Well here we are folks at the end of another rocktastic year.
Suzy has asked us to pull some festive gnomes out of the hat, and hit you with a few
readable mince pies over the festive season.
So first up – Three top bands
Well at the top of my list, and if I have my way, you’ll be hearing a lot more of this name,
specially from me, is Hush Money, a rockin’ alt country four piece from Georgia USA. They
have all the the ingredients a country band from Georgia need. I’m hoping they either do a UK tour or appear at The End Of The Road festival, or Maverick, as they deserve to be seen by a whole bunch of country fans.
Second place goes Jamie Williams and The Roots Collective, but only because it is one two and three. I think these boys are really level pegging with Hush Money. They deliver some fine UK Americana,and for me, cant really do no wrong. They gig regularly in the Essex area, and I would recommend you try to catch them in 2025, as it is a live experience well worth waiting for. They also released their 9 th album this year, Stay True. I’m staying true to this bunch, rock on boys.
And my third has to be Steve Earle, he’s always top in my books, apart from The Stones, but
The Stones have taken a dive this year after I was sent an email advertising a Rolling
Stones perfume!!! WTF!!!. That’s just a corporate smell too far boys, its not what rock n roll is
about. Unless it smells of body sweat and sex which I doubt. In fact it doesn’t, it smells of
patchouli, that good old hippie fragrance, and I don’t need to pay 99 dollars to smell of
patchouli. Oh Mick, Oh Keef – Really???
Top 3 Gigs
OK first off Tylas Dogs D’Amour at Gullivers in Manchester. I didn’t get to see the Dogs in
they heyday, much to my regret. I had a load of their recorded material, but I was on the road
constantly myself at the time and just missed them. So I jumped at this chance to see them.
It was a very intimate gig, it felt like you were in his living room.
The Dogs in question this time were Matty James Cassidys band The Real Villains, who
were also the support band, and they did a splendid job. The drummer hitting his snare with
such venom you thought his life might depend on it.
A great set, starting with Billy Two Rivers and ending with Errol Flynn. Highlight for me was
The Ballad Of The Bullet Proof Poet, but the rest of the songs all stood the test of time, I
Think It’s Love Again, Drunk Like Me, Gypsy Blood, all hitting the mark.
In their prime they were a full on sex and drugs and rock n roll kinda band, and it’s
something short of a miracle to see Tyla has survived it and still playing with passion.
In Second place, you wont believe this but I am going to say The Bay City Rollers. Yes folks,
those cheeky tartan chappies who gave us such songs as Shang A Lang, Give A Little Love,
and Saturday Night.
I used to work with them in the 90’s and they were down on their luck, playing Gala Bingo
Halls and other gigs on that circuit. They were down to a four piece, with Eric, Woody and
Alan from the original band and Dave Innes on drums. They hated it and it was bound to
implode. I really felt sorry for them at the time, being so big in the 70’s, getting ripped off
royally by the manager and other hangers on and ending up on the nostalgia circuit, going
through the motions to earn a crust to live off.
A complete re union with Les McKeown was mooted for the early 2000’s and they could
have done well out of it, but Eric was having none of it, with old band rivalries still too raw for
him. After that Alan Longmuir died, then Les McKeown popped his clogs, Eric Faulkner
went missing in Spain and you would have thought that was that. But no, like a phoenix
rising from the ashes, Woody has put together a fantastic band, and when I saw them at the
Northern Kin festival, they were one of the most entertaining acts on there. The tent was
filled with a couple of thousand people all singing along and waving their hands in the air. I
was really chuffed for Woody watching them, and I hope he feels vindicated, that he can at
last once again play these songs with pride instead of going through the motions. You may
scoff at this, but just remember, The Ramones cited this band as one of their biggest
influences, and if that doesn’t lend some credibility to the story then nothing will.
And number three, I have to throw this one in – Robert Plant with Saving Grace at Blackburn
King George’s hall.
I had seen him and this band just at the end of lockdown at Tenbury Wells Regent Theatre. A friend of mine was managing the theatre at the time and he said come on down, Roberts rehearsing all week in preparation for a tour and then he is playing a gig at the theatre to a couple of hundred people. So I jumped in my trusty motorhome and set off for Shropshire. I was a wonderful intimate gig and I wanted more so I bought a ticket at Blackburn, a couple of years later.
He was supported by a young guy from America called Taylor McCall, who was quite good at the time, but I don’t recall any of his songs now.
