The Afterword

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The Long Version – Late Bloomer,

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Once in a while, I’ve posted on here about some music or other I’ve been involved in – either my previous band Neil Gowans and the Winos, my (mainly design) involvement with ace blues trio Jimmy Regal and the Royals, or my clear-the-decks solo album Strum Und Twang. After that, I went a bit quiet. And then…

A couple of years ago, I was at the birthday party of Tricia Davies Nearn, a wonderful American singer and musician who I’d long thought should front a band of her own. My drummer friend David nudged me at said party: “You know Tricia’s forming a band with me?” When I immediately blurted “Do you need a bass player?” he replied, “Nah, she’s singing and playing the bass herself”. My face fell. I’m a pretty decent bass player, but although guitar isn’t really what I’m known for, I found myself saying “Do you need a guitarist?…”

Some time later, we have a core trio, with other players on the periphery propping up the Long Version sound at gigs. Tricia is the main songwriter, bringing songs saved up from her time in other bands. I’m the ‘George’ of the band in terms » Continue Reading.

Sheryl Crow

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Venue:

Hampton Court Palace

Date: 18/06/2024

Sheryl Crow is an artist that won me over by osmosis. When her first album, Tuesday Night Music Club came out, the ubiquity of All I Wanna Do (and its adoption by an irritating student housemate) muddied my interest somewhat. The opening lines to Run Baby Run ‘She was born in November 1963/The day Aldous Huxley died’ seemed rather arch and there was something contrived about the first album’s gee-we’re-just-a-group-who-meet-once-a-week shtick, especially when that gang fell apart so publicly.

Some years later, my girlfriend’s CD collection unearthed Crow’s second, self-titled album. It had a more direct, less glossy production, with lots of fuzz bass, loops and double-tracked dry vocals. More importantly, a few listens revealed that it’s a fantastic set of songs, only losing steam in the final few tunes. My time in a female fronted covers band showed what absolute crackers If It Makes You Happy, A Change Would Do You Good and Everyday Is A Winding Road are. When you add Maybe Angels, Sweet Rosalyn and Redemption Day (which Johnny Cash deemed good enough to cover), it’s a staggering achievement for someone who had been written off after the bitter split » Continue Reading.

Tommy Emmanuel/Molly Tuttle

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Venue:

Cadogan Hall

Date: 12/01/2024

There’s a soubriquet in country music – the ‘triple threat’. This means someone who not only can sing beautifully, but can play their instrument (almost always the guitar) and – most rarefied of all – also write great songs that engage not only the heart but the postman’s whistling muscles. On a YouTube trawl last year, I came across Molly Tuttle, a fantastic bluegrass flatpicker, playing with fellow youngster Billy Strings on a clip that has reached over 6 million views. A deeper dive uncovered Molly’s own songs and her lovely singing voice, mainly with her band Golden Highway. Best of the lot was her song Crooked Tree, a touching ode to growing up physically different (as she did) – the straight trees go to the sawmill to be turned into ‘toothpicks and twenty dollar bills’, the crooked trees don’t fit into the mill machine and live ‘wild and free’. I became a bit of a fan of this new triple threat and when I saw she was supporting Tommy Emmanuel on his UK tour, I snagged a sole ticket.

The Cadogan Hall is usually a classical venue and, what with its Sloane Square » Continue Reading.

Rock lyricist nursery rhymes

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OK, something stupid for Friday. While idle the other day, I tried to write some nursery rhymes in the style of great songwriters. Don’t ask me why. Anyone else fancy a go?

Halfway Down by Bruce Springsteen

Mister, don’t you ask me why I’m climbin’ this here hill Old Duke got his reasons, and he’s the one payin’ the bills We all got our orders in someone else’s war Ten thousand men who don’t know what they’re marching for

Half way down We’re only half way down I don’t know which way is up But it’s a long way back to town

Mary’s Hedge Apparently by Bob Dylan (1966 version)

Will I see you in the garden On one of these verdant days With your empty-headed suitors And your strange contrary ways Your pretty maids were lined up at the silver ringing tree Oh Mary, your cockleshells are lost But babe, are you lost on me?

Song for Jack by Joni Mitchell

I do not know what moved me To follow you for water clear In the pale August morning Climbing, climbing with you near I only know I fell so hard The water gone, a bruise appeared In autumn » Continue Reading.

The incredible shrinking band… does it exist?

