Category: Off the Beaten Tracks

ONE of the greatest songs of any era, any genre, has to be Love Hurts (Mrs Ashworth writes: Definitely the best pop song ever). Written by the prolific Boudleaux Bryant, it was … Continue readingGram and Emmylou

THIS week I am fondly revisiting two bands with much in common. Both were unorthodox additions to the British progressive rock scene in the early Seventies, both were on the … Continue readingAn Audience with Van Der Graaf

IN a recent column about Tom Waits, I mentioned the crucial role that guitarist Marc Ribot played in the creation of the classic 1985 album Rain Dogs. It was Marc’s first major session … Continue readingPrime Ribot

IN previous columns I have mentioned the great Danny Thompson in connection with favourites such as Bert Jansch, John Martyn, June Tabor and Maddy Prior, Nick Drake, Tim Buckley and the Incredible String Band. But these are mere … Continue readingDanny Thompson, ace of double bass

ONE of the most poignant songs I can think of is Kate Wolf’s The Wind Blows Wild, her reflections on love, life and death. Taped in the hospital room where she was … Continue readingKate Wolf – a short life

IN the words of Neil Young, of all the electric guitar players he had ever heard ‘it’s gotta be Jimi Hendrix and JJ Cale who are the best’. Eric Clapton described … Continue readingJJ Cale – I’ll take the fortune, not the fame

MAY I crave your indulgence? Click on this link, close your eyes and listen. What you hear is an ageing momma a-wailin’ and a-hollerin’ as she stirs a pan of hominy grits … Continue readingGot Dem Ole Streatham High Street Blues

AT the end of Part One we left keyboard wizard Keith Emerson announcing that the Nice had ‘outlived their usefulness’ and breaking up the three-man band. None of them wasted any time … Continue readingKeith Emerson, the Hendrix of the keyboards (Part 2)

IN a previous column about the American band 10,000 Maniacs I wondered how many would-be listeners were put off by the name. The same applies to the Canadian outfit Cowboy Junkies. They … Continue readingHooked on Cowboy Junkies

AT the end of Part One we left Tom Waits having fully assumed his seedy, gravel-voiced public persona with the 1976 album Small Change. It was his first to reach the US Top … Continue readingTom Waits Part Two – the Kathleen Effect