Ran across songtell.com by accident and while I’m nervous about AI in music, it is good for a few guffahs. In Lionel Richie’s Hello, for instance, “Jennifer Nettles adds to the emotional depth by mentioning her longing to see the sunlight in the person’s hair and her desire to express her care and affection repeatedly.” Bet he wrote that on his Commodore 64.
1) I have owned, for over thirty years, a ukulele on which I still cannot play a single tune. And a harmonica on which I can play Oh Susannah. Am I alone in this musical ineptitude? What, if any, instruments can the rest of you play? And have you ever done so as part of a band? Or any other public performance?
2) Have you ever had such a thing as “our song”? Many years ago I vaguely thought of The Beatles’ Here, There and Everywhere as having this status. I’m fairly certain that my (then) partner was completely unaware of this fact.
Continue readingGood evening, and welcome to your songs about food and feasting. And many thanks for all the birthday wishes. Time for a feast and rejoicing!
If you have an Earworm you’d like to share, please send an .mp3, .m4a or a link to adempster73@gmail.com, together with a few words about why you’ve chosen it. Next week’s theme will be chance, coincidence and happenstance, or anything closely related.
Worms should reach me by close of play on Sunday 3 March. Many thanks to all contributors. Keep calm and carry on!
The Congos – Feast of the Passover – Uncleben and severin: A couple of months early, I know. And I don’t think smoking large bags of herb strictly counts as Passover feasting. But it’s an exquisite Lee Perry production. severin: I’m cheating slightly as the title is a reference to the feast of the Passover. Which does involve some traditional food and drink but isn’t mainly about it.
Misty in Roots – Food, Clothes and Shelter – shoegazer: Roots Reggae from Middlesex.
Ry Cooder – One Meat Ball – DebbyM: Haven’t listened to this in forever.
X Ray Spex – Junk Food Junkie (Live) – severin: Recorded live at the Roxy it says. Without an audience from the sound of it. Poly wasn’t keen on fast food and/or burgers.
Robert Earl Keen Jr – Barbeque – Fintan28: Robert Earl does a fine job of elaborating a life time’s pursuit of his favourite food to feast upon.
Let’s Eat Grandma – Eat Shiitake Mushrooms – severin: And why not? In a lovely stir fry. Possibly.
Natalie Merchant – The Feast of Saint Valentine – DebbyM: Bit of a shoehorn, but this so very nearly made my Festive ‘Spill and I could listen to it over and over again.
Jonathan Byrd – White Oak Wood – Suzi: As well as its many other uses, slow-burning white oak is perfect for a hog roast, according to Jonathan. His 300lb piggy, properly cooked in a metal drum, will feed the whole neighbourhood.
Bill Monroe & Doc Watson – Have A Feast Here Tonight – Fintan28: When you’re living off the land a feast is where you find it. A hare raising tale of a coney well served.
Carolina Chocolate Drops – Cornbread And Butterbeans – tincanman: This is Rhiannon Giddens’ first band. She has a few Grammys, a couple of Pultizers, a MacArthur Fellowship, and an honorary doctorate or two to her name and people listening to her play banjo on Beyoncé’s new country album are going: ‘who dat?’
Katzenjammer – Cherry Pie – Suzi: Great-grandma’s recipe for cherry pie is just irresistible.
Preston Love w/ Shuggie Otis – Chili Mac – Fintan28: And a tribute to the poor man’s feast. Chili don’t cost much to make. Add some pasta and it goes a long way. Great groove.
Joe Henry – Salt And Sugar – tincanman: The more I listen to Joe Henry the more I think he’s an overlooked genius. This is from The Gospel According To Water, an album he wrote in 2019 after a near-fatal health scare. It’s pretty deep.
Jake Thackray – My Roly Poly Girl – Suzi: She used to cook all kinds of delicious food for him, but now she’s left him. He thinks someone has stolen her away – it had better not be you…!
Main playlist, blurbs above:
YouTube playlist, blurbs below:
Mississippi John Hurt – Short’nin’ Bread – MaggieB: A song I’ve known since I was knee high, and I’ve just discovered how to make the stuff. Here’s the recipe!
