BEHIND THE LINES
ROCKING BY MYSELF
‘Mmm…not really my
cup of tea…s’alright I suppose.’
Damned feint praise on 95.5 fm,
despite sterling work from Rick Lucas and the boys in 3 different keys - 3 different
keys!! After punching a hole in my trilby and trashing my 20 Greatest Blues Songs
EVER CD, me and the band hot-footed it down to Hope Studios
Speaking of white boys, blues etc
THE
Never ‘put on my blue suede shoes’ or
‘walked…ten feet off of Beale’ Never been to the North Pole
either.
The song opens all Witnesses shows so don’t be late.
THE NIGHT I MET PJ
A musical version of a late night encounter in Bury with
Elvis’ guide vocalist James Marcus Smith aka
Jett Powers aka PJ Proby.
The
REARRANGING RICHIE RAMOS
A true tale of violence and
betrayal in which gangster/fugitive Ramos begs top surgeon and childhood pal Pepi Castillo for the mother of all nip and tucks. Despite Pepi’s
scalpelic efforts, Ramos is captured by the
Although the song is in
Elizabethan (multi-verse) ballad style - at one stage it exceeded Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Lily and the Jack of Hearts(!) - I though it best to finish it
before Richie comes up for parole in 2017.
JIMMY MAC #2
My ode to the Burnley FC folk-hero
Jimmy McIlroy appears on The Clarets Collection on Cherry Red Records with a stellar
show-biz line-up including Chumbawumba and The Munich Radio Orchestra. Mike and Dave Harries are ‘D &
B’ as usual and folk-rocker James Gansler plays mandolin and guitar. Mr Gansler’s
suggestion - an eye on the hit
parade no doubt - of Sham ’69
handclaps on the outro was politely declined.
Rock’n’Roll…phew!
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL BYRON
‘6th Baron of
Fast forward from 1821 to the mid-1980’s
– The
Ian ‘Mac’ Mclagan
‘You look very Byronic tonight
Bob’
Bob Dylan
‘Uh?…Moronic…Uh?’
Of course, the song might also be read as an
age induced dismissal of rebel rock, like don’t bother lads,
it’s all been done before. (Like
writing songs about dead poets I suppose).
MOVING TO THE COUNTRY
Dedicated to the Countryside
DES
The life and times of 1970’s
Trades Union activist Des Warren are poignantly documented in The Key to my Cell and his son
Nick’s book 30 Years in a Turtle
Neck Sweater
Des’s story stirred memories
of the Strawbs 1973 hit Part of the Union which, as a naïve 14 year old, I didn’t
realize was a satirical swipe at Union Power (think Daily Mail headlines
COUNTRY HELD TO RANSOM ad nauseum). Nor did I know that the Hudson-Ford song was based on earlier
genuine union ballads like Solidarity
Forever and Sticking to the
It seems cruelly ironic that just
months after a rousing expression of solidarity beamed across the
nation’s airwaves Des was jailed (with Ricky Tomlinson) for his union
activities.
James Gansler
helped blend the union tune onto the outro before the
song was whisked down to Mike at Hope for a final mix.
POPEYE AND TINKERBELL (TALKING PIT
BULL BLUES)
‘It’s ok mate’
‘Ruff..Grrr’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Sound mate..it’s
just excited’
‘Grrrrrr’
‘Jesus…my leg!’
‘Satan’
‘Grrrrrrr’
‘Get ‘ere…Now!’
‘Ruff…Grrrr’
‘It’s your pedals mate – sends him mad’
‘…I’m bleeding’
‘Ruff…’
‘Was you bleeding before
mate?’
‘Not really…’ ‘
‘Ruff Grrrrrr’
NEW TATTOO
Judge not the swooping swallows of the underclass or the Celtic
rings of the weekend warrior or the inky blue cherub perched atop mama’s
thigh. It’s what’s
underneath that counts…
BABY’S GONE
Dave H agreed to a re-write of his country rumba so long as I mentioned Venezuelan samba-man Edmundo
Ros and, more importantly, celebrated Urmstonian Paul Kelsall. PK concludes matters with an E6/9 chord on
his Gibson Les Paul Special. Listen
closely.
SEROTONIN BLUES
Rick L used a D28 Martin to lay the musical footings for
this song soon after his TV debut on Mark Knopfler’s
Masterclass. Dave
H added brooding Jazz Master Bass before Paul K pulled out all the stops on his
Surf Green American ’62 re-issue Stratocaster.
After I’d added my £19.99’s worth on a Hohner Marine Band in C, Doc Harries stayed in the basement
mixing the medicine before dispensing it with a little white label:
“NOT REALLY SUITABLE FOR DANCING”
BRAGGADOCIO
Five syllables, an irresistible open-ended vowel sound, limitless
clever-dick rhymes (Caravaggio, Lothario, etc) and a great way to describe one given to
empty boasting, methinks.
Mike H tickles the tune with some fancy fingering on
horizontal accordion. In Ab for heaven’s sake!
Delay at Gate 22 but a small price to pay for Liberty,
Peace, Security etc. God Bless
Postcode M5 covers Kansas, Missouri and Sundance Avenues,
just a Spanish Mustang ride away from the banks of the Irwell
where Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and
Congress Rough Riders World Show decamped in November 1887.
Fancy…shoot-outs, stick-ups, marauding gangs
- in
NB Tom O’Gorman leads the way on Takamine
guitar and flat-back mandolin.
POLSKIE GO HOME
And the rest! We
don’t want you grabbing all the difficult, dangerous, dirty jobs then
blowing your tax-free millions in our
shops and pubs, boosting our economy etc.
PS Been in all day awaiting plumber – know
any? Cash no questions etc.
MORE ‘BEHIND THE
LINES’ SOON
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