Grab bag fiesta

Friday night again, so here´s the usual grab bag fiesta for you. What´s the big deal tonight? Well, we´ll take a short look at FC Barcelona´s past, present and future, accompanied by some cool tunes. Stax soul from Sam & Dave, or early Dutch punkrock from Ivy Green anyone? Got some country from the late Eddy Arnold too, and there´s Jimmie Dale Gilmore for all you Flatlanders fans out there. Plus two versions of the song I Had A Good Father And Mother... or was that the other way around? We´ll see.

Last Thursday I was minding my own business when I suddenly received a text message telling me that coach Frank Rijkaard will leave my beloved FC Barcelona at the end of this season. You could see it coming, as the results haven´t been too good this year, but I´ll still miss the guy. Rijkaard is a real gentleman, the likes of which you don´t often encounter on a football pitch these days. Frank, thanks a million for two Spanish league titles and of course for that incredible high which was the Champions League victory. And for many, many games of beautiful football I´ve witnessed in the Camp Nou during your reign. This song´s for you.

Sam & Dave - I Thank You MP3

Frank´s successor has already been chosen, and I think it´s a wise move. Josep ´Pep´ Guardiola is a child of the club, which in my opinion suits Barça much better than an outsider such as loudmouth Jose Mourinho, who was also said to be in the running. Lots of luck Pep! This song´s for you. Make us blaugrana proud next season...

Ivy Green - I´m Sure We´re Gonna Make It MP3

Last Friday I posted a song here by Washington Phillips, and here I go again. Yup, I´m really enjoying his album The Key To The Kingdom (Yazoo) at the moment. Gospelblues to die for, check it out. I especially like his song I Had A Good Father And Mother, as I already knew the cover the Palace Brothers did on their fabulous debut There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You (Drag City´93). Don´t know why brother Will Oldham - currently known as Bonnie Prince Billy of course - switched the mother and the father around though. Strange.

Washington Phillips - I Had A Good Father And Mother MP3

Palace Brothers - I Had A Good Mother And Father MP3

Country crooner Eddie Arnold died yesterday, and that´s a drag, even though the Country Music Hall Of Famer was a respectable 89. Arnold sold more than 85 million recordings over seven decades, and that´s no mean feat. Nice trivia fact: Colonel Tom Parker managed Arnold before he got his hands on Elvis. Some of his stuff is a little too slick for my taste, but you can´t go wrong with a Greatest Hits collection of the Tennessee Plowboy.

Eddy Arnold - You Don´t Know me MP3

As I was reading To Live´s To Fly, the Townes Van Zandt biography (see my post below) I stumbled upon the weird fact that my favourite singer/songwriter once auditioned for the 13th Floor Elevators. Roky Erickson, fellow Texan and all-around weirdo, was Van Zandt´s roommate for a while, sleeping on a makeshift bed made from stacks of albums from Townes´ prized record collection. Now Roky was desperately looking for a bassist for the Elevators and asked Townes, who´d never played the instrument before in his life. At the audition Elevator Tommy Hall was so unimpressed with Townes that the idea was instantly canned... A strange but true story. Here´s some Roky from the slightly underrated All That May Do My Rhyme album (Trance Syndicate ´94).

Roky Erickson - You Don´t Love Me Yet MP3

Let´s call it quits tonight with some tracks by West-Texas guitarist Jimmie Dale Gilmore, as a lot of you wrote in to thank me for plugging the Flatlanders here. Please keep them comments coming folks! There´s two great cd´s of Gilmore that I´d like to bring to your attention. The first one is called Don´t Look For A Heartache (Hightone ´04) and compiles the highlights of his first two albums from the late eighties. Great honky tonkin´stuff. But on After Awhile (Elektra Nonesuch ´91) he really found his voice, mining the singer/songwriters vein. Just listen to the beautiful Midnight Train to see what I mean.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore - See The Way MP3

Jimmie Dale Gilmore - Midnight Train MP3

Just another grab bag Friday

But boy have I got some great stuff for you tonight. There´s a demo from the new Bonnie Prince Billy album, a chilling John Cale live song based on one of Sam Peckinpah´s legendary westerns and some Junior Murvin for all you reggae lovers out there. And these legendary Flatlanders are back by popular demand too. For your further reading pleasure I´ve included some links to other blogs that deserve your immediate attention. Check ´em out. And hey, if you´re interested in Bob Dylan´s special meatballs recipe, go here. Bon appetit!

These nice folks over at Drag City gave us a taster for the new Bonnie Prince Billy album Lie Down In The Light, scheduled for mid-May. Can´t wait. The former Palace Brother is an avid reader too apparently: you can find his rather odd choice of books here. An example: "At night I am reading Teach Yourself: Islam. In between, I am trying to read snippets of a sailing instruction manual, a book about local (Northern California) plant life, and a book about food that pushes the eating of animal products, specifically fats and organs." Is that cool or what?

Bonnie Prince Billy - So Everyone (demo) MP3

Read a shocking piece in the paper some days ago about a man in Dallas who spent 27 years in the slammer, but after a DNA test has now been proven innocent. He left court a free man last Tuesday. Apparently this was the 18th time a wrongly convicted man was freed there, the highest rate for any town in the States. "Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eye, a steel and concrete soul with a warm hearted love disguise, a rich man who tends to believe in his own lies, Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes..." James Woodward, this song´s for you.

The Flatlanders - Dallas MP3

Junior Murvin is best known for his song Police And Thieves, succesfully covered by the Clash on their debut. But the whole album of the same name, a classic Lee ´Scratch´ Perry production recorded in his famous Black Ark studio in ´77, is worth every minute of your time. Island records released a remastered version in ´ 03 with a couple of interesting bonus tracks, one of which is Rasta Get Ready, a rastafied take on Curtis Mayfield´s People Get Ready. By the way: for a variety of great reggae songs on the Police And Thieves riddim, head over to the excellent So Well Remembered blog. Many goodies there.

Junior Murvin - Rasta Get Ready MP3

Speaking of other blogs, I just read a nice piece on Sam Peckinpah´s classic movie The Ballad Of Cable Hogue over at Night Time In The Big City. Interesting commentary on that great western featuring Jason Robards and Stella Stevens. Guess I´ll have to see it again some time soon. And my other fave Peckinpah flicks too come to think of it: The Wild Bunch, Ride The High Country, Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid, Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia... John Cale based an amazing song on The Ballad Of Cable Hogue. This intense solo version was recorded live in Utrecht, The Netherlands on February 8, ´83.

John Cale - Cable Hogue (live ´83) MP3

There´s one more blog I´d like to shamelessly plug here, and that´s Star Maker Machine. I say shamelessly because I´m one of the contributing authors. But the fun thing is: you can contribute too, dear reader. Just follow the instructions and start blogging. There´s a theme to post about every week, but that´s about the only restriction you´ve got. This week´s theme is City Songs, and you could just go for it and write a short piece about a ditty you really dig. Elvis Costello´s nifty waltz New Amsterdam would fit the bill perfectly.

Elvis Costello - New Amsterdam MP3

Let´s sign off tonight with an obscure gospel-blues artist that was brought to my attention recently by a friend of mine. Thanks again bud! Washington Phillips recorded only 18 songs between 1927 and 1929, and then 2 of them were lost in the mists of time. The album The Key To The Kingdom (Yazoo) collects the remaining 16 and it´s a great find. And that´s not a guitar you hear by the way, it´s a zither.

Washington Phillips - What Are They Doing In Heaven Today MP3