I had a lovely couple of days off in the south west of Scotland last week. We enjoyed a family get together and on Wednesday the rain held off long enough for a stroll down the High Street. I recommend all of it to you but in between the craft stores and print shops there is that rare gem: the second hand record emporium. Even better news is there is country section which prices everything at £2. I picked up a great haul for under a tenner including Frankie Lane, Marty Robbins and a fab Glen Campbell compilation all on vinyl. Pre loved? Re loved baby.
One of the interesting things about old records is the detail that comes with the sleeve. I’m a real fan of liner notes. Bob Dylan’s streams of unconsciousness and Lowell George’s ruminations were always welcome additions in the old days but my all time favourite was the information gleaned on A Hard Day’s Night. My imagination took off when I read this:
Creating and perfecting completely new compositions for the soundtrack of ‘A HARD DAY’S NIGHT’ presented John and Paul with one of the greatest challenges of their pop-penning career. In the past their song-writing had been done at a more leisurely pace. Now they had a shooting schedule deadline to meet and the entire collection of fresh numbers had to be compiled during a session of concerts in Paris and a now legendary visit to America. To assist their work the two boys had a grand-piano moved into their hotel suite at the George V in Paris.
These days there is no liner notes, no sleeve and most often no physical product. Often as not it takes weeks before I catch up with a physical product and to be honest, I’m increasingly unlikely to fill up my shelves unless I feel I really need to own the record. As I write this it’s Friday morning and I’m in Dublin on a gig day enjoying the releases of Lainey Wilson’s Whirlwind and Gillian Welch and David Rawlings‘ Woodland. Both albums are hugely anticipated releases, although Lainey has brought out three in the time it took for Gill and Dave to make one. The other contrast is in style. Both artists are highly respected country artists but neither might be wholly loved by mainstream country fans. Which is why, when people (decreasingly) declare, ‘I don’t like country music,’ I usually reply by asking, ‘Which kind of country music is it you don’t like?’
There is so much to enjoy within the enjoy it’s very possible you can miss out huge swathes of the genre and still declare yourself a country fan. Believe me, there’s certain acts I’ve rarely listened to or only listened enough to know – never again, to be sure I never want to go there again. But of this be sure, this week we’ve been allowed to enjoy two records which will become firm friends for a good while to come. On Another Country this week we will celebrate Whirlwind and Woodland in style and I fully expect to play a lot more in the weeks to come. We will also pay our respects to Mogan Wade, whose new album also came out on Friday last.
Else where we’ll bring you some of that pre loved vinyl from Glen Campbell and showcase songs from some of the great acts about to descend on Paisley for The Mill Town Music Festival this coming weekend. Listen out for Flatland Cavalry, Kaitlin Butts, Kristian Bush and Andrew Combs in a two hour show which starts from five past eight on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotland this Tuesday evening. Join me live if you can.
