The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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ATM – buying remastered Supertramp

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Back in the day, Supertramp’s Crime Of The Century was the go-to record played in every hi-fi store I visited. That and Do The Hustle. Ken Scott’s production was superb. Seeing them live they remarkably reproduced that sound here in a boxing stadium converted for music.

Anyway I put the vinly on last night and it sounded worn out. So I am after a new copy. I have an SACD player so that would be my preference but these remasters can be quirky things.

Has anyone got any recommendations?

Thanks.

Excellent doco on (arguably) Dylan’s worst period – Both Ends Of The Rainbow

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At times this reminded me of a monty Python skit or Spinal Tap but in the main it is pretty interesting.There are 16 segments that follow each other. I don’t know who all the interviewees are, Johnny Rogan has some good observations. For me it get’s interesting around segment 5 with Chuck Plotkin talking about the (for me) underrated Shot Of Love. I didn’t know he held the mic while Dylan recorded it because he just strolled over to the piano and started playing. Plenty of anecdotes to confirm what we already know – that he is an odd character. And the stuff on Empire Burlesque and Knocked Out Loaded are interesting too.

Long and violent history – Tyler Childers goes the full monty on Kentucky fiddles

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What does it sound like?:

Bluegrass, straight from Kentucky, traditional fiddle tunes and songs in their style. Tyler Childers is an interesting character. Kentucky born and bred, long times of living hand to mouth as he developed his craft. Call him folk, call him country, just don’t call him Americana as he really gets the shits. His argument is that country music is often criticised for enough innovaion but when they do it gets a new label – ie Americana. He’s got a point. Anyway the latest hotshot Americana artist started the way of many in a country/ folk oeuvre. Think early Loudon Wainwright III or wistful Jason Isbell ( he shared bills with JI and covered some of his songs) just with a bit more high and lonesome in the voice. The Bible and the bottle were fighting on the floor encapsulates the thematics of this period. As he develops more instrumentation and we hear the fiddle getting more prominence. Purgatory from 2017 is regarded as his breakout album and we are heading more into a Zac Brown sound .On the title track it seems the bible is still fighting with the bottle. I know that Hell Is » Continue Reading.

Ice T and Jan Akkerman

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Yes that’s right , the Hocus Pocus hitmaker

Never had a lot of interest in Ice T or his genre, but he is pretty good (parental warning) and Jan sitting in the background with a cap covering his face plays some wonderfully moody stuff.

Crosby -stunning version of Deja Vu

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You come across a motherlode of great music and you wanna share it- we have all been here before haven’t we ? Apart from the production qualities and the If Only I Could Remember My Name vibe to this, I love how DC really listens and enjoys the other musicians doing their bit rather than just waiting til he comes back in again.

Know Your Product

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Ed Kuepper is putting up heaps of stuff on his youtube channel and doing a lot of interweb shows.

He has highlighted this great sounding clip of theIr second UK recorded single.

Catnip for trainspotters – the guitar used here is in Sydney Powerhouse Museum.

Mrs Wells Senior – the finale

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I thought people might be interested in how things panned out down here in our COVID world. Melbourne is in stage 4 lockdown. This means you can only go more than 5 km from your house for work, medicals or “special situations”. You can go out for groceries once a day, only solo, for no more than an hour and you can get an hour’s exercise but ,until today, you couldn’t drive anywhere to get your exericse. You have to wear a mask at all times when outside your residence. And their is a curfew from 8 pm to 5 am. My father is buried 90 minutes out of Melbourne and Mum’s ashes were to be interred in the same plot. We were permitted 10 attendees, all wearing masks and 1.5 metres of social distancing. So no hugging, no beers at the pub afterwards. On the drive up 3 cars were stopped at checkpoints and,not satisfied with the all-black attire and large bouquets of flowers,the driver had to produce a letter from the funeral directors which, thankfuly, we had requested before the journey. My brother was late due to lengthy questioning of each car in the queue. Some funerals are » Continue Reading.

Danny Boy -time for a reapraisal ?

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My Mum died today.

Yesterday I was the last of the family to see her. The family were given an exemption from the COVD travel and visiting restrictions because she was in palliative care. She was 101, just got over the line so a good innings, as they, but very sad nonetheless.

She couldn’t talk yesterday and was largely unresponsive so I sat there and played some of the favourite hymns that we would listen to when I took her for drives in the country. I tried to singalong as best I could.

There were also a few songs of Celtic origin. Comes By The Hills sung by that 14 year old in Celtic Thunder. Always tears me up as Dad loved it. It’s a beautiful song- and the cares of tomorrow can wait til this day is done.Then there was My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose. Eddie Reader recorded it and she signed the CD in Melbourne to “dear Robbie” my Dad Robin. Feeling rather maudlin, drinking whisky I sent an email telling her of the pleasure and melancholy Dad and now I got from listeing to her. She sent a lovely note back. And then » Continue Reading.