Sometime around 1969, record producer Norman Dayron—fresh from producing the multi-generational “Fathers & Sons” album by Muddy Waters and his younger disciples—ran into Eric Clapton, who may have been backstage at an Al Kooper/Mike Bloomfield show, or perhaps it was a Blind Faith concert. No one seems to remember for sure. In either event, Dayron seized the opportunity to ask Clapton if he’d like to record an album with master bluesman Howlin’ Wolf.
Dayron was a staff producer at Chess Records, and that the offer was indeed legit, arrangements were made by Chess Records. Howlin’ Wolf—born Chester Burnett on June 10th, 1910, in White Station, Miss. would come to London. Clapton was over-the-moon excited, yet agreed under one condition: that Howlin’ Wolf’s longtime guitarist, Hubert Sumlin, be involved as well. There was some initial balking at Chess regarding the expense of flying two players from Chicago O’Hare to Heathrow.
Howlin’ Wolf was another Chess Records mainstay, releasing numerous singles and “best of” LPs on the label. This 1971 album consists of recordings Howlin’ Wolf made with the popular British blues musicians of the time, all of whom had been inspired by the early days of Chess Records. Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts all feature prominently on the album, and are credited on the LP’s cover.
From May 2nd-10th, 1970, at London’s Olympic Studios home of sessions for the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie, among others—the house was rockin’ with Howlin’ Wolf and British rock royalty. Clapton was enlisted to play lead guitar on each of the 20-some songs, some being alternate takes) with Sumlin on rhythm guitar. Thankfully, Clapton yielded to Sumlin in establishing the songs’ grooves, although Sumlin’s rhythm work dominates “Do the Do.” And on “The Red Rooster,” Clapton nods not only to Sumlin, who played on Wolf’s 1961 original, but also to Keith Richards and Mick Taylor’s guitar moods.
The highlight of the LP is the “false start” rehearsal track for “Little Red Rooster,” which is essentially a peek into the artists’ studio session. The song starts, then stops, and then listeners get a peek into the ensuing conversation between Howlin’ Wolf and his British collaborators. It’s not 100 percent intelligible, but it breathes a new sense of life into an already vibrant work.
The Rolling Stones’ rhythm section was enlisted: Bill Wyman, bass; and Charlie Watts, drums, with KlausVoormann on bass for one song (five if one counts the bonus tracks that saw the light of day on the 2003 expanded reissue), and Ringo Starr on drums on one track from the original album (plus three reissue bonus tracks). When Voormann laid down the song-defining bass riff on “I Ain’t Superstitious,” Wyman played the cowbell. And yet another Rolling Stone (albeit not an official band member), Ian Stewart, played piano on “Rockin’ Daddy.”
British keyboard legend Steve Winwood (Traffic, Blind Faith) overdubbed piano and organ on five tracks while on tour in the U.S. At certain points, it’s impossible to distinguish between Clapton and Sumlin (apart from Clapton playing most of the solos) and between Winwood and first-generation Chicago blues pianist Leake. John Simon, a popular producer in the late ’60s (Leonard Cohen, The Band, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Janis Joplin) takes a turn on piano on ‘Who’s Been Talkin’.”
As for the Wolf, he could do no wrong. The year 1970 found him in excellent voice, spirits and energy, able to moan, growl, snarl, roar and bellow as he’d done since his earliest Sun Studio sessions in 1951. Were there London Sessions songs on which he excelled more than others? Absolutely. “Worried About My Baby,” on which Wolf played his own harmonica, comes to mind. (There are two additional outtake versions of “Worried About My Baby” on the expanded reissue, the most intriguing of which features Wolf, Clapton and Wyman, with no drummer.)
And the groove of Willie Dixon’s “Wang Dang Doodle” and, on the expanded reissue, “Killing Floor,” come to mind. The Wolf saved some of his best howlin’ for the Willie Dixon-penned classic, which closes the original LP, released in August 1971
As the frontman of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Kip Berman wrote songs about the thrills and ills of young adult life with the care and concern of a cool older sibling. The long-standing New York City indiepop group disbanded soon after releasing their final record, “The Echo of Pleasure”(2017), and Berman found himself at a creative crossroads. He wanted to keep making music, but the themes and sounds he was interested in had shifted; it felt time for a course correction.
