World Wide Woozle episode #522

G'day Groovers.

Last time I was a bit underwhelmed by the new Midnight Oil song. After another week the song is still stuck in my head and it has well and truly grown on me. Of course not everything that you like is instant as we know. There are plenty of slow burns out there but often you have to be willing to let a song, book or film ferment for a while. I still stand by my comments about the muffled guitars noting that it may of course be a consequence of the song being compressed for streaming services. 

This week I took delivery of a couple of AC/DC CDs that landed in my post box. I can hear you groaning from here...hasn't he got every album and then some more? Well the truth is that I have all of the Bon Scott era albums on vinyl and the first five Brian Johnson albums on LP as well. After that I moved onto CDs. So, other than Powerage (1978), I didn't have any of the early albums on CD. So, I now have the Australian version of Let There Be Rock (1977) and the Australian only release, TNT (1975) on disc. Woo hoo! They sound pretty good and you really can't go wrong with AC/DC in my opinion. For those interested, Let There Be Rock, has a different track listing to the international version. And the best tracks from TNT and their first album, High Voltage (1975), would be released internationally and confusingly also called High Voltage (but with a different cover).

AC/DC - Let There Be Rock - https://youtu.be/3f2g4RMfhS0

A few years ago I bought the album Decoration Day which is by the American band, Drive-by Truckers. I initially made the purchase because it was one of the albums that was made when Jason Isbell was in the band. I've played it a lot this week for no particular reason other than I was looking for something else and spotted it on one of the CD shelves. The Drive-by Truckers play bluesy rock and roll for the main part. There are some excellent almost folky moments as well and when you get used to the gravelly, hoarse voices it's a great listen. The band cover quite a wide range of sounds from Crazy Horse style jams through to almost sounding like the Grateful Dead. They've got plenty of albums to choose from but this one would be a good place to start. I'm going to choose two songs because it's my blog and I'm greedy. The first is a great combination of a folky melody and despondent country style lyrics. The second is the one that really reminds me of the Grateful Dead. The title track, Decoration Day as well as Outfit are the two Isbell songs on the record and he still plays them regularly at live shows. 

Drive-by Truckers - The Deeper In - https://youtu.be/z3uLjmah_aM

Drive-by Truckers - Marry Me - https://youtu.be/T3a5XWZks_w

Runrig are a Scottish band who were around from 1973 until 2018. They're huge in their homeland and have a cult following elsewhere. Over 50,000 fans went to their farewell concert in Stirling and there's a live DVD available. Their music is a mix of folk and rock and they sing some songs in Gaelic as well. I must dig out the albums that I have...they're here somewhere!

Runrig - Pride of the Summer (live 2018) - https://youtu.be/L_Kw727GOnA

Since I'm in a bit of a folky mood this time around it's time for a track from The Pogues. I listened to my favourite Pogues album, Rum, Sodomy & The Lash, today in the car. I had an expedition out to Queanbeyan (took my passport just in case) and I got through the whole album by the time I'd been there and back. I went out there to attend a coffee catch that the Veterans Motorcycle Club was having for Veterans, families and supporters. It turned out to be a lot of fun just hanging out talking. There's also the chance that I might be asked to play some guitar in a band as a result....that could be fun. My electric guitars haven't been plugged in and turned up for a long, long time. But, back to The Pogues...I've chosen this clip because it includes the lyrics. And for those interested, there's a commentary about what the song is about here. Oh, and the album was produced by Elvis Costello.

The Pogues - The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn- https://youtu.be/VefIC662SAE

After reading an article in the Guardian I had a listen to Emma Swift's new album, Blonde On The Tracks. Emma is an Australian singer-songwriter but this album is all Bob Dylan tunes. If you believe what Swift told The Guardian, she recorded these songs partly as the result of writer's block. They sound great and are another window into Dylan. Let's hope that Emma has another original album very soon.

Emma Swift - Queen Jane Approximately - https://youtu.be/2R94s8vxi9A

That's it for this week folks. Happy Birthday to Alison, Dave, Sally and Vera!

Rob

"E rere ra e taku poi poro-titi

Ti-taha-taha ra whaka-raru-raru e
Poro-taka taka ra poro hurihuri mai
Rite tonu ki te ti-wai-waka e....", Poi E, Patea Maori Club, 1983.