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Mavis Staples

We Get By

Anti/Epitaph

She is 80 this year. She is remarkable. She is the voice of civil rights. She is one of the voices of the 20th Century and her output across the last decade and a half in particular shows a restless ambition; Mavis Staples doesn’t want to be remembered as being the voice of just the 20th Century…

And so a rather incredible run of albums continues.

And just as she’s always collaborated with brilliant producers and writers – from her own family members through Prince and Ry Cooder to more recently M. Ward and Jeff Tweedy this new album finds Ben Harper in the writer/producer chair.

It’s a sinewy, swampy band sound – guitars, bass, drums and some tambourine on the side. Mavis’ amazing voice and tremendous spirit up front. Always.

And with Harper’s help Mavis is shouting down President Trump, racisim, shaking her head at shootings and offering her soul to the journey.

There is stirring, world-weary balladry here (Heavy On My Mind, Hard To Leave). And there’s a raw energy that’s palpable across the blues-based rockers such as opener, Change, Brothers and Sisters and Sometime. There’s a lovely grit to the title track and Anytime.

And though we have heard Mavis in this groove for a longtime now this is one of her finest sets of songs from recent years. Her commitment to the cause and to the song urges you to keep listening. And so to the closing track here, One More Change, quite possibly the single highlight of this new set of recordings.

Kudos to Ben Harper then also – who has always been better in collaboration. We’ve heard that whether it be Charlie Musselwhite, Blind Boys of Alabama or indeed his own mother. It isn’t just him hitching his wagon. But the man that has so often driven my wild with a smug arrogance on his own records is so correctly deferential here.

It was B.B. King that first taught me that “some songs tend to signify and others tend to sanctify”. It’s so wonderful to hear that Mavis Staples still aims to do both – often within the very same tune. And she not only takes aim. She knocks it out of the park every time on We Get By.
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June 17, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

WWE Elimination Chamber 2019: DVD

Elimination Chamber 2019

WWE

Madman

Just when I thought the Elimination Chamber PPV event on DVD was one of the more laborious of the WWE staple shows, along comes the 2019 edition. Featuring two of the very best elimination chamber contests.

We start with a dynamic showcase to establish the women tag team champions – how strong the female division is now, it has tag-champs too. Amazing when you think back to ten years ago or so and the women were arm-candy and eye-candy only. For all that WWE may not have right they have elevated the women’s competition, found and nurtured the talent and the matches in the women’s division are some of the best they offer. Great storytelling too. And that was the case here.

I couldn’t really care about the opening cruiserweight competition between Buddy Murphy © and Akira Tozawa. It wasn’t terrible – it was just your standard curtain-jerker. An opener. Something to get to the show on the road.

The women’s tag match though, that was something.

The men’s tag match followed – just a standard two-team fight, the Usos against The Miz and Mac. Shane McMahon and The Miz have made a great team and the storytelling and development of the angle was key here with them suffering a loss to Jey and Jimmy Uso in a pretty typical, pretty good bout.

Finn Balor was victorious in a handicap Intercontinental bout against Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush. This, to me, was a fun match. I think that titles shouldn’t be decided this way – but I enjoyed the spirit of this – and I’ve always found Lashley to be a stupid big lunk, so giving him the fast-moving whippet Lio Rush gave him some sort of bonus power, some reason to watch.

Ronda Rousey defended her title in a squash of sorts againg Ruby Riott; the match only ever there to further the angle between Charlotte (with her shit promo) and Becky Lynch with her rebel spirit.

Baron Corbin’s match beating Braun Strowman in a No Disqualification stipulation was the big boring dud of the night.

And then we closed with another pearler of an elimination chamber match. Great spots from AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy and particularly Kofi Kingston. Strong work too from Samoa Joe, as always. And the requisite menace from Randy Orton. Somehow – with all of that talent in the ring – Daniel Bryan managed to make it through from beginning to end, giving this a Royal Rumble-like feel. He was defiant. And it was a marvel of in-ring storytelling.

So I liked this Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, on balance. A perfect stop on the road to Wrestlemania.
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June 16, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Dolly Parton: Dumplin’ [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Dolly Parton

Dumplin’ [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

RCA Records Label Nashville

First off, it’s a great movie – really worthwhile. Strong, subtle performances, an interesting set of themes and more grit and heart than the typical Hollywood comedy fare. It’s funny too – but has more than just humour. And one of the big themes of the film is the main character’s love of Dolly Parton. Fittingly Dolly provides the soundtrack with six new songs and six re-recordings of much-loved tunes from her back catalog. Those hits: Here I Am, Dumb Blonde, Two Doors Down, Holdin On To You, Here You Come Again and, yes, Jolene.

It must be the sixth or seventh time that Dolly has re-recorded Jolene – and it remains mercurial despite (and because of) its grim stories of betrayal and paranoia. Here the ballad version of Here You Come Again is magnificent – Two Doors Down really pops, in fact all of the re-imagined hits work. Dolly’s in the background for most, ushering in Sia or Miranda Lambert or – on Here You Come Again – 14 year old Willa Amai.