We’re back with our next release, the sophomore album from The Natvral, ‘Summer of No Light’. Lead single ‘Lucifer’s Glory’ see’s Kip going full Springsteen.
The album will be out September 1st on limited khaki vinyl
Official video for The Natvral’s “A Glass of Laughter” from “Summer of No Light” LP (Dirty Bingo Records 2023).
Perhaps best known as the founder member and mouthpiece for Brooklyn indie pop outfit, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. Having formed the band in 2007, Berman spent the next decade writing and performing to legions of fans around the globe. Often reinventing the band’s sound (and line-ups) in the process, while leaving a lasting legacy of four critically acclaimed long players, alongside a host of singles and EPs that made The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart one of the most revered acts on their respective circuit.
Vocals and Guitar: Kip Berman Drums: Brian Alvarez Bass: Josh Rumble Keys: Kyle Forester Pedal Steel: Mike Brenner Additional Vocals: Sarah Chihaya
A reissue of Mellencamp’s beloved eighth studio album, “Scarecrow”, featuring the classic rock favourites “Small Town” and “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” is set for release on November 4th via Mercury/UME. The box set will include two CDs of newly remixed and remastered songs plus previously unreleased bonus tracks and alternate versions, a booklet full of rare photographs and all new liner notes by acclaimed author and music critic Anthony DeCurtis.
“Scarecrow” proved a revelation, redefining Mellencamp as a more thoughtful, socially conscious creator capable of thematic ambition only hinted at on his previous records. It’s a watershed work, an album that talks about and cares about big-picture things, and marries real-world concerns to a first-rate roots-rock sound. It displays an artist still recognizable from his previous work.
The album’s opening track sets the stage memorably, as “Rain on the Scarecrow” opens with a robust curtain of pulsating guitar twang and insistent drum snap that draws open to reveal Mellencamp’s crisply cadenced gruffness. A lament of the American farmer’s fading fortunes, it is remarkable amid its considerable power that the listener never loses track of its overarching social message. The outrage that fuels the lyric “Blood on the scarecrow/Blood on the plow” is unmistakable, relatable, It’s a smart, sharp-edged avowal of values that lands one hell of a punch for rock with a conscience.
“Scarecrow” was Mellencamp’s eighth studio album and the second to bear that surname, as he was in a transitional phase from his early stage name John Cougar, and would use John Cougar Mellencamp until 1989’s “Big Daddy” before dispensing with the Cougar affectation entirely. His true identity was easy enough to find on this release, affirmed by the appearance of his grandmother Laura Mellencamp to sing “Grandma’s Theme,” an interlude produced to sound old but recorded during the record’s 1985 sessions (look no further than liner notes that declare the date and time of each recording if you don’t believe it). From its crackle-effected opening through the deliberate, full-tone acoustic guitar strumming at its close, it evokes family and tradition, an exceptional piece of sequencing that sets the table perfectly for the song that follows.
That song is “Small Town,” and in a present where country charts hang heavy with testaments to the delights of four-wheeling and kegs in closets, it is a legitimate spiritual forefather. Its sinewy throb marries ringing guitar to a resolute snare pulse, forging an ideal backdrop for an anthem of values, and a convincingly sophisticated take on an everyman’s outlook. The craft in its small touches goes a long way; the doubled preposition in the bridge lyric, “No I cannot forget from where it is that I come from” curiously increases its forcefulness, and listen no further than the shoehorning of “Married an L.A. doll and brought her to this small town/Now she’s small town, just like me” to understand how fitting words into a space in which they really don’t can be memorable. Mellencamp’s voice and demeanor are ideal vessels for its deeper message, with earnestness and no small amount of determination making clear that the singer’s love for that world is an informed choice rather than aw-shucks rural wisdom.
The album’s liner notes include the declaration that, “There is nothing more sad or glorious than generations changing hands,” and that’s a notion in which “Minutes to Memories” revels. Grounded in a belief in clear principles and traditional ideas of what it is to be American, the track is an earnest celebration of hard-earned wisdom, right through a barked final verse that stokes its urgency. It’s one of many songs on which the worth of Kenny Aronoff’s drumming is front and center, as is his meshing with sprightly guitar figures to propel the world-problems-as-family-allegory track “Justice and Independence ’85.” Undeniably grabby and well-decorated rock with an enthusiastic vocal, it’s still the case that the metaphors of “When a nation cries/His tears fall down like missiles from the sky” are fairly clunky—it’s a spirited pleasure that becomes guilty only when you try to sing along.
