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Your grandparents have something they’d like to tell you. In fact, your great-grandparents do too. Sure, they might seem like the very pillars of grace and virtue and good moral standing now, but just listen to the lyrics of this song and then try and work out how they can possibly be offended by half the stuff that gets ‘Parental Advisory’  stickers now. Lucille Bogan was dropping F-bombs all over the place back in the 1930s!

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Lucille Bogan began her career singing vaudeville songs for Okeh Records in 1923, but by 1930 her songs had lyrics far more concerned with sex and boozing. She started recording as Bessie Jackson in 1933, recording some more straight-forward blues songs with pianist Walter Roland, but amongst her last recordings with him in 1935 was this exquisitely filthy version of ‘Shave ‘Em Dry’. I think it’s time to show you some sample lyrics, so here you go, including the bit that the Rolling Stones borrowed for ‘Start Me Up’:
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“I got nipples on my titties big as the end of my thumb,
I got somethin’ ‘tween my legs ‘ll make a dead man come,
Oooh daddy-baby, won’t you shave ‘em dry, oooh!
Won’t you grind me baby, grind me till I cry.”

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Now is that really the kind of language that you’d expect from someone who looks like they could’ve hung out with your grandma? I think not.

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Lucille Bogan: The Lil’ Kim of the 1930s. Legend. And, if you’d like to read on, then check out Cracked’s list of ‘7 Songs From Your Grandpa’s Day That Would Make Eminem Blush’

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KS

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Sometimes when you get caught down the rabbit hole of catalogue who knows where it will take you!

Working in catalogue is not only fun but it’s also surprising and educational. The Kinder Surprise of the record industry!

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So there I am on youtube, searching to see what footage there is of Ron Burgundy favourite ‘Carry On Wayward Son’ by Kansas and then I find Ameri1122. A totally awesome prog playing 10 year old!

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Here is her badass collection of videos of her playing prog on a Yahama Electone in front of some funeral flower arrangements and, it has to be said, a pretty brutal crowd!

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I want my kid to be just like Ameri1122.  My daughter is only 3 but already I lie awake at night fearful of the teenage rebellion heading my way….boys, drugs, tattoos, boys, drink…worst of all, DANCE MUSIC….oh the horror.  So I want her to be THIS kid.  Ain’t a cats chance in hell this kid’s hanging outside KFC down by the bus garage with a bunch of ‘too old’ boys saying “innit”.  

Ahhhh I can see it now.  A calm, harmonious house, no arguments, no drama…Ameri1122 walks through the door…

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“hello dear, did you have a nice day at the school for well adjusted, gifted children who make their parents proud?” I’ll say.  

“Yes, it was a wonderful day” she’ll say, beaming me a smile as she skips up the stairs and I rest safe in the knowledge that she’s happily tucked away in her bedroom practicing Karn Evil 9 1st Impression, Part 2 on the Electone before getting an early night.

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LM

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Today’s unapologetic cheesefest is this sublime slice of cheddar courtesy of Australia. I don’t know what it is about the video (and actually the song a bit too) but it kind of reminds me of Boyzone’s ‘Picture Of You’. Some things I love about this video:

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• It looks unashamedly late-90s. Those over-saturated colours! That pseudo dance routine! My God, those haircuts.
• The girl ironing, actually ironing, her hair. Umm, what?
• The news anchor in a pale pink suit with the make-up artist in the fluoro-green jacket and bright red skirt. WHY. JUST WHY. MY EYES ARE BURNING. BURNING, I TELL YOU.
• If you squint a bit, John Farnham actually kind of looks like Rik Mayall trying to take the p!ss out of John Farnham. 

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There’s a lot more additional WTFs going on here, but I’ll leave some (dubious) viewing pleasure down to you.

(And yes, I do quite like the song)

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KS

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The Script’s second album Science & Faith was recently handed over to the catalogue department. Much like their first, it’s a very consistent affair and while the singles (particularly ‘For The First Time’) were particularly popular it’s hard to pick stand out tracks. Listening to the album again though, I was reminded of how much I liked ‘You Won’t Feel A Thing’ the first time round. Maybe it’s because it’s another great example of The Script’s “everyman” kind of lyrics, or maybe it’s more because this sounds more like a U2 track, but I love it. I really do.

