Monday 24 July 2023

Anything Goes & Everything Flows DJ Mix 25


Welcome to my latest 60-ish minute mix/playlist. I go a little bit overtime this month, but that's OK! There are no hard and fast rules.

This month really lives up to the title Anything Goes & Everything Flows. There are super cool sounds from Moodyman, UNKLE and Confidence Man. House classic Promised Land by Joe Smooth, then we have an indie dancefloor smash, pure pop, a brilliant remix, two cool cover versions  and then we end with a couple of new discoveries by Warmduscher (I hope you love this song as much as me!) and Unloved who include the genius of David Holmes in their ranks. I love their blissed out and druggy sound. Check their Pink Album (pictured below) from 2022.

Search for Everything Flows DJ Mix 25 on Spotify or CLICK HERE

The songs on this mix are;

Don't You Want My Love - Moodyman

Do Yourself Some Good (Ronin Throwdown)

Out The Window (Greg Wilson & Che Wilson mix) - Confidence Man (pictured above)

Promised Land - Joe Smooth

Detroit - Gorillaz

Northern Piano (Hardcore Piano Mix) - Ultraworld

The Only One I Know - The Charlatans

Controversy - Prince

Since You've Been Gone - The Allergies

Lost In Music (Dimitro from Paris Remix) - Sister Sledge

I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston

Jumpin' Jack Flash - Ananda Shankar

I Heard It Through The Grapevine - The Slits

Wild Flowers - Warmduscher

Mother's been a bad girl - Unloved

Sorry, Baby - Unloved



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Thursday 20 July 2023

Chestnut Mare

Trust me #56
Chestnut Mare by The Byrds

I first read about Chestnut Mare by The Byrds in an old NME / Melody Maker that I bought in Virginia Galleries in Glasgow. There was a shop that sold band t-shirts, posters and old music weeklies, so I got a stack of vintage NME and Melody Maker's that featured The Stone Roses, as I was so head over heels in love with the band. I'm guessing this was in 1992 when I'd regularly head into Glasgow on a Saturday to walk round town and visit the likes of FLIP clothing and Missing Records with the £10 or so I'd make every week from a bacon round on a Friday after school.

The NME (cover below) followed the Roses out on a European tour and the journalist talked enthusiastically about the tunes and artists played by the band on their bus; Hendrix, The Misunderstood, Burning Spear and Chestnut Mare by The Byrds.


In the months ahead I bought a CD compilation of The Misunderstood which had magnificent sleeve notes that talked of a radio session where they left their guitars feeding back to walk out of the studio for a cigarette break and then returned to just keep on playing. Check their song Never Had A Girl (Like You Before). CLICK HERE 

20 Essential Tracks by The Byrds was the compilation I bought by The Byrds. What a fantastic introduction to the band! Teenage Fanclub had covered Mr Tambourine Man and I had a cassette of them doing that from the Reading Festival. With endorsements from both the Roses and the Fanclub, it was clear that The Byrds were a band I should be checking out.


Of course I fell for Roger McGuinn's chiming 12-string Rickenbacker guitar sound - just as Squire, Blake and McGinley clearly had. The Dylan covers (I'd go on to buy The Byrds Play Dylan) and the early singles were impeccable. Then you had the later day stuff like the beautiful Ballad of Easy Rider and then the song mentioned in the NME article - the stunning Chestnut Mare.

Chestnut Mare really stood out on the compilation as it sounded so different to everything else; the sound of McGuinn singing about trying to catch and tame a wild horse; always alone, never with a herd, prettiest mare I've ever seen. What a stop-you-in-your-tracks sound - McGuinn singing over his guitar before the rest of the band fall in as he sings the first short chorus, that The Byrds reach in just 18-seconds! 

I'm going to catch that horse if I can
And when I do I'll give her my brand

Things slow down again to allow McGuinn to talk about chasing this mare for weeks, 

I'd catch a glimpse of her every once in a while
Takin' her meal, or bathing
A fine lady

McGuinn then goes on to talk about the day he got real close, so he snuck up on her nice and easy, got my rope out and I flung it in the air

McGuinn's voice rises slightly with the excitement of recounting this moment, and after a second The Byrds really are in full flight for the full extended chorus. Listen to those guitars!

