PRESS TO PLAY - August 07

RUBY JOHNSON - If Ever I Needed Love (I Sure Do Need It Now)



One of a seemingly endless supply of Stax recordings that fell off of the production line only to be buried underneath "higher profile" material . Ruby recorded a number of items for the great Memphis label but only 3 were ever issued as singles, one of which was this fantastic song. Her eventual departure from the label suggests that either Stax's embarrassment of riches "roster" wise marked Ruby as excess baggage or that someone in the A&R department didn't know what they were doing. Hardly surprising to discover that this was penned by those "cats who won't cop out" the indomitable Isaac Hayes & David Porter.

CHRISTINE KITTRELL - I'm A Woman



And so, we return via the somewhat obscure Christine Kittrell to Lieber & Stoller and in a roundabout way, Peggy Lee. Lee famously recorded this smokey song but I do believe that Kittrell was responsible for the mostly ignored and in my opinion superior, original. Not a lot is known about Ms.Kittrell but she used to sing with bandleaders Paul Williams (famous for the hit "Hucklebuck") and Johnny Otis before returning, like so many others before and since, to gospel music. "I'm A Woman" nevertheless appeared in the early 60's whilst she was still peddling her wares as a gospel singer but after it's release she promptly disappeared altogether. Taken from the excellent 3 volume series "The Lieber & Stoller Story" this song carries a strong feminist message despite having been written by two guys.

MOSE ALLISON - Ever Since The World Ended (1997)



A track from one of the coolest dudes ever to set foot inside a recording studio. Mose John Allison Jnr is an American treasure - a hugely influential artist whose material has been both recorded and lauded by musicians in equal measure. A white artist, his influences are entirely black, consequently he has always operated within the jazz/blues idiom. Though a fine piano player, his nasal vocal delivery make take a little getting used to, consequently it's his strength as a songwriter that he is best remembered for. Songs of sardonic humour delivered in that deadpan wavering voice of his have made their way into the catalogues of Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Diana Krall, Leon Russell and JJ Cale amongst others whilst Van Morrison released an entire album's worth of his material in 1996. His influence on another under-rated artist, Britain’s Georgie Fame, becomes fairly obvious when you listen to Allison’s back catalogue, of which this track is something of a forgotten gem. Allison was arguably at his most influential from the late 50's through to the 60's but even though this item is from one of the man’s latter-day releases it still sounds like vintage Mose to me. From the man who offered the lines "Your mind is on vacation while your mouth is working overtime" he begins this song with the immortal “Ever since the world ended, I don’t go out as much”

RILO KILEY - Silver Lining (2007)



Rilo Kiley are a perfect example of the band who succeed in building an impressive reputation for themselves with the release of their first 3 albums, only to inevitably sign for a major label and in doing so lose the spark that brought them to recognition in the first place. This title track from their big league debut album is particularly good but it promises much that the rest of the record fails to deliver. "Under The Backlight" marks a change of direction for the band but it's not necessarily a change for the better. They were always a band with a sense of melody but Jenny Lewis' lyrics gave their songs a sharp and inventive focus that lifted them above the norm. But the songs here are too radio-friendly and the lyrics have either been simplified or "dumbed-down" depending on your point of view. Lewis, however, is a bona-fide star in the making. She seems to have it all. Ridiculously pretty, she's a talented songwriter and sings like an angel to boot. Interesting to note therefore that most of this album was written entirely by her despite previous albums featuring a fairly hefty slice of co-written material with band mate Blake Sennett. If I didn't know better, this record sounds as if it's intention is to promote Lewis as the "next big thing" but in doing so, an awful lot has been lost along the way.

THE AUTEURS - Future Generation (1999)



The Auteurs were the brainchild of a smart-alec songwriter called Luke Haines, and after their superb debut album "New Wave" had been released in 1993 they were initially lumped in with Suede as being part of a so-called UK glam-rock revival that never actually happened. The Auteurs may have occasionally shared Suede's willingness to "crank up the volume" from time to time but that's about all they had in common and Haines was certainly no Brett Anderson. Apart from being somewhat un-photogenic, Haines was also born with a curious nasal whisper of a voice that gave most of his songs a sinister air and which at times was completely out of kilter with the racket going on behind him. Not that The Auteurs "rocked out" all the time as instrumentation was just as likely to include a cello and a glockenspiel as well as a Stratocaster and a drum kit. Blessed with a flair for pop melody, Haines was also a sharp observational lyricist and was probably too clever and cynical to play the "pop stardom" game anyway. After 4 albums, at least 2 of which are referenced in this lyric, Haines moved on and The Auteurs were sadly no more. This excellent track, the final cut on their final album seems to spotlight the end of a career that is certainly worth further attention.