“Oh my furry whiskers, I’m late, I’m late’ I’m late.” Sorry about that. Brain completely addled, no idea why, who, when or where. Hope you’re all feeling suitably Spring-like, and many thanks for the top-ups to the wormbank. More worms are always welcome; if you have one, please send it along to earworm@tincanland.com, with a short blurb about why you like it (or why it’s stuck in your head). Many thanks.
Turin Brakes – 96 – glasshalfempty: Balham’s finest, Turin Brakes, open their new album ‘Lost Property’ with this super track. Dig that jangly riff.
Vargas Blues Band – You Don’t Know My Name – Ravi Raman: I was introduced to this band by Sony BMG and this album All Around Blues is this band’s first early release. Founded by Javier Vargas a Spanish guitarist settled in Buenos Aires, VBB incorporates blues, flamenco, funk, rock & jazz.
Lowell George’s cover of Rickie Lee Jones’ Easy Money – DsD: A lyric set I can sing at the drop of a hat (’cause I have been for thirty years), plus a rhythm guitar riff that sounds so deceptively simple I can almost fool myself that I could learn it, plus a horn section to die for, equals a DsD envisioning himself on-stage daydream [You mean “pipedream”, shoorly? – Ed.]
Steve Goodman – City Of New Orleans – goneforeign: There’s been lots of good covers of this song over the years but this is the original by the author, Steve Goodman, it came out in ’71.
Riverside – Lost (Why Should I Be Frightened by a Hat?) – AliM: Riverside is a Polish band from Warsaw, founded in 2001. I have only just discovered them (Spotify again) only to find out that guitarist Piotr Grudziński passed away in February this year. Wiki says that Riverside announced that a new album, a compilation of ambient and instrumental pieces, should be finished on 15th of March (Piotr Grudziński birthday). I shall investigate.
Lucinda Williams – Faith & Grace – tincanman: For the full stop on her latest album, about aging and preparing to meet your maker, Lucinda stretches this old gospel standard into a nuanced mix of her signature Americana, some psych, and even a little remix reggae. It transports me.
Image copyright: Aleksei Shirokikh – 123rf.com
The 'Spill 
Worms in the box. “City of new Orleans” really took me back.
Now funnily enough, City Of New Orleans was the only one I didn’t care for. And it didn’t even ring any bells, so I’m not sure I know any of the covers either.
Not that you will want to hear another version, but this is the one I remember: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMS_ykiLiQ
Vargas has just released a new album, Hard Time Blues, but I don’t have it. Yet 🙂
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll be on the lookout here now.
Great bouncy set for the evening. City of New Orleans – what a song. And Riverside sound very, very interesting. Thanks all.
Solid gold set this week. Hang together nicely too, Ali. Liked ’em all but standout was Lucinda, with Vargas and Riverside as equal runners up. Might have guessed Vargas were Argentinian, not least from the band name, but would never have guessed Riverside were Polish in a million years. What a great institution this here earworms is!
It is! I like Turin Brakes, too!
I thought “Balham’s finest” was Arthur Smith.
Here’s another clip cause I know you want one.
So, anyway… I did like that Turin Brakes song and its jangliness. I don’t really know their music but this sounded fine to me. Quite liked the Vargas chaps too although it did sound like yer standard blues band to me. Maybe their other songs have more of the other influences. Good guitarist. I liked that brief solo and the playing generally.
Lowell George means “Long Distance Love” and “Dixie Chicken” to me. Although I’m sure I must have heard him singing other songs back in the seventies when Nicky Horn used to play Little Feat tracks almost every night on his Capital Radio evening prog. I’m clearly not as massive a fan as some folks but this was a good one by anyone’s standards.
I have heard at least one version of City of New Orleans because somebody nominated it for an R/R topic quite recently. Wouldn’t have recognised it otherwise. Enjoyed this original version a lot.
Riverside were pleasant enough but didn’t exactly grab me. Didn’t dislike.
Lucinda Williams is another artist I occasionally hear on an R/R topic but otherwise never encounter. I have enjoyed a few of hers but this one didn’t really work for me. Not on a first listen anyway. Maybe it’s a grower. Will try again tomorrow.
Just read what I’ve written above and it sounds like I never listen to anything by anybody. This is, of course, perfectly true. Except Katzenjammer, obviously. And Arthur Smith.
Arthur Smith was OK when he was on that tiny indie label, before the keyboard player left and he ended up signed to Sony and got Steve Albini producing his albums.
Like/Recommend/Vote Up
Turin Brakes – 96 Turin Brakes are another one of those bands that have passed me by, mostly. I know a couple of their songs and this is very much the kind of thing I associate with them. It’s a nice track, I like it, especially the guitar sound.
Vargas Blues Band – You Don’t Know My Name Pretty classic stuff here. It has a sort of Jimmy Reed vibe to it. I even preticted to myself that there would be a harp solo where it was. It reminds me of the early stuff that The Fabulous Thunderbirds did. Nice.
Lowell George – Easy Money I love this album, it is something of an overlooked gem. I owned it first on cassette (a copy), then on vinyl and now on CD. This track is superb stuff. I love that lazy syncopated shuffle beat and Lowell George just does sleazy so well.
Steve Goodman – City Of New Orleans The version that I know is the one by Arlo Guthrie. I always assumed that he’d written it. I rather like this one.
Riverside – Lost (Why Should I Be Frightened by a Hat?) I would never have flagged this a being by a Polish band. It starts off like classic English psychedelia, very Canterbury Scene sounding vocals. Every now and then Amazon recommends Riverside albums based on my purchasing history. I may have to investigate.
Lucinda Williams – Faith & Grace Mmmmmm, loving that intro. In fact, loving the whole thing. Someone else whose music has pretty much passed me by. Trouble is, there aren’t enough hours in the day to discover everything, which is why Earworms is such a good thing to have each week.
This is a tough week to call (“aren’t they all?” you may well ask) but, from a crowded field Lucinda Williams races ahead in the final stages and takes the laurel wreath. Absolutely brilliant atmospheric and passionately smouldering music.
A great write-up. You should do album reviews.
Thanks, Ravi 🙂
Bit late sorry! Like the jangly first one, second one’s not quite my thing, third one reminds me of the Stones, but I guess that’s kind of backwards, nice vocal. Steve Goodman is not for me, but I enjoyed Riverside, a touch Donovan to my ears, will investigate further. Thanks Ali!
You’re welcome!