Welcome to the RPM Record Club Seven Day Soundtrack, week ending Friday 4th February 2022....and heading into the second month of the year with a killer musical line-up. Over to...
"Hi RPMers hope all is well. Here’s my 3 tunes this week."
Stay On The Outside by Whitey -
Didn’t I by Darondo -
Dieterich Buxtechude by Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection -
"Hi All...I've been taking it easy this week following a cataract op last Thursday and catching up on sorting out piles of records that needed storing away while the driving is on hold. Cheers."
My Babe by Little Walter -
True Companion by Marc Cohn -
Baby You've Got What It Takes performed by Brook Benton & Dinah Washington -
"On with this week’s choices."
"As the Winter Olympic Games opened today – this is appropriate."
Fanfare For The Common Man by Aaron Copland -
"Saw an old documentary about Lennon’s last interview made only hours before he was shot and killed. Then another documentary on Desert Island Discs – in which old footage of Paul McCartney (quite emotional as he talks about John and his son, Sean)chooses the following."
Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) by John Lennon -
"Finally, Joe Cullen, a younger darts player, recently won a major TV event for the first time. This is his walk-on music."
Don't Look Back In Anger by Oasis -
"Keep safe and well everyone. Look forward to hearing your latest over the weekend."
"Some prime dub this week. Stay safe.......... "
Dub Three by Joe Gibbs & The Professionals - (from 'African Dub All-Mighty Chapter 3' LP, released 1978. Lightning label) "Gibbs initially opened a studio in the rear of his record shop in 1962 and employed Lee (Scratch) Perry who had recently left the employment of Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd. Over the next eight years he would enjoy chart success with Roy Shirley, Errol Dunkley and the Pioneers amongst others. The 70's saw him at the forefront of reggae, recording Nicky Thomas, the Heptones and the Ethiopians before he commenced a long partnership with bassist Robbie Shakespeare, drummer Sly Dunbar and guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith, soon to be christened The Professionals. The hits kept coming thanks to Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, the Mighty Diamonds and Black Uhuru and many others before he recorded the era defining 'Two Sevens Clash' with Culture in, naturally, 1977. He continued recording into the 2000's and started a new venture with Chris Chin of VP Records shortly before his death in 2008 where he was survived by his twelve children!!! 'Dub Three' is, perhaps, my favourite track from this album. Cavernous echo, monstruos bass and, importantly, the repeated door-chimes and cuckoo clock which are treated through, I think, a reverb effect. Brilliant. I'll let you suss out the song the recording 'borrows' from!!!!!"
The Ghost (Marcus Garvey) by Burning Spear - (from 'Garvey's Ghost' LP, released 9th April 1976. Island label) "The first dub album I ever bought, having enjoyed 'versions' on the b-sides of many singles since the late sixties. The album is a 'reconstruction' of Spear's 'Marcus Garvey' album carried out at Island's Hammersmith studio by staffers John Burns and Dick Cuthell and features many of reggae's finest musicians including members of the Professionals, the Soul Syndicate and the Wailers, here dubbed (oops....) the Black Disciples. 'Marcus Garvey' had been originally recorded by Joe Gibbs in Jamaica and it would have been interesting to see what he would have made by way of a dub plate in his own studios. Unfortunately we'll never know. Spear (AKA Winston Rodney) had been influenced by James Brown and Curtis Mayfield and, in a casual conversation in 1969, was advised by Bob Marley to approach Coxsone Dodd to try to gain a contract. Burning Spear, at that time a group as opposed to an individual, released several singles and a couple of albums for Coxsone before signing with Jack Ruby's Hi-Power label where they recorded 'Marcus Garvey' in 1975. The group then absconded to Island, taking 'Marcus..' with them. Island took the decision to speed up and remix many of the tracks (as they also did with Marley's 'Catch a fire' album) and re-released the album, leaving both the group and many fans disgruntled. Spear responded by sidestepping Island and set up his own Burning label for his future releases. He also took the opportunity to break the group and retain the identity for his own solo releases. Since then there have been many tours and albums, twelve of which were either Grammy nominated, including the 'Calling Rastafari' and 'Jah is real' albums which were Grammy award winners. In recognition of his groundbreaking achievements, Spear was awarded Jamaica's Order of Distinction in the rank of Officer on 15 October 2007."
Marijuana by Sly & The Revolutionaries with Jah Thomas - (from 'Black Ash Dub' LP released 1980. Trojan label) "Was there ever a more star-studded line up than the Revolutionaries? Formed in 1975 as the house band for Joseph Hoo Kim's Channel One Studios, its members included Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespear, Bertram Maclean, 'Sticky' Thompson and Ansell Collins amongst its who's who of musicians. It was in the Channel One Studio in 1976 where the now legendary 'rockers' style of reggae was developed, a sound so revolutionary (oops!) that its initial release as 'Kunta Kinte' (named after Alex Haley's hero in the 'Roots' TV series) formed the basis for the reggae sound (including dub) for many years to come. The Revolutionaries can be found on a plethora of dub albums in addition to providing the musical muscle behind Culture, Black Uhuru, John Holt, Tapper Zuckie and even Serge Gainsbourg. Jah Thomas (AKA the improbably named Nkrumah Manley Thomas) meanwhile, had started out as a DJ in 1975, quickly progressing to a recording artist and producer the following year. His debut single 'Midnight Rock' topped the Jamaican charts and the 'Stop yuh loafin'' album gained worldwide release on the newly formed Greensleeves label. Many of Thomas's recordings featured the Roots Radics (who included Earl ‘Flabba’ Holt, Dwight Pickney, Eric ‘Bingy Bunny’ Lamont and Lincoln Valentine ‘Style’ Scott) and were engineered and mixed by Scientist at the Channel One Studios."
