After the Euro 2004 final I clocked up some cd time....Jim Ford's Harlan County is a furious paced country soul song which cheerfully outlines the worlds hardest life "Where the cold winds blow and the crops don't grow and a mans tired of living when he's 20").
Obviously county music is famous for hardship, and 60's weeping and wailing soul singers were never afraid of a musical sob story. This has got troubles by the tractorlaod though. Verse after horn driven verse sees the hero working in a coalmine ("I was digging hard coal at 12 years old"), Papa "Couldn't even get a job with a shotgun"and caught cheating at cards and shot for "15 cents to buy a loaf of bread" It's even got a key change In fact for out and out misery it's only rival is Patches by Clarence Carter. "And then one day a strong rain came and washed all our crops away, At the age of 13 I felt I had the weight of the whole world on my shoulders, Mama knew what I was going through"
The cd it's from is also called Harlan County and although nothing else is as (or possibly could be) as good as it's
title track there is a good cover of To Make My Life Beautiful (there are not enough songs in the world about thinking aloud when you're shaving) and the marvellously monikered Dr Handy's Dandy Candy.
Bit incongruous but followed that with the second gang of 4 lp Gold. Only recently bought the reissue of it as when it originally came out I didn't like it as much as their first one (Entertainment). I was wrong. Well sort of ....it's not as good but it's still a great record. Bands like the Chilli Peppers have obviously been (and admitted) listening hard.
With the likes of Franz Ferdinand (who I'm not convince about, although they did seem to be repeated endlessly on the TV Glastonbury coverage)there are other bands using that sound but the G of 4's approach to the bass drums and guitar still sounds revolutionary. Also really enjoyed the political lyrics. The titles say it all Outside the trains don't run on time , History is bunk or he'd send in the army. It's unusual now, and in
hindsite the band probably weren't as clever as they thought they were.
On a related theme keep meaning to dig out Scritti Politti's Songs To Remember. Big fan of the music but also there was also the great lyrics written by an ex young communist with an interest in philosophy and deconstruction who also understood that sometimes a love songs can just say it all better. A Green Gartside quote that I also like (for that's who we're talking about) relates to when he recorded The Beatles She's a Woman with
Shabba Ranks. Green said " I just kept thinking what does it mean when Shabba sings "Love up your woman now"
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