kultureflash for 6 July carried a small, pithy notice about the then-upcoming summertime gig by Entrance that I went to and wrote about here. That short notice and a brief conversation with Guy Blakeslee after the gig led me to discover a raft of new music over the summer.
When we heard him in Bristol, Guy sang a powerful, unaccompanied cover piece, 'No More, My Lord'. He'd heard it first on the Goodbye, Babylon collection — an anthology of Gospel and 'American roots music' that, he told me, has had a big impact on singers. Subsequently, I listened to that collection and now, for me, it sits alongside the Alan Lomax collections, Prison Songs — from where the eponymous Goodbye, Babylon is taken. (I came across the two Lomax CDs following a recommendation by Tom Waits.) This term, I am teaching again Morrison's Beloved and there's material on Goodbye, Babylon which will be as valuable a teaching resource as the material I already use from The Black Book that Morrison edited in 1974 ('a landmark scrapbook of hidden history', Guardian).
Simultaneously, I have been taking on board a lot of new ideas about the Blues and the development of music in the last century. I really wish I knew more about this, though. Something of the voice on the track 'Jesus is getting us ready for the great day', from Goodbye, Babylon, reminds me of Jagger's carefully fabricated transatlantic voice in 'Prodigal Son', Beggars Banquet, 1968. There are numerous other cross-references to be made: eg, 'You've Got to Move' — Goodbye, Babylon, CD 3, track 9, Emma Daniels and Mother Sally Jones — was covered by a number of artists before the Stones recorded it in 1971. (Some day soon I must read Geoff Dyer's But Beautiful and, for slightly different reasons, Evan Eisenberg's The Recording Angel. Neither book is going to throw light on the artists I'm talking about here, but both are clearly important — about music traditions in the last century and how the recording industry has shaped and influenced taste.)
There are further interviews with Guy Blakeslee at In Music We Trust and Sponic, and there's a review of Wandering Stranger in Stylus. The other big discovery of the early summer was Devendra Banhart (interviewed here by soundgenerator). I'm off the Astoria to hear him next month. My friend, Joe, tells me that DB is a mesmeric singer/performer.
To do now: listen to a lot more of Skip James, a key influence on Guy Blakeslee; find out much more about John Fahey and Revenant Records, and the Soledad Brothers (I somehow stumbled over these in the summer, too) … I have more to post soon about DB, Vashti Bunyan, Animal Collective, Antony … And, since the mansion is endlessly capacious, I must lay my hands on as much as I can find of Cat Power (on Matador Records) — thanks, Gabby, for the additional shove to get on and do this. And thanks to Jamie McKendrick and Archie (F) for telling me to listen to more Leadbelly (another Lomax link). Now, if it weren't for the day job …