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KS

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Much is often written about “difficult” second album syndrome, that intrinsic dilemma artists face when confronted with the task of writing and recording a second album. Do they stick to the tried and tested style that made their first album a wild success? Or do they go in a crazy new musical direction, shocking and surprising old fans, and hopefully winning them new ones along the way?

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Kelly Clarkson seems to have been the victim of difficult third album syndrome, although I would argue that it’s probably the second album over which she exerted much creative control (her first album, Thankful, exemplifying (in my opinion) the quickly turned around album that follows an American Idol victory – not that it’s not chock full of hits…) However, it seems that Ms Clarkson asserted more creative control over her third album, My December – indeed, there was plenty of coverage over the alleged dispute with her label RCA over the album. I’ll save that for another post…

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But what of the music? Well I have to say, I really like the album. It was critically acclaimed too, being voted as the fifth best album of 2007 by the readers of Billboard. My favourite track is ‘Chivas’, the album’s hidden track. I basically love everything about the song; that it sounds like it’s playing down a phone line, the nonchalant vocal delivery and, most of all, the message of the song: ‘So much for true love, I’ll take the Chivas instead’. If I had a pound for every time I’ve said cheers to that…

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Unsurprisingly, the song was fuelled by alcohol – Kelly explained “I actually wrote that song on a napkin. The best part is, I came home and I kept trying to remember the melody; I was pretty inebriated, and I sang it into my Mac computer. Listening to the song the next day was pretty funny.” The finished product is great though, and I loved the placement of the song in the set list at her concert a couple of years ago – immediately following ‘Sober’. Also a great track.

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Love the song. Personally I’d swap Chivas for Smirnoff, but hey, it’s Kelly’s round.

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PC

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Here’s one of those rare moments, a relatively cheerful blues song. But then, Taj Mahal’s blues songs are not your average blues songs:

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“You can listen to my music from front to back, and you don’t ever hear me moaning and crying about how bad you done treated me. I think that style of blues and that type of tone was something that happened as a result of many white people feeling very, very guilty about what went down.”

- Taj Mahal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Though he began by studying the more traditional blues styles, over his career he began to draw influences from other roots music too, incorporating elements of reggae, gospel, rhythm & blues and country. ‘Lovin’ In My Baby’s Eyes’ draws more from the end of that list, certainly with a very clear folk music styling too. Maybe it’s this folkiness, combined with his slightly (dare I say it) “grampa” voice that always makes me picture a happy old couple like this when I hear the song:

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Err, anyway.

The Essential Taj Mahal compilation brought together recordings from a whole bunch of different labels and finally drew together a better picture of the music and styles he’s explored throughout his four decade-long career. In 2006 it even won Historical Album of the Year at the Blues Music Awards, dontchaknow, which I think is a slightly more “worthy” way to talk about catalogue music. Regardless, they’re right. It’s excellent and it’s a brilliant place to start at with his music. To be honest, my knowledge pretty much stops after this song and the brilliantly ballsy ‘Leaving Trunk’ so I can vouch for The Essential being a great way to explore a bit more.

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I’m just going to leave you with this quote about why Taj loves playing festivals so much. Blues dancing is one of my favourite things in the world so I hereby award him major awesomeness points for this:

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“The music was designed for people to move, and it’s a bit difficult after a while to have people sitting like they’re watching television. That’s why I like to play outdoor festivals-because people will just dance”

Hurrah! I agree.

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KS

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‘You Gotta Move’ is an awesomely bluesy slice taken from Sam Cooke’s 1963 album, Night Beat.  Now I love me a bit of Sam Cooke as much as anyone else, but sometimes it feels like all those strings typical of his biggest hits overpower songs which would be just as good, if not better, in a simpler form. Night Beat is a great album simply because it uses a much smaller band of incredibly talented musicians: Billy Preston, the organ player, was just 16 at the time this track was recorded (and he later featured on the Rolling Stones’ live version of the song). Barney Kessel, on guitar, had featured earlier as the only white musician (with his fingers stained darker with berry juice!) in the 1944 short film, Jammin’ The Blues (a must-watch, if you’ve not seen it before. It’s effortlessly cool and the shots are just delicious). Drummer, Hal Blaine, in his lifetime, “played on 50 number one hits, over 150 top ten hits and has recorded, by his own admission, on over 35,000 pieces of music over four decades of work.” It’s little wonder that with a dream team of musicians like this, the album only took 3 nights to record. Legends.

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KS