Parent's Influence.

Thankfully, I've been blessed with parents with great music taste! As a baby my dad would play his old Woodie Guthrie and Lead Belly records in 'the wee small hours' to try get me back so sleep. He's also an old folkie and has some great old records in his vinyl collection, including Bob Dylan's self-titled first album. One record he has in his collection is Tracy Chapman's self-titled debut album, which was a gift from my mum when it first came out to him which is another amazing album!

My mum also has a great music taste, and a few of years ago I asked her who her favourite band/artist were. She instantly came back with John Martyn and Joni Mitchell. Through her, I now consider these artists as some of my favourites, with Joni Mitchell's 'Blue' as one of my favourite albums, which I was given on vinyl by a close friend for my last birthday, another of my prize possessions. 

Last week I bought a John Martyn biography, 'Some People Are Crazy' by John Neil Munro. After the first chapter I was hooked. Particularly as he grew up in the same area I did, lived a few streets from where I grew up and went to the same primary school as I did, which makes learning about his childhood and how he became the person he did and wrote the songs he did, all the more interesting.

When my mum told me John Martyn was one of her favourite artists, I hadn't heard him by this point. So I quickly pulled out all his old records and CDs about the house, and was hooked. His incredible, almost effortless, acoustic guitar playing, is accompanied by one of the most unusual voices I've come across. Only last night a friend and I were discussing somewhere around 5am, that sometimes when he sings, the words seem to become non-existent, and that it just becomes noise that we understand and that sounds good with the music. This becomes even more when you listen to his later recordings, in the 2000s before his death in 2009, when he was seriously ill and damaged due to long term drink and drug abuse. 

John Martyn is as famous for his lifestyle as he is for his music. For nearly his whole life he was a drug addict and an alcoholic. in the 1960s John married a fellow folk singer who became a collaborator, Beverly Kutner. Their marriage ended towards the end of the 1970s, and as a result, John's drink and drug abuse spiralled downwards, and he entered a state of depression, from which he never really escaped. During this time, he wrote an album 'Grace and Danger.' It was originally held back from release by a close friend of John's who seen it too personal and too open for the public to hear. Tracks like 'Baby, Please Come Home,' 'Sweet Little Mystery' and 'Hurt In Your Heart' stand out and give a straight insight into John's emotional state at the time, and just how fragile he was.

When it came to choosing a song of his to post, there were a few. From his happier stuff such like 'May You Never' and 'Over The Hill,' to his darker moments, particularly those from 'Grace and Danger' as mentioned earlier. So I've decided to post two, both from his darker side. The first video is an interview and live version of 'Hurt In Your Heart' from 2007, two years before his death. He discusses how he wrote music as an emotional release. We also get to see that the songs still mean so much to him, and even 30 years after he wrote them, they still reduce him to tears. 

The second video is my favourite John Martyn song, and possibly one of my all time favourite songs I've heard so far. The song is 'Couldn't Love You More' from his 1977 record 'One World.'

For those of you who haven't heard of John Martyn before this, then please go listen to more of him. Most of his stuff is on spotify. This song though is just incredible. Perfect for 2am when you know you should be fast asleep.

FAC 23.

Ian Curtis' Memorial Stone, Macclesfield Cemetery.

After a couple of posts, I thought I should I would let you inside my head a little bit more, let you know the music that has the biggest effect on me. I'd say I have maybe two or three artists who I would describe as 'my favourite.' being Bon Iver, Death Cab For Cutie, and Joy Division.

Other 'favourite' artists would be, Joni Mitchell, City and Colour, John Martyn and Radiohead.

But of all of them, Joy Division stand out the most. With such a short career, only two studio albums (Unknown Pleasures and Closer) all of their work for me is outstanding. I'm also a huge fan of 'Factory Productions' as a whole and have read several books and seen various films on Factory as a whole. From the gigs they put on, the Hacienda nightclub, the odd way in which they work the catalogue numbers and of course the record label itself, the two men who started it Alan Erasmus and the late Tony Wilson, started Factory on the same idea, they wanted to spread the music they loved.

Despite both being businessmen in the record industry, they worked hard to put the music they loved out, and as a proper independent label should, they had as much band involvement as possible. To the extent that when New Order realeased 'Blue Monday' they were so keen to have the artwork and record sleeve exactly how they wanted it, that the final product of the record and sleeve infact cost more than they could sell it at, therefore despite being one of the highest selling records in UK history, Factory never made a penny off it.

I consider Joy Division's debut album 'Unknown Pleasures' to be my 'favourite' album of all time, and I was lucky enough that this May I was in Manchester for one night, and with Manchester (technically Salford) being the home of Joy Division, I had high hopes to pick myself up a copy of 'Unknown Pleasures' on vinyl. So the afternoon before we headed home, I dragged my two friends about second hand record shops in Manchester, to try find it. After 5 shops, we headed for the car, when I passed another, so I decided one last attempt. After looking in the racks, no luck, so I asked behind the counter and the guy told me they had just had a delivery and he would check. He came back with two, one an American re-release from the mid-80s, the other a UK first edition from it's release in 1979, one of only 10,000 released. I'd struck gold. After chatting to the guy running the shop for a while, he realised I was a big fan and how desperate I was to pick up a copy on vinyl, so he sold it to me for £20 as I was such a big fan, even though he could sell it to any old Manchester lad who's Dad told him about Joy Division a couple week's earlier, for around £100 if he'd wanted to. I value my copy with my life and how the record shop worker acted as one music lover to another.