One of the anecdotes surrounding “Scarecrow” is that Mellencamp had his band members learn a catalogue of 1960s rock standards in preparation for its sessions, and that is certainly a groove they were deeply within for the finished record. Guitarists Larry Crane and Mike Wanchic add limber electric life to “Rumbleseat,” setting the stage for a bounding chorus to emerge from the chipper swivel of its verses, supporting Mellencamp’s dynamic lead in an offbeat, compelling rock burst.
The album’s final single (which featured a cover of James Brown’s “Cold Sweat” on its B-side), it peaked “The Face of the Nation” displays the band’s meat-and-potatoes versatility, with Toby Myers’ bass slither and John Cascella’s keyboard accents defining its cadence as Mellencamp gruffly bemoans America falling short of its potential, then giving way to a forceful swirl of drum and guitar energy.
Mellencamp’s practiced informality suits the hearty, tambourine-adorned twang of “You’ve Got to Standfor Somethin’,” a survey of cultural touchstones and pitfalls that follows his recollection of spying Vanessa Williams in Penthouse magazine with the sharp-elbowed punctuating line, “I bet you saw that too.” His bruising, assertive growl also helps power the kinetic churn of “Lonely Ol’ Night,” which on an album full of thoughtful humanism is straightforward in its aims as a confident come-on with sturdy charms.
Beyond the heavy lifting handled by Mellencamp’s core four-piece, “Between a Laugh and a Tear” is enhanced by the appearance of Rickie Lee Jones, whose pretty vocal within the chorus and select other moments nestles comfortably alongside Mellencamp’s casually phrased lead to create an earthy authenticity. Ry Cooder also makes a memorable cameo with his slide guitar contribution to “The Kind of Fella I Am.” A frill-free ragged rocker available only on the tail end of the album’s cassette and CD versions, it sounded like it came from an earlier record in Mellencamp’s catalogue, and might have been a better fit elsewhere in the album’s sequence than as a tacked-on-sounding closer.
The album’s vinyl finale arguably should have been the closer for all formats, even if Mellencamp worried so much at the time that it didn’t sufficiently reflect the rest of the collection’s thoughtfulness that he almost exiled it to life as a bonus track. Loaded with springy acoustic and electric guitar lines, the lickety-split romp “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A Salute to 60’s Rock)” may not share the rest of the set’s consciousness, but as a celebration of enduring charms in the land the collection champions, it’s a fitting reminder why they’re worth fighting for. Rich with an irresistible throwback bounce, it finds Mellencamp snapping at lyrics with assuredness and grit amid a stellar romp that sets every hook right down to Cascella’s organ adornments and Crane’s memorable flutophone hoots.
Mellencamp has shared another bonus track from the expanded edition of “Scarecrow”, the lyrics video for “Carolina Shag.”
This newly remixed & remastered edition of John Mellencamp’s “Scarecrow” features the original album, a full disc of rare & previously unreleased tracks, ATMOS, and new hi-resolution stereo mix of the album + bonus tracks in hi-resolution stereo on Blu-ray Disc, a 180g half-speed LP, an original picture sleeve of the “Small Town” 7” single, booklet, lithographs, poster and an all-new essay by Anthony DeCurtis.
The reissue offers a new stereo mix of the album and both the 2CD edition and the super deluxe edition offer a full disc of rare and previously unreleased tracks. This includes two previously unreleased full-length songs (‘Carolina Shag’ and ‘Smart Guys’), three rough mixes, demos, B-sides and a previously unreleased cover of ‘Shama Lama Ding Dong’ performed originally by the fictional band Otis Day and the Knights in the 1978 film National Lampoon’s Animal House.
Released August 5th, 1985, “Scarecrow” was Mellencamp’s fourth and final release on the soon-to-be-extinct Riva Records, and an immediate hit that would sell five million copies in the ensuing 16 years. It marked a turning point in Mellencamp’s music, and served as an overture of sorts for how he would bring his music into the world from that point forward. Putting action behind the album’s message, Mellencamp helped found the Farm Aid benefit concerts.