I'm going to catch that horse if I can
And when I do, I'll give her my brand
And we'll be friends for life
She'll be just like a wife
I'm going to catch that horse if I can


Continuing his tale, McGuinn talks about catching the mare, taking a chance and jumping on.

And she takes off, runnin' up on to the ridge
Higher than I've ever been before

His mare is then spooked by a sidewinder all coiled and ready to strike and his mare jumps off the edge, me holdin' on

Then there is a hazy psychedelic 2-verse middle section (lasting for almost a full minute from 2-minutes 16 seconds) as McGuinn and his mare appear to be gliding and riding over the moon, straight for the sun, before they start to fall ...

That glorious chorus kicks in again, before McGuinn resumes his story ... they have fallen 'bout a mile down I'd say and they land in this little pool of water 'bout six feet wide and one foot deep. I love the way McGuinn describes the force with which they hit it - we splashed it dry.

That's when I lost my hold and she got away
But I'm gonna try to get her again some day

I love the urgency in the way Roger sings that last line and then for the final chorus. McGuinn's 12-string combines gloriously with Clarence White's country-style acoustic and electric guitar picking, there is also the occasional delightful slide. Chestnut Mare is a beautifully told and sung tale, the band play sublimely and the production is simply divine. 

Revisiting this song for my Trust Me section has led to me listening to The Byrds almost exclusively for around a week. I've been adding quite a few songs to my Never Ending Mixtape, including Wasn't Born To Follow, Draft Morning and One Hundred Years from Now. 

Chestnut Mare is an incredible song, originally written in 1969 for a country rock musical that Roger McGuinn was working on. It never came about ... maybe it will some day. 

In the meantime, I hope this blog causes you to go on a Byrds binge like I have. Chestnut Mare is added to my Trust Me playlist. You can find a list of all the songs on it to date below, along with links to the blogs.

Search for Everything Flows - Trust Me on Spotify , or CLICK HERE

Previous Trust Me blogs

1. Something On Your Mind by Karen Dalton
1A. Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells
2. I Am, I Said  by Neil Diamond
3. Where's The Playground Susie?   by Glen Campbell
4. If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lighfoot
5. Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon
6. Gone With The Wind Is My Love by Rita and the Tiaras
7. In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans
8. The Music Box by Ruth Copeland
9. The Ship Song by Nick Cave
10. Sometimes by James
11. I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time
12. Didn't Know What I Was In For by Better Oblivion Community Centre
13. When My Boy Walks Down The Street by The Magnetic Fields
14. The Man Don't Give A F**k by Super Furry Animals
15. All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun by Jeff Buckley and Liz Fraser
16. Are You Lookin' by The Tymes
17. A Real Hero by College & Electric Youth
18. Feelings Gone by Callum Easter
19. Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground
20. Did I Say by Teenage Fanclub
21. Don't Look Back by Teenage Fanclub
23. Belfast by Orbital
24. Clouds by The Jayhawks
25. Dreaming Of You by The Coral
26. Everlasting Love by Love Affair
27. Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke
28. Teenage Kicks by The Undertones
29. Shaky Ground by Sneeze
29. Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells
30. I Can Feel Your Love by Felice Taylor
31. The State We're In by The Chemical Brothers w/ Beth Orton
32. Sunshine After The Rain by Ellie Greenwich
33. Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem
34. Mondo 77 by Looper
35. Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton
36. Rat Trap by The Boomtown Rats
37. How High by The Charlatans
38. I Can't Let Go by Evie Sands
39. Pop Song 89 by R.E.M.
40. Summertime Clothes by Animal Collective
41. There She Goes by The Las
42. We're Going To Be Friends by White Stripes
43. Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo
44. Sister Rena by Lomond Campbell
45. Revolution by The Beatles
46. Lazarus by The Boo Radleys
47. Wrote For Luck by Happy Mondays
48. American Trilogy by The Delgados
49. Loser by Beck 
50. Silent Sigh by Badly Drawn Boy
51. Comedy by Shack
52. Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven
53. Freakscene by Dinosaur Jr
54. Thank You For Being You by The Pastels
55. I Think I'm In Love by Spiritualized






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Tuesday 18 July 2023

Never Ending Mixtape part 83


Hey

How are you?

