ago. Her voice took on a slightly softer edge here, but the uplifting tone prevalent throughout her entire output was still present, whilst the song also drifted into the realms of the more traditional country-type-ballad. Still a good song, though. To round things off, Bob played “Second Chance” from the “Day in My Shoes” album itself. Probably a little bit more radio-friendly than the songs she played live tonight, this track still espouses the pro-active sentiments she advocates and also was more of a double act with her husband, who provided more than just backing vocals – he sounds a bit like a slowed-down Bryan Adams. I am definitely going to have to buy this album – and “Outside the Circle” – shortly: I can’t put it off again for another two years.

Canadian trio The Wailin’ Jennys are always welcome on the Bob Harris Saturday Show, with tonight being no exception due to the inclusion of “Glory Bound” from their 2006 “Firecracker” album. Whilst some may think this was a little too ‘cutesy’ and ‘wholesome’ after their splendid “40 Days” album, you’d go a long way to find a better traditional roots release that could appeal to a wider audience. Annabelle Chvostek replaced Kara Luft in the line-up between “40 Days” and “Firecracker”, but the trio don’t seem the worse for wear. Simply beautiful – gorgeous vocals, little in the way of accompaniment and no wailing at all….
Never heard of Lau before, but I have heard of one of its constituent elements – Orcadian singer-songwriter Kris Drever. He’s accompanied on “Unquiet Grave”, from the recently-released “Lightweights and Gentlemen” album, by fiddler Aiden O’Rourke and pianist Martin Green. Regular listeners to the weekend Bob Harris Show may remember Kris Drever playing live in the studio some months back. It’s folk at its best – so that’ll turn off half of you reading this!
Bob Frank and John Murry were new too, “Kid Curry, 1904” coming from their newly-released album “World Without End”. Whilst the vocals aren’t really special – they do drag a little – the subject matter is really interesting. I suppose you’d class this as folk too, a collection of tales of ‘violent America’ from the 1800s through to the present, including the story of an outlaw who committed suicide so the sheriff couldn’t brag about killing him.
Recently, the show wouldn’t be complete without Kendell Carson’s “I Like Trucks”! At least two of us on this forum have bought her debut album “Rearview Mirror Tears” already – and I’ve converted a friend at work by lending him the double CD too…. Time to play some of the other excellent tracks, Bob – could you get away with playing “I Certainly Know Why”?
Another new name tonight was Mia Riddle, whose third full-length album is the recently-released “Songs From Hatchet Lake”. Bob played “Grandchildren”, a beautifully constructed and sung tale from this Californian native. Whilst it’s clearly modelled on traditional lines, there’s some cleverly arranged backing on this song, including some excellent guitar work. More in forthcoming weeks, please.
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Barkingbiker



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 2313
Location: Lincolnshire

PostPosted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 9:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Cherskiy, another great review, I think you must have been reading my mind as I was only thinking would the censors allow track 5 to be played. As I mentioned on an earlier post, the track kinda fits, not that I'm bitter you understand. Shocked

BB Twisted Evil
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