The super deluxe edition is a 2CD+LP+blu-ray lift-off lid box set. In addition to the two CDs mentioned above, the blu-ray offers a new Atmos Mix of the album as well as a hi-res stereo mix. This disc also has all the bonus tracks in hi-res stereo as well. This box includes a half-speed mastered black vinyl LP and a seven-inch single (‘Small Town’). This box comes with a booklet with a new essay by Anthony DeCurtis (including new interviews with John Mellencamp) and additionally, there’s various ‘bits’ including lithos, poster etc.
A standalone half-speed mastered black vinyl is also available. As with the other formats this contains the new stereo mix. “Scarecrow” is out now, via UMC/Virgin.
The sophomore album from Los Angeles band Valley Queen is a dynamically layered sonic universe of intense range. Carol’s inimitable vocals are as fearlessly fluid as ever—ethereal to thunderous in a note—and fully consuming.
From Natalie Carol: “This version of “Pavement” was an experiment with Lewis Pesacov, who produced our debut record ‘Supergiant.’ We were inspired by the production of Joni Mitchell’s 1976 Hejira. You can hear more of the jazz fusion influence in this version. We worked with Dustin Bookatz on this track, who recorded all of his bass remotely from Australia. His playing gives a Jaco Pastorius flavour to this song I really love.”
“Pavement” (alternate version) on August 4th, 2023 on First City Artists
The presentation of our music on vinyl is something we think about throughout the record making process. As we assemble the track listing, the way it will feels to listen to side A and then side B is something we spend a lot of time considering. While we appreciate the ease and convenience of streaming, the album in its final form to us is a physical record that you have to flip. We hope this comes across when you listen in that way.
Nation of Language release their new album, “Strange Disciple” on Play It Again Sam. Following performances at Primavera Sound, Pitchfork Festival, Outside Lands and dozens more of their biggest headline shows to date, the Brooklyn band’s third LP is one that is meant to invoke wandering, wondrous walks through city streets both foreign and familiar. In the three short years since their acclaimed debut, 2020’s “Introduction, Presence”, Nation of Language have sustained an increasing ascent from small, hyperlocal scenes to international stages and late-night television, while their musical evolution has embodied three distinct modes of moving through the world: lead singer and songwriter Ian Devaney imagines the band’s first album, “Introduction, Presence”, as taking place in a car, whereas second album “A Way Forward” occurred on and as a locomotive, influenced by the chugging sound of krautrock.
Now, as their first record to be fully created and released outside the confines of a pandemic-instilled lockdown, “Strange Disciple” is centred around groove-driven songs and bouncing basslines that feel ambulatory and wayfaring, informed by the excitement of exploring new places the band never thought they would see on tour.
“Too Much, Enough”, the fourth single from “Strange Disciple”, is out now. This track is about unhealthy obsession with the 24 hour news cycle, but instead of making a video that was a huge bummer we decided to gather some friends and have fun.
“Strange Disciple” is available for in many places, so check in with your local favourites.
The band’s follow-up to “A Foul Form” is out in August, their new album, “Intercepted Message”. It’s out on August 18th via In the Red. The band has shared the title track’s new music video. John Dwyer walks the walk: The man will never stop going in. The prolific underground rock legend stayed busy with a zillion improvisational side projects during the pandemic, and it didn’t stop him from releasing a new album with main band OSEES last year.
Title track “Intercepted Message” is indeed on the poppier side of the Dwyer oeuvre, especially compared to the Coachwhips-ish aggression of something like the last album’s “Funeral Solution.” I’m pretty sure amidst the cartoonish keyboard sounds and nervy rhythms Dwyer utters, “Your king’s a cunt/ It keeps you dull.”
New album “Intercepted Message” out 8/18/23 on In The Red Records
The Replacements have announced a sprawling box set of their 1985 album “Tim”, featuring a completely remixed version of the LP. Titled“Tim: Let It Bleed Edition”, the four-CD and one-LP set also includes a remastered version of the original album and a collection of previously unheard tracks, as well as a concert from 1986. The Legendary American alternative rockers are preparing a new reissue of their fourth studio album, “Tim”. “Tim: Let It Bleed Edition” will be an expanded version of the 1985 album featuring a new remix of the album, a freshly remastered version of the original mix, outtakes from the band’s 1985 session with Big Star vocalist Alex Chilton, and a live concert from 1986 that the band played at the Metro in Chicago.
