The Imposter (AKA Elvis Costello)

Pills & Soap (1983)

It's been a funny couple of days on the music front at Bear Mansions. I came across a download of John Peel's 1983 Festive 50, his annual run-down of his listeners' faves of each year. Having been the fortunate recipient of a rather lovely MP3 player recently, I thought to myself, 'I'm having that', and placed the entire two shows worth on my portable thingamyjig. I've been really digging those classic sounds whilst walking 'The Hound' around our best Welsh mountains, including such fab things as The Fall (naturally), X-Mal Deutschland, New Order, The Chameleons, Aztec Camera,  Cocteau Twins, Echo and The Bunnymen etc etc. Basically, it's incredible how much quality music was around back then compared to today (bit controversial?). One track that really jumped out at me was the second offering from Elvis Costello on the list (along with 'Shipbuilding'), 'Pills and Soap' (recorded as The Imposter). I bought this on a single when it was released but had forgotten how wonderfully powerful it is. So, this morning, I found myself up in the attic, rooting through all my old 7" singles in search of this classic. In the process I unearthed a plethora of long-lost gems but could I find 'Pills and Soap'? No chance. This puzzles me greatly but, no matter, as our front room floor is now covered by dozens of records I'd forgotten about. My poor family. I'll post more of these lovely things soon. Here's the one I was looking for:

Jack Bruce

Theme From An Imaginary Western (1969)

Jack Bruce was renowned for his skills as a bass player long before he joined Cream, having sharpened his chops with the likes of Alexis Korner, Graham Bond and John Mayall. When he joined up with Clapton and Baker to form rock's first genuine 'supergroup' it was a situation that was never going to last too long - too many egos and too many drugs. One gets the impression that Jack only ever wanted to make great music, anyway. For his first solo album, Songs for a Tailor (1969), he went back to jazz to some extent, creating a blend of 'fusion' that steered clear for the clinical excesses that sometimes marked that form down as 'interesting but mostly unlistenable ' (NB: IMHO). He continued his writing partnership with lyricist Pete Brown and one of the fruits of their labours was this gorgeous tune, which is reputedly about life 'on the road' with The Graham Bond Organisation.

My first copy of Songs for a Tailor (named in memory of fashion designer, Jeannie Franklyn, who was killed in Fairport Convention's bus crash that year) cost me a whole 30p, bought second hand in 1976 from Disc N Tape, Gloucester Rd, Bristol. Bizarrely, for something so cheap, it was in pristine condition, gate-fold sleeve and all. I've treasured it ever since, up-graded it a couple of times with CD's and played it often.

Robert Fripp & Peter Gabriel

Here Comes The Flood/Water Music (1979)

'Here Comes The Flood' was originally the closing track from Peter Gabriel's solo debut. That version is a lovely, passionate but undeniably 'big' production in defiantly 'prog rock' mode. For Robert Fripp's 1979 album, Exposure (oddly, named after yet another Gabriel song), they stripped it down, with the basics of Gabriel's vocal and piano remaining, surrounded by a bare texture. The main track if preceded and followed by a typically Fripp-like piece called 'Water Music'. Altogether, rather wonderful. A song for a wet Sunday when you're feeling mildly pre-apocalyptic.

New Blog

Just when you thought you were safe, I announce the less than grand opening of my new blog, Minstrel Boy. A long time in gestation, I hope this will be a home for various pieces that I attempt from time to time. Please read and leave comments as you wish. There is no agenda and I do not have any illusions about these bits and bobs having an literary value but I may as well foist them on the world and his wife.

Randy Newman

I Miss You (1999)

To quote Lloyd Cole, 'Are you ready to be heartbroken?' For all his smart and cynical swipes at the foibles and hypocrisy of modern life, Randy Newman can pull on the heart strings like almost no other songwriter. This is from his fabulous 1999 album, Bad Love, which also contains musical and lyrical analysis of imperialism, mortality, celebrity and politics. The man's incredible (and very funny, too).

Dedicated to those I miss more than I can say. Hope you know who you are.



Every Time It Rains (1999)

Another 'killer' from Bad Love.

The Sixth Great Lake

Across The Northern Border (2001)

Okay, I know very little about this group, although I have had their album, Up The Country (2001) for many years. It was one of those records you pick up on a whim because it looks interesting and it turned out to be a very worthwhile acquisition. I'm pretty sure this was the only album they ever made but it would be nice to be proved wrong. Very Americana in style; rootsy with a bit of The Band, some Innocence Mission style fragile beauty and an overall stripped down sound that's good for the soul. More info would be welcomed.

Happy Birthday, Mim!