Thanks for visiting and welcome to the latest additions to my Never Ending Mixtape. If you're new, it's a Spotify playlist which I add to all the time. There is no thought to the order; it's eclectic and eccentric and there are now 3,355 songs on the playlist. 

So dig in from the start, scroll to the end for the latest additions, go somewhere in between, or press shuffle and see where it takes you.

Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape or CLICK HERE

Scroll down to the end for the latest additions, play from the start or click shuffle to enjoy. I hope you discover some amazing music you've never heard before, or that you rediscover some old favourite songs.

Latest additions include;

OLD FAVES
Eternal Light by Teenage Fanclub, Papa Was A Rolling Stone by The Temptations, Feelin' by The La's, a reappreciation of Elton John's Are You Ready For Love? after his stunning Glastonbury show, Good Fortune by PJ Harvey

RECENT DISCOVERIES
Strawberry Fields Forever by Ritchie Havens, Hits Different by Taylor Swift, Draft Morning by The Byrds, Running Back by Thin Lizzy, Watch The Flowers Grow by The Wonder Who

NEW RELEASES

Foreign Land by Teenage Fanclub, Shadow by Baxter Drury, Blooming 4U by Carla J Easton



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Friday 14 July 2023

Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

Cover version of the month #88

Lauryn Hill covers Frankie Valli

My cover version of the month blog regularly leads to me discovering new facts about the origins of the song. I thought I knew this one. I was convinced that Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You was first recorded by Andy Williams, but in actual fact it was Frankie Valli. 

Bob Gaudi, Valli's former bandmate in the Four Seasons, wrote the song with his friend Bob Crewe. Valli released the Can't Take My Eyes Off You in April 1967, just ahead of the Summer of Love. Coming in at 3-minutes 24 seconds, this really is a perfect song. 

Easing in gently with strings and melancholic horns, the first two verses are feelings that people all over the world can relate to - that wonderful feeling of being head over heels in love when you can't take your eyes off someone and you can't believe it is really true.

At 1-minute 19 seconds there is a glorious jaunty horn led bridge to the chorus which absolutely explodes into life with Valli stretching his vocals in a joyful declaration of love.

I love you baby

And if it's quite alright I need you baby

To warm the lonely night, I love you baby

Trust in me when I say

Oh pretty baby

Don't bring me own I pray

Oh pretty baby

Now that I've found you stay

And let me love you baby

Let me love you

With no pause, we're back into the first verse, Valli's voice is absolutely gorgeous, as are the strings that swirl around him. Then it's back to the uplifting horn bridge that gets so many people up to dance at weddings and into that huge soulful and euphoric chorus. And it's over! With such a recognisable bridge and chorus it is almost difficult to believe that you only hear them twice!

Andy Williams covered the song in 1968 and took it to number 5 in the UK singles charts. So it's possible that his version is the version that is more widely known in the UK. Valli's version reached number 2 in the USA but doesn't appear to have been released over here.

Williams is a little more of a crooner than Valli. That said, I love the bass and the little scratch guitar riff in the intro and through the verses. That soulful undercurrent is lost a little for the bridge and chorus. It does become a little more 'loungey'.

I definitely prefer the Frankie Valli version to the Williams version that I thought was the original.

30-years on from Williams version, Lauryn Hill released her one and only solo album - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Coming on the back of Fugees 1996 album The Score, it's hard to believe that Hill hasn't released anything since! Hill was in an exceptionally rich vein of form, looking incredibly cool and singing heavenly.