Robert Plant was his usual imposing self, playing a mixture of Americana flavoured songs,
from real old time Appalacian traditional songs, though a Moby Grape cover and ending on a
medley of Led Zep songs, all given a makeover by his band Saving Grace. They really have
a sound of their own which you will only experience by catching them live as they do have
any recorded output, a conscious decision by Robert Plant apparently. The sound is
Americana, but also brings in exotic world beats and melodies.. His voice is unmistakable,
and his passion for music is unmistakable . If you get a chance to see him with this band
then do go.
Top 3 albums
I am going to throw into the mix here Hush Money – Go Back Home and Jamie Williams and
the Roots Collective -Stay True, both of which I have reviewed already on this site, so I will
just add, if you like Alt.country and Americana go out and buy these two albums immediately.
I haven’t really bought any new albums this year, meaning any new albums released this
year, except The Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds, which being a massive Stones fan I
had to get to complete the collection, but y’know, it’s okay, it rocks, it rolls, it tenderfies, it
countryfies and it’s okay. Is it the best album since Some Girls as most critics were
claiming?. Personally I don’t think so, I think A Bigger Bang would have to take that title for
me, but it’s all subjective isn’t it. A lot of the critics weren’t even born when The Stones were
the greatest badass drug ridden sex soaked rock n roll band in the world. So they don’t know
what it was like to have the likes of The Stones and The Beatles and Bob Dylan change
your life and the fabric of society So saying something like it’s the best album since Some
Girls makes them sound like they know what they are talking about. But as I said, I think it’s
ok. Did the world need another Stones album? I don’t know. I know I will be playing Let It
Bleed a lot more in the years to come than Hackney Diamonds, or Some Girls for that
matter.
I have been playing a bit of catch up recently with my music. I have discovered a new
passion for Captain Beefheart, and have re stocked with Strictly Personal, The Spotlight
Kid, Clear Spot and Trout Mask Replica, which is about the most bonkers album I have ever
heard in my life. I never heard it back in the day, I was aware of it but never heard it. Nobody
has made an album before or after anywhere near as similar. It’s out there on it’s own. I
would say, and I don’t know for sure, this is just me thinking, that Tom Waits possibly listened
to this album a lot.
I’ve been catching up on him too, Blood Money, Franks Wild Years, Alice, and Bone
Machine, which I did own on vinyl once upon a time.
This has blurred into my musical 2024, so I’m just going to carry on. I have discovered a
couple of online second hand cd companies, which I love. World Of Books, which I
remember from London, they had an outlet on Kingsway and I used to pop in and buy blues
cds there by the dozen. But now it’s just on line and you cant always get what you want, but,
no I wont be as corny as finish that line off, but you can get some interesting stuff on there. I
got a load of Steve Earle stuff which I missed on their release, my favourite by far is Steve
Earle with Del McCoury band, real bluegrass stuff, as authentic as it comes, but also got
Sidetracks, An American Boy, The Long Highway.. I got a couple of Lyle Lovett too, Joshua
Judges Ruth, and I Love Everybody, and I love Lyle’s story telling lyrics.
The other place is Musicmagpie, again they don’t have everything, but they have different
stock everytime you look. That is where I got my Captain Beefheart’s from, and also The
Best Of Jefferson Airplane. I was aware of the Airplane back in the day, who wasn’t, but I
never really checked them out, apart from the obvious Somebody To Love, which I first
heard done by Grace Slick and The Big Society on one of the Rock Machine albums. And
White Rabbit of course. The production is a bit dated on some of the tracks but overall I liked
the whole thing, it even started with a kind of Americana type acoustic guitar ditty, but
Americana hadn’t been coined at the time. The vocals of Grace Slick and Paul Kantner and
Marty Balin all blend together beautifully.
Ah I did get another new vinyl album, but not by a new artist, it was Ronnie Wood Live at
The Albert Hall doing a set of Jimmy Reed songs, with Mick Taylor as a guest. Well worth
checking out if you are a fan of blues, Jimmy Reed Ronnie Wood or Mick Taylor. It was
sealed but I had to break it to listen to it. The only album I have ever left sealed is Hackney
Diamonds which as I said I bought to complete my UK Stones collection, and I got the cd
too, so I listened to it on that.
I went to two festivals this year, The Upton Blues Festival which I played at on The Riverside
Stage, just before Kyla Brox. I stayed for the whole festival and saw some interesting stuff
including Beaux Gris Gris and Chantel MacGregor, who I have seen before at The Skegness
Rock and Blues festival when I appeared there with The Smokin’ Jackets. I loved the whole
festival though, you can just wander around from stage to stage and venue to venue taking
in a whole myriad of music from acoustic folky type stuff to jazz funk, to blues covers, to full
on original blues. You just pay for the camping on a massive flat field on the edge of town.