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I’ve been musing on how many bands frittered their early promise by becoming more bloated as a live entity as time went by. Take most guitars/bass/drums outfit, and by the time they’re on their third album, their live presence has incorporated a keyboard player, an extra guitarist, backing singers… you name it.

Take Guns’n’Roses. Whether you like their music or not, it’s fairly undeniable that their early impact was due to their uncompromising, punky take on hard rock. Two guitars, bass, drums and a singer with a (ahem) unique delievery. By the time they’d put out TWO sprawling albums on the same day in 1992, they were touring with a keyboard player, backing singers and a four-piece horn section. Fleetwood Mac (Rumours and onward) toured with five members in 1977. When I saw them they had an extra keyboard player, an extra guitarist and three backing singers. Ditto the Eagles. Did it make life easier for the main men and women? Of course. Did it make them sound any better? That’s debatable.

Some acts play with a USP of their lineup, eg current media pincushions Royal Blood. Some clearly have a bit of ‘help’ from backing tracks or triggered samples » Continue Reading.

Storm in a Teacup or Strop and a F**kup?

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Certain sections of the internet have been clutching their pearls about Royal Blood’s less-than-avuncular reaction to the Radio 1 Big Weekend audience reaction to their riff-based tunes. The BBC write-up is, as one would expect, on-brand and rather withering about their little strop. But do they have a point? Are crowds too passive? Should they have ‘rocked harder’ or something, and won the rabble over? Or, have they been placed on the wrong bill, at the wrong time, by an idiot, and had their expectations of an up-for-it audience thrown back at them with a resounding ‘meh’ by the pop kids?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-65756149

Eyes down for rock story bingo!

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Despite myself, I’ve enjoyed watching Daisy Jones and the Six, Amazon Prime’s ten-part rock story based on a successful novel. There were some engaging performances, the music was much better than I was expecting and there was even a surprise or two at the end I wasn’t expecting. Ideal ‘lunch break’ TV when I’ve been working at home.

That said, it does contain an almighty number of ‘rock story’ tropes that, real story or not, it appears all films/series of this nature seem to have to include by law. Walk the Line, Rocket Man, That Thing You Do, Still Crazy – they’ve got most of these cliches. Also spoofed very well in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

So, I invite you to add to my bingo card of rock on screen. A seemingly mandatory tick list that would have you in rehab, were it a drinking game and not a bit of fun. What would you add to these? SPOILER ALERT for people who haven’t seen DJATS but, come on, not much of a spoiler – this is my argument entirely.

• Someone getting wasted and falling in a pool. • Someone drinking Jack Daniels out of the bottle » Continue Reading.

Another Afterworder album… and this time, it’s a bassist

by 18 Comments

11/09/2022

We all know the old gag. Q: What’s the last thing the bassist said before he got fired? A: ‘Hey gang, could we try one of MY songs?’

After about twenty years of playing bass on other people’s songs, I finally saved up the money to put an album together about a year ago. Some of these songs go back a long way. A few were created as part of a monthly song club I was part of for a couple of years, which stretched me (for example, write a song from the point of an inanimate object, or a song about a famous painting – both of which appear here). Two were written in lockdown, including the closing number (video below). I always wanted to finish with a downbeat song, in the vein of Costello’s The Favourite Hour, or Goodnight, Hollywood Boulevard by Ryan Adams.

It’s called Strum Und Twang because a) I can’t resist a pun and b) all the instruments apart for drums and percussion are stringed – all sorts of » Continue Reading.

St Vincent

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Venue:

Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith

Date: 29/06/2022

It all started with another gig. a couple of weeks ago. A friend had bought tickets for Beck at the Brixton Academy many months ago. I’d been expecting the gig to showcase a colourful array of fantastic musicians, all interacting, showing off and bringing the funk for all they were worth. What we got, good though it was, was Beck Hansen, downstage on his own, smothered in purple smoke, while his musicians toiled right at the back, in the dark, on a ten-foot riser. If you’d been seated in the circle, you might well have assumed he was playing to a load of backing tracks. So, though we pogoed and hollered through ‘E-Pro’, ‘Dreams’, ‘Loser’ and the rest, one question nagged at me all the way home: What happened to the band?

A quick look online told me: two of them had decamped to St Vincent’s latest tour, possibly in search of more onstage excitement. Checking out St Vincent’s Glastonbury highlights on iPlayer, I decided this was the kind of show I’d been after when I went to Brixton. Full of Bowie-style theatre, it crammed in a wonderful selection of songs, all played » Continue Reading.