Ivor Cutler 'The River Bends'

Deep Purple

Fools (1971)

Deep Purple, once hailed the loudest rock band in the world and, for a year in the mid-70's, officially the biggest rock band in the world, were very definitely the greatest of all hard rock bands anywhere on the planet. They've been through multiple permutations in line-up and, to a certain extent, musical style since the first record in 1968 but their finest hour was undoubtedly with what is known as the Mark 2 version featuring Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Ian Gillan (vocals), Jon Lord (organ), Roger Glover (bass) and Ian Paice (drums). In just three years from 1970 to '73 this grouping made four superb studio albums and one supreme live record with the mighty Made In Japan (1973), my own personal favourite live album of all time. 'Fools' is from their 1971 album, Fireball. Sling on your velvet loon pants and let's freak!

Cockney Rebel

Sebastian (1973)

Led by Steve Harley, Cockney Rebel looked like they would be Glam rivals to the likes of Bolan, Bowie and Mott The Hoople when they unleashed their debut album, The Human Menagerie (1973), on the world. This was swiftly followed up by The Psychomodo the following year, which contained their excellent top ten hit, 'Mr. Soft', a follow-up to their first big song, 'Judy Teen'. The original band had splintered by the time they got to their real 'breakthrough' album, The Best Years of Our Lives (1975) and they had become Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, a more directly pop and less 'glam' phenomenon. With changes in popular taste, Harley's star was to wane and he found interests in the theatre and horse racing but the brilliance of those early records will never die. 'Sebastian' is a classic from The Human Menagerie. 

France Gall

Toi que je veux (1968)

France Gall (Isabelle to her folks), came to the attention of the wider European public when she represented Luxembourg in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest (although she is French). She had a ton of pop hits in France through the 60's and 70's, including a rather saucy innuendo-filled single with the inevitable Serge Gainsbourg. France has since claimed that she didn't realise at the time that the offending song, 'Les Sucettes' was anything other than an innocent piece of fun about a girl and her lollipop and felt used by Gainsbourg, a notorious scandal-monger and musical genius.  'Toi que je veux' and its accompanying promo film is, by contrast, a wonderfully innocent piece of Franco-fluff that hits the spot perfectly. France went on to enjoy a lengthy career in both her homeland and Germany but since the death her husband, singer-songwriter Michel Berger in 1992 and then of their elder daughter in 1997, she has slipped into semi-retirement but carried on with charitable work. If you like French pop, France Gall should be near the top of your list of 'must hears'.



Laisse tombe les filles (1964)

Excellent French groove more recently recorded by April March as 'Chick Habit'.

Francoise Hardy

Tout les garcons et les filles (1962)

Having spent five years of the 1970's being taught French in an inner-city, couldn't-give-a-shit, English comprehensive school, I cannot make any claims to speaking the language in any usable sense. If dumped on the road between Le Mans and Tours by the random hand of a playful God I may be able to get directions to the nearest post office, purchase a box of matches and explain that I have foolishly forgotten my camera...and that's about it. Thank the Lord of the English education system! Having said that, it probably didn't help that I was a bone-idle skiver who could barely think of life beyond the next album I would buy with my paper-round money or the next Bristol Rovers home game. Somehow, I did pull myself together enough to get some kind of education.

Anyway, I most definitely digress. I was about to say that I don't speak French but I love French popular music, particularly the groovy beat of Ye-Ye, the wonky French approximation of US and UK styles. The very fact that they weren't really culturally attuned to rock and roll makes it sound all the more fascinating to these ears.

One person who sums up Gallic cool for me is the great and lovely Francoise Hardy, who very almost crossed the language barrier back in the 60's and has been championed by many since, including the likes of Bob Dylan and Damon Albarn. Forever chic and a touch existential. More Gauloises and Merlot soon.

Well-I-Never Covers: Sonic Youth

Superstar

New York art-rockers, Sonic Youth, pay tribute to The Carpenters and, more specifically, singer, Karen, in this doomy version of the duo's fabulous heartbreaker, 'Superstar'. Personally, I much prefer the original, which actually expressed all the pain that SY's version attempts but without trying too hard. Having said that, it's always good to hear someone giving credit where credit is due.

Well-I-Never Covers: PJ Harvey

When Will I See You Again?

First in a possible series of utterly unexpected cover versions. Polly Jean Harvey takes on massive 70's 'Philly' hit for The Three Degrees and touches our hearts with her sublime tenderness. I've always had a secret soft spot for the original but now I can enjoy the song without guilt. More odd-ball cover versions soon.

