Friday 16 March 2012

Five Faceless Gems- By James Nuttall ©



1. Christine McVie: In the Meantime


The McVie's always were the modest two in Fleetwood Mac. At the height of their success, John McVie's dress sense was the only thing that made him stand out, wearing garish Hawaiian t-shirts for performances, preferring to stand at the back of the stage, quietly pumping his bass-lines out. And rather than worry about solo alums, he was content to record his bass parts early in the Mac's mixes so he could go sailing. 


Equally, Christine was never very comfortable in the limelight, preferring to be at the side of the stage behind her array of keyboards, letting 70's sex-goddess Stevie Nicks take the bulk of attention.  


McVie has released three solo albums in her career, the first in 1970 before she married John, simply entitled 'Christine Perfect.' The second came in a large break between Mac albums in 1984. It had two hit singles, and peaked at number 26 on the billboard chart.


McVie left Fleetwood Mac and returned to England in 1998. Until 2004, she had nothing to do with music at all. That year, however, she released a real masterpiece of easy-listening, 'In the Meantime'. She did little to promote the album, other than a limited number of UK and US interviews. Without one live performance it nestled comfortably at number 133 in the UK charts for a few weeks.  


It opens up with the exciting 'Friend', which finds McVie still in fine form, both as a piano player and singer. The song 'You Are', which was the instigator of the album being made, sounds as though it could have come from any Fleetwood Mac album.


She collaborated with her nephew, Dan Perfect, who gives us one of the albums best songs, Northern Star- perfect listening for a walk on a lazy summer afternoon. Another highlight is the funky 'Anything is Possbible', and the moody 'So Sincere', both of which give the album its attitude. 


Available to buy at: 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-The-Meantime-Christine-McVie/dp/B000CR89VI/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1331922820&sr=8-8

2. Jimmy Destri: Heart on a Wall


Today this album is more faceless than the invisible man... not that it was much different on release.


Jimmy Destri is known for being Blondie's original keyboard player, and composed many of their biggest hits, including 'Picture This', 'Maria' and 'Atomic'. 


Destri released 'Heart on a Wall' in 1981 at the height of Blondie's success. It peaked at number 201 on the US billboard charts, but despite featuring the other members of Blondie guesting on the album it did little anywhere else. 


The opening track, 'Bad Dreams', is the essence of Destri's writing style. It may not necessarily make sense all the way though, but certainly shows off Destri's skill as a writer and a singer. 


'In My Own Little World' is reminiscent of Destri's contribution 'Living in the Real World' on Blondie's 1980 LP 'Eat to the Beat', as is the album's highlight 'Numbers Don't Count (On Me).


As of yet, the album is still to be released on CD.


3. Espers: II


If you're looking for psychedelic-folk/drone music, look no further than Espers. Based in Philadelphia they have released four critically acclaimed studio albums, and have a large cult following. 

Their albums however see little promotion upon release. 'II' is their finest example of the members of the band working together to create a compelling piece of art that leaves spellbound. 



The highlight is arguably the albums opening track, 'Dead Queen'. Meg Baird is in fine voice as she serenades us with her harmonies with Helena Espvall. 


Available to buy at: 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Espers-II/dp/B000FQITT8/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1331923358&sr=1-4




4. Kim Richey: Kim Richey 


Kim Richey's first album scraped it into the USA country albums back in 1995, and scored a moderately successful single with 'Just My Luck'. 


Although she was nominated for two Grammys for songwriting, she is a widely ignored talent. 


Her first album boasts her talent as a songwriter and a singer. Aside from the catchy and upbeat single, songs like 'Sweet Mysteries' and 'Those Words We Said' helps to make this album one of the best country albums of the 90's. When you think of how many women there are around now who take the stage with an acoustic guitar around them to sing country... surely some of them must have been influenced by Richey's talent. 


As Steve Horowitz of popmatters.com wrote: "Kim Richey would rule the charts in the land where Marshall Crenshaw was king, Aimee Mann queen, and The Beatles never put out another record after Revolver." True. 


Available to buy at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kim-Richey/dp/B000001ED5/ref=sr_1_7?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1331923996&sr=1-7


5. Suzi Quatro: Rock Hard 


Suzi Q has covered a smorgasbord of genres when it comes to making albums. Her first album was warmly received by the critics and sold very well worldwide despite her biggest single, Can the Can, being left off it apart from in Australia. 

