Welcome to week 4 of the Isolation Room Listening Booth, songs as chosen by RPM club members week ending Friday 17th April. This time in reverse alphabetical order, it’s over to……
Tony – “Here are my three tracks for this week’s isolation room. Looks like a few more weeks to come as yet. Still no themed selection……..hope you enjoy.”
Lives In The Balance by Jackson Browne – “A protest song from Jackson Browne released in 1986 but still as relevant today as it ever was particularly if, like me, you agree with a line in it which goes "They sell us the President the same way they sell us our clothes and our cars"……..”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3YcZ233MIs
Blue on Black by Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band – “…….with Noah Hunt lead vocals. Saw this band when I accidentally booked to see them in Salisbury and I thought I was booking Shepherds Bush! Worth the trip though and I managed to beat the Russian tourists there.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEqX5CWh7tY
If I Were a Carpenter performed by Bobby Darin – “One of my favourite singers of all time - taken far too soon - performing live at the Desert Inn. What a shame it wasn't filmed as well.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg2Z39R_F6k
Sal – “Here's my three for this week.....”
Under the Pressure by The War On Drugs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ9IXScip68
The Faker by Ty Segall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYlHy7LyZyY
Wanderlust by Wild Beasts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IIbbFIQTKI&list=RD9IIbbFIQTKI&start_radio=1
Piers – “This week it’s been hard to choose….. As well as listening to last week’s choices, one morning I woke with the 1912 recording by the Heidelberg Quintette - 'Waiting For The Robert E. Lee' running though my head so I had to listen to that, but this week I have listened to lots of musical selfies posted on social media…. Some have been amazing others less so. They include full concerts by Steve Tilston, and Karen Tweed, Alistair Murray, Kevin and Bernadette Savage and various friends. There is lots of great stuff being added to the Wolf Club page almost daily. But I am sure that Nina will appreciate the lovely contributions that Yve Mary B has been posting. In addition, and amongst others, I’ve listened to a couple of albums by Sufjan Stevens, a lot by Dr John, some Otis Redding and made several revisits to the Grateful dead - (And the ‘long strange trip’ just gets stranger as it gets longer!)
I got it down to four and got stuck, but then with Jaynes sage advice I have whittled it down to……….”
Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dying Bed by Josh White
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEMirwb5eew
High Blood Pressure by Huey Piano Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U_lXq6lM0E
“And the video posted by Kevin and Bernadette of them playing a cover of one of Chris Woods tunes ‘Mrs Saggs’ made me revisit one of my favourite songs of all time………”
Spitfire by Chris Wood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvkK-8LBjLk&list=RDbvkK-8LBjLk&start_radio=1
“If you only have time to listen to one… make it the last one by Chris Wood one of the most poignant ‘protest songs’ ever.”
Philip – “Hoping all is well with all the RPMers. I've been off to Texas this week (in my head). I even watched "Red River" the other day. Here then are my three selections for this week………”
West Texas Waltz by Joe Ely (1978) – “A Butch Hancock song from Joe's second solo album, "Honky-Tonk Masquerade," which still stands as a career highlight. He and Butch, along with Jimmie Dale Gilmore came from Lubbock in West Texas and were together in a band called The Flatlanders prior to solo careers. Lubbock is of course most famous as the home of Buddy Holly.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx9xLgn-ySE
Tip On In by The Fabulous Thunderbirds (1981) – “From their "Butt Rockin'" album, a cover of a song by Slim Harpo, I believe. Allegedly the T-Birds are the only white blues band that The Rolling Stones found intimidating to follow on stage. Of course this might be a story from a biased source (The Dallas Observer) but I tend to believe it.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s3NIeGgyu4
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights by The Texas Tornados (1993) – “The Tornados at this point were Doug Sahm and Augie Meyers, with Flaco Jiminez and Freddie Fender. This song is a cover of a swamp-pop number that had been a country hit for Freddie Fender in the mid-70s. The Tornados did it for the soundtrack of "The Beverley Hillbillies" movie. I've not seen it but supposedly it's pretty awful. The song is great though and here it is complete with accordion and sax solos.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXB7Psv4mAE
Nina – “Here’s my 3…………….”
Gangsters by the Specials – “Cov ska gold….”
Danse de les Nègresses Verts, by les Nègresses Verts – “French ska….kinda. Raggedy, live version but I luv it & lockdown's an ideal opportunity to learn a new language, right?”
F**k All The Perfect People by Chip Taylor & The New Ukrainians - “The lyrics of this song speak to me & seem very apt for this time.”
John – “Here are my choices for week 4.....”