Bonus Track - Black Muddy River performed by Norma Waterson - "So, following Eliza Carthy's recent emotional appeal for cash (shame on you Boris, Sunak and Co), it's RIP to Norma Waterson, a doughty lady who overcame great personal difficulties to record albums reflecting her ability to genre-hop and reinterpret music from many differing sources. I have no music in my collection by this extremely talented lady and/or her family (I can't buy everything is my only defence!!) but here's a track from one of her later albums."
"Hi Everyone, Here are my three for this week. Keep safe."
Slavery Days by Burning Spear - "This choice was prompted by Philip's tribute to Robbie Shakespeare and, yes Philip, I certainly approve of your choices. Like you, I saw Black Uhuru on the Stones 'Still Life' tour in 1982 but, as related previously via RPM, travel problems meant that we only caught the tail-end of their set. As for the Wailing Souls, I saw them at Norwich Arts Centre a few years ago. They were not backed by Sly and Robbie but a UK reggae band recruited for the tour, and very good they were too. As for Burning Spear's Marcus Garvey album, it's up there with 'Two Sevens Clash' by Culture, 'Live At The Counter Eurovision' by Misty In Roots and 'Mama Africa' by Peter Tosh; certainly in my top ten all-time favourite reggae albums. (It goes without saying that there would be a few Wailers albums in there too...!)"
Cortez The Killer by Neil Young (with Crazy Horse) - "When the LP 'Zuma' came out in 1975 it flew right under my radar. Even though there were other Neil Young records in my collection and I was a bit of a fan, this was a time when my musical tastes were beginning to change (probably because popular music was beginning to change)..... It wasn't until 1985 that my enthusiasm for Neil Young was revived with the release of his 19th studio album 'Life'. Over the next few years he released a number of albums that I felt signalled a real return to form, among them 'Freedom' and 'Ragged Glory'. So.... the time was right to backtrack and check out some his output from the mid-seventies/early eighties. I must say that 'Zuma' didn't grab me straight away and I continued to ignore it. However, about ten years ago a friend gave me a copy of the LP and although it's been a very slow burn, I now appreciate it as one of Neil Young's finest. This is my favourite track from 'Zuma'."
Toiler On The Sea by The Stranglers - "On Tuesday, Sal and I went to see The Stranglers at UEA on their final UK tour. They kicked-off two solid hours of power and passion with this little gem from their 'Black & White' album from 1978. Awesome!"
"RIP Norma Waterson........a resident of Robin Hood's Bay in north Yorkshire, here's some of her music."
Poor Wayfaring Stranger performed by Norma Waterson and Eliza Carthy -
The Holly Bears A Berry performed by The Watersons -
Movin' On Song performed by Norma Waterson with Martin Carthy and Eliza Carthy -
"Hi folks. Hope you're all well. Same song; Louie Louie, 3 different versions this week, in honour of an awesome genius. Have a great week & take care. Cheers."
Louie Louie performed by Toots & Maytals -
Louie Louie performed by Julie London -
Louie Louie performed by Iggy Pop - "Last & best in my opinion, the legend that is Iggy Pop, also known as my alternative reality dad. 😁"
"Yay! I tested negative this morning.
Meanwhile I see that a senior Tory has said that there is "a fight for the Party's moral compass." Didn't that horse bolt when they elected Bo Jo leader? I note also that former Tory MP Rory Stewart (a man who had the integrity to leave the Party when he saw which way the wind was blowing) has written of "Trumpian levels of dishonesty." The best leader the Tories never had? No, you're right. He's decent, has lots of real world experience from having been an Army officer, and is a serious and insightful historian- they'd never elect the likes of him.
Music... yes I'll get to it eventually. Three tracks from brand new albums this week, starting with..."
Real World by Anais Mitchell - "A short and sweet number that seems to have some relevance to the pandemic, but apparently what she really had in mind in writing it was certain kinds of modern technology- especially the smart-phone."
Don't Stop Loving Me by Eliza Gilkyson - Her new album has a beautiful landscape picture on the cover, and the music inside is every bit as beautiful.
Love Farewell by Jake Xerxes Fussell - The opening track on his excellent new record.
"Best wishes to all RPMers as always."
"Three picks from this week's listening..."
Hit The Lights performed by Black Tide - "This came on Ewan's car CD player when we were driving to Malton a few nights ago; a pretty good cover of one of my fave Metallica songs."
Heartwood by The Spell Song Singers - "I've been listening to the first Spell Songs album this week. Inspired by the book The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, it started as Macfarlane's reaction to the announcement that the new edition of the Junior Oxford English Dictionary was dropping nature words such as acorn, bluebell and kingfisher because children were thought not to be using them enough to warrant inclusion, in favour of tech words such as voicemail, broadband and attachment. The book has become a bit of a phenomenon which the two Spell Songs albums beautifully reflect and compliment,"
The Thatcher Set (live) by Julie Fowlis - "After Jayne chose Julie Fowlis in Week 2 and Nina commented on how much she'd enjoyed her singing, it made me go back to Julie's second album, Cuilidh, which is the one I enjoy the most, not only for the beautiful Gaelic singing but also for the brilliant instrumental sets; Julie's a pretty handy whistle player as well. Here's a set from that album performed live at the Celtic Connections festival."
'Till Next Time...