A new Pugwash album is crowdfunding

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Thomas Walsh, erstwhile Duckworth Lewis Method opening bat and all round musical great, is starting work on a new Pugwash album in his native Ireland and is asking for crowd funding to get it over the line. This will, apparently, be made with a band including ex Pugwash members, so those who didn’t ‘get’ Silverlake, the last Pugwash album he made as a duo with Jason Falkner can expect a return to the regular band sound. (I bloody loved Silverlake, but understand why it’s a marmite kind of thing).

I have no vested interest in this other than a burning desire to hear more Thomas Walsh songs, but know there are some fans among the Massive, so thought I would bring it to your attention and commend this to the house.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pugwash-album-8#/

Meat Loaf

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Has died at 74. Never the biggest fan of his overwrought music, but the GLW loves BOOH. A good actor and generally improved the joy in the world. RIP big guy.

Bloody hell, another one.

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This looks grim. One of my favourite bands, The Posies, are no more after guitarist/singer Ken Stringfellow has been accused of some pretty despicable sexual behaviour by a number of women. One of them is a friend of the other main member of the band, Jon Auer, and he believes her and has called time on everything.

I’ve seen The Posies four times, once reviewing them for the old Word site – the only time my writing ever got in the magazine, which delighted me at the time. Added to this is the couple of times I saw Jon and Ken as half of Big Star, which were wonderful evenings. Frosting on the Beater was one of my go-to ‘up to 11’ albums, a glorious mix of melody and power. And now one of them is a wrong ‘un.

I remember this happening with Ryan Adams, though his transgressions were more of the ‘serial toxic relationships’ stripe. Stringfellow, if half of these things are true, has been getting away with monstrous things for some time. And, sadly, more and examples of artists doing these things – on the face of it, sensitive, gentle types – will come to light after » Continue Reading.

Lovers of Yacht Rock ahoy!

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One for 70’s soft rock aficionados. If you have a cheese allergy, best leave now.

I draw your attention to SilverTwin, a band I discovered quite by accident, having been recommended Novelty Island (great, but more 60s/Nilsson vibe) who are supporting them. I’m not affiliated with them in any way but thought if you like any music in the ELO/Gilbert O’Sullivan/Supertramp/Wings arena, I think they’re well worth a listen. They play the Lexington in November, and I’m there with bells on.

The one member who just doesn’t last…

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I’ve been on something of a Squeeze listening binge of late, and can’t help but notice from liner notes (and following on, Wikipedia) that they’ve been through an excessively large amount of bass players, eight in total. Reading the great ‘Song by Song’ book, no real reasons have been given for Squeeze four-stringers moving on up to 1999, unlike the dirt on drummer Gilson Lavis hitting the sauce and getting a p45 – twice. Since then, the amazing Yolanda Charles lasted one album and her predecessor Lucy Shaw (long-termer of Tilbrook’s solo band) even less time. Add Sean Hurley and Owen Biddle and it makes four in the last six years.

I know the Grateful Dead got through an inordinate amount of keyboard players, and of course the mighty Tap were forced by misfortune and accident into getting multiple drummers.

Are there any other acts that have one particular instrumentalist who never gets a gold watch?

Here are ver Squeeze with the great Keith Wilkinson:

Jeremy Porter and the Tucos – Candy Coloured Cannonball

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What does it sound like?:

There’s a kind of music that falls through the cracks of traditional rock-journo classification. Somewhere in the middle of a Venn diagram of punk, traditional rock’n’roll, garage rock and Americana, it’s best enjoyed in a cosy bar room – small enough to appreciate witty lyrics, loud enough to feel the vibes. I’ve written on this site before about the difference between British and US bands in this regard – we do punk well over here, but veer away from its full-throttle dogma and you frequently get into leather-waistcoated pub-rock territory these days. In the States, it’s a rich tradition perfected by the Replacements and best imported over here in the 70s by Chrissie Hynde.

I’ve been following the career of Jeremy Porter and the Tucos since I caught their show at The Islington two summers ago, reviewed on these pages in October 2018. It cheered my old heart to see a US band who played this kind of rock and roll, less fussy than many of their trendier peers but smarter and sharper than either the punk or trad-rock acts they share their venues with. Their fourth album proper finds them at home » Continue Reading.

RIP Nick Walusko of the Wondermints

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Very sad to hear that Nick Walusko has died at just 59. The Wondermints were a treasured secret among pop-pop obsessives like me in the 90s. I saw them twice, and their gig at the Borderline was one of the very best shows I’ve ever seen.