The Lancashire Hotpots – Chippy Tea – LongTallSilly: The hotpots have it right, it is a working man’s right to have a chippy tea on a Friday night! 🤣
Foo Fighters – The Feast and The Famine – AliM: Nothing to do with food, really, but a good excuse to rock out.
Pink Floyd – Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast – LongTallSilly: A fine feast from Floyd!
Lau and Karine Polwart – Midnight Feast – AliM: I love Lau. And Karine Polwart isn’t bad, either.
Stanley Holloway – Yorkshire Pudding – LongTallSilly: Alright, I admit it’s not a song, but it’s a good tale!
Finally, one you can go to school on
Ready? sch is for …….
Birmingham born Katherine Priddy earned her musical stripes in the English folk scene, performing at numerous festivals, including three appearances at the prestigious Cambridge Folk Festival.
Her folk credentials were boosted when, in 2018, Richard Thompson named her debut EP as his ‘Best Thing I’ve Heard All Year’ in MOJO Magazine. Katherine was asked to support Richard on tour the following year and again in 2021. She’s also performed at the End of the Road Festival, on the Glastonbury Acoustic Stage and she’s supported The Chieftains, Loudon Wainwright III and Vashti Bunyan among many others.
But it’s not just on the folk scene that Katherine Priddy’s talent has been recognised. After playing some tracks from her debut album, The Eternal Rocks Beneath, in 2021, on his Radio Six show, Guy Garvey was blown away, describing her as ‘Utterly brilliant…one of my favourite voices in contemporary music’. Then, in 2023, Garvey invited her to open his show at The Roundhouse, performing a duet with her.
I’m not usually a big fan of folk music but Katherine Priddy treads a delicate line between folk and indie and always seems to come down on the right side.
Enjoy…
Happy birthday!
Thank you for all the work you put in, week after week.
May your playlists be revered and commented upon!
Wishing you all the best ♥♥♥
Good evening, and welcome to your songs about spectacles, of various sorts, from the sublime to the end of your nose. I always fancied a pair of these: “Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses have been specially designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude to danger. At the first hint of trouble, they turn totally black and thus prevent you from seeing anything that might alarm you.” (Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe). As worn by Zaphod Beeblebrox.
If you have an Earworm you’d like to share, please send an .mp3, .m4a or a link to adempster73@gmail.com, together with a few words about why you’ve chosen it. Next week’s theme will be feasting and food (I apologise if you are observing Lent), and worms should reach me by close of play on Sunday 25 February. The theme was suggested in part by glassarfemptee, to whom many thanks.
Many thanks to all contributors – keep calm and carry on!
Les Hyper Gaelles – Lunettes – DebbyM: French punk from Germany!
Anthony Reynolds – Girls With Glasses – glassarfemptee: Welsh musician Anthony Reynolds released this on a 2008 EP. “Nothing surpasses/girls with glasses”.
Sticks McGhee – One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show – Fintan28: Some worldly advice for anyone choosing to be the centre of attention. It don’t play a lotta places and the show moves on even after you’re gone.
The Lovin’ Spoonful – 4 Eyes – glassarfemptee: From the lovely album “Hums of the Lovin’ Spoonful”, way back in ’66. And they are still doing reunion gigs.
The Decemberists – The Infanta – shoegazer: Time for a big parade.
Nilsson – You’re Breakin’ My Heart – tincanman: The one and only Harry Nilsson tells a girlfriend to fuck off because she broke his heart. And his glasses.
Millie Jackson – Rose Coloured Glasses – severin: Millie goes country. Well, she did in 1981. And some people, apparently didn’t like it. Sounds fine to me.
Pohlmann – Captain mit Sonnenbrille – DebbyM: Pohlmann is a singer-songwriter, frequently on tour and selling out gigs in smaller venues. His Captain is on a never-ending journey and protects himself by wearing sunglasses in the dark.
Betty Wright – Keep Love New – severin: One of two “rose coloured glasses” contributions from me. From her excellent 4U2NJOY album.