Originally released in September 1985, “Tim” marked the Replacements’ major-label debut. The alternative rock pioneers received critical acclaim for the album, which, in the decades since, has come to be regarded as a pivotal release of the era. Despite this, the Replacements were never satisfied with the album.
“Even with “Tim’s” evolving status as an all-time classic, the Replacements remained unsatisfied with the sound of the record, largely centered on the mix done by the album’s producer, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tommy Erdelyi, aka Tommy Ramone, better known as the original Ramones drummer.
Featuring memorable tracks like ‘Bastards of Young’ and ‘Left of the Dial’, “Tim” continued The Replacements’ departure from the hardcore punk that was started on the previous year’s “Let It Be”.
It would be the final album to feature guitarist Bob Stinson, who would leave the band in 1986.” noted a press release accompanying the new set’s announcement. “Now, after four decades, the LP has finally been given a long overdue sonic overhaul as part of “Tim: Let It Bleed Edition.”
Disc three of the new reissue, entitled “Sons of No One: Rare & Unreleased“, features a collection of outtakes and rarities from a January 1985 recording session produced by the Big Star vocalist/guitarist Alex Chilton. Replacements singer-songwriter Paul Westerberg was a noted fan of Chilton and would write a song in his honour that would appear on the band’s follow-up to “Tim”: 1987’s “Pleased to Meet Me”.
Producer Ed Stasium, a longtime friend of Erdelyi, handled the new mix. He believes the “Let It Bleed Edition” is a “fuller, deeply detailed and ultimately more satisfying version of the record, which finally captures the band’s raw power.”
Guitar: Bob Stinson Drums: Chris Mars Background Vocals: Chris Mars, Guitar, Piano, Vocals: Paul Westerberg Bass Guitar: Tommy Stinson
“Roach” is Miya Folick’s clearest and most direct work yet, eschewing some of the lyrical and musical obfuscations she layered onto her 2018 debut album, “Premonitions”. With ear-worm melodies, heart-wrenching poetry, eclectic production and anchored by Folick’s once-in-a-lifetime voice, “Roach” straddles a line between pop and something more experimental. She enlisted a team of collaborators who she trusted to bring out the grittier side of her artistry, including Gabe Wax (War on Drugs, Fleet Foxes), Mike Malchicoff (King Princess, Bo Burnham), Max Hershenow (MS MR) and a team of some of LA’s best players. The result is an album that sounds as honest and intimate as the subject matter at hand, a candid snapshot of where she is now and what it took to get there.
As discussed last month when “Mommy” dropped, at this point well over half of the songs on the new Miya Folick album “Roach” have been released as singles. The infestation continues but these tracks have been consistently solid. The latest track, “So Clear,” is an effervescent pop tune built around a percolating synth line, with Folick exulting in a moment of epiphany: “Ten thousand days of waking up/ I pull myself out of the dust/ I’m sun and sea, so suddenly/ So clear to me, so clear to me.
It’s an album about trying to get to the core of what life really is. I think over the course of writing this record, I actually did the work and got closer to the person that I really want to be, even if that path isn’t linear and I still have moments where I disappoint myself, where I’m angry with myself.
Harpist and composer Mary Lattimore has announced her new album “Goodbye, Hotel Arkada” with a video for its lead single “And Then He Wrapped His Wings Around Me.” The album is due out October 6th via Ghostly. The album draws its title from a hotel on the island of Hvar in Croatia. “There’s a big old hotel there called the Hotel Arkada, and you could tell it had been hosting holiday-goers for decades in a great way,” Lattimore said in a statement. “I walked around the lobby and the empty ballrooms and it looked like a well-worn, well-loved place. My friend Stacey who lives there told me to ‘Say goodbye to Hotel Arkada, it might not be here when you get back’ and I heard soon after that it was actually going to be renovated in a very crisp, modern way.”
Harpist and composer Mary Lattimore has announced her new album “Goodbye, Hotel Arkada” with a video for its lead single “And Then He Wrapped His Wings Around Me.” The album is due out October 6th via Ghostly. She also announced a run of U.S. tour dates.
Mary Lattimore has just announced her return with “Goodbye, Hotel Arkada” on Ghostly International. Oh my word, it is just stunning. It features guest appearances from (amongst others); Lol Tolhurst, Meg Baird and Rachel Goswell who all sound incredible. Quite mournful, but equally full of light.
The Fat Angel Sings 