Her second album, 'Quatro', was poorly received by the critics and didn't sell as well as the previous album. Although it topped Australia's charts for a full six weeks, the absence of her second number one single, 'Devil Gate Drive', on the album meant that it failed to chart in the UK altogether. It screamed 'rushed follow-up' to the success of the first. Littered with 1950's cover songs and self-penned slow-movers, 'Quatro' proved to be a commercial failure. 



In later years she would fuse country and techno together in the 1982 album 'Main Attraction', funk in 1975's 'Your Mamma Won't Like Me', and she even had a nod towards prog in 1976's 'Aggro-Phobia'.


In the late 70's both Quatro's image and music softened. The cover of the 1978 album 'If You Knew Suzi' signifies this change: gone with the leather jumpsuit and tough look, in with the soft long hair, corduroy trousers and black boots. 1979's 'Suzi... And Other Four Letter Words' took on the same style.


In 1980, however, Quatro released what most critics called her rockiest album up until the time. 'Rock Hard's' cover signifies this. It shows Suzi Q with her long, long hair, leather jumpsuit and tough-girl stare. This is complimented with her sporting her custom made BC Rich 'Bich' bass guitar. Robert Palmer would later credit Quatro with his decision to use these guitars in his award-winning music video of 'Addicted to Love'.


The album itself is a platter of hard-rock tracks, including a re-vamped cover of the Dave Clark Five's 'Glad All Over'. The Quatro/Tuckey songwriting team are on fine form, contributing five of the 11 tracks: the albums ballad, 'Lonely is the Hardest', the reggae-styled 'Woman Cry', and the guitar-driven 'Ego in the Night', 'State of Mind' and 'Lay Me Down'.


Her original hit songwriter, Mike Chapman, offers the two singles: the title track, which hit number 68 in the UK and number nine in Australia, where the album went platinum, and 'Lipstick'. 


A songwriting team of Brown and Straley composed the remaining three tracks.


This record was somewhat overshadowed in most countries by the 'Suzi Quatro Greatest Hits' album of the same year, which hit the number four spot in the UK. Until 2012, it was only available on CD on the German double-pack 'then and now', or with different album art. Now Cherry Red Records are finally releasing 'Rock Hard' in its own right, and for the first time ever with the original artwork. 


This album is a jewel in Quatro's crown as the queen of rock and roll, and many fans deem it to be her best work. 


Available to but at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rock-Hard-Suzi-Quatro/dp/B007FGQ06U/ref=sr_1_7?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1331916638&sr=1-7


By James Nuttall





Tuesday 13 March 2012

"Singing is what I love best." Rise to Kim Richey- By James Nuttall

In the words of Steve Horowitz of popmatters.com: "Kim Richey would rule the charts in the land where Marshall Crenshaw was king, Aimee Mann queen, and The Beatles never put out another record after Revolver." One only has to put on her debut album, Kim Richey, to understand what he means.






Richey has been nominated for two Grammys for songwriting,  one of them being nominated for Song of the Year. She has has a hand in writing songs for the Dixie Chicks, Trisha Yearwood and Patty Loveless, and collaborated with Ryan Adams. Top this off with her music has also been played on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and appearing on the Angel soundtrack, Richey has developed quite a cult following.




Before her gig on 4th March, I spoke to her about her career, and future plans.


Have you enjoyed touring the UK this time around?


"Yeah, quite a bit. I do it quite often because I've been living in London for a while. I've been going back and forth between Nashville and London but then I decided to kinda be over here more; but I love it over here, I'm having a great time."


Out of all your albums does one stand out to you?


"Well, you know they're all different, that's what I like about them. The first one will always be a really great experience for me because I'd never been in the studio making a record before, and I got to work with Richard Bennet and he played a lot of guitar on my records. He was wonderful to work with and I had so much fun on that first record.


I really loved working with Bill Bottrell on the record called Rise."


What do you listen to when you're not on the road?


"You know, I don't listen to a lot of music. I listen to a lot of pod-casts, just trying to keep up with news, and I'm always working on songs.


I've just been over in Australia for about five weeks before I came here and I really loved some people that I heard over there playing at a festival. One guy was called Shane Nicholson, he just has a new record out and I love that, so I've been listening to that a lot, and he's married to Kasey Chambers and I really like what both of those guys are doing."