Reading up on where she was at, it sounds like Hill was tired/exhausted of life in Fugees - the pressures resulting from the success of The Score and the conflict resulting from her relationship with Wyclef Jean. Jean married someone while still involved with Hill.

Hill found love with Rohan Marley (son of Bob) and it sounds like Lauryn was in a very happy place while recording her debut album, from June 96 - June 97. Hill and Marley became parents to young Zion in August 97.

Lauryn originally recorded the song to feature on the 1997 film Conspiracy Theory, however it wasn't actually included on the film soundtrack. That didn't stop a DJ in San Francisco from burning the song on to a CD and playing it on his show. It took off and other stations followed suit, eventually resulting in the song being a hidden track on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. In 1999, Hill's version became the first 'hidden song' to be nominated for a Grammy.

At the age of only 23, Hill was beautiful, cool, in love, a Mum and on top of the world musically in 1998. Her version is all kinds of cool, oozing confidence and soul. Hill takes out the bridge (beloved by all wedding attendees in Scotland) and goes straight to the chorus. 

I can't find anything online about why Lauryn recorded this, but I like to think that it's because she was indeed head over heels in love. And it comes across in the song, her voice is simply sublime.

My friends Phil and Mary played this for their first dance when they got married. So, perhaps for sentimental reasons, this is my favourite version of the song. I do dig the Frankie Valli version more than the Andy Williams version that I thought was the original.

Frankie Valli version

Andy Williams version

Lauryn Hill version

All of the above versions are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Previous covers of the month

13. Hurt
39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash
64. Lola
82. Drop
87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire








Lauryn Hill recorded


All previous cover version of the month blogs are listed below. To listen on Spotify, search for Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist, featuring all of the songs below, or CLICK HERE

Previous covers of the month

13. Hurt
39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash
64. Lola
82. Drop


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Monday 3 July 2023

I Think I'm In Love

Trust Me #55
I Think I'm In Love by Spiritualized  (and the Chemical Brothers vocal remix)

On Sunday 18th June I fulfilled a long held ambition when I got to DJ at McChuills, my very favourite pub in Glasgow. It was an honour to play alongside one of the bars resident DJ's - Stevie Elements. I had almost as much fun raking through his cases of 7-inch singles as I did playing.

And I also enjoyed looking through my own records while preparing my DJ bag for the night. I was determined to play an eclectic set, in keeping with my Anything Goes & Everything Flows monthly mixes. 

My mission when DJing is to get people dancing/singing/nodding their heads and showing signs of appreciation and I particularly love when people take the time to come up and ask what song I played if they didn't know it. Thankfully I achieved all of the above, including words of acknowledgement from another McChuills resident, the legendary JP who came up to chat a couple of times and I also shared a beer at the bar with him while Stevie was taking one of his turns on the decks.

I played Chemical Brothers remix of Spiritualized's I Think I'm In Love and a couple of people came up to ask who it was. It is an incredible song and sounded out of this world on the big speakers; psychedelic sonic perfection that takes off for the sun and urges you to hold on for the ride.

The original version is on Spiritualized's 1997 classic album Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space. It's an absolute masterpiece, from the elaborate prescription pill style packaging to the melting pot of music and the sound of Jason Pierce's heart breaking spread over 70-minutes. NME's Paul Moody hailed the album as a seismic tour de force, while the Melody Maker praised it as one mind blowing perspective-fusing supernova of an album .. that redefines notions of bittersweet and love-hate to the point where everyday emotions seem very small indeed. I'll save a blog on that for another time.

I Think I'm In Love burns beautifully slow to begin. A continuous note drones for almost a full minute, squelchy guitar sounds are played over the top before a gentle piano is introduced, some mouth organ and then Pierce begins to sing.

Sun so bright that I'm nearly blind

Cool cause I'm wired and I'm out of my mind

Warms the dope running down my spine

But I don't care about you and I've got nothing to do

Pierce's voice sounds blissfully damaged as the Spiritualized sound is layered delicately and delightfully around him. After he sings I don't care about you for the second time the layers drop out leaving Pierce to sing I've got nothing over a few piano notes. 

