When Johnny Depp was working on Pirates of the Caribbean in 2006 he, along with director Gore Verbinski and producer Hal Willner, put together a compilation of sea shanties and “pirate ballads” titled Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys, featuring contributions by the likes of Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III, Sting, Teddy Thompson, Eliza Carthy, Rufus Wainwright, Martin Carthy, Lucinda Williams, Nick Cave, Akron/Family and more. Now almost seven years on Depp, Verbinski and Willner are revisiting the high seas with a sequel.
Titled Son of Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys the new compilation once again takes in two discs and features the likes of Shane MacGowan, Beth Orton, Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Frank Zappa, Michael Stipe, Courtney Love, Broken Social Scene, Marianne Faithfull, Richard Thompson, Tim Robbins and many many more. The album is due for release on the 19th February.
The full track listing for Son of Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys along with Shane MacGowan’s version of “Leaving of Liverpool” (with Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski).
Disc 1
1. Shane MacGowan – “Leaving of Liverpool” [ft. Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski]
2. Robyn Hitchcock – “Sam’s Gone Away”
3. Beth Orton – “River Come Down”
4. Sean Lennon – “Row Bullies Row” [ft. Jack Shit]
5. Tom Waits – “Shenandoah” [ft.Keith Richards]
6. Ivan Neville – “Mr Stormalong”
7. Iggy Pop – “Asshole Rules the Navy” [ft. A Hawk and a Hacksaw]
8. Macy Gray – “Off to Sea Once More”
9. Ed Harcourt – “The Ol’ OG”
10. Shilpa Ray – “Pirate Jenny” [ft. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis]
11. Patti Smith and Johnny Depp – “The Mermaid”
12. Chuck E Weiss – “Anthem for Old Souls”
13. Ed Pastorini – “Orange Claw Hammer”
14. The Americans – “Sweet and Low”
15. Robin Holcomb and Jessica Kenny – “Ye Mariners All”
16. Gavin Friday and Shannon McNally – “Tom’s Gone to Hilo”
17. Kenny Wollesen and The Himalayas Marching Band – “Bear Away”
Disc 2:
1. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention – “Handsome Cabin Boy”
2. Michael Stipe and Courtney Love – “Rio Grande”
3. Marc Almond – “Ship in Distress”
4. Dr John – “In Lure of the Tropics”
5. Todd Rundgren – “Rolling Down to Old Maui”
6. Dan Zanes – “Jack Tar on Shore” [ft. Broken Social Scene]
7. Sissy Bounce (Katey Red and Big Freedia) – “Sally Racket” [ft. Akron/Family]
8. Broken Social Scene – “Wild Goose”
9. Marianne Faithfull – “Flandyke Shore” [ft. Kate and Anna McGarrigle]
10. Ricky Jay – “The Chantey of Noah and his Ark (Old School Song)”
11. Michael Gira – “Whiskey Johnny”
12. Petra Haden – “Sunshine Life for Me” [ft. Lenny Pickett]
13. Jenni Muldaur – “Row the Boat Child”
14. Richard Thompson – “General Taylor” [ft. Jack Shit]
15. Tim Robbins – “Marianne” [ft. Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs]
16. Kembra Phaler – “Barnacle Bill the Sailor [ft. Antony, Joseph Arthur, and Foetus]
17. Angelica Huston – “Missus McGraw” [ft. The Weisberg Strings]
18. Iggy Pop and Elegant Too – “The Dreadnought”
19. Mary Margaret O’Hara – “Then Said the Captain to Me (Two Poems of the Sea)”
Folk and rock legend Richard Thompson has this week announced plans to release his brand new album ELECTRIC with his Electric Trio next year. ELECTRIC scheduled for release on the 11th February and features guest spots from the likes of Alison Krauss, Siobhan Maher Kennedy and fiddle player Stuart Duncan.