Way Back Home by Jr. Walker & The All Stars – “A vocal version opens side 2 of the parent album but I think this instrumental version, which closes side 1, has a really cool summer groove.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrywsHR2oaY
20 Years by The Civil Wars – “The opening track from their excellent Barton Hollow album. I was walking through Fakenham one market day and I heard something familiar coming from the two buskers outside Benbow's Greengrocers. It was the opening bars to 20 Years.... quite bizarre; not at all what I was expecting!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyy1XgTgW-I
Love Steals Us From Loneliness by Idlewild – “Among the 52 Channels (thanks Bruce - again) available on our TV is BBC Alba from Scotland. It has some interesting music programmes on it's schedule and I caught one the other night called ALT. Among other bands featured there was a lot of time given to Idlewild both in the form of live concert footage and an interview with Roddy Woomble. RPMers with long memories will recall that I played his solo LP as my mystery album a while ago.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhYs2m3Urmk
Jean – “It seems everyone is really enjoying the task of listening and choosing. This week I have picked Soul Love Songs as a loose theme.”
These Arms of Mine by Otis Redding - Album – Pain in my Heart - Atlantic Label – 1964
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaO50nWnvg
Warm and Tender Love by Elkie Brooks - Album – Pearls – A and M Label – 1981
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cBcZLAh6Bg
You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling by Dionne Warwick - Album – Soulful – Pye International Label – 1969
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFWuXosdeTg
“Looking forward to getting in the Booth on Saturday morning…….”
Jayne – “Best wishes to everyone……really enjoying your selections and comments. This week, thoughts drifted to The Be Good Tanyas. Here are the four members on three tracks from individual projects…….. Stay safe y'all.”
Biding My Time by Jolie Holland and Samantha Parton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnxKfCD49H0
Poor Girl by Trish Klein
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYv9wtlS_aI
September Fields by Frazey Ford
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GwAE1UatCg
Dave – “Hi all RPMers, hope you all are well…..really enjoyed your play lists . Here’s my 3 for this week…….”
Miner At The Dial-A-View by Grandaddy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_2j-wYLXAA
AT & T by Pavement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfwQjgWztC4
A Forest by The Cure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xik-y0xlpZ0
Anto –
Mafia by Lloyd Parker - “I was so obsessed with this record when I was about 12 or 13 that I insisted on bringing the 7” with me on holiday to Norfolk (to share it‘s greatness with my Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow loving cousin) foolishly putting it on the parcel shelf. By the time I got it out of the car to play it was warped to an unplayable condition. I never managed to replace it.
While My Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beetles – “This is not the version released while they were together. I first heard it on a bootleg and loved it so much more than the version with Eric Clap spanking his plank all over it. This also contains the very brilliant (and typically Harrison) line ‘as I’m sitting here doing nothing but ageing’ missing on the better-known version.”
Perfect Game by The Thompson Twins – “This song is about mental illness written by Tom Bailey who had worked in psychiatric care before finding success with the Thomson Twins”
Alan – “For just a couple of years, our small mining village (Bircotes) was a small spinning star in the galaxy of the pop universe (sounds romantic... yeah?). A couple of guys, step forward John Hawkins and Spider Young, somehow managed to get bands to play at our local sports centre, Gawd knows how, but we had bands big(ish) and small playing to sell-out crowds of either the curious or blind drunk, sometimes both in the same person, who would berate almost every band and walk out on the truly awful (The Fabulous Poodles!!) and the almost unbelievably popular (Suzi Quatro!!!!!!). In between were a plethora of the up and coming including those below. It should be noted that The Falls 'Totales Turn' album states recorded in Doncaster when, in fact, it's most of their set from the Bircotes gig. Included here we have Mark E Smith at his lovable vitriolic best even as the band walked on stage, insulting the multitude of bevied up miners spoiling for a (Rowche) rumble: So, here's three who stick in the memory from that 'golden' period, not seen since Dave Berry, Shane Fenton and others appeared at the Game Cock in the early sixties.”
Typical Girls by The Slits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCk8tEOcwqU
Rowche Rumble by The Fall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2-mpJJuuVI
Really Free by Otway and Barrett
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbi5GgmkqC8
Aiden –
The Choice is Yours (Revisited) by Black Sheep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-Qu_wEksbw
Fuckin With My Head by Beck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqGBxMjPeV0
Walking the Cow by Daniel Johnson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qgXYvjVNvk
Tim – “Perusing the list of songs above, it looks like an even more diverse musical mix than in previous weeks!………..I’m just picking 3 favourites from everything I’ve played since the last Listening Booth…………….”
It’s Coming by Slift – “French psychedelic stoner space rock doesn’t get any better than this offering found on the Toulouse band’s new album, Umman. Turn out the lights and hit the strobes……….seriously.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kayUgGM7FQI
Sweet Jane performed by Lou Reed – I’m using some of the gained time we have at the moment to review and revise a lot of my guitar-teaching lesson plans and, when searching for songs which use only one chord sequence for their entirety, stumbled across Sweet Jane and particularly this live version from 1984 which is made particularly good due to some Hammond organ support……that’s about 4 songs I now like by the Velvet Underground (yes, Dave, Stephanie Says is one of them).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBniorwC1VY
Trouble On Oxford Street by Skinny Lister – Here’s a song from the bands 2nd album Down On Deptford Broadway……….use up some of your allocated exercise time jumping around to this slice of folk punk pop………….or not, just grab another ale instead........oh, and any band who manage to rhyme Krakatoa with Rocky Bilboa gets my vote!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB3ew6BZiv0