Bobby Bland – I Pity The Fool – Fintan28: The crowd is looking on as he gets crushed. All He can do is pity the next guy.
Willie Tee – Teasin’ You – Fintan28: It’s a party and this guy thinks he’s got it made. What he doesn’t know? He’s putting on a show for everyone and the ending ain’t gonna be to his liking. Willie knows though.
Tommy Handley and Ronald Frankeau – In the Quartermaster’s Store – severin: “My eyes are dim, I cannot see. I have not brought my specs with me.” We always used to sing this on coach trips but with the names of our fellow travellers substituted for the victuals. (My dad used to sing this – Ed.)
Jake Thackray – Isabel Makes Love Upon National Monuments – Suzi: I think it’s safe to say that Isabel has definitely made a spectacle of herself.
Main playlist, blurbs above:
YouTube playlist, blurbs below:
The 99ers – Buddy Holly Glasses – MaggieB: A song that mentions everyone’s glasses-wearing rock n roller.
ZZ Top – Cheap Sunglasses – LongTallSilly: Cutting out the light certainly helps. These spectacles are ready after you make a spectacle of yourself the night before!
Jethro Tull – The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles – AliM: From ‘A Passion Play’ (1973). Very strange.
Which whord will you choose?
Ready? wh is for …….
When someone cites Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Chet Baker as her main sources of inspiration and then goes on to say that she wants to do for jazz, what Taylor Swift has done for pop and country music, we really should be taking notice.
Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir, better known as Laufey (it’s pronounced ‘lay-vay’) is an Icelandic-born, classically-trained, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter. And at 24 she has the world at her feet.
Laufey was nominated alongside Rickie Lee Jones and Bruce Springsteen amongst others for this years Grammys in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category, an award she went on to win, joining such luminaries as Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, Harry Connick Jr. and Frank Sinatra on the honour roll! Later the same day she was on the main stage with Billy Joel, playing the cello. Not a bad day’s work…
Some might feel that she steers dangerously close to the shore marked ‘Easy Listening’ but I’ve always embraced a good tune and Laufey knows how to deliver a soaring melody without crossing over into enemy territory.
Definitely one to watch…
1. The Chinese Year of the Dragon just started. Which creature’s year was it when you were born and do you have any characteristics in common?
2. If you could introduce, change or abolish one law, what would you do?
3. Is age really just a number? What’s the difference in years between your real age and the age you feel you are?
4. There used to be only three conspiracy theories (the moon landings, JFK’s assassination and Area 51) but then the CIA flew two planes into the World Trade Centre….. What’s your favourite lunatic conspiracy theory of recent years?
5. Is this a series with plenty of life in it? If so, do you want to set next week’s questions?
Good evening, and welcome to your selection of songs about Mardi Gras, Carnivals and Festivals.
If you have an Earworm you’d like to share, please send an .mp3, .m4a or a link to adempster73@gmail.com, together with a few words about why you’ve chosen it. Next week’s theme will be spectacles, whether on your nose or making a spectacle of yourself, interpret as you will. Thanks to glassarfemptee for suggesting the topic. Worms should reach me by close of play on Sunday 18 February.
Many thanks to all contributors – keep calm and carry on!
A Certain Ratio – Si Fermir O Grido – shoegazer: More Latin carnival than Mardi Gras.
Jon Batiste – Boy Hood (w PJ Morton & Trombone Shorty) – tincanman: Jon Batiste is a spectacular young music creator and entertainer. An artist first, he collaborates with anyone willing to blaze new trails in jazz, funk, R&B, soul, hip hop, and ‘ethnic’ urban music. He spent his boyhood in NOLA.
Superblue – Bacchanal Time – Glassarfemptee: Monday 12th February is J’Ouvert (opening day) for the Trinidad carnival, ending with Las’ Lap on Tuesday evening. Soca Monarch Superblue invites you to “Jump up” at the Bacchanal. Watch out for the moko jumbies.
