PRESS TO PLAY - April 07

THE BIRD & THE BEE - Fucking Boyfriend (2007)



LITTLE FEAT - Roll Um' Easy (1973)



A question that has raised it's head on more than one occasion in the past amongst friends and fellow music freaks has been; how many siblings of famous musical parents have succeeded in displaying a musical talent that is the equal of their elders? Up until about 10 years ago the answer to that question was.........not many. Julian Lennon? Ziggy Marley? Jakob Dylan? Don't think so. However, there are a selection of artists from the 1970's that are spawning an interesting selection of kids that in some cases are improving on the original bloodline. The Wainwrights are an obvious example with Martha and the outrageously talented Rufus flying the flag - Teddy Thompson, son of Richard, is an excellent vocalist and a fine songwriter and I guess you could include Jeff Buckley too even though he barely knew father Tim before daddy flew the nest. And now there's Inara George - daughter of Little Feat's Lowell and vocalist for the duo The Bird And The Bee. Initially an actress, she had already made a solo album before the formation of the Bird & Bee with multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin and even though it's early days for this pop combo it will be interesting to see whether Inara turns out to be a chip off the old proverbial or not.

As for father Lowell - his was an exceptional talent who sadly left this planet far too early and whose band Little Feat were one of THE finest from the early 70's. Elton John once referred to Feat as "The Muhammad Ali of Rock N'Roll" and apart from being one of the hottest live bands to ever grace the stage, on vinyl they were always at their best when George was running the show. Lowell suffered with ill health in later years, and that, coupled with his decision to make the band more democratic meant that latter day albums were a little patchy but the triumvirate "Sailin Shoes" "Dixie Chicken" and "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" from 1972-1974 are essential purchases. Linda Ronstadt said she "fell in love" with Lowell after hearing "Roll Um Easy" a track that sums up the man's genius and which showcases his astonishing talent not only as a slide guitarist "par excellence", but also as a great songwriter and fine vocalist.

Ironically, whilst Lowell sings of "eloquent profanity" on "Roll Um Easy" some 35 years later daughter Inara provides some of her own on the extremely catchy and somewhat explicit lead-off single from The B&B's debut album.

THE CITY - I Wasn't Born To Follow (1969)



Back in 1971, it seemed that most households owned a copy of Carole King's "Tapestry", an album that epitomised the "bed-sitter" singer-songwriter period of the day but which was seemingly purchased by record buyers regardless of individual taste or fashion. "Tapestry" somehow struck a chord with the general public and even though it never appears in a "Best Ever Albums" list it shifted a phenomenal amount of units and according to All Music Guide is one of the "most successful albums in rock music history". 2 years earlier an album entitled "Now That Everything's Been Said" by a trio called The City was issued to stony silence. The City were Carole King, Danny Kortchmar on guitar and Charles Larkey on bass (with a little help from Jim Gordon on drums) and this record was the only album released by the band prior to Carole finding her niche as a solo artist. "Now That Everything's Been Said" is currently hard to track down on CD yet it's an interesting item as it's fashioned from the same thread with which "Tapestry" was woven and in many ways is almost as good. The record utilised the same nucleus of musicians that Carole later used on her 70's output and even though it has the odd "rough edge", just like her best-selling album of 1971 it's as comfortable as an old pair of slippers with perhaps the odd big toe poking through. The material may be not be so familiar - mostly songs written specifically for the project - and in some cases not so good - but just as Carole had chosen to breath new life into classics like "Natural Woman" or "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" by recording her own "definitive" versions on "Tapestry", she succeeds on The City's album in re-claiming at least a couple of tunes that had already been set in stone by somebody else. "Hi-De-Ho", originally a hit for Blood Sweat & Tears is one of them and "Wasn't Born To Follow" is the other. In this case the "somebody else" is The Byrds who recorded the track for their "Notorious Byrd Brothers" album in 1968 though it's inclusion in the "Easy Rider" soundtrack 1 year later embedded the song into public consciousness. Shorn of The Byrds psychedelic overtones and stripped down to it's barest bones "Follow" emerges as one of King's most enduring "solo" recordings and like the album from which it was taken is something of a lost gem.

An overview of King's career - fashioned perhaps on the excellent 4-CD box-set of Burt Bacharach material that was issued several years ago - is long overdue as in my opinion, King is undoubtedly one of THE great pop songwriters of her generation. Rhino.....are you listening?

THE HONEYBEES - Some Of Your Lovin'



Just in case we needed proof of King's song-writing acumen, take this piece of pop perfection as recorded by the female trio The Honeybees. The Honeybees were apparently The Cookies but with an unknown lead vocalist, possibly Barbara Alston of the Crystals. Dusty Springfield recorded the definitive version of this and several other Goffin/King songs but this item is the rare original. King also recorded this one month later by using the same backing and overdubbing her own vocal track.

THE SWEDISH ARE COMING!

JENS LEKMAN - Black Cab (2005)



LONEY, DEAR - Sinister In A State Of Hope (2006)



PETER, BJORN & JOHN - Young Folks (2007)



If my somewhat excitable announcement suggests that the music world is about to be over-run by hordes of blonde Scandinavians then forgive me for being a little dramatic. It's just that I seem to recall that back in the 60's & 70's most of the "other" European countries seemed to be so far behind the U.K. when providing popular music entertainment that you were forgiven for believing that they may never catch up. The only "significant" Swedish artists that I can remember back in the late 60's were an instrumental duo called Hansson & Karlsson - a drum & organ combo that made somewhat tedious "progressive" music. Keyboard player Bo Hansson later achieved some notoriety by playing with Jimi Hendrix and turning Tolkien's "The Lord Of The Rings" into a Wakeman-like concept album but it was Abba who really put Sweden on the musical map in 1974 and they were a rather tough act to follow as the late and not so lamented Roxette and Ace Of Base discovered.

But there seems to be a new wind blowing in Sweden and not only have a number of artists - namely The Cardigans & The Hives - achieved success worldwide but there is a possibility that several more may follow suit. If the latest hype is to be believed then Peter, Bjork & John , a playful pop trio from Stockholm, could be the next "big thing" out of Scandinavia whilst Jens Lekman has been described as the Swedish Beck. Apart from re-introducing the long lost art of whistling on record, "Young Folks" by P B & J has an infectious I've-heard-that-somewhere-before melody line whilst Lekman's "Black Cab" sounds like an up-tempo version of the sort of song that Lou Reed would have written for Nico in the early days of the Velvet Underground. Emil Svanangen on the other hand goes by the peculiar name of "Loney, Dear" and like Lekman, was discovered more by chance than design. The rather haunting "Sinister In A State Of Hope" is taken from last year's Sub-Pop debut.