But it’s the six new songs that prove Dolly’s still queen, not willing to give up her crown anytime soon.

Again, it’s to a roll-call of guests – Mavis Staples’ gospel pedigree just perfect for trading lines with Parton on Wonder Why and if Rhonda Vincent and Alison Krauss have been waiting in the wings for a while, their contributions here show that, with utmost respect, they remain happy to wait.

The writing remains strong (Dolly’s paired with Linda Perry for the new songs) and faithful to Parton’s uplifting tales of strong female characters; of people showing grit and gumption.

Dumplin’ plays through – whether you’ve seen the film or not – like the perfect mix of hits and new stuff. It would work so perfectly as an introduction to Dolly (should anyone need it). It plays through like a greatest hits showcase with decent bonus (new) material.

It’s an easy winner from a class act. And Dolly sounds as vital here as she has in years, even cleverly, when she takes the backseat.
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June 16, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: Nana Pam

[1931 – 2019]

I knew Nana Pam
my whole life.
But I really got to know her
the time she threw
my cousin Ritchie out of his house.

He was about four or five. And he
told her he hated everyone and wanted
to run away.

Nana Pam didn’t believe in bluffs.
So she packed enough stuff to keep
him going and put it in a suitcase and had
him at the front door before he could say
sorry or even change his mind.

She sent him out onto the road and told him
to keep walking.

He ended up in Ireland – and so couldn’t
be here today.

I told my mum this story again just
recently and she explained that nana pam
– her mother – had done the same thing
to her.

Clearly it was a trick worth hanging on to.

Nana Pam once asked me what my
favourite music was – and I said
Deep Purple.
The next time I saw her she handed me
an album – “What’s this, I asked?”
“It’s your Deep Purple” she said with a smile.
The album said “Romantic Piano” and it wasn’t
the heavy metal band I adored. It was
some horrid piano ballad called Deep Purple,
it had been written by some hack called Peter De Rose
but it was the thought that counted.
I’ve kept that record. I still have it.
She would have got it from one of the second-hand
junk stores. It was probably 50c – but I reckon she’d
have talked the guy down to 4 or 5 bucks…

My grandad bob once asked me what I was listening
to. And I told him it was a Jimi Hendrix tape.
He asked me my favourite song.
I told him I was enjoying the song Manic Depression,
it was about how Jimi Hendrix loved his guitar
so much and he was sad that he could not actually make
love to it.

Grandad bob was snoring by the time I finished
this story – and Nana Pam’s eyes flashed.
“Why didn’t he just take the strings off” she
said. And then laughed like Precious Pup.

Nana Pam definitely had
favourites. And for the purposes of
this story I was most definitely one
of them.

She’s not here to argue with that anyway.

She had a cheeky smile. A wicked sense
of humour – there was gas in her laughter.
And naughtiness on her mind.

She bought me a wedding present that
was salt and pepper shakers with a light in the
bottom

Good, so you could see where you were
grinding.

Deckchairs at the beach.
Laughing at other people’s misfortune
or mistakes. But not too much, just enough.
Keeping secrets. But not forever.
Showing a toughness that
sometimes bordered on cruelty, she was so fiercely
protective.

And I’m sure she had a bad side too.

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June 14, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 291

The Swingers, It Ain’t What You Dance, It’s The Way You Dance It [Single] (1981)
I remember it being such a revelation to find out that the Swingers did more than just Counting The Beat. By which I mean simply that I was young when that was a hit – I loved that song, and still do – but it was about finding the other things…and when I did (first on CD, then back to the album on vinyl) I was floored. So many great songs. Then I find out the very best of that band never made it out into public release. There are scores of songs that people heard live, and that were recorded but not ultimately made available – the Swingers is one of the great bands as far as I’m concerned. And here they were better
than Split Enz (not that it’s about that) – but there’s something more representative about this recording than what the Enz was up to at that time. I mean this is its own thing – this isn’t trying to be Spit Enz. But I just love how with Phil Judd’s music you can see and feel and hear the development from Enz on through. His Swingers songs and Schnell Fenster songs and the music from his solo albums all makes sense in the order it’s been recorded. You can line it up and it all fits the timeline. You could do it blind. Wouldn’t need to be reading liners and recording dates to place this after the Enz and ahead of Schnell. This single has cool poster artwork too, it unfolds to reveal a collage. A nice touch. But it’s the power of this music that still speaks to me. And this song – the title song here, the A-side – might be the Swingers at their very best. Well, as far as we’re able to tell…

Sample Track 1: (Side A): It Ain’t What You Dance, It’s The Way You Dance It

Sample Track 2: (Side B): Flak
The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown

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June 13, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

The Specials: Encore

The Specials

Encore

UMC (Universal Music Catalog).