Everything stops and then the next stage of the song begins, beats are introduced and there is more of a groove, allowed to flow and develop for almost 2-minutes and then Pierce is back with call and response vocals that are catchy and funny. Very probably self depreciating.

I think I'm in love

Probably just hungry

There are times when Pierce sounds lost in the groove his Spiritualized orchestra has conjured, letting out little come on yelps in the background, as if he is urging them to keep going. 

I think I want to tell the world

Probably ain't listening

Horns, guitar, synth, piano, guitars, drones, beats and bass. The way everything is layered together is sublime. Ending with a gospel choir singing I think I'm in love repeatedly, the song is faded out. I imagine Pierce would never have wanted it to end.

And then The Chemical Brothers get their hands on it! 

Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons really do work their magic on their remix, producing something super trippy and dazzling. Spiritualized stop everything to go from part 1 to part 2 of the song, while The Chemical Brothers build and tease, almost sounding as if they are getting all their equipment read to blast off for space.

After the beats have kicked in they bring everything back to allow Pierce to sing;

I think I can fly

Probably just falling

Chemical by name, chemical by nature. This remix is a match made in heaven. Rowland and Simons seem to have dipped Pierce's vocals into pot of LSD and MDMA, thrown in some synths for good measure to see what happens and then dived in after them. Their remix is spacey, trippy, cool and euphoric. The brothers really do work it out.

Official audio

Chemical Brothers vocal remix

Chemical Brothers instrumental remix


A list of all previous songs I've blogged about in my Trust Me feature are listed below, along with links to each blog. The original version of I Think I'm In Love joins them. You can check the Chemical Brothers instrumental and vocal remixes below on YouTube. 

I've also collated all the songs in my Trust Me series into a playlist on Spotify that you can find by searching for Everything Flows - Trust Me , or you can CLICK HERE

Previous Trust Me blogs

1. Something On Your Mind by Karen Dalton
1A. Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells
2. I Am, I Said  by Neil Diamond
3. Where's The Playground Susie?   by Glen Campbell
4. If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lighfoot
5. Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon
6. Gone With The Wind Is My Love by Rita and the Tiaras
7. In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans
8. The Music Box by Ruth Copeland
9. The Ship Song by Nick Cave
10. Sometimes by James
11. I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time
12. Didn't Know What I Was In For by Better Oblivion Community Centre
13. When My Boy Walks Down The Street by The Magnetic Fields
14. The Man Don't Give A F**k by Super Furry Animals
15. All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun by Jeff Buckley and Liz Fraser
16. Are You Lookin' by The Tymes
17. A Real Hero by College & Electric Youth
18. Feelings Gone by Callum Easter
19. Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground
20. Did I Say by Teenage Fanclub
21. Don't Look Back by Teenage Fanclub
23. Belfast by Orbital
24. Clouds by The Jayhawks
25. Dreaming Of You by The Coral
26. Everlasting Love by Love Affair
27. Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke
28. Teenage Kicks by The Undertones
29. Shaky Ground by Sneeze
29. Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells
30. I Can Feel Your Love by Felice Taylor
31. The State We're In by The Chemical Brothers w/ Beth Orton
32. Sunshine After The Rain by Ellie Greenwich
33. Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem
34. Mondo 77 by Looper
35. Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton
36. Rat Trap by The Boomtown Rats
37. How High by The Charlatans
38. I Can't Let Go by Evie Sands
39. Pop Song 89 by R.E.M.
40. Summertime Clothes by Animal Collective
41. There She Goes by The Las
42. We're Going To Be Friends by White Stripes
43. Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo
44. Sister Rena by Lomond Campbell
45. Revolution by The Beatles
46. Lazarus by The Boo Radleys
47. Wrote For Luck by Happy Mondays
48. American Trilogy by The Delgados
49. Loser by Beck 
50. Silent Sigh by Badly Drawn Boy
51. Comedy by Shack
52. Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven
53. Freakscene by Dinosaur Jr


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