When my life is over
and my time has come to pass
Bury me upside down
so the world can kiss my ass
1. All good things must come to an end at some point. We've reached a full lockdown year of Barfly Sessions and Session 52 tonight will be the finale. Don't get too down about it though. Just like Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton said "We've got tonight. Who needs tomorrow?" As this is our last one, I've deliberately held back on some of my all time favourites until now. Our last session will be a slightly extended edition and we'll be playing long into the night so ensure you've enough drink(s) to see you through. It's going to be great and I'm glad you're here. The format for tonight will stay the same as previous weeks, with songs from way back right up to tracks from current times. We'll begin with Buffalo Springfield and their Stephen Stills penned anthem "For What It's Worth." This song is widely regarded as a war song or a protest song but it was written about the closing of a nightclub on Sunset Strip that was felt to have infringed young folks civil rights. It came out in 1966. History shows youth culture will continue to reinvent itself of course and over the last 12 months we've had protest marches and riots seemingly every week so this song still feels kind of apt right now.
1. Buffalo Springfield
For What It's Worth
2. Now the next band we're going to play here have been around for some time but last year they dropped one of the best songs I'd heard in ages. It just gets better with time. The band are called The Paper Kites and they hail from Melbourne, Oz. This song features Julia Stone's vocals and they really do give this song a real air of headiness. I absolutely love it. It's magical. Their album "Roses" (which houses this single) came out this year. See what you make of this.
2. The Paper Kites
Without Your Love
3. Having just turned 42 years of age, I was too young for the golden age of Northern Soul. I missed out. The best I can do now is hunt for those records in dusty old crates at car boot sales or in the markets but I know they are still out there. One of thee finest Northern Soul anthems is this by Dobie Gray from back in 1965. Just under 3 minutes of glorious...er...ness. Probably the song that opened the door and got me hooked on Northern Soul in the first place. Dobie, I have a lot to thank you for.
3. Dobie Gray
Out On The Floor
4. I mentioned I'd held a couple of songs back as I felt they'd be better left for our last session. This is one of those songs. It's off my favourite album of all time, in any universe, EVER. That album is "Grace" and the artist is Jeff Buckley. For reasons best left for another place perhaps, this album came out at the right time for me. Or maybe I should say I found it at the right time. Such a lighthouse of a record. I don't think you'll find a more sensitive or beautiful one. The soul searching and questioning felt vital. My car got broken into a few years later and this CD was taken. That pained me more than having to pay to get the damn car repaired. It was replaced but I felt so connected/attached to the original it was weird. My wife bought me a heavyweight vinyl pressing of this album several years ago which instantly became one of my most treasured records and it plays so very perfectly. It's immaculate. Anyhows, you get the drift now. It's a work of wonder and everybody should own this record.
4. Jeff Buckley
Last Goodbye
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5. The Fox is back and I'm glad about that. He's been a major part of these sessions and I'm grateful to his contributions throughout the last 12 months. I was slightly surprised by his choice for our last hurrah. Namely because he refuses to listen to this band any more. It's his firm belief there's a curse and everytime he hears their music SOMETHING bad happens to him. Who am I to argue about a curse? Maybe it's true. I admitted to Fox that once upon a time, in my very stupid teens I inhaled a bottle of Amyl Nitrate while listening to this album in my bedroom. By the time I got to this track, my head was spinning so fast I felt like I was inside a washing machine. I lay on my bed after it had finished waiting for my brain to re-arrange itself back into some kind of shape. Why do we do the things we do? I wish I knew.
5. Alice In Chains
Would?
