2010 Top 30 New and Old #24

C.W. Stoneking’s album, ‘Jungle Blues’ was inspired in part by Stoneking’s amazing experience as a survivor of a shipwreck off Africa’s West Coast.

For the uninitiated, the first shock on listening to this is discovering that it was recorded in 2008, and not some eighty years earlier. The second is that the artist is, in fact, a young Australian and not a grizzled Delta bluesman holed up in some southern swamp.

Perfectly capturing various musical styles and moods of the twenties and thirties without the slightest hint of pastiche – field holler, calypso, blues, voodoo and folk are all brilliantly represented as illustrayed by this my favourite track from the album.

“Jungle Lullaby” – C.W. Stoneking

To buy the music of C.W. Stoneking click HERE

To view a previous post on C.W. Stoneking click HERE

2010 saw us lose many great musical artists amongst which was the highly influential Alex Chilton who passed away on the 17th March.

Alex and his group Big Star were never rewarded with the level of commercial success they deserved but are often named as a key influence by so many mainstream bands and artists.

Released in 1974, Radio City was recorded during 1973 at Memphis’ Ardent Studios. Though not a commercial success at the time, it is now recognized as a milestone album in the history of power pop music.

Critically acclaimed upon its release, the record sold poorly, partly due to a lack of promotion and the distribution problems of the band’s struggling record label, Ardent Records.

The album included “September Gurls” and “Back of a Car”, which remain among the most famous Big Star songs; both the Searchers and the Bangles have covered “September Gurls”.

“September Gurls” – Big Star

To buy the music of Big Star click HERE

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A Big Thank You To You All

It has been running close over the last few months but June 2010 saw more than 50,000 hits in a month for this blog, 54,445 to be precise.

Now this is very small in comparison to most sites on the web but for me it gives me some satisfaction that my wide musical taste is being tapped into by others and if only one person discovers a liking for a song, album or band that has passed them by for whatever reason then it is all worth while as I myself have benefited from such surprise discoveries.

The blog was never set up to seek popularity it’s key objective was and remains to provide some “therapy” for me away from the stresses and strains of normal life, if along the way people find some pleasure or interest in the music that I promote, the news I spread or the occasional bit of humour I deliver then that is a big bonus.

With the recent passing of Alex Chilton this seems so more appropriate.

“Thank You Friends” – Big Star

Thank you, friends
Wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you
I’m so grateful for all the things you helped me do.

All the ladies and gentlemen
Who made this all so probable

Thank you, friends
I rejoice to the skies
Dear ones like you do the best I do
As far as can see my eyes

All the ladies and gentlemen
Who made this all so probable

Without my friends I got chaos
I’m often a bead of light.
Without my friends I’d be swept up high by the wind

do, do…….

All the ladies and gentlemen (I said all)
All the ladies and gentlemen (I said all)
All the ladies and gentlemen
Who made this all so probable

Thank you friends (thank you again)
Thank you friends (thank you again)
Dear, dear friends (thank you again)
Thank you friends (thank you again)
And again, and again….
Never too late to start

To buy the music of Big Star click HERE

Alex Chilton

Alex Chilton (December 28, 1950 – March 17, 2010) was an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer best known for his work with the pop-music bands the Box Tops

and Big Star. Chilton’s early commercial sales success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops was not repeated in later years with Big Star and in his indie music solo career on small labels, but he did draw a loyal following in the indie and alternative music fields.

His death yesterday strangly co-incided with me playing a Jeff Buckley cover of the Big Star song Kanga-Roo.

Click HERE for a super BBC obituary.