What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

^^
speaking of dysfunctional famillies...
i think thats part of the reason my parents were so eager to leave the UK many moons ago.
my Dad's family were colourful to say the least and he is as honest as can be (like me).
he had an illegal arms dealer in the fold who used the cover story of being a fashion photographer.
a neice who revealed dirty secrets as a writer for "mills & boon" apparently.
another two who were standover men for "the firm" in London.
someone else who as an international truck driver used to bring illegal things back to Britain in a secret compartment in his truck.

[Jerome]

Every family has them CH. Some just pretend they don't. My surname should have been Dysfunctional instead of Disney. I could tell you some horror stories but seeing as this is a public forum I will desist. One thing I will say - coming from such a disorganized shambles makes you wise up very, very quickly. I grew up fast - way too fast for my own good. It has been the sole reason for my biggest failures (plus my own stupidity) and successes (plus my own determination - I'm a stubborn old fart) in life so it's a double-edged sword. And the funny thing is, if I had the time over, I would not change it. I don't think I could do 'normal' very well. And it's just plain boring into the bargain as well. And a two year stint in the military helped to instill a sense of discipline in me. The next best thing was to buy a drumkit and actually learn to play it. You can't blame anyone or anything if you screw that up - it's just you and the instrument.

Just by way of some additional info. You either started military service at the start of the year of during the middle of the year. I started in July so I had 6 months to kill. I set my drumkit up in a place called the Log Cabin, which happened to be in the middle of the desert outside a place called Oranjemund in Namibia about 4 kilometers from the centre of town. My mom and stepdad were working for De Beers at the time. Used to spend all day playing along with albums, in the middle of nowhere and I could make as much damn noise as I wanted. A magical time for me. In my absolute element.

[Ruby]

Love the slogans on the stickers! Very honest, straight guy. Going to buy this. Great lyrics. (throwing rocks at sorrow's window pane).
I come from a completely dysfunctional family so I can relate to what he says entirely. Close to the bone. He tells it like it is. No bullshit. Another masterstroke from Aunty Ruby. Where DO you find this stuff Miss Tuesday? Made my day. 

Found his list of professions very interesting - from Wiki

'Professional surfer, comedian, guitarist, fashion model, cab driver, singer-songwriter, boxer, preacher'

From an old friend who sadly died far too young – cancer. He spent the last decade of his life in Denmark and would pop up every now and then and send me a link to a song he thought I might like. 

His family life was totally messed up and although still able to find beauty and amusement in the unlikeliest of settings, great sense of humour, he never really found his way out of the maze. A fraternal twin, he and his brother were like chalk and cheese – a sensitive, gentle, creative, severely dyslexic boy born into a family who had no idea what to do with him or why he struggled so much, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. He was the type of child who’d be late for school because he’d been rescuing snails from the path of harm – military service nearly finished him off. Music was his saviour, at least as much as any saving was possible. He just went his own way and ended up having an unconventional but not uninteresting life!

You’re quite right Jerome – every family has its issues, usually endlessly repeated in cycles unless consciously interrupted. 

My intro to Jim White, from Mike, was this one …

[Jerome]

'You’re quite right Jerome – every family has its issues, usually endlessly repeated in cycles unless consciously interrupted.'

I made a conscious decision a long time ago that this particular branch of the Disney tree won't be producing any new shoots. Most people think - or thought - that I am/was nuts to make a decision like that. That's their problem, not mine.

BTW - while on the subject of children - a woman in Uganda (I think) has given birth to 44 children - among them 3 sets of quadruplets and 4 sets of triplets. And of course the husband decided to do a disappearing trick...

'He just went his own way and ended up having an unconventional but not uninteresting life!'

Reminds me of the story of Albert Schweitzer who told his wife to be that she would not have everything she wanted in life but that she would never be bored - she never was!

Mike sounds like he was a really nice guy - someone who actually cared for things. Sorry he was taken away too early.    

Very unusual FX and backing on the track you posted - it's like a folk track with an electronic background. Clever.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MERLE HAGGARD  "the very best of..." cd, 2008

Phew!, good to get back to some REAL country storytelling again...
double disk set
first disk played, covers mainly the 60s.
dude was incarcerated in San Quentin in the 1950s, John Cash did a concert there in '59 and Merle was in the audience,
that pivitol moment changed his life and he picked up a guitar and started playing.
a large number of his songs are autobiographical which is what resonates with me.
great artist, even greater songwriter and a true 'in your face' outlaw.
I LOVE THIS DISK

i dont have a favourite song but this one always stands out:






The first thing I remember knowing
Was a lonesome whistle blowing
And a young'un's dream of growing up to ride
On a freight train leaving town
Not knowing where I'm bound
And no one could change my mind but Mama tried.