The three remaining Specials are here – Terry Hall (vocals), Horace Panter (bass), Lynval Golding (vocals/guitar) – which means this is The Specials. But there were more original members of the band around and present for the reunion of 10+ years ago and all the live albums and bits and pieces that have followed. Even if a lot of fans didn’t want to own that period as anything authentic. Read More »

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June 13, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Charlie Hunter & Lucy Woodward: Music!Music!Music!

Charlie Hunter & Lucy Woodward

Music!Music!Music!

Charlie Hunter & Lucy Woodward

Charlie Hunter is a journeyman guitarist – his early jazz excursions still thrill but in recent years he’s added further funk and some axle grease from the blues to his sound. He’s also been stepping back from soloist – many of his instrumental records feature his guitar alone or his guitar dueling with saxophones or other guitars, yet at the heart of his wonderful sound and fearsome technique has always been exquisite rhythm work.

So here he teams with journeywoman singer Lucky Woodward – adding drummer Derrek Phillips to the mix – for a record that sits somewhere between the joy and heart of those early Tuck & Patti records from some 30 years ago and the sass and spit and grit of the Patricia Barber albums from 20-25 years ago.

Woodward wraps herself around every song here but she’s particularly brilliant on the smoldering Plain Gold Ring. Hunter assists with something from the Ry Cooder-meets-Pops Staples school of fine R’n’B guitar work. And all three players shine on one of the best and most covered tunes this world knows, Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood. The groove here is sublime and it’s something built from the smoke in Woodward’s voice, the feel to Hunter’s playing and the way Phillps knows how to sit deep inside and accent both.

As the album’s title gives away, this is about really feeling – about the joy of and in music; about the heart and soul that goes into and emanates from the truly moving, motivated performances.

I’ve been a fan of Hunter’s music since I first heard his head-turning jazz instrumental cover of Nirvana’s Come As You Are. The journey from there has been to James Brown funk, a reframing of Bob Marley and to many superb original compositions. I’ve enjoyed Woodward’s work too, as backing vocalist to the stars, and as solo artist – both singer and songwriter. Here, worlds have been perfectly placed together as each player takes turn affording the other one space. But at all times it’s about pushing the song into place – Angel Eyes, another oft-covered classic is just one of many must-hear gems on this record; something about the way they breathe new life into ubiquitous tunes is what really sells this to me.

Superb.
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June 12, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast # 172: Eddie Rayner

Welcome to episode 172 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and La Petite Chocolat.

Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify library.Here is my chat with Eddie Rayner. I recorded this in late January during a couple of weeks in Auckland where I spoke with a couple of ex-Split Enz musicians and various other podcast guest (the rest of those conversations have all been shared previously). Read More »

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June 12, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: Ode

you are the kindest
person i know your
mind is sharp your
heart is big you
understand me
better than i’ll
ever know.

you make me
proud every day just
to think of you
your spirit the
guide for our
family your
soul is
captain of the ship.

you are the
world to me you
opened your arms,
your mind and
your heart.

you have the mind
of an artist.

and your soul
is your art.

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June 12, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 292

Ennio Morricone, Un Uoma Da Rispettare [OST] (1972)
Having followed whatever I can find by Ennio Morricone across the last two decades I’m now at a place where if I see something – I buy it. Even if I haven’t heard it. So it was with this, recently. It made me actuall watch the film – in English it’s called The Master Touch. And it’s not a bad slice of 70s noir and action. Great car-chase stuff and Kirk Douglas doing his mugging. But I’d be lying if I said I had any real interest in the film beyond seeing and hearing the way the music was used. I have Morricone scores where I haven’t seen the film. I could have lived with this album without seeing The Master Touch – but it was cool to hear this music in its context. I’m glad, though, that I first dropped the needle on it without knowing the film’s plot or action. Taken purely as music this feels way ahead of its time. Like Morricone just casually invented Burial back in the early 1970s.

Sample Track: 18 Pari

The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown
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June 11, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Gig Review: The Monkees (June 10, Wgtn)

The Monkees

MFC, Wellington

Monday, June 10

I’m a believer (ha!) that you have to do the research – you have to know what to expect. Anyone thinking they were getting anything close to the actual Monkees would be defeated purely by numbers; part-time players in their later years Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz (now all that’s left) were never going to be able to put on a magnificent pop show. Add Nesmith’s complete lack of interest in reuniting previously, the token mention only of Peter Tork (who died as recently as February of this year) and not a single direct reference to Davy Jones and you had to know that this was a take-what-you-can-get version of a reunion show. Nostalgia would be served. But you had to bring your share to really make it work. Read More »

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June 11, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Short Story: Shift Arrow Down

He was 44 when he was diagnosed. Column Cancel. Dormant at first. But after 2nd, 3rd and 545th readings the growth was now thriving. It was too late. Yes, he would ask to have it removed. His editor would assist. Digitally. And though that process was painless, shift cells left, shift cells right, the column would never work in the same way. No longer could it separate the healthy from the shit. His body of work was over. The cancel would now define him as he shaved his headlines…