Nothing encourages visits to Th' IoF© more than "Beatles" in a headline! Running a close second is an Art Study of Susanna Hoffs [above - Ed.], so I'm expecting to break an internet with this one! Why do I resort to such ignoble flim-flammery? Because if Mac Gayden's name was the hook for this piece, hardly anyone would bite. Mac's been on th' Isle© before, but he has a new album which I nearly missed, so that's a good reason for another FoamFeature© dedicated to his unique genius. Especially as the album's better than I expected (after the disappointmink of his previous, Nirvana Blues). The new one's called Come Along, and here's what it looks like:
Sweet cover, right? Already you're feeling good about it, and the music is well up to the expectations it sets, recognisably by the same guy who made that beautiful string of albums all those years ago. His signature guitar playing is all over it - and there's not that many players you can name after just a few notes. The songs are no embarrassment, a few are even gawjuss, and the whole thing hangs together as a proper core album. Yay!
Flashback fifty-two freakin' years to that lost first album, McGavock Gayden.
It really is lost, too - at least the tapes are, which is why it's never had a CD release, although Mac issued a CDR needledrop a while back. Produced by Bob Johnston in Nashville '73 and issued only in the UK [we're, like, WTF? - Ed.], you'd now pay up to a couple or three hunnerd bucks for a copy, which is probably more than the album made on release. Seriously. It disappeared from the shelves before it reached them. Unlike many impossible-to-hear "lost classics", McGavock Gayden is just that, a brilliant, exploratory, and beautiful piece of work that puts him in a different league to the denim-clad horde of singer-songwriters of the time. The Freeload™ contains a slightly crackly but entirely listenable needledrop @192, which is how I got it (where, I forget). Individual tracks are scattered across YewChewb, maybe at better quality, so if you want to assemble the entire album from there, good hunting and good luck! And if there's anyone out there with the keys to SoulSuck, you might want to check if they're clutching a better version to their ample bosom, and sneak out a copy for the common good. Please and thank you!
Freeload® contains everything he's released under his own name. Those who clicked for the Fabs and La Hoffs won't be disappointed. And if they are, fuck 'em.
This post funded in part by the Amalgamated Albuquerque, Azusa And Amarillo Armadillo, Aardvark, Anteater, Axolotl, And Albino Alpaca Appreciation Association (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA). My thanks to "Tufty" Schnorblatz.
Underrated solo artists? Go for it.
ReplyDeleteKevin Coyne
DeleteGive Wreckless here a cigar. Smash all your posts , and go Kevin Coyne for a year.
DeleteHe's too miserable for me, but I understand the appeal.
DeleteSee, he is underrated, also by you. He is great fun, besides his serious songs.
DeleteI don't underrate him at all ("I understand his appeal"). I just don't like his music. Not with Siren or solo. This isn't a request for artists we like or dislike. He's an interesting choice, because he gets a lot of love from a limited fanbase, so I'm not sure who's underrating him. Perhaps "should be better known" is more accurate?
DeleteFound this when seeking my soul: https://mega.nz/file/7pFhTQSQ#RTF9dZ5X6c_ytRZcv9txZBBG35ddvD0plnlj8xRtgPMoul . I hope it is accepted as a token of appreciation for the funny and very readable comments.
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic of you. I think, on A-B'ing, it's from the same needledrop that I have @192. Maybe it's the only needledrop out there?
DeleteUnderrated Solo Artist....(1