One and only rebel child
From a family meek and mild
My mama seemed to know what lay in store
Despite all my Sunday learning
Towards the bad I kept on turning
Till Mama couldn't hold me anymore.

And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole
No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied
That leaves only me to blame 'cause Mama tried.

Dear old Daddy, rest his soul
Left my mom a heavy load
She tried so very hard to fill his shoes
Working hours without rest
Wanted me to have the best
She tried to raise me right but I refused.

And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole
No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied
That leaves only me to blame 'cause Mama tried

[Ruby]

DAVID GRAY - A New Day at Midnight (2002)



Wiki says it's folktronica. 

Just felt like some David Gray today and I haven't heard this in a while. Nice album - no White Ladder, which was 1998, but it's a good listen IMHO and something had to follow! Always a bit of a problem following up on a stellar release. This is much more lightweight, and folktronica is probably the best description. Some songs are more memorable than others. Much more my thing than his most recent release. 

The opener - "Dead in the Water" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyHN02xRFXU

"Last Boat to America" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMrsWNWk5qY

The final track ... 

[CRAZY-HORSE]

BOB DYLAN  "Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid" (OST)   cd,  1973

his twelfth
soundtrack to the movie of the same name that he starred in with James Cockburn and Kris....
ten tracks, over half are instrumental but theyre good,
nothing complicated, just simple guitar instrumentals that work alongside the vocal tracks.
biggie off here was Knockin' On Heaven's Door.
four tracks titled or subtitled "billy" (billy, billy-1, billy-4, billy-7),
wondering what happened to 2,3,5 and 6, Doppelgangers maybe?!
all up such a nice change to listen to something "classic" for a change, and acoustic Dylan is always a thumbs-up!
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

wasnt going to post Heavens Door or an instrumental, tried the other vocal tracks and they were either non existent or 'not available in my country' so had to go back tot he obvious one...

[CRAZY-HORSE]

ALAN JACKSON  "who i am"  cd,  1994

his fifth of sixteen...
sold some five million copies in his homeland...
a handful of covers on here, most prominent being Cochran's Summertime Blues which isnt too bad...
some traditional country here, some tracks bordering the modern crap.
overall, not a bad album but nowhere near his best for me.
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

[CRAZY-HORSE]

BOB DYLAN & THE BAND "the basement tapes" cd, 1975

his sixteenth, their eighth....
recorded primarily in the late '60s but not released due to contractual/copyright issues....
like MH said, sounds like a jam session for The Band, not a patch on Dylan's solo works...
lyrics are terrible, whimsical, nonsense..
fits into Americana well but thats it.
wedged between Dylan's "blood on the tracks" and "desire", two classics by anyone's standards.
liking very little on this 24 track double disk set.
best of the bad much happens to be the only single from it.
I DO NOT LIKE THIS ALBUM (a rare low rating for a Dylan release!)

typical of Dylan, few links available and those that were are outtakes, demos
not the album versions so no link this time round.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

continuing on with the Ringo albums...



RINGO STARR  "beaucoups of blues" vinyl, 1970



his second...
a surprise yet not really a surprise to hear Ringo release a country album
afterall he sung a few country styled tuned in the Beatles, Act Naturally, Dont Pass Me By and one or to others...
album starts off very well, four or five very good tunes,
drops down a couple of gears over the remainder and idles in neutral for the last couple of tracks..
a pretty good album but it does show him up for his limited vocal quality,that said, he is picking songs that suit his voice.
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

favorite:





Her mother wrote a letter,
Said she thought it would be better
If she would just stay gone.
She knew of her condition,
But she wouldn't give permission
For her to come back home.
So she called the boy who loved her
But all he did was snub her,
Said, "face it on your own."
Mm-mm, love don't last long.

A young man got unlucky
And got busted in kentucky,
Asked his dad to go his bail.
But his dad had big ambitions
With the local politicians,
Told his son to go to hell.
He hung himself that morning
And the note that they found on him
Said, "dad, please take me home."
Mm-mm, love don't last long.

A woman told her husband,
She lived ev'ry day to love him,
Nothing else fits in her plans.
Then without a warning,
He came home from work one morning,
Found her there with another man.
In a fit of anger
He took her life and the stranger's,
Then he took his own.
Mm-mm, love don't last long.