Pretending To Be Bob

I went to see Andy White the other week and was inspired to dig out his debut album, 1986's "Rave On Andy White". It is still an enjoyable listen but not having heard it for ages I had forgotten quite how blatant the Dylan influences were. Take this one, for example:

"Rembrandt Hat" - Andy White

What is a Delacroix cat? I suspect not even Andy knows.

That particular track shows its influences but stands up in its own right. Others topple over into parody. And there probably isn't an artist who has been more parodied over the years than Bob Dylan.

Here is an early "tribute" from 1965, available on the classic "Pebbles Volume 3" compilation and, bizarrely, a top 40 hit in Canada:

"Like A Dribbling Fram" - Race Marbles

I think the most successful parody came out a couple of years ago - the "Dylan Hears A Who" album, which took Dr Seuss poems and arranged them in the style of "Highway 61 Revisited" period Dylan. The music is spot on, the vocals are close enough to have you briefly thinking it might be Bob himself, and the lyrical content is no more nonsensical than some of Bob's own efforts of that period ("The sun ain't yellow it's a chicken" anyone?).

"Dylan Hears A Who" was briefly a roaring success until it was closed down by the Grinches who represent Dr Seuss's estate. At the risk of incurring the wrath of the Man in the Hat, here is the hit single:

"Green Eggs And Ham" - Dylan Hears A Who

Listening to "Dylan Hears A Who" it is clear that it is meant an affectionate tribute. This one on the other hand is a cruel assault on Bob's reputation and whoever is responsible for it ought to be shot:

"Monstrous Parody"

Of course the most parodied Bob-bit of all is the video for "Subterranean Homesick Blues". Here is Weird Al Yankovic with one of the many examples. It's all palindromes, folks:

Return Of The Thad

No, this isn't an attempt to lure someone from Chad in through the power of rhyme. It is a long overdue "welcome back" to one of my favourite singers of recent years, Thad Cockrell. He has a lovely pure voice, reminiscent at times of Roy Orbison (which is about as good as it gets), and - judging by a brief conversation with him after he played at The Borderline a few years back - he is an absolutely charming chap as well.

Thad's new album "To Be Loved" came out earlier this month. It is his first solo album for six years and his first album of any sort for four years - the last being "Begonias", his album of duets with Caitlin Cary. Some of the tracks on the new album were originally issued as an EP last year and two of them in particular - "Great Rejoicing" and "Pride (Won't Get Us Where We're Going)" - are as good as anything he has done. I have only listened to the completely new tracks once but most of them sound pretty good too.

Here is one from the new album and one old favourite:

"Beauty Has A Name" - from "To Be Loved" (2009)

"Why?" - from "Stack Of Dreams" (2001)

I mentioned the Big O in the opening paragraph. Here he is showing that even with some dodgy pick-up band he could blow you away.

Fighting The Punk Poet Wars

I have been listening to that Frank Turner a bit recently. He is not bad at all but for me there can only ever be one King of the Punk Troubadours: Patrik Fitzgerald.

There are three main reasons for favouring Patrik: he did it first (and best); he didn't go to Eton, unlike Frank - which, whatever you think of him, has to undermine his credibility a bit; and perhaps most importantly, Patrik is the only one whose name is half of a punchline to a slightly off-colour joke about alternative lifestyles in Ireland.

Here are two of his finest moments:

"Optimism/ Reject" (1977)

"Improve Myself" (1979)

There was another feller in between who was pretty good as well:

Tsonga Disco: Penny Penny

Those of you who have been following the recent posts on the Kings of Tsonga Disco may have noticed a bit of a theme developing. First we had Paul Ndlovu who reigned until he was cut down in his prime. He was succeeded by Peta Teanet who reigned until he was cut down in his prime - dead at the age of 30. Fortunately that is where the theme ends. His successor, Penny Penny - so good he named himself twice - continues to thrive.

I refer once more to the indispensable Max Thamagana Mojapelo, from whom we learn that Mr Penny (or Penny to his friends) was born into a family of 68 children and 17 wives in the village of Hanani. At that point he was known by the rather more prosaic name of Eric Kobane.