The album is set to be released as a Standard CD, Deluxe two–disc set and on 180 gram vinyl. We have the track listing plus a stream of the first single “Good Things Happen To Bad People” below:
1. Stony Ground
2. Salford Sunday
3. Sally B
4. Stuck on the Treadmill
5. My Enemy
6. Good Things Happen To Bad People
7. Where’s Home?
8. Another Small Thing In her Favour
9. Straight and Narrow
10. The Snow Goose
11. Saving The Good Stuff For You
- Emily Barker is home in WA for Christmas and has a handful of local shows planned while she’s here. Details here
- Cathy Guthrie and Amy Nelson, AKA Folk Uke, will be performing two headline shows in Sydney when they’re in the country for the Woodford Folk Festival. Details here
- Dropkick Murphys are putting the dysfunctional back into Christmas with their festive track (and video) “The Season’s Upon Us”. Details here
- Currently making his way through Canada, Kim Churchill already has his sight set on home with the announcement of a massive summer tour beginning in January. Details here
- A follow up to the 2006 pirate-themed album Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys, produced by Johnny Depp, Gore Verbinski and Hal Willner, has been announced next for year, titled Son of Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys. Details here
- UK-born, US based singer-songwriter Bobby Long has finally revealed the details of his upcoming album Wishbone. Details here
- Glen Hansard revealed his new video “High Hope” ahead of his Australian tour next year. Details here
- Alt-country artists The Stillsons are stripping back to a duo for a handful of shows in and around Adelaide in the lead up to Christmas. Details here
- Emmy The Great and Tim Wheeler are re-releasing their This is Christmas album this year and this week revealed the video for the track “Zombie Christmas”. Details here
Interviews
“I know when I was starting out, seeing Ryan Adams and I listened to his music and loved it so much. The one way I found to not sound like him was to listen to less Ryan Adams! And did more living, and went out on the road, meeting people and stuff like that. And you know that it’s not going to be so much the influences of the sound of other music” – Jordie Lane chats to Bill Quinn. Interview here
“There’s not many jug bands around Melbourne, so we’ve kind of got our own little thing going on” – Camilla and Eileen Hodgkins from The Perch Creek Family Jugband chat to Bill Quinn. Interview here
For Folk’s Sake It’s Christmas 2012 – Various Bandcamp
Timber and Steel Presents
Bobby Alu with Saritah Sunday 9th December – The Workers Club, Melbourne, VIC
Gigs Next Week
Achoo! Bless You Friday 7th December – Yah Yahs, Melbourne, VIC
Saturday 8th December – Pure Pop Records, Melbourne, VIC
Andrew Drummond Saturday 8th December – Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta, NSW
Friday 14th December – House Gig, Wyong, NSW
Charles Jenkins Friday 7th December – Notes, Sydney, NSW
Darren Hanlon Friday 14th December – The Grand Poobah, Hobart, TAS
Finders Keepers Sydney 8th and 9th December – CarriageWorks, Sydney, NSW
Homebake (feat. Angus Stone, Julia Stone, Husky, Jinja Safari) Saturday 8th December – The Domain, Sydney, NSW
Husky Wednesday 12th December – Mojos, Fremantle, WA
Thursday 13th December – The Bakery, Perth, WA
Jack Carty Sunday 9th December – The Retreat Hotel, Melbourne, VIC (6pm)
Sunday 9th December – The Toff in Town, Melbourne, VIC (8pm w/ Katie Noonan)
Friday 14th December – Camelot, Sydney, NSW (w/ Katie Noonan)
Joe Robinson Saturday 8th December – Toff In Town, Melbourne, VIC
Thursday 13th December – The Street Theatre, Canberra, ACT
Jordie Lane Wednesday 12th December – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane, QLD
Thursday 13th December – Drill Hall, Mullumbimby, NSW
Friday 14th December – Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle, NSW
Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson Friday 7th December – Goldfields Arts Centre, Kalgoorlie, WA
Saturday 8th December – Mundaring Weir Hotel Amphitheatre, Mundaring, WA
Sunday 9th December – Drakesbrook Hotel, Waroona, WA
Laneway Friday 14th December – The Lomond Hotel, Melbourne, VIC
Missy Higgins Saturday 8th December – Fremantle Arts Centre (South Lawn), Perth, WA