John Martyn with Danny Thompson

Solid Air

Excellent version of John's 1973 classic, 'Solid Air', recorded for TV in 1998. The title track from one of JM's finest records, 'Solid Air' is about John's friend, singer-songwriter, Nick Drake, but also perfectly expresses friendship, love and dedication in all its forms. The troubled Nick only lived another year after the song's release, whilst the wild-living but equally brilliant Mr. Martyn went on recording and performing right up until his own untimely passing in 2009. Dedicated to those we love so much and for whom words alone could never be enough.

Bob Dylan

Forgetful Heart

Tonight, Bob will be hitting Cardiff and this is the first time in many years that I will be deliberately avoiding him. I never ever thought it would come to this but £60+ per ticket and the very dubious 'pleasure' of Mark Knopfler as support act finally made me say 'enough is enough'. I realise there is great risk involved here; after all, Bob may play an absolute blinder, digging out songs he's not touched for eons, putting his heart and soul into every lyrical and musical phrase - and I'll miss it. Plus, at seventy years, Zimmy may not be doing this so often in the future. Of course, the chances are he and his band will trundle through a predictable list of around fourteen tunes (cut down from the more regular seventeen or eighteen thanks to the presence of Knopfler and chums) and us Dylan fanatics really won't be able to tell if it was incredible or awful. Usually, it's a bit of both.
I'll be keeping an eye on the reviews with some trepidation.

This is a lovely arrangement of 'Forgetful Heart' from Together Through Life (2009), performed by Bob and pals in Manchester just three days ago.

The Hollies

I Can't Let Go (1966)

There's a point when great pop music transcends any genre barriers and becomes great art: with 'I Can't Let Go', The Hollies touched that point. Always a fine and, today at least, very underrated band, The Hollies, led by Allan Clarke and Graham Nash, came out of Manchester in the first rush following the success of fellow Lancastrians, The Beatles. Initially, many of their hit singles were penned by other writers but they soon got into their creative stride and became fine tunesmiths themselves. 'I Can't Let Go', with its euphoric pop vibe, wasn't an original but the way they went at it made it theirs anyway. High time The Hollies were seen for what they were: second only to The Beatles for British beat satisfaction.

Check out the superb six disc collection, Clarke, Nash & Hicks Years. 

David Bowie

Bring Me the Disco King (2003)

Since the late sixties, David Bowie has been an innovative, enquiring and, at times, shocking voice in the rock soundscape. He's rarely stayed in one place too long, picking up on the sounds in the world around him and bending them to his own purposes: from mod-pop, through folk-rock, glam, electro, soul and disco, he's played them all and always brought something uniquely 'Bowie' to the table. Working pretty steadily and consistently, despite some personal ups and downs, his own studio work has added up to twenty plus albums, most of the highest quality (didn't everyone have a downturn in the 80's?); then there's the numerous production jobs he's done for the likes of Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, plus a bit of acting on the side - the man was unstoppable. Since the release of his last album in 2003, however, there's been an empty silence as one of rock's truly great voices seems to have slipped into retirement following a heart problem. One can't blame him for taking it easy but how I wish he'd bless us with some new sounds. From the mid-90's, Bowie was enjoying something of an artistic renaissance, with excellent albums like Outside (1995) and Heathen (2002), amongst others. 'Bring Me the Disco King' is the closing track from his last record, Reality (2003). He's never lost his touch and there's not many who could ever match him.

The Flaming Lips

Waitin' For a Superman (1999)

There was a time when I truly thought this group could do no wrong. Their development from amateur hour punk rock (as fun as this was) to psychedelic space cowboys with a social conscience was astounding in its unexpectedness. Commercially, they reached a peak with 2002's Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots but their artistic peak, thus far, would appear to have been 1999's fabulous The Soft Bulletin, an album so full of invention that Thomas Edison would have been proud to call it his own. Live, they have always been one of the most entertaining and innovative bands around but, for me, recent album releases have seen a bit of a drop-off in quality. Perhaps this is a mere blip and the Lips will rise again.

Everything Everything

MY KZ, UR BF (2010)

My word. I have only recently had the pleasure of owning a copy of Everything Everything's brilliant debut album, Man Alive (2010) but this Manchester based group are going to be firm favourites in the future. The record is chock-full of manically arranged songs with lyrics flooding all over the shop, sung in a singular higher register by Jonathan Higgs. As for the words themselves - clear meanings can be difficult to decipher but there's certainly more than a touch of post-modern anxiety and alienation. Don't let this put you off - it's all good fun! If you want some kind of measure of what sort of sound to expect from Everything Everything, think electro indie pop meets prog rock in The British Library (with dance beats). Really quite impressive. 'MY KZ, UR BF' would appear to be centred on the sticky topic of 'wife swapping', among other things (possibly).

