STONES THAT ROLL: ROLLING STONES

It seems apt that in the week the new Richard Curtis/Danny Boyle film arrived, to continue this thread in the same vein. So, just as 'Yesterday' imagines a world bereft of the Beatles, Curtis himself imagining a world denied 'Goodnight Sweetheart', this post studiously attempts to ignore any band with a name referenced in the title. (It fails.) Instead I offer a toothsome foursome of songs you may not have heard, although I suspect the writer of at least one of them may be passing a sly nod toward the band of that name. (Indeed, I understand the full title of the last track, added in parentheses, was Try a Family Man Instead. Or maybe it didn't.)

Yep, a bit of scottish folk music, 'Like Another Rolling Stone', albeit by one of the finest exponents thereof, the mighty Ceolbeg, most active in the final two decades of the last century. Roughly translated from the gaelic, Ceolbeg means small music, something they never knowingly produced, the name being more to emphasise the more gentle aspects of the scottish musical lineage, with fewer full on reels and jigs, and more songs, using bagpipes for texture rather than naked assault. In this song, it is the scots lowland pipes that provide the main counterpoint to the gorgeous vocal of the late Davy Steele. (For whom, on his death, this glorious tribute was written, by Kate Rusby.) Whether the stone in the lyric was Mick seems unlikely, it seeming more in line with the Dylan song, but it is still a doozy. In Scotland a pint of Mick is what you might ask for in a pub, rhyming slang for lager, Jagger rhyming with lager if you have a glaswegian accent.

Y'know, shut your eyes and try and imagine this sung by a group of Sarf Lahndon white boys, holed up in a chateau somewhere in France and, yes? It works, doesn't it. The Pointer Sisters really had a way with rock songs, somehow making them still sound intrinsically motown, if with more attitude. This song, 'Love is Like a Rolling Stone', comes from the 2009 re-release of their breakthrough album, 1978's 'Energy', the song originally penned/played by Brian Cadd's Bootleg Band. (No, me, neither.) I am not sure I would want love to be like Charlie, would you, but, wait a minute, take stock: solid, steady, reliable. Not so shabby, actually.

'The Lord Loves a Rolling Stone' sings Spooner Oldham on this glorious Muscle Shoals production, a track from his only solo record, from 1972. And you would think he would know, even if I can't find any evidence of his having ever played with, you know, the band I can't mention, but he does play on this, on their guitarists last solo record. Present on as many classics as you could or can ever imagine, his  talents continue to grace many a more modern band seeking gravitas and credibility, like the Drive-By Truckers, who also, incidentally, play that song. Here's a great synopsis of his worth, played out in an interview I dug up.

By contrast, the wild-tonsilled erstwhile singer for Family, Roger Chapman, gives some probably sound advice, 'Never Love a Rolling Stone', advice many a mother may have given her daughters in the 60's. And 70's. And 80s etc. The lyric here, ostensibly about a carney on the fairs, suggests that advice was not neglected here, except perhaps in a purely physical way. Which, perhaps, is how he earlier came to be singing this song, after Family but before his solo years, in the Chapman-Whitney Streetwalkers. Having so far contrived references above to Mick, Keef and Charlie, all I can muster is that both Chappo and Ronnie Wood have names beginning with R.

Another.
Love.
Lord.
Never. (OK, it isn't, but the link is sort of linked.....)

Kin: The Cobbler’s Daughter

Kate Rusby: The Cobbler‘s Daughter

[purchase, priced in British pounds]

Kate Rusby is surely one of the leading voices of English folk music. The Cobbler’s Daughter comes from Rusby’s 1999 album Sleepless, which was her breakthrough album. Sleepless was nominated for a Mercury Prize. The Mercury Prize is the British equivalent of a Grammy. The Mercury goes to the best album of the year, and folk albums are almost never considered. But Rusby is that good.

As far as I can tell, The Cobbler’s Daughter is a traditional song. I can not find any recording of it before Rusby’s, however, and the song seems like a modern twist on a situation that often occurs in traditional songs of the British Isles. A beautiful young maiden catches the eye of a young man who then comes to court her. In traditional songs, it is assumed that she will fall in love with him in turn, and their love will either lead to tragedy, or it will overcome all obstacles, and the song will end happily. Rusby gives the young maiden a choice in the matter, and love goes off the rails from there. I’ll let you discover the rest for yourself.

For The Birds: The Wild Goose

Kate Rusby: The Wild Goose

[purchase]

I was introduced to Kate Rusby by one of our early contributors here at Star Maker Machine, the first female to join our little band; since then, I've become an avid, almost rabid fan of the singer-songwriter's well-crafted interpretations and originals, despite continued frustration that she will not tour in the states due to her fear of flying.

Though Divinyl has long since ceased blogging with us, in her honor, I post this favorite take on a traditional piece from the UK-based folk songbird whose gorgeous voice and ability to channel the sorrow that defines so much of the British folk tradition are, in my heart and ears, essentially unparalleled.

Duets: All God's Angels

Kate Rusby w/ Tim O'Brien: All God's Angels

[purchase]

One of my favorite duets of the dialogic subtype, from two powerful musicians known for pushing the boundaries of modern folk while staying true to their own national traditions.

The song, which appeared on Kate Rusby's 1999 sophomore release Sleepless, is timeless and traditional; you'd be excused if you thought, at first, that this was one of the old ballads of her native british isles. That Rusby and O'Brien together can craft and deliver such powerful lyrics and such a simple, tangible melody is a testament to their own expertise, and the power of the duet itself. But though the words and music are ageless, the duet arrangement of All God's Angels is what gives it its power, with each voice trading off verses only to come together for the final few lines in harmony.

By then, of course, both characters -- the pregnant adulteress longing for stability and a father for her unborn child, and the adulterer who loves and admires his wife too much to leave her for a temporary fling -- have established their own sort of nobility, no less potent for their simple, acoustic delivery. The combination of these voices for such a fleeting moment, like the too-human act which brought them to the story in the first place, collapses so much distance, and acknowledges so much complexity in the human condition. The last thirty seconds of this song still give me chills after a hundred repetitions.

Boats: I Courted A Sailor / The Sleepless Sailor

Kate Rusby: I Courted A Sailor

[purchase]

Kate Rusby: The Sleepless Sailor

[purchase]

This is only my second post here and already I am breaking all the rules. The songs above come, respectively, from Kate Rusby's 2001 and 2003 albums, making them decidedly 21st Century releases. I hope to extricate myself and justify my posting of these songs, however, by making the argument that many of Rusby's songs are traditional sea shanties and are not 'modern' music as such. I do hope this washes! And her voice is just unbeatable within this genre.

This duo of songs look at both sides of the coin - the partner of a sailor as he leaves her to go off to sea, and the sailor himself whilst away from home.

The second of these tracks is anthropomorphic, with sleep as the seductress, beckoning the sailor into her comforting arms. And, therefore, if we look at both songs from the sailor's point of view they are essentially about exactly the same thing - comfort. And the comfort sleep's "arms" provide him when he is not able to be in the arms of his loved one. Poignant and beautiful.