It's like a bottle of Jack
Straight to the head
One shot, two shot
Copper tone red
Every time you kiss me
It's like sunshine and whiskey
1. We are BACK in The Horse & Feather for Barfly Session 34. Before we put the needle down on our first track, I would like to thank Andy Stelfox (AKA Steli, AKA The Fox) for doing his level best to push this blog beyond boundaries and to expand it further and wider than before. I have never had a Facebook account (not for me I'm afraid) but I know he's put a H&F page on there for it. That's all his doing and I can take no credit for that (I can't even SEE Facebook stuff 😝) but THIS blog website has seen a noticeable upsurge in visitors since The Fox has done his tinkerings and for that I am very grateful. "First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin." - or something like that I guess. I would also like to welcome some people from overseas who Stelfox has introduced to the blog so Hello to Don across in Australia and Hello to Marg who's all the way across in Washington DC. Slàinte mhath to the both of you. Whilst we've never met, I am confident at least 2 or 3 of the songs on tonight's playlist will appeal to you. I hope so anyhow. So to tonight then. As things are going well for The Barfly Sessions, lets start with this from 1956 which I bought waaaay back as it was on the Stand By Me film soundtrack which I bought in my teens ("No Ace.... Just you." What a great film that was.) What drink would go well with this? I can hear you all asking. Well a gin cocktail called a Tom Collins was reportedly very popular in the fifties, so lets go with that.
1. Shirley And Lee
Let The Good Times Roll
2. When I read that Cocteau Twin, Simon Raymonde had a new band called Lost Horizons, I was intrigued immediately as Cocteau Twins are a band I come back to time and time again. Nothing and no one sounds quite like them. Not sure if it was the way they set the microphones up but they made their songs rise and fall and then soar through a thousand glass ceilings. They were master creators. I hoped his new band would have echoes of what his old band used to sound like so I was stoked to bits when I heard this. Kavi Kwai is the Swedish Singer who guests on this track but her vocals are eerily similar to Elizabeth Fraser's and I can't pay a bigger compliment than that. Maybe give this a couple of listens as there's so much going on, it's a lot to take in at once but your patience will be rewarded 10 times over.
2. Lost Horizons
Every Beat That Passed
3. One of the things I regret is not learning to play an instrument when I was younger. Whilst they say it's not too late to learn, I think for me it really is. I've made a couple of futile attempts. In fact... just like Bryan Adams... I literally played until my fingers bled but sadly the chords and notes weren't in the right order and my wife had to intervene to save the sanity of our poor, suffering neighbours. The reason I mention this now is because the next band we're going to play are the type of band that I think would be so much bloody FUN to play in. They are the mutts nuts when it comes to finding a groove. The band hailed from Mogadishu, Somalia and created a storm of interest not just in their home country but across Africa in the 80's. Really sadly, civil wars and volatile political landscapes devastated what had been built up and it meant the band disbanded in the early 90's but take a listen to this joyous offering from 1987. A time when Mogadishu was a thriving, cosmopolitan city with a vibrant nightlife.
3. Dur-Dur Band
Dooyo
4. Ignore what the wife says about me not having a romantic bone in my body. It's not true. I'll prove that by sharing this with you all. Each verse from this song by Jonathan Wilson has a line to hang your hat on but I think this is my favourite. "To fall asleep with you/Drift and dream with you/Where could heaven even really be/If not here in this temple?" We really should do more drives out to the coast with our tents and backpacks shouldn't we? Something I'll try and address next year but anyways, 77 year old singer Larajji provides the backing vocals to add even more spiritual elements to the track and we can use this as evidence that age should never be a barrier as far as great music is concerned. Jonathan Wilson takes track number 4 on tonight's playlist.
3. Jonathan Wilson
Loving You
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Featured / Discovered***
5. The Fox has sent me his recommendation for song number 5 but this week is slightly different as we've added something fresh to tonight's playlist. Stelfox has been in communication with New York singer Jeffrey Lewis (I told you he's been pushing the boat out. Way to go Steli.) The long and the short of it is that Jeffrey has kindly allowed us to feature him and his music on our blog which we are both chuffed about. It's brilliant to have you on board Mr Wilson. Not only are you a gifted wordsmith and lyricist, you are a gentleman and a scholar. I hope we can turn some more folks onto your work. We've opted to include the song "Exactly What Nobody Wanted" on this evenings session. Love the energy all over this track and "You were throwing off sparks of pure power/Sending signals from a mystery tower" is just a truly great opening lyric. The only thing we forgot to do was ask Jeffrey to suggest a cocktail for us but maybe it's not too late. Hit us up with your drink suggestion if you get a minute Jeffrey. Some years back I got a recipe from Evan Dando (The Lemonheads) for a cocktail called a "Baltic". I've since had suggestions from the one and only Gloria Estefan (Cuban Highball Mojito), Rowetta from Happy Mondays (Whiskey Ro-Fashioned.) and just last night Grasshopper from the mighty Mercury Rev took a good deal of time to send me a number of his own cocktail creations (including The Miche-Hopper) which really do sound the business and The Fox and I are planning to try a couple of these next weekend. I'd quite like to hear what other artists recommend and build up a musicians cocktail recipe book for The Horse & Feather. Now that would be cool right?
This song is the first track off the album "Bad Wiring" by Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage and of course The Horse & Feather recommends it wholeheartedly.
See Jeffrey's own website here: www.thejeffreylewissite.com
5. Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage
Exactly What Nobody Wanted
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6. You might be familiar with the name P.P Arnold. If you're not, you'll certainly know some of the songs she sang backing vocals on. River Deep - Mountain High, Itchycoo Park, even Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer to name just a few. Mr Mick Jagger took her under his rock n roll wing and sorted her out with a record deal where she had big success in her own right before things faded out but she returned with a terrific album in 2017 called The Turning Tide which is where this track is taken from. It was recorded during the late sixties but only got released a couple of years ago due to wranglings with record companies at the time. A tragedy really as she should have been huge but she'll always be a superstar to me. Have a listen to this (originally written by Steve Winwood.) I think you'll like it.
6. P.P Arnold
Medicated Goo
7. Our final song for this session comes from Ian Prowse and it's only just out but already I know this is a keeper. Those Celtic strings won me over before the first verse even began. The song and video is released in conjunction with the CALM charity (Campaign Against Living Miserably) and it's arrived at a time when so many folks are starting to get the bends from a long and confusing year. Those charities are lighthouses for many a troubled soul so please share this wherever you can. Ian Prowse just gets people and he taps into all of us with this track. I played it for my wife Siobhan and she asked how it was possible she felt she already knew the song. We both come from big Irish families and those strings throughout the song feel familiar to what we like I guess. I suppose it's a warm comfort to us. Certainly for me it is. Many thanks for staying to the end. I hope you can make it again next week where we may throw in a Christmas song or two. Lets see. Keep on keepin' on until then. Over and out x.
7. Ian Prowse
Home