Tracey Thorn

Two tracks from one of my favourite records from the early 80's, Tracey Thorn's first solo outing - the mini-album, A Distant Shore.



Plain Sailing (1982)

Tracey Thorn, for a long-time half of Everything But The Girl with her partner, Ben Watt, first came to notice as a member of The Marine Girls, a trio who specialised in delicate, heartfelt splashes of indie-pop with wonky legs. Before decamping to university in Hull, where she was to meet Watt, Tracey recorded her lovely short collection of songs and called it A Distant Shore. Just her and a guitar. At the time it was a breath of very fresh air and an inspiration to many of us fellow navel-gazing proto-neo-folkniks.



Simply Couldn't Care (1982)

Bert Jansch (1943 - 2011)

Tell Me What Is True Love? (1971)

Bert Jansch, songwriter, singer, interpreter of tradional song and superb guitarist, has died at the age of 67. Bert, with his rival and friend, Davy Graham, dominated the guitar scene of the British folk revival of the mid-60's, after he arrived in London from his native Scotland. Unlike Graham, however, Bert possessed the drive and charisma to become the true star of the folk world and there was a time he was clearly being lined up as the UK's very own version of Dylan. Whilst his songwriting never quite matched that of the Bard of Hibbing, his guitar skills far outstripped anything Zimmy would ever be capable of. Bert's first, eponymous, album was released in 1965 to great acclaim. This was followed by a series of fine solo records, then, in 1968, he joined folk 'supergroup', The Pentangle, alongside another superb player, John Renbourn. Pentangle were a great artistic and commercial success, even hitting the single charts in 1969 with 'Light Flight'. Through the Pentangle years, however, Jansch continued to record as a solo artist, recording, in 1971, my own personal favourite of all his albums, Rosemary Lane, where you'll find 'Tell Me What Is True Love?'

Following The Pentangle's demise in 1973, with folk music becoming less commercially viable, Bert began to fade a little from the midst of the music world, although he continued to record and tour throughout the 70's and 80's. However, things started to change in the 1990's, when interest in his work grew and his influence was acknowledged by younger artists such as Johnny Marr, Bernard Butler and Beth Orton. This coincided with something of an artistic renaissance for Jansch, who recorded fine albums When The Circus Comes To Town (1995) and The Toy Balloon (1998) in quick succession. As the new millennium dawned, Bert had truly been reinstated as the supreme exemplar of British folk-guitar. One time, just a few years ago,  I was fortunate enough to literally sit at his feet during a brilliant solo performance. I watched his hands working the strings and fretboard in awed wonder but couldn't really fathom how he did it. It was truly magical. We'll miss you, Bert. Thank you for the music, sir.

Blackwaterside

Rip, Rig & Panic

The Blue, Blue Third (1981)

Something to sooth our souls as Autumn stretches its fingers across the nation:  yes,  it's raining.

Rip, Rig and Panic, featuring Gareth Sager (guitar/vocals/sax), Mark Springer (piano), Sean Oliver (bass), Bruce Smith (drums) and Neneh Cherry and Andrea Oliver (vocals), sprang from the remnants of Bristol's punk-funk Ur-warriors, The Pop Group, releasing their first album, God in 1981. It was one of those efforts that came out on two 12" 45 RPM discs for extra sound quality and hipster value. The grooves were full of jazz-funk-rock-abstract modernist ecstasy - not easily listening by any means but well worth the entrance money. They followed it up with more of the same on I Am Cold (1982) (featuring a drawing of Arthur Rimbaud on the sleeve) and then attempted a more 'commercial' sound on 1983's Attitude. All fine efforts. Did I ever tell you of the time I was in a North Wales bakers drinking coffee when Neneh Cherry (daughter of Ornette Coleman's compadre, Don Cherry) and Andrea Oliver walked in, dressed in full African princess regalia, and bought some doughnuts? I did? Oh.

PJ Harvey

The Wind (1998)

Polly's recently been awarded a second Mercury Prize for her brilliant album, Let England Shake, having previously scooped the award for her 2000 album, Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. Personally, I think these award things are a lot of tosh and very un-rock and roll to be honest, but if anyone is deserving of such, it's PJ Harvey. For this post I'm going right back to her 1998 album, Is This Desire, which I think is a fantastic work, full of passion and pulsing bass and beats. This song, 'The Wind', is one of many highlights to be found therein.

John Grant

Sigourney Weaver (2010)

It's been a while since the work of  a relatively new artist has made my ears tingle with interest as much as the music of John Grant. I'll admit I know very little about him, apart from the fact that he sang in a band called The Czars, seems to be based in Sweden and has written some fine songs, which can be found on his album Queen of Denmark (2010). Someone to watch.