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6. I guess one of the positive outcomes about doing this blog each week is people telling me they discovered an artist or band they hadn't heard before. Or maybe they got into a different genre of music on the back of something they heard on here. That's really great when that happens. I read a lot of other music blogs and I do enjoy picking up on what's turning people on, be it old records or new. Sometimes you just hear a voice and you just think "wow, I need some more of that" and that was the case with Mattiel Brown. So distinctive and well... BOLD. I couldn't get enough of that delivery. "And it's the expectation/making or breaking/giving me a heart attack/And in 20 years time/will it all be mine/Or will I wish that I could take it all back?" Google tells me this came out in 2019 but I was very late to this party. No matter. I got there in the end right?
6. Mattiel
Keep The Change
7. We jump back to 1965 for track number seven. Some songs just seem to come from nowhere. How I got onto J.C Akins is a complete mystery but this song has been with me for a long long time and after 52 weeks, it finally gets it's time to shine. I know very very little about this guy or his band The Dukes and there is hardly any info out there. In this case, the music simply speaks for itself.
7. J.C Akins
I Love You
8. Whilst the last song was playing, I felt somewhat guilty about some of the songs that I hadn't included before. Especially some of (what I would call) "The Classics." I decided just now that I couldn't play a J.C Akins track and NOT play anything by Smokey Robinson. It just wouldn't be right. I hold a great deal of affection for Mr Robinson. Not just because of the quality of his music but in my early twenties, all day Sunday drinking was the normality and the ride back home from Warrington town centre would always include the song "The Tracks of My Tears" on the driver's CD player. Those were the days my friends, to coin a phrase. Anyways, this song from 1962 is a bona fide Smokey winner and I think I'll feel a little better for playing it.
8. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
You've Really Got A Hold On Me
9. Night closes in, as it always does but we've still got a couple of gems left in our locker. We've played a track off my all time favourite album earlier this evening and It now comes the time to play my all time favourite song. Those that know me well may already know this but History by The Verve is their zenith moment for me. I really do believe it's the greatest song ever written. The opening strings (performed by The London Symphonic Orchestra) are as strained as the relationships within the song itself. They lead us into those great opening lyrics and by that time you're already immersed. There's a saying isn't there? It's the hope that kills you. There is such a desperate and longing hope contained in these five and a half minutes it absolutely crushes me to bits every... single... time. The weight is immense... and utterly devastating but right at it's heart there is always that glimmer of light under the door to aim for that says you can get through it SOMEHOW. Remember what you are and accept your failures. You can do better next time. Remember all that you've seen and been through together. This song is all about life and forgiveness and grief and healing. It's everything. Your history is everything.
9. The Verve
History
10. Some weeks back (I think) I mentioned I had developed a fondness for the ukulele. It's a distinctive sound that puts me in a better mood almost instantly. This song from The Who from their "The Who By Numbers" album is a Pete Townshend effort and it's himself who sings and plays the uke on it. It doesn't try to be too clever, in fact It's beautifully simple and there's a blue eyed optimism all the way through it that gives it a certain amount of charm. I just love it and I thought it would be a decent way to bow out. Go on, have another beer. It's the weekend after all.
10. The Who
Blue Red and Grey
11. Well we're here folks. The end of the line. A line that went all the way around the sun. For those of you who came on this lockdown journey with me from the start, well, what can I say? It's been a pleasure and it's been a blast. To have reached across to The USA and to Australia, Hong Kong, Uganda and all through Europe etc etc was kind of unthinkable 12 months ago but hey, look at us. We touched base all over and surely this proves how transcendent music can be. Whether you were tuning in from a council house in grimsby or from a hammock on the beach in Hawaii, I am truly grateful we connected... if only for a fleeting moment. Lockdown has been tough on everybody and this project gave me some purpose and distraction away from it all. Touch wood, we're now out of it and we can head back to those days of being able to drink freely. Now, the first song we ever played on The Horse & Feather Barfly Sessions was my namesake Duffy. As we've come full circle, we'll finish with another Duffy track. So that's it. Thank you everybody. Take care of yourselves. Maybe we'll see one another again. All good things and Codladh sámh until then. x
"You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing.
E.B White
11. Duffy
Warwick Avenue
