Category Archives: MP3s

Heartbreaker

What’s in a name? Last Saturday in Azerbaijan, Gerry Dorsey returned to the international stage to represent England at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Of course, he performed under the more familiar moniker of Engelbert Humperdinck and did just enough to finish second last. Even though it sounds completely fabricated, there was a 19th century German composer who actually had that name. Perhaps Engelbert would never have become as famous if he’d remained as just plain old Gerry, but he’s one of numerous entertainers who have decided to use a pseudonym instead of their given name. It’s not as common for music fans to use an alias, but this week I read about one who did just that

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Rock of Ages

The 40th series of Later with Jools Holland returned to the BBC this month and this week’s second episode was a right humdinger of a show. It featured an array of North American artists playing that region’s traditional forms of music, as well as an Irish group celebrating fifty years together. To celebrate this milestone, The Chieftains have teamed up with producer T Bone Burnett on an album called Voice of Ages. The Chieftains are no strangers to merging different styles of traditional music, as evidenced by their version of The Long Black Veil with Mick Jagger below. They are joined on the new album by a number of bands that have previously appeared on Later: Imelda May and Lisa Hannigan from Ireland; Paolo Nutini from Scotland; Bon Iver, The Civil Wars, The Decemberists, Paolo Nutini, Carolina Chocolate Drops and The Secret Sisters from the States

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The Right Stuff

A few weeks after seeing a wonderful tribute to The Last Waltz, I was saddened to hear of original drummer Levon Helm‘s passing on Thursday. Helm shared vocal duties with the other members of the band and was best known for The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down and, one of my favourites, Up On Cripple Creek. He was born in Arkansas in 1940 and went on to become a member of The Hawks, fronted by fellow Arkansan Ronnie Hawkins. They eventually settled in Toronto where Levon would end up as the only American amongst a group of Canadians. They then became Bob Dylan’s backing band and decided to just call themselves The Band. At the end of the sixties they released two albums that are amongst my favourites from that decade, though they sound more like the 1860s than the 1960s. As well as sharing vocal duties, the group also swapped instruments and Levon often came out from behind the drum kit to pick up a guitar, bass or mandolin. His singing and playing in Martin Scorsese’s film of The Last Waltz farewell concert is quite prominent and his chats with Marty in the film are also worth checking out

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Good Friday At The Dogs

It’s Good Friday today and yet again all the pubs in Ireland will be closed until just before lunchtime tomorrow. It’s been like this all my life, though I have drank porter in Irish pubs on this day in the past. Two years ago, I did so legally and I’m going to be supping legal pints in a licensed premises this evening as well. Alcohol will actually be available today on trains and at train station bars, but only for people who produce a valid train ticket as proof of travel that day. I’ve no idea why commuters are given this privilege, as travelling by train is the safest form of journey you could take. However, there’s another option available for connoisseurs of drink in four Irish cities today. For some reason, greyhound racing is also exempt from Good Friday restrictions, presumably because it makes the sport more interesting. The four lucky venues are Galway Greyhound Stadium, Limerick Greyhound Stadium, Curraheen Park, Cork, and Harold’s Cross, Dublin. For just under €40, you get a four-course meal, admission & a race programme. You also get a drinks service and someone to take your bets. I was there a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed it, though only two of my dogs won. Hopefully, Jesus can bring me better luck today

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Velvet Goldmine

This summer sees the 40th anniversary of the release of one of rock music’s most iconic albums. The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders From Mars was David Bowie‘s fifth studio album and it made it into record shops in June, 1972. It’s basically a concept album that draws upon science fiction and rock mythology to tell the story of a musician named Ziggy Stardust and his band, The Spiders From Mars. The concept is a loose one as not all the songs on the album relate to the overall concept and one of them (It Ain’t Easy) is a cover of a song by a guy called Ron Davies. Nevertheless, the album’s packaging, marketing, sequencing and overall sound certainly made it seem like all the songs were connected and it also helped that Bowie and the band adopted the fictional band’s persona in concert and television appearances. Of course, the decision to wear the group’s “futuristic” costumes during this period was a big factor in maintaining the illusion. The album contains some of Bowie’s best songs (Starman and Ziggy Stardust) but, like all great records, its strength lies in the consistency of the work and that it can be enjoyed from beginning to end

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Such a Night

I’m not usually a fan of tribute bands, but I saw one last weekend that proved to be the exception to the rule. It took place at Dolan’s Warehouse in Limerick, though it would be more correct to call it a tribute to one of the greatest musical events in rock & roll. The show being celebrated was the 1976 farewell performance by The Band that took place at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco during Thanksgiving Day. This spectacular concert not only featured The Band along with an impressive horn section, but also some of the biggest names in music at the time. Thankfully, the show was filmed by Martin Scorsese and given a cinema release two years later as The Last Waltz. I first bought a copy on video cassette over twenty years ago and upgraded to DVD a few years ago. I’ve watched it dozens of times over the years and it always cheers me up no end when I put it on. It was no different at Dolan’s last Saturday night

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These Foolish Things

I meant to put up this post for April Fools’ Day earlier today but I had a late one last night. I’ve been listening to over a hundred songs about fooling and joking over the last few days and I’ve managed to whittle that number down to an even half dozen. Lots of these songs are in the soul genre and most of them are about how love makes fools of even the wisest of people. The first two songs have become standards and were both recorded by Frank Sinatra during his prolific career. He was one of the first singers to perform Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread) in 1940. The lyrics were written by Johnny Mercer and the music by Rube Bloom and its content can be summed up brilliantly in these lines: “Fools rush in where wise men never go/But wise men never fall in love”. Zooey Deschanel does it justice on She & Him‘s 2010 version for Levi’s Pioneer Sessions

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Getting Away With Murder

We’ve been experiencing an early summer in Ireland this week, with hardly a cloud in the sky and temperatures remaining in the late teens throughout. On Thursday, however, I decided to heed Noël Coward’s advice about mad dogs and Englishmen venturing out in the midday sun by taking refuge at the pictures. The venue was The Belltable, Limerick’s main arts centre since 1981. The film was Roger Hamer’s 1949 Ealing classic, Kind Hearts & Coronets, the first of two black and white films to be screened that day. I’m a big fan of the films made by Ealing Studios and have most of them on video or DVD. Kind Hearts is my favourite and it was wonderful to see it on the big screen. It was restored for cinema release in the UK last year and had also been released on DVD nearly a decade ago by the Criterion Collection. I don’t know what version the Belltable used, but the image was brilliant even if it was only in 4:3 format. The film is mainly composed of long- and mid-shots and rarely uses close-ups. This was certainly apt for the theatrical surroundings of the Belltable, and the venue was even more appropriate for the film’s strengths – the script, dialogue and the acting

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