The Wondermints are best known for backing up Brian Wilson, and an amazing job they did of it too, but I’ll always wish they got to record some more of their own stuff. Now it’s too late.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/nicky-wonder-brian-wilson-wondermints-guitarist-dead-at-59-obituary-868888/

ATM: iPod Touch and Mac

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Hi All. I don’t know if anyone can help me, but since updating my iMac to Mojave, iTunes won’t recognise my iPod Touch. I’ll plug it in and an alert box comes up:

‘iTunes could not connect to the iPod touch “*TrypF’s* iPod” because an invalid response was received from the device.’

I’ve look it up on the various Mac forums and they all say it’s either the USB port or the cable (both checked – my wife’s iPod nano connects fine), or anti-malware software interfering. Other than updating Microsoft Office to 365 recently, I can’t think what else that could be.

Or it could just be my iPod is very old and Apple have finally given up on it – however it’s a trusty old warhorse and I don’t really fancy splashing out on an iPhone just to play podcasts and music on the go.

Any help would be gratefully received.

The Davenports – Don’t Be Mad at Me

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What does it sound like?:

Ever since those giants of mature American power pop, Fountains of Wayne, called it a day, there has been a gap in the market for their particular blend of witty, acerbic and tuneful guitar pop. Scott Klass, musical colleague of FoW’s singer Chris Collingsworth, has making something very like that under the name of The Davenports since the turn of the century, though it’s a lot less glossy and a bit more chamber-pop. Klass’s speciality is the small snapshot of social awkwardness – previous songs have concerned boyfriends making a scene after a drink too many, porn-addicted workmates and commiserating a friend after the over-long visit of a self-pitying loser. Don’t Be Mad at Me is the fifth Davenports album, and such is their relative obscurity that I hadn’t noticed its arrival this summer because I don’t do Facebook.

DBMAM contains two previous standalone singles and a cover of Wham’s Freedom taken from a tribute album, all released ages ago, and I’m keen to see where the other songs fit in and how the collection holds together. From stark piano-only waltzes to Kinksy guitar rock it’s a good mix, and the songs’ stories » Continue Reading.

Bohemian Rhapsody

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Year: 2018 Director: Bryan Singer/Dexter Fletcher

Remember the line in Wayne’s World that goes “Everybody in the world has Frampton Comes Alive. If you lived in the suburbs you were issued it. It came in the mail with samples of Tide.” My Frampton Comes Alive was Queen’s Greatest Hits – you were seemed to be issued with it at ten years old.

Most of the civilised world is probably aware of the difficult birth Bohemian Rhapsody has had, including the hiring and firing of its director (once) and lead actor (twice), never a good sign. But after seeing the pretty impressive trailer and as a fan of Queen’s imperial phase (see above), I booked a few tickets for two of my oldest friends who are more Queen obsessive than me, plus the GLW – very much a floating voter.

Bohemian Rhapsody is a very inconsistent film, with some great set pieces let down by some clunky dialogue and a ridiculous disregard for the band’s history. In this universe, the success of the band in the early 80s is ignored and Freddie leaves the band to do solo material and live hedonistically, then is talked back in to rejoining the » Continue Reading.

Jeremy Porter and the Tucos/Jimmy Regal and the Royals

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Venue:

The Islington, London

Date: 09/10/2018

Many Afterworders will know The Islington well, home of the Word podcasts and hosting as it does many Massive-approved acts. I’m here to see my friends (and occasional clients) Jimmy Regal and the Royals – so, interest declared, take my review of them with as much salt as you fancy. Jimmy Regal play old-school blues without a bass player. Where most modern blues guitarists echo Stevie Ray Vaughan or 60s Clapton, guitarist Corin channels ‘Gatemouth’ Brown, T-Bone Walker and Hubert Sumlin – clean-toned and heavy on the rhythm. Singer Joff Watkins has the authoritative bark of a Howlin’ Wolf and, most impressively, has The Gift when it comes to playing harp. Jimmy Regal come onstage to about five people and leave a room full and happy.

I thought I’d stick around for the headliners, and this turns out to be a good choice. Until they replace Jimmy Regal onstage, I had never heard one note of Jeremy Porter and the Tucos. The first effect is visual – the rock’n’roll look that tells you synth solos and sequenced beats will not be forthcoming. The Tucos’ bassist is called Patty Two Shoes, which also bodes » Continue Reading.