What has been the highlight of your career?


"I've met a lot of people that I never thought I would have met. I've traveled a lot. I never would have been able to travel as much as I have and seen as many things without being in music. I got to meet Dolly Parton, she's fantastic, and all kinds of people like that. But I think the thing I love the best about it is just to be able to do it for as long as I have; and also to make music with other people, and to sing and play with other people, and with a whole band around you it's pretty amazing. "


Is there anyone you've particularly enjoyed working with?


"I wrote for the Dixie Chicks, but it was before Natalie Maines joined them, so they weren't the gazillion-selling Dixie Chicks, they were the two sisters and another girl who's not there anymore. They used to sing old country and western songs, so it's kind of a different band. I loved singing with Ryan Adams on Heartbreaker. That was a great thing. And I did a little tour with him so we got to sat up a writers-type show, so I got to sit up and sing with him all night on those tours."


Who influenced you to pick up the guitar?


"Well, my mom bought me a guitar for Christmas, and I'm not sure why! But it was a really cheap, bad guitar and she probably got it at a drug store. I remember it had an old, plastic, zippy case. But when I was about 12 we went to a guitar store and it was a Valentines Day present, and I got a hollow-body electric, it was really great.


I mostly started playing guitar so I could have something to sing with, because singing is what I love best "


So how do you write a song now?


"I'll play with music a little bit and then that will inspire me and an idea comes from that. Recently in Australia I wrote with this girl who is just a lyricist. She had a verse and chorus idea she said "We need music." I was just like "Where do you start?" I couldn't figure it out because the word go into the music for me. We figured it out in the end, but it was a different way to work."


So on the road or in the studio?


They're different. The studio's great because you just kind of hide out in it, and it turns into your whole world. You're in their with friends and you're making music, and just trying all these really great creative things. The studio's like a bubble. If you're a escapist in any way, shape or form the studio's a great place for you to be because you're not taking phone calls, you're keeping up with stuff because you're in the studio! You'll stay in there for hours on end and you can just get lost in it, which I love.


With performing live... when it really goes and there's this connection going back and forth between you and the audience, that's a really amazing, immediate kind of high jolt. They're different things and I really love both of them"


What are your plans when you finish the UK tour?


"I have about five weeks of touring in the States, so I'll be over there doing shows straight from here. I'll stay here and do some writing for a couple of weeks, and I'm going to go to Copenhagen and do some writing over there. I have a friend who I write with, who has a record out now that's doing really well out there, we're going to do some more work.


Then I'll go home to Nashville and I think I'll probably set up house over there in the Spring. I gave up my apartment in London this summer because I had the chance to stay in Stockholm. I've just been homeless touring, which maybe sounds more fun than it is! When you're not touring and you've got to stay with friends, or at your family's house... it's not very relaxing. And you can't keep track of your stuff! I don't know where most of my stuff is."


Richey sounds yet to fully settle into the British culture. The night before the interview she wrote on Facebook: "‎Wife swap starts in 30 seconds according to the guys out in the hall. I think it's a TV show. I hope it's a TV show."
"That was a noisy hotel I was in last night! I didn't go to bed until about two, and they were still at it all over the place."

If you could pick anyone to work with, who would it be?

"God, that's a good question. I'd love to sing with David Hidalgo. I love his voice. I'd love to make a record with Bill Bottrell again. 


I love singing with people. In a perfect world for me I wouldn't be the lead singer, ever. I love singing harmonies with people." 


Somehow we venture off topic towards the end and discuss her out-of-date Wikipedia page. "Wikipedia's just crap! I can't even go on my page, it makes me so mad when I look at it. It's just wrong! Don't even get me going on Wikipedia. 


Commenting on plans for a new album, Richey said: "We haven't started anything yet, but I think July we're starting. We were going to record in December, then we were going to record in May and I just said that I couldn't even think about doing it until I get settled. 


I've got a lot of songs. I always keep writing, right up until the end. I've got a lot of old songs that maybe other people recorded and I never did, or songs that were maybe more country than the records, so didn't make it on that I really like." 




Kim Richey's music can be purchased at: 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=kim+richey&x=22&y=23 


Follow Kim at: 
http://www.kimrichey.com/ 
http://www.facebook.com/kimricheymusic
https://twitter.com/#!/kimrichey 


By James Nuttall