The second one was The Northern Kin which I mentioned before, and will mention again in
the Bands Discovered in 24 category. But for now, one of my faves at this festival was
definitely Hawkwind. I used to love this band and followed then all over the UK when I was
an itty bitty boy, and the sound they made and the songs they played was just like meeting
up with an old old friend who you haven’t seen for years but makes you feel comfortable with
shared experiences.
Another firm favourite was Alabama 3, who I used to see regularly in London when I lived
there. I am going to see them in December in Manchester after which there will be review,
but for now I will just say, even without copious amounts of cocaine and tequila, their
intoxicating rhythms re awoke a dance in my soul and had me grooving away with much
content.
Who else was on? Scuse me while I just talk to myself. Oh yes Billy Bragg, who was a bit too
preachy for my liking, with him standing up and shouting about every PC issue of the
moment. The Waterboys, who were okay. I’ve seen them in better form in the past. Jules
Holland's Big Band, who was just like you’d expect, very entertaining with a few special
guests. Oh and Where Rivers Meet, who really should have a mention in bands to look out
for in 25, but I’ve just said it here. Fronted by husband and wife duo Grace and Aaron Bond.
Grace is the vocalist who also plays mandolin and violin, Aaron the guitarist. A really good
blues rock band.
And quite a few others who I cant remember now, because I didn’t realise I would be writing
about it six months later.
My own musical 24 was a good one, starting with a gig at the 100 Club London on Feb 14 th ,
followed by an invitation by Gaz Mayall to play Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues. Danny Bourassa my
guitarist and I supported Dan Patlansky at Manchester Deaf Institute, then the band played
Upton Blues festival in the summer, followed by a PA in HMV Manchester Danny and I with
Shelly Turnbull have played quite a few acoustic gigs which are going down really well,
particularly in hippy enclaves. Talking of hippy enclaves we even got a write up in IT, or
International Times, the original counter culture paper of the 60’s. Nick Kent from New
Musical Express, and Danny Boyles Sex Pistols biopic fame, cut his teeth at IT, so I felt quite
humbled to be mentioned in its historic pages.
So that was top3 albums and my musical 2024 all merged into one
New Bands Discovered in 24
Well, as I keep bleating on about them, Hush Money, and I also put them forward for a band
to watch out for in 25. This reminds me of a Jools Holland Hootenanny a few years ago, and
he was going around the celebrity audience asking what band they thought were going to
break through and everybody without exception said The White Stripes. Well this year they
should all say Hush Money …………HUSH MONEY!!!!
And besides them, I discovered a dinky little Goth Americana band called Heathen Apostles
at The Northern Kin again. They were on about 12 mid day, and played to about 50 people,
but I loved their set. The band is made up of. Mather Louth a female on vocals and acoustic
guitar, Chopper Franklin on guitar mandolin and banjo, and on recordings piano and drums,
with Thomas Lorioux on upright bass and Luis Mascasro on violin I even bought a CD (In
The Between) and a vinyl album (Bloodgrass 1 and 11), both very cherished in my collection.
Now on a serious note the Black Deer festival have just announced they wont be holding a
festival in 25 because of a precarious financial situation which held sway over their 23 and
24 festivals. In other words they nearly went bankrupt because not enough people bought
tickets, despite having fantastic line ups.
This year alone 125 festivals had to cancel as not enough pre sales were generated, and
many music venues are having to close because of lack of clientele. So I would urge you
readers, and all your friends to support as much as you can independent festivals and gigs,
or the music scene in a few years time is going to be very different. You don’t need to go to
Glastonbury or The Isle Of Wight to gain hipster points, and put even more money into the
pockets of very rich established acts. Go to a smaller boutique festival, be unique, give your
money to that promotor and put money in the pockets of up and coming new bands who
really need your support, and who could be as big as the large name acts at big festivals if
they get the support needed at this stage of their career. They can't make money out
recorded material, and it’s very hard to make money live at a certain level. Unknown bands
need support, and it’s great fun discovering new bands and acts.
And here we go into 2025. Have a wonderful festive season. Thanks to Suzy for allowing me
to scribble in her copy book, and thanks to all the readers of Suzys Musical World. Be good,
and if you can't be good, you’ll just have to suffer the consequences.
Comments