Morning Soup is an eclectic mix of folk, jazz, and other music from all over. You can hear it LIVE on BostonFreeRadio.com Saturdays from 10am to noon Eastern, with a re-air Tuesdays at 10am. The archives are at MorningSoup.com, where you can listen to the current week's show as well as previous shows, view playlists, and read program notes for each show.
Originally aired on BostonFreeRadio.com
NEW MUSIC: Alexi Murdoch
I've been fortunate to attend the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, Scotland a number of times. It's certainly one of the greatest music festivals of which I'm aware. Many of the musicians seen there never perform in the States, so there are always new discoveries for me. A couple of the performers I first heard at the festival are on this show.
Anna Massie is a terrific Scottish multi-instrumentalist who seems to be on every musician's list to accompany them on record or in concert -- she plays many times throughout the Celtic Connections festival. She's also put out an album under her own name, and here she sings and plays a fine version of Spoon River, one of the best-known compositions by Chicago-based songwriter Michael Smith.
Another excellent multi-instrumentalist from the UK is Tim Edey -- in fact, he plays every instrument you hear on his arrangement of The Independence Hornpipe. It's a bit of a showy "parlour piece" but boy it sure is impressive.
A friend suggested that I start playing music from the fondly-remembered duo of Clive Gregson & Christine Collister -- good idea. They began as a duo when they were members of Richard Thompson's band in the years just after Richard's split with his wife Linda. The two then struck out on a career of their own in the mid-1980s and had a good deal of success into the early 1990s. Ultimately, however, they too separated personally and professionally, and now pursue music careers of their own.
Their song (Don't Step in) My Blue Suede Shoes is one of my favorites (though it is a clunky title). Clive's lyrics are great throughout -- the first two verses are clearly about Elvis and Brooose, respectively, but it's the third verse that grabs me. Love the parallel structure, and you can't beat that opening couplet:
       Now I believe in destiny and I believe in fate        And I believe in getting out before it gets too late        And I believed that rhythm was the key to everything        I thought my life would be complete when I began to sing.
       And I believed that rock and roll could really change the world        But when I got my first guitar it was just to pick up girls        And quickly I fell in the trap and threw it all away        I wish that I had listened when I heard somebody say...
Alexi Murdoch is a Scottish singer-songwriter whose music recalls the atmospheric early 1970s folk of Nick Drake and John Martyn (another two big favorites of mine). Alexi's music has been featured on various TV shows as well as the films Garden State and Away We Go, and has seemed on the verge on widespread popularity for years. However, he appears to be resolutely determined to undermine his career: he tours infrequently, and his promised albums seem to take years to appear. That said, his third CD is due out next month and the title track Towards the Sun is certainly an encouraging first sign. Hmmm, these notes seem especially Anglo-centric this time. I'll have to think about that this week...
0:00:00 Keith Jarrett â Country
0:05:47 Steely Dan â Pearl of the Quarter
0:10:24 Bruce Cockburn â Silver Wheels 0:16:00 Anna Massie â Spoon River 0:20:12 Clive Gregson & Christine Collister â (Don't Step in) My Blue Suede Shoes 0:25:56 Greg Brown â Cold+Dark+Wet
0:31:48 Keren Ann â Not Going Anywhere 0:35:23 Linda Ronstadt & Ann Savoy â Walk Away Renee 0:38:46 Joni Mitchell â Help Me 0:42:05 Mary Black â By The Time It Gets Dark
0:47:12 Tim Edey â The Independence Hornpipe 0:49:50 Doc Watson â Heartbreak Hotel 0:52:06 James Booker â Classified (Version Two) 0:55:13 Professor Longhair â Mardi Gras in New Orleans
0:59:55 J.D. Crowe & the New South â The Old Home Place 1:02:41 Bill Keith â Crazy Creek 1:05:34 Robin & Linda Williams â 50,000 Names 1:09:37 Tony Trischka â New York Chimes 1:12:36 Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen â Please Don't Go 1:17:27 Joe Val â Along About Daybreak
1:21:34 Nic Jones â The Humpback Whale 1:27:33 Iris DeMent â Let The Mystery Be 1:30:56 Loudon Wainwright III â One Man Guy
1:36:01 Alexi Murdoch â Towards The Sun (new) 1:40:28 John Martyn â Bless the Weather 1:45:22 Bill Morrissey â My Old Town 1:47:54 Bert Jansch â Ring-a-Ding Bird
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