The Jamaicans – Ba Ba Boom – severin: Festival song. I first heard this song when the British reggae band Black Slate covered it live at a RAR organised gig back in 1978.
The Iguanas – El Orangutan – Fintan28: An orangutan couple walk into a bar… Not the first line of a joke. No it’s the premise of this song by New Orleans Latino band The Iguanas. I’m guessing it’s based on an amorous couple they saw stumbling into Mona Juana’s. Or something they imagined doing that. There was definitely a banana .
Siouxsie and the Banshees – She’s a Carnival – severin: And possibly a Mardi Gras too.
Mumbo Gumbo – Walkers Cay – Fintan28: Mumbo Gumbo are a Sacramento based band that I’ve been dancing to for 30 years or more. Every street dance in Reno has seen them at least once. They’ve performed at Mardi Gras multiple times but sadly I haven’t been. Yet!
Dr John – Goin’ Back To New Orleans – DebbyM: I think of Mardi Gras, I think of New Orleans; I think of New Orleans, I think of Dr John.
Wild Magnolias – (Somebody Got) Soul Soul Soul – tincanman: There are almost 40 semi-secret Mardis Gras Indian ‘tribes’ in New Orleans. Mostly African-American, they parade in Indian fancy dress and belt out joyful soul and funk. It’s a confusing tie up which came about because so many Indians sheltered escaping slaves. Quite a fascinating rabbit hole: http://tinyurl.com/2xr2rqvv. I also recommend Cha Wa, The Wild Tchoupitoulas, and The Meters. MaggieB: This is interesting too: Iko Iko original meaning and lyrics.
Professor Longhair – Big Chief – Fintan28: Rhumba base piano Blues? In New Orleans music is a good Creole so sure. Louisiana native Professor Longhair walks his piano right into Basin Street with this one. If it sounds familiar Lily Allen stole or sampled or borrowed or whatever the kids do this lick on Knock ’em Out. The Big Chief is the guy who sets the parade route for the Mardi Gras “Tribes”.
Professor Longhair – Mardi Gras in New Orleans – glassarfemptee: The late Professor Longhair was a stalwart of the New Orleans Mardi Gras.
Erland and the Carnival – My Name is Carnival – glassarfemptee: Straight outta Orkney, here’s Erland and the Carnival (now defunct). This from their eponymous first album…
The Seekers – The Carnival Is Over – severin: An old Russian tune and lyric by Tom Springfield, written after attending Carnival in Rio. Mentions Italian Comedia dell’arte characters for added internationalism.
Main playlist, blurbs above:
YouTube playlist, blurbs below. You can add songs here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqxz-zGCy09pj6uRaf0ZRX4DiLP0Y3Ub-&si=lNWUXlb6u0D2BHCj
Paul Simon – Take Me To The Mardi Gras – Suzi: We don’t have the equivalent of the Mardi Gras in the UK – we just make pancakes, which are larger and thinner than the American variety, and are usually eaten with lemon. In some parts of the country there are pancake races, the competitors each holding a frying pan with a pancake in it which they must toss as they run without letting it fall to the ground. This is as exciting as it gets here, however the pancakes are very tasty.
Santana – Carnaval – AliM: One from my youth.
Spyro Gyra – Carnaval – AliM: One from my youth.
Fats Domino – Mardi Gras in New Orleans – AliM: No, I’m not that old. But I do have an annoying habit of whistling.
Half Man Half Biscuit – If I Had Possession over Pancake Day – LongTallSilly: Great song for shrove Tuesday!
Better make ay while the sun is shining
Ready? ay is for …….
“I think that the specificity of Phoebe’s lyrics, and the vulnerability she expresses in her voice when she delivers them, is what makes her music so deeply impactful and moving for me as a fan. You feel like she’s reliving a precise memory or delivering a secret message to someone and you get the privilege to read it or hear about it.”
I’d love to claim to have written those words myself but they are in fact the words of kickass mega-star, Taylor Swift, who has also described Phoebe as “one of my favourite artists in the world. If she sings it, I will listen to it. I just love her voice.”
After playing in a number of local (i.e. Pasadena, California) bands, Phoebe Bridgers recorded her first EP in 2014 and has since released two solo albums as well as collaborations with Connor Oberst (“Bright Eyes”) under the name Better Oblivion Community Centre and, alongside Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, two EPs and a Grammy award winning album as part of the indie supergroup boygenius.
Phoebe has been described as a serial collaborator and has also worked with The 1975, Christian Lee Hutson, Muna, The National and SZA. When Taylor Swift asked Phoebe to record a duet with her for the new version of her Red album Phoebe is said to have replied to the message by saying, “I’ve been waiting for this text my entire life”. The result was the track ‘Nothing New’ – well worth the wait…
With two critically acclaimed solo albums behind her, her Grammy award winning work with boygenius and her friendship with Taylor Swift, there seems to be no limit to what Phoebe might achieve.
Watch this space…
Continuing the idea of Wednesday being the end of the week (in the Song Bar cycle?), here’s a few questions for you:
1. I recently bought some new carpets. People tell me I should now stop wearing shoes indoors. Do you have any rules about this (or something similar) in your house/flat/mansion?
2. The internet has changed the world irrevocably. In your mind a) what is the best thing it has brought us and b) what is the worst?
3. We’ve all been around a while now. What is the one skill you wish you’d acquired earlier in life that would have made your current life better?
4. It seems the oil industry was researching the climate impact of burning their products back in 1954 and, by the seventies, had an accurate picture of the parlous state we and the planet would now find ourselves in. Yet they spent billions of dollars aggressively denying it ever since, so that they could make gazillions of dollars more. Does that make greed the deadliest sin, or is it pride, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony or sloth? Or maybe the worst sin in the twenty-first century is something else?
5. Jeopardy, Mastermind, The Chase, University Challenge, Pointless, Only Connect or do you actually hate bloody quizzes?
Good evening, and welcome to your selection of songs about wine, women and song.
If you have an earworm you’d like to share, please send an.mp3, .m4a or a link to adempster73@gmail.com, together with a few words about why you’ve chosen it. Next week’s theme will be Mardi Gras, or anything associated with it, as suggested by glassarfemptee. Worms should reach me by close of play on Sunday 11 February.
Many thanks to all contributors – keep calm, and carry on!
Loggins and Messina – Vahevela – Fintan28: Sailor sneaks ashore to sing with the local girls & tipple a bit. Sounds fine.
Fairground Attraction – Watching the Party – severin: Someone’s not joining in the festivities and frivolities, whatever they may be. Bit of a shoehorn this one but I love their first album beyond reason.
Elton John – Elderberry Wine – Suzi: I’ve made elderberry wine in the past; it’s quite potent, but needs time to mature. Here’s an early rocker from Elton, about a wife who did the same, till she left him, and now he can’t get it together at all.
Whitesnake – Wine, Women an’ Song – glassarfemptee and LongTallSilly: ghe: A DsD fave, Whitesnake want to rock and roll all over you. LTS: Can’t pass up a chance to listen to some Whitesnake. Coverdale/ Gillan one of the great debates of my youth. Tend to favour Gillan but Coverdale has his moments, though not PC! “Give me a rock an’ roll band / With a mean an’ dirty blues guitar, / Take me to a dance hall palace / With a twenty four hour bar / Then you better lock up your daughter, your sister too…”
Margaret Glaspy – Irish Goodbye – tincanman: Not sure if this is an actual thing, but Margaret says it is. When she goes out with a group of friends and decides it’s time to leave, she leaves. No words needed; she’s just not there anymore. From last year’s Echo the Diamond.
Joan Armatrading – Water With the Wine – severin: Wine, woman plus younger man, singing optional. Very loosely based on a real incident which in reality got no further than Joan being amused by the boy’s over-confident flirting.
Offenbach – Poison rouge (Chanson sur le vin et les femmes) – DebbyM: Mid-80s Canadian Franco-rock.
Josh Rouse – Lemon Tree – Fintan28: Stolen kisses under a lemon tree and the beat of a new song in the bargain. Perhaps the wine is implied but I’ve no doubt it’s part of the magic.
Jimmy Buffett – Nautical Wheelers – Fintan28: ” a little pleasin’ & teasin'” along with “the occasional bottle of wine”? Sounds a good evening. Come on and dance with me.
Andrew Bird – So Much Wine – glassarfemptee: Wine women and song doesn’t always work out well. Here’s Andrew Bird’s experience…
At Swim Two Birds – Wine Destroys the Memory – shoegazer: Roger Quigley who died too early in 2020.
Lal Waterson – Red Wine and Promises – Suzi: A song from a woman who admits that she has had far too much cheap red wine. Does she care? No.
Boris Vian – Je bois – DebbyM: Drinking to forget his wife’s ‘friends’.
Loretta Lynn – Wine, Women and Song – glassarfemptee: The late Loretta Lynn sings a warning. I’m not a huge fan of country, but Loretta was very kind and helpful to many aspiring singers. She gave Mary Gauthier a guitar to encourage her.
Loudon Wainwright III – Wine With Dinner (Live) – severin: “Sometimes when I drink too much, I cannot get it up” That’s the wine and the one (possibly) disappointed woman. I think he was still married to Kate at the time. And there are lots of people singing. Rather too enthusiastically, if you ask me.
Main Playlist, blurbs above:
YouTube playlist, blurbs below, and link here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqxz-zGCy09pP_aKoiD-1-m_h_fXL1TGG&si=CywhlrxBYHrn5a2V
Ralph McTell – Nettle Wine – AliM: From his first (1972?) album which I still know verbatim. A charming and whimsical song: ‘Taking wood to build a fire / Could you really get much higher / than standing in the
doorway with a glass of nettle wine? / My lady beside me, the mountain behind me / Before me the sea and the red skyline.’
Guns n’Roses – Nightrain – MaggieB: Nightrain is very cheap wine that GnR used to drink when they were poor and recording Appetite for Destruction. At some shows in 1987, Axl Rose would give drinking tips from the stage. When introducing this song, he would sometimes say something like: “In these liquor stores that the winos hit up, right beside Thunderbird, you’ll find the Nightrain. That’ll f–k up you twice as bad as Thunderbird and it’s a lot cheaper.”
Black Sabbath – Paranoid – LongTallSilly: I’m sure wine would have staved off the problems.
Ringo Starr – Wine, Woman and Loud Happy Songs – LongTallSilly: Just a shame the women ran off and drank all the wine! Trains wouldn’t do that.
Twin Atlantic – Yes I Was Drunk – AliM: ‘Nothing could stop me leaving, / The impulse runs through my blood / And I hope you live for your freedom, / I hope you enjoy the lust…’ OK, it’s implicit, but wine, women and song can go wrong.
Ian Drury – Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick -LongTallSilly: Well there’s a woman and a vineyard, it’s a song. Works for me plus I just enjoy hearing it! 😘
Ian Drury – Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll – LongTallSilly: Intrinsically the same, although more gender fluid🤔
Verdi – Brindisi – La Traviata – MaggieB and Suzi: Maggie: And another one, Cheers! Suzi: ‘Yield to the voice of temptation!’ Well, I couldn’t resist this… (Get a room – Ed.)
Thanks to the increased number of contributors this year – and the generous overpayments from some – the Spill Renewal account now has a surplus of £7.35!
Thank you, one and all.
British ‘Spillers can opt out of this one if they like.
Ready? eu is for …….
My BP & pulse are unhealthily through the roof this weekend, folks; I’ve got three major exams in three days – already my second batch of the year and more to come: looks like 2024 is gonna pound me hard!
The good news is I’ve passed the first one today, and I really shouldn’t let it get to me because I’ve been doing this stuff for years and years. 100% score today. So I’m allowed a little stress relief tonight (but no beer) by going to see The Zutons at The Parish in Huddersfield. I’m picking up Gordon[immel] in an hour’s time.
Here’s the new single ahead of a new album due in April. I’m loving this.
The 'Spill 