Courtney Marie Andrews has managed to sum up the state of the world in three words: "Cons and Clowns". It's bad enough when we encounter confidence tricksters and misguided fools in our everyday lives, but when we elevate them to positions of power, the situation becomes well-nigh hopeless. Fortunately, though, the ever-optimistic Ms Andrews was…Read more Cons and Clowns
country
My Halo at Half-Light
An angel's halo shines brightly at all times, but a saint's is only faintly visible in the half-light of dusk or dawn. Perhaps that is why snakefarm's recordings have gone largely unnoticed since it was formed in 1999. Or perhaps Anna Domino and Michel Delory are only kidding when they use the title of their…Read more My Halo at Half-Light
The Price of Love
The Price of Love was written by Don and Phil Everly (The Everly Brothers), and released as a single in 1965. It reached no. 2 on the official UK pop chart. There have been several other versions of the song, too - notably, one by Bryan Ferry included on his 1976 album, Let's Stick Together.…Read more The Price of Love
Cunningham Bird
The parrot is a cunning bird ... ... but that is not what this blog post is about. An album by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks was released on vinyl in 1973. It was called, simply, Buckingham Nicks. Shortly afterwards, Buckingham and Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac, and their debut offering was eclipsed by their new…Read more Cunningham Bird
Harvest Time Selection
The seeds of musical composition are sown in the Winter. They germinate in the Spring and bear fruit when the Autumn comes. There was a marvellous illustration of that principle in my Spotify Release Radar this week. Not only was there a sample track from the new album by Hidden Orchestra, one of my very…Read more Harvest Time Selection
Gordon Lightfoot
Performing at Canada's 150th birthday celebration, 2017 The Crotchety household was saddened this week to hear that Gordon Lightfoot has died. The missus and I often listened to his 1981 compilation album, The Best of Gordon Lightfoot, in the early days of our relationship. For us, the Lightfoot name brings back memories of feelgood days…Read more Gordon Lightfoot
Carol of the Bells
East of the North Atlantic Ocean and on the western edge of Europe lies the United Kingdom. At the geographical heart of the UK, slightly to the southwest of the centre point, there is the urban conurbation of Birmingham and, in the balancing position a little to the northeast, is a triangle of lesser known…Read more Carol of the Bells
Love Rat
I first heard Sally Barker some time around 1990 when she was touring in support of her second album, This Rhythm Is Mine. Guest musicians on that album included Mary MacMaster¹ and Patsy Seddon, harpists from Scotland, who subsequently joined Sally and accordionist Karen Tweed to form the all-woman folk band The Poozies. If my memory…Read more Love Rat
Jessica
We started the year in quiet contemplation here on the Crotchety Man blog but now it's time to shake off the torpor of the holiday season and get moving. And, you know, nothing says "let's get this show on the road" better than Jessica by The Allman Brothers Band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TqmGptGZbM Jessica is an instrumental from the Brothers and…Read more Jessica
The Rising Sun
This time, for my Track Of The Week, I'm going to do something a bit different. Instead of focusing on a specific recording I'm going to explore about a dozen different versions of the same song: The House of the Rising Sun. The link is to a Spotify playlist containing recordings from 1941 to 2001…Read more The Rising Sun
Crotchety Man 