Perch Creek Family Jugband Friday 7th December – Coogee Diggers, Coogee, NSW
Saturday 8th December – The Royal Exchange, Newcastle, NSW
Sunday 9th December – The Newsagency, Marrickville, NSW [Sold out]
Tuesday 11th December – The Newsagency, Marrickville, NSW [Second show added]
Thursday 13th December – 5 Church Street, Bellingen, NSW
Friday 14th December – Mullumbimby Drill Hall, Mullumbimby, NSW
Regina Spektor Monday 10th December – Sydney Opera House, Sydney
Friday 14th December – The Plenary, Melbourne
The April Maze Friday 14th December – The Front Canberra, ACT
The Key of Sea feat. Jinja Safari, The Tiger and Me, etc Friday 14th December – Hamer Hall, Melbourne, VIC
The Pigs Friday 14th December – Pretoria Hotel, Mannum, SA
The Seals with The Davidson Brothers Saturday 8th December – Amplifier Bar, Perth, WA
The Trouble With Templeton Friday 7th December – Bon Amici Cafe, Toowoomba, QLD
Saturday 8th December – 5 Church Street, Bellingen, NSW
Wednesday 12th December – Brighton Up Bar, Sydney, NSW
Thursday 13th December – Front Gallery, Canberra, ACT
Friday 14th December – Barcode, Wollongong, NSW
Friday Folk Flashback
“Sweeney” – Bloodwood
Bit of an indulgent one this week. This Henry Lawson poem about a drunken swaggy has also been sung by Slim Dusty, but is here reimagined in the minor key by Alice Springs band Bloodwood from their 1981 album Man Made Music. What makes this indulgent? Well my Dad is in Bloodwood. Enjoy!
At a ceremony at the famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on the 12th September the Americana Music Association awarded their annual and prestigious Americana Honors & Awards Show. The big winners of the night included Gillian Welch (Artist of the Year), her partner Dave Rawlings (Instrumentalist of the Year), Jason Isbell (Song of the Year), The Civil Wars (Duo/group of the Year) and Alabama Shakes (Emerging Artist of The Year). Also honoured on the night with Lifetime Achievement awards were Bonnie Raitt (Performance), Booker T. Jones (Instrumentalist), Richard Thompson (Songwriting) and Dannis Lord (Executive).
The full list of awards are below:
Instrumentalist of the Year:Dave Rawlings Album of the Year: This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark; produced by Tamara Saviano and Shawn Camp Song Of The Year Award:“Alabama Pines” Written by Jason Isbell and performed by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Emerging Artist of the Year:Alabama Shakes Artist of the Year:Gillian Welch Duo/group of the Year:The Civil Wars Lifetime Achievement for Performance:Bonnie Raitt Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist:Booker T. Jones Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting:Richard Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award for Executive:Dennis Lord
The entire ceremony can be listened to over at NPR Music here.
The fantastic World Cafe program from NPR Music is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month with a series of shows looking back over their archive of interviews and live recordings. On Tuesday World Cafe broadcasted a very special showcase of UK folk artists from the last 20 years and the resulting show is something very special indeed.
The full track listing for Purpose & Grace plus a stream of the final track “Lakes Of Ponchartrain” is below:
1. The Sheffield Apprentice
2. Bold General Wolfe
3. Brothers Under The Bridge
4. Little Liza Jane
5. Brother Can You Spare A Dime
6. Jamie Foyers
7. In The Pines
8. Strange Affair
9. Banjo Bill
10. Barbry Allen
11. Don’t Leave Your Banjo In The Shed Mr Waterson
12. Bad Girl’s Lament
13. Lakes Of Ponchartrain
It’s time to get a little sentimental here on Timber and Steel as we celebrate Valentine’s Day the only way we know how – by creating a playlist of our favourite folky love songs to help you woo your significant other or potential lover. It may be cheesy and it may be “cashing in” on a day created purely to sell greeting cards, but we’re just big softies here and we simply love our love songs. So dim the lights, cover your room in rose petals, open your favourite bottle of red and snuggle up to Timber and Steel as we present our Valentine’s Day playlist, For The Love of Folk, starting with our favourite love-at-first-sight song from Passenger.
“Bridal Train” – The Waifs
Imagine having to leave behind you family and friends behind because you fell in love with, married and had a daughter to a soldier from another country? This truely is a tale of giving up everything for love.
“Kathy’s Song” – Simon and Garfunkel
A long term favourite of T&S contributor Thom Miles, made even more poignant by the fact that “Kathy”is still by his side, decades down the track.
“Beeswing” – Richard Thompson
A bittersweet love story for sure, but with one of the most beautiful choruses of any folk song: “She was a rare thing, fine as a bee’s wing, so fine a breath of wind might blow her away”. Magic.
“Lost In You” – Lior
A definitive song from Lior. Every ounce of potential Lior showed in his other tracks – in the way of lyricism, vocals, musicianship and song-writing – is realised in this song.
“Black is the Colour” – Christy Moore
One of Moore’s most beautiful songs (and he has so many) this traditional piece has been covered by the best in the business. But this is by far the definitive version.
In all the excitement of learning that Richard Thompson was among the recipients of the 2011 Order of the British Empire (OBE) we completely missed another folk icon who has been honored with the same award. Dougie MacLean is one of the best known Scottish proponents of traditional and contemporary folk music having produced over 20 albums and worked with the best in the business. He toured Australia last year, headlining the Port Fairy Folk Festival.
It is fitting that MacLean receive the prestigious award given that he is the writer of one of the most beautifully patriotic Scottish songs of the last century, “Caledonia” (below). Dougie MacLean’s other famous composition, “The Gael” was adapted by Trevor Jones as the theme for the film Last of the Mohicans.
There would be pros and cons to being the son of two of the most respected and revered folk musicians in the world. On the plus side a lot of doors would be open to you to pursue a life as a musician, with the opportunity to collaborate with some of the biggest names in the scene. On the flip side you will always be compared to your parents, regardless of your own individual talent, and would always be held up by the media as having to “prove” yourself every bit as good as they were.
As the son of Richard and Linda Thompson, Teddy Thompson seems to take his heritage in his stride. In fact it would be right to say he embraces his musical pedigree without coming off as entitled or spoiled. Teddy has managed to carve a name for himself as a major player on the nu-folk scene while also contributing to his father and mother’s careers at the same time (Teddy was not only part of Richard Thompson’s band in the 90s, he was also key to Linda Thompson’s musical comeback, co-producing her first album in 17 years, Fashionably Late).
Despite his musical lineage Teddy Thompson has definitely carved his very own musical niche. A little more pop than his parents, Thompson’s sound is well produced, intelligent and expressive. His influences include 60′s rock and roll, contemporary folk-rock (Crowded House in particular) and country which all seems to meld together to form a wonderfully versatile musical style. The Neil Finn influence can definitely be heard in Thompson’s tenor voice and fans of Lior, Vorn Doolette or even Ben Lee will be rewarded by giving him a listen.
Four albums into his solo career Teddy Thompson can not really be described as “up and coming” or even part of the current nu-folk crowd, but given that he is relatively unknown in Australia (or at least to this writer) it’s nice to know that there is an extensive back catalogue waiting to be explored. Thompson has a new album coming out on the 8th February this year (titled Bella) with the first single “Looking for a Girl” hitting iTunes on the 11th January.
Give Teddy Thompson a listen not because you’re a fan of Richard or Linda but because he is an amazing artist in his own right. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has named folk legend Richard Thompson to the 2011 Honours List as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Thompson is one of the most highly respected contemporary folk musicians in the world, playing a major part in the folk revival of the 60s and 70s and was a founding member of Fairport Convention. Thompson is probably best known as a songwriter, guitarist and performer both solo and in collaboration with other musicians (in particular his ex-wife Linda).
The OBE was instituted by King George V in 1917 as recognition of those who have made significant non-military contributions to the British Empire and is awarded by the reigning monarch twice a year. The honour will be bestowed upon Thompson during an Investiture ceremony at St. James’s Palace at a future date, yet to be announced.
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