I also had went to the newly opened FAC251 the night before, which is a new club opened by Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order in Manchester, and I did hear Blue Monday '88 get played, which to me was pretty special being a Factory obsessed Glasgow boy in Manchester.

So to bring me to the song. Despite being a bit of a Joy Division geek, my 'favourite' song isn't something obscure or unusual like 'Ceremony' which was New Order's, the band the remaining members of Joy Division formed after Ian Curtis' death in 1980, first release in 1981, but infact was the last song written by Joy Division before Curtis' suicide. There does exist several recordings of Ceremony from sound-checks, live recordings and also a rehearsal.


My 'favourite' song is the one they're famous for, the one we all know....'Love Will Tear Us Apart.'

The song to me just stands out. After reading so much about the band, the company and the amazing biography of Ian Curtis written by his widow Deborah, called 'Touching from a Distance,' the lyrics to the song give a real insight into Ian's head and thinking at the time. A lot of which does not become apparent until after his death, when we can reflect on what he is saying and it is almost clear that something is seriously wrong with the writer. It will always be a song that I will never get old of hearing.

A real compliment to the song, is the amount of people who have covered it. People who share my view that this is truly an amazing song, and want to show there appreciation by having their own take on it. Some of the covers are excellent, such as the Nouvelle Vague and Jose Gonzalez, but I must admit, I really do not appreciate the Fall Out Boy cover!

The cover I love the most however, is this one, it's also the one I head most recently. It's by Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, a Norwegian duo. They perform a beautiful cover of the song, and really make it their own, the magic to all good covers. It's this version I post for you. I have also posted the lyrics to have a look at. My favourite lyrics of the whole song, being the last verse. Even if you know the song, this cover is really something special.





When the routine bites hard
And ambitions are low
And the resentment rides high
But emotions won't grow
And we're changing our ways
Taking different roads
Then love, love will tear us apart again.

Why is the bedroom so cold
Turned away on your side?
Is my timing that flawed
Our respect run so dry?
Yet there's still this appeal
That we've kept through our lives
Love, love will tear us apart again.

Do you cry out in your sleep
All my failings exposed
Get a taste in my mouth
As desperation takes hold
Is it something so good
Just can't function no more?
When love, love will tear us apart again.

Colorshow - The Avett Brothers

Post number 2!!

Many of you may have heard of The Avett Brothers, and like me debated how to pronounce 'Avett.' Amazing band, one of a wave of some of what could be considered the American 'neo-folk/country/revival' idea, along with some known artists such as Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes. However I see their latest album, 'I and Love and You' which seems to have launched our awareness of them over here which can be grouped into this category of artists.

As much as I adore 'I and Love and You,' and do think it is their strongest record, my favourite Avett Brothers song is this one, 'Colorshow' from the 'Four Thieves Gone: The Robbinsville Sessions' record.



What I take from the song is a mix of frustration and anger and there's definitely some love in their too. You listen to how singer Seth Avett, screams the lyrics out. From what I think he's about to bring on some change to him, telling someone that enough is enough and he's willing to hurt to get to it. My favourite line in the whole song is when he screams, 'Yeah come on, pain and all.'

Either that or he's giving something up for in order to be with the person he wants to be with. The chorus 'And I'm done, forever, It's you and me forever. Cos I'm done, forever, It's you and me forever' gives that impression.

This is one of the songs I like to crank up to 11 and belt along to when I'm feeling frustrated. It's almost liberating belting out the chorus at top voice!!

The first time this song really hit me was one sunny day, I was cycling from my house in the south side of Glasgow over to Kelvingrove park in the West End., sunglasses on, headphones up full, and when this song came on I just seemed to have endless energy to just go and go and go.

It's as I've written this, I've come to think that this song is a song of release, liberation and moving on. As the song fades out you hear Scott Avett (Seth's brother funnily enough!) screaming 'And I'm done, And I'm done....'

Truely an amazing song! Check out the record 'Colorshow' is on but also check out the latest record, 'I and Love and You' and 'The Second Gleam.'

Enjoy!

Debut.

So. This is blogging is it? I recently decided that I wanted to start a blog about songs. The basis is that I want to post video's of songs, be it live, acoustic, cover, official video.....whatever, and to tell you a bit about the song, how I know of the song, memories that come from it etc. I'd also like it to be a starting point for conversation, where those that read and listen will get involved aswell. So please discuss and bring your own opinions.

The 37 comes from my unknown obsession for the number.


So I was looking for inspiration for the first song to post. Then I came across an article which was talking about a singer who broke down in tears on stage, immediately this song came to mind.




Great band, great song and a great story behind the song. The lyrics make it pretty obvious, Karen O the singer wrote the lyrics about her lover at the time who was leaving her. In interviews with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs they state how 'Maps' is their love song, and that it's the one song they'd want everyone to hear as it means a lot to each of them on various levels. You'll notice towards the end of the video, that Karen O breaks down in tears. This was a total off the cuff moment, unscripted for the video. It's these moments I love in music, when emotion really cuts through the performance and the audience see more than just a band playing some songs, but a real vent for emotion.

If anyone who reads this doesn't know a lot about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, then this song is very different to their normal stuff which is equally good. Songs such as 'Date With the Night,' 'Gold Lion,' and their latest album 'It's Blitz' is full of amazing tracks.

Some other songs I thought about posting today were This Mortal Coil's cover of 'Song To the Siren,' one of my favourite covers. Or a song by a band I only recently discovered, The Magnetic Fields, called 'I Don't Want To Get Over You,' from the album '69 Love Songs.' which is exactly that, a 3 disc album of love songs.

Hope you enjoy this and please give any feedback you like!