We’re at the back end of 2007 this time around. So, alongside the four monthly issued CDs there’s an end of year bonus, a best of 2007. Before delving into them we have our usual dive into the archives via The Way Back machine. But, there’s an issue. For some reason there are only a couple of captures, all from September and October – November and December are blanks. Oh well, here’s what we garnered from the slight information offered.
One news story which sticks out like a sore thumb is the October report that Bryan (not Ryan) Adams was to headline concerts for peace in the West Bank and Israel. The concerts were aimed at bolstering The New York-based One Voice peace movement’s campaign to collect one million signatures of ordinary Israelis and Palestinians demanding that their leaders sit down and finalise an agreement on a Palestinian state living at peace with Israel. Entry was free but concertgoers had to sign the One Voice petition to gain entrance. Plus ca change.
We also report that Bruce Springsteen has the follow up to his album “Magic” already in the can and was looking to release it ASAP. In reality, it took another two years for “Working On A Dream” to appear. Clearly our crystal ball was malfunctioning.
On the live review front we find Rod Picott playing in Ireland, reviewed by Patrick Donaghy who enjoyed the gig while describing Picott as “Tall and lean and looking slightly crumpled.” Andy Glover is lucky enough to see Guy Clark in Manchester, writing that “After a couple of hours featuring some of the finest examples in the art of lyric writing your (sic) ever likely to hear, Clark steps away from the microphone to the front of the stage to deliver perhaps the finest in ‘The Randall Knife’. Even without the benefit of amplification the song still fills the room and caps a special night.” Capping this, Andy Rigg attends The Royal Festival Hall to see Brian Wilson, back then in his second bloom.
Given that it’s the end of the year, no doubt there’s a call out for readers and writers to nominate their favourites of the year and hopefully we can let you know who came out tops when we peek into 2008 in the next instalment of Back Pages.
Moving on to the 80+ songs delivered to our subscribers via the monthly CDs, we find a little-known Richmond Fontaine song in the shape of ‘The Water Wars’, taken from a limited edition release, “$87 And A Guilty Conscience” on the September disc. September also features Paul Kelly (‘The Ballad Of Queenie And Rover’), Jim White singing ‘Diamonds To Coal’ (superb) and a live Johnny Cash number, resurrected from an album called “The Great Lost Performance”, recorded in 1990. The October disc kicks off with The Sadies and goes on to include some serious big hitters. There’s the Boss, Springsteen himself, Mark Knopfler, Emmylou Harris & Gram Parsons, JJ Cale, Crowded House and Mary Gauthier. In November the then very prolific Ryan Adams pops up with his Cardinals, The Long Ryders have a track (‘I Can’t Hide’ –quite tremendous) from a live album, recorded in 2004, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss unleash a song from their hugely successful album “Raising Sand”. As winter grips, the December disc reflects what must have been a paucity of new releases pre-Christmas as it’s actually a best of 2007. It’s accompanied by a bonus disc, entitled “More Of The Best of 2007”. Together they’re a well-tempered mix of the well-known (Steve Forbert, The Sadies, King Creosote, Loudon Wainwright, Fountains Of Wayne, Paul Kelly, Grand Drive and Jim White) and the not-so-well-known (Octoberman, Monta, Benjy Ferree and Monkey Swallows The Universe).
As always, amidst that host of the not so well known there are nuggets to be found. The November disc in particular is full of strained and wonderfully wasted songs which just about limp along, a boon for anyone who is into Sparklehorse or Vic Chesnutt. Some of my favourites are posted below.
As for the regular “hidden” bonus tracks, selected by our editor, September has a doozie (that’s a good thing) as Evan Dando’s Lemonheads lay down the wonderful ‘The Outdoor Type’. Having heard this I immediately dug out my copy of “Car Button Cloth”, an album I haven’t listened to in years. October features old laughing Lennie (AKA Leonard Cohen) paying tribute to Federico García Lorca on ‘Take This Waltz’, again, an invitation to dig out an old album for another listen. It’s Crash Test Dummies who grace the end of the November disc with their song ‘I’m A Dog’. They’re a band who kind of passed me by and I have to say I’m not incredibly enamoured of it. No such problem with December’s festive offering as Ron Sexsmith delivers that rare beast, a Christmas song you can actually enjoy, as he sings ‘Maybe This Christmas’. The bonus disc has no hidden track, all 21 are listed.
And, seeing as it’s almost Christmas, here’s that Ron Sexsmith song…
You can still be a friend of Americana UK in this digital age and, amazingly, it’s now cheaper to do so than it was in 2007. All details here.
Vintage screenshots grabbed via The Wayback Machine.