Club Wino

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12/10/2018

Once again rowdy tunesmiths Neil Gowans and the Winos are putting on their Club Wino, this time on Friday October 12th with fabled Medway mod’n’rollers the Len Price Three as special guests.

Venue is the ZigFrid von Underbelly in Hoxton Square, a delightful place many steps up from the usual sticky floored pub venue – great sightlines, great sound, nice toilets, everything you could want.

A few of you may know that two of the Winos frequent this board, as TrypF and TurtleFace. We’re delighted to get The Len Price Three on board and it promises to be a great night out. Show starts at 8pm. £7 entry. Here are the Len Price Three in action…

Modern English

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Venue:

100 Club, London

Date: 01/09/2018

Here’s a funny one. An old friend texts out of the blue and wanted to know if I fancy going to see Modern English. ‘They used to be called the English Beat’ he writes ‘And had a hit with a song called Melt With You’. I haven’t seen him for a while and could do with a night out, so I sign up.

One out of two ain’t bad. OK, it is pretty bad – Modern English were not The English Beat (or just The Beat) – a shame because it would have been nice to hear ‘Save it for Later’. This happens with people I know – one left a Cowboy Junkies gig disappointed they hadn’t played ‘Perfect’. Never mind: here I am, in the 100 Club, watching a band I know nothing about. So here’s a completely objective review – other than the name, Modern English ring no bells whatsoever.

What strikes me first is the disparity between four of the band and their guitarist. Singer, drummer, keys and bass are wearing the regulation Musician Of A Certain Age uniform of black suits and black T-shirts. They have short, or no » Continue Reading.

John Finnemore’s Flying Visit

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Venue:

Richmond Theatre, Richmond upon Thames

Date: 03/06/2018

If the phrases Yellow Car, The Travelling Lemon or Since You Ask Me For A Story bring a smile to your face, you may well be one of the thousands going to see John Finnemore and his regular gang on this early summer tour. If they don’t, you’re not in the minority. This isn’t Peter Kay, but a much niche in comedy – almost completely confined to Radio 4 until now, building an impressive back catalogue of humour since 2008 in John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme (the sketch show) and Cabin Pressure (the almost legendary sitcom).

This production is a broad selection of mostly the former show – mainly due to the availability of Finnemore’s sketch team, and a thoroughly brilliant gang they are. Laury Lewin, Margaret Cabourn Smith, Simon Kane and the endearingly daffy Carrie Quinlan all play to their strengths, all playing stage personas within the acting and not many unfunny bones among any of them. To the faithful, it feels like a greatest hits set – Pooh’s Intervention, The Ice Cream Van Painter, The Short-Sleeved Shirts Team Talk – but there are new items, some reasonable audience participation, the » Continue Reading.

Pugwash – Silverlake

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What does it sound like?:

Fans of power pop should be acquainted with the music of Thomas Walsh, either as the leader of Pugwash or as half of the cricket-themed Duckworth Lewis method with Neil Hannon. I came to Thomas’ music via my love of Jason Falkner’s work, a mercurial muti-instrumentalist and producer, who has made some astonishing albums of his own, and guested on two Pugwash albums in the noughties.

Having reluctantly split the touring version of the band, Walsh has effectively gone solo, but using Falkner as his right hand man, recording in JF’s LA studio and using Kickstarter to fund their efforts.

Tunewise, it’s a concise bundle of ten songs ranging from sun-kissed pop (The Perfect Summer), via angular XTCish new wave (Why Do I) and woozy psychedelia (Autarch). There are a couple that could come from the pen of Falkner himself, but aren’t (Without You, Easier Done Than Said). The there are the slowies, which Walsh is the master of: Such a Shame is one of his very best, and very much my current ‘jam’. Sonically, it’s marmite – a departure from previous recordings and very much a Falkner sound – everything is thick and » Continue Reading.

Club Wino rides again

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03/11/2017

Once again, my band Neil Gowans and the Winos are heading our own night at London’s glittering Zigfrid von Underbelly, featuring two regulars at this parish. This time out, we’re lucky to have support from Sean ‘Dr’ Millar, a redoubtable songwriter from Ireland who some of you may have heard of. Starting up are the country-flavoured Tupelos, a fine outfit starting out. We’re a saucy Nick Lowe/Elvis/Feelgoods amalgam, with a few choice covers thrown in the mix. Zigfrid von Underbelly is at 11 Hoxton Square London N1, entry a mere fiver, kicking off about 8pm. If you can make it, say hi to the lanky bass player!