AUK Back Pages No. 9

The middle third of 2007 is in our sights on this latest peek into Americana UK’s chequered history. There’s the discs, sent out monthly to our paid-up supporters (bless you all) and a brief dip into the available archives gathered on The WayBack Machine. We mention a chequered history but that’s not so much to do with our content as with issues regarding hosting sites, servers and all sorts of tech issues which have proved to be occasional headaches over the years. To be fair, AUK has sailed on through these. Back in May 2007 it was a more local issue which was causing problems, as the first news item states, “If anyone has emailed with anything over the last couple of weeks and not had a response, please email again – Americana UK Towers’ hard disk failure has wrecked the seamlessness of things briefly.” Fast forwarding to the end of August there’s a note from our editor, “August 31st (11.30am): Apologies for the disrupted access to the web site overnight. All technical problems have now been resolved.” Technology, bah!

In our news items we report that Cat Powers is preparing a second volume of cover songs and it’s a sign of those past times that we note that she announced this on her MySpace page. We also note that “Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are to put their collaborative stamp on an eclectic repertoire of material on “Raising Sand,” due Oct. 23 via Rounder.” Whatever became of that album I wonder? On the Dylan front we quote Billboard which reports that “Fan input will help shape the songs that will make the cut for “Dylan,” a three-disc Bob Dylan retrospective due Oct. 1 via Columbia. The set will feature 51 songs that will be chosen in part based on “fan lobbying” and votes cast at Dylan07.com, which launched in February. The three-disc “Dylan” will be released in standard packaging as well as in a “deluxe” cloth-bound, photo-laden version that includes ample liner notes.” Another box set mentioned is a proposed 80 song set from Emmylou Harris and, not to be outdone, Billboard reports: “The ever-prolific Ryan Adams has more in store for fans this year than “Easy Tiger,” a new studio album due June 26 via Lost Highway. The artist is plotting a multi-disc boxed set of odds-and-ends, which will cull from his extensive back catalog. According to a label spokesperson, the set may include live tracks, the fabled unreleased albums “48 Hours” and “The Suicide Handbook,” the oft-bootlegged “Bedhead” series and leftover songs from the “Easy Tiger” sessions.” While the Dylan and Harris sets were released it doesn’t seem that Adams ever did get his act together to release his box set. Meanwhile, someone at AUK Towers still seems to have a thing for AOR as we mention that Foreigner are preparing a new album (and nope, we didn’t review it).

Having mentioned AOR, it’s interesting to note that our first live review in May is of Roger Waters at Earls Court. Keith Hargreaves shelled out 50 quid for this spectacle which included a full play through of “Dark Side Of The Moon”. Our man was very impressed. Less impressed, indeed damning them with faint praise, was Patrick Wilkins who saw Wilco at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. At least Tweedy didn’t punch anyone.  Elsewhere we review Robbie Fulks (playing at the now sadly demolished ABC in Glasgow), a gig called The Scottish Americana Showcase (at another now lost venue, The Arches, in Glasgow) which featured The God Fearing Atheists, Southpaw, The Wynntown Marshals and The Hellfire Club while Jonathon Aird attends a quarter full Royal Festival Hall to see Roky Erickson. In what now seems to be an AUK tradition we have two reviews of the same act, in this case, A. J. Roach. What is surprising is that it’s of the same gig, an appearance at The Maze in Nottingham.  Our two reviewers, Jeremy Searle and Alan Tyler (presumably not sitting together) enjoy the show but their reviews are quite distinct from each other (you can read them here. In July Andy Riggs bops along to Steely Dan at the Hammersmith Apollo and Patrick Wilkins was lucky enough to see The Hoodoo Gurus at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire.  Also touring over the summer was the long lost Blanche; unfortunately AUK didn’t review them although I recall fondly being at their Glasgow show. On the festival front Barry Jones reports on the Wychwood Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse and he also visits the Cambridge Folk Festival.

Onto the discs then, the usual mix of familiar names and those long-forgotten acts whose one moment of fame might have actually been their appearance on a monthly AUK volume. May has Fountains Of Wayne, Dropkick, Great Lake Swimmers and the reformed Danny & Dusty on board while June finds us in the company of Loudon Wainwright III, John Doe, Dolorean, Nick Lowe and The Felice Brothers. The big hitters in July are Jason Isbell (just setting out on world domination) and Ryan Adams (soon to be in retreat from world domination) along with Josh Rouse, John P. Strohm and Martin Simpson although it’s nice to note also the return of Linda Thompson’s voice. Your August holiday music includes cuts from Grand Drive, The Gourds, Blanche (much missed these days) and Gurf Morlix.

As has been the case in previous columns, it’s the lesser-known acts who can surprise with a song which still more than passes muster. So, honourable mentions then to Nibs Van Der Spuy who comes across as a jollier version of Nick Drake on the bustling ‘Thorn Tree’, the Sparklehorse-like tones of Monta’s ‘Good Morning Stranger’ (with the band misspelt as Montana on the disc), to Ben Weaver for his delicate ‘Plastic Bag’ and to The Great Outdoors who get extra kudos for transforming Hendrix’s ‘1983… A Merman I Should Turn To Be’ into a Willard Grant-like deep-throated mini-masterpiece. Another discovery was Arbouretum who veer closely to Jason Molina on the terrifically named ‘Mohammed’s Hex And Beauty’. Personal favourites these, plucked from the 80 songs on offer.

There is, of course, the unveiling of the four hidden tracks, each one tucked away at the end of each disc and selected by our editor Mark. This time around it’s a fairly conventional selection with a youthful Paul Kelly, backed by The Messengers, singing ‘Special Treatment’, on the May Disc. In June, it’s the little-known Jude Cole, formerly of power pop band The Records with a solo effort on ‘Believe In You’ and there’s some slight power pop on July’s pick, The Connells who deliver ‘Still Life’. Marks’ August’s pick is tinged with sadness as we hear Tom Petty singing ‘To Find A Friend’, taken from his 2004 album “Wildflower”. He’s much missed.

And just because I can, here’s the late, lamented lost band Blanche…

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.