The next bit of his story, as told by Max, reminds me of "Patches" by Clarence Carter: "Upon the death of his father his mother who was a farm worker could not afford to send him and six other siblings to school... [actually I stand corrected - Patches never quit school because that was Daddy's strictest rule]... At the age of nine he had to work in the tomato plantations of Mooketsi".

By 19 he was working at the West Driefontein gold mine where "he won many trophies for break-dancing before the harsh working conditions drove him back home". Thereafter he moved to Johannesburg where he supported himself through such jobs as fast food chef and street hawker until the fateful day when he was working as a cleaner in a music studio and he met Joe Shirimani - regular readers will know of my admiration for Joe and his genius as both producer and performer. Joe took him under his wing and the rest is history.

After all that, you will be impatient for some music. Here are a couple of tracks from Mr Penny's album "Juri Juri" (I don't know the date but it is early-mid 1990s I think):

"Ndziri Ndziri" - Penny Penny

"Mabiribiri" - Penny Penny

And here is Papa Penny in action with Shaka Bundu:

Turkish Time

Something suitably mellow for a Sunday afternoon from Turkish singer-songwriter, Bülent Ortaçgil. You may be familiar with his early 1970s work through the Turkish edition of the excellent "Love, Peace and Poetry" global psychedelia series. Today's selections are more recent.

"Olmali Mi Olmamali Mi" - from "Eski Defterler" (1999)

"Rastlanti Yalani" - from "Gece Yalanlan" (2003)

Here he is - relatively recently I would guess by the look of him - performing the song featured on "Love, Peace and Poetry": "Sen Varsin"

Swamp Dogg Productions

We have featured the legendary Swamp Dogg here previously in his performing capacity, but if anything the contribution he has made over the years as a writer and producer has been even more significant. Here is a small selection of his work.

"(1-2-3-4-5-6-7) Count The Days" - Inez & Charlie Foxx

"Complication #4" - Arthur Conley

"Raining On A Sunny Day" - Freddie North

"Please Don't Send Him Back To Me" - Sandra Phillips

Here is the great man himself in action a couple of years ago.



P.S. I will be taking the links for August down next weekend, so if you fancy hearing a little Albanian and Macedonian music and a lot of African and soul, not to mention Larry Jon Wilson, now is your last chance.

Tsonga Disco: Peta Teanet

Peta Teanet's reign as the King of Tsonga Disco came after that of Paul Ndlovu, who we featured a couple of weeks ago, and before that of Penny Penny (a treat yet to come). Between 1988 and 1996 he bestrode the world of Tsonga Disco like a mighty colossus.

For further information I am indebted once again to Max Thamagana Mojapelo’s book “Beyond Memory: Recording the History, Moments and Memories of South African Music”. I don't know whether Max's image of himself as the Zelig of the music scene in the Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces is entirely accurate, but his book is certainly an invaluable source of information about South African music over the last thirty years or so.

Peta Teanet's story is classic soul singer territory. Born in a small village near the one-horse town of Tzaneen, his performing career started in church. The he formed a band called Relela who got a bit of airplay on Radio Tsonga, but were too far from the action to get much further locally. So he went off to Johannesburg where the streets are paved with gold in search of fame and fortune. After knocking on a lot of doors he eventually got a record deal. His first album, 1988's "Maxaka", represented what Max calls "the birth of an unchallengable hit machine". And so it was until he was tragically shot dead in 1996 at the age of only 30, leaving behind him eight wives (one of them apparently rejoicing in the name of Do It) and thirteen children. OK, that last bit is maybe a little less typical.

Today's selections come from a greatest hits compilation I picked up in Cape Town. According to Max, "Matswele" was "inspired by a young lady who was warning an unruly guy not to touch her breasts without permission", a cause we can all rally round I am sure. I have no idea what the other one is about.

"Matswele" - Peta Teanet

"Nwayingwane" - Peta Teanet

And to think that around the time Peta was getting started in 1988, back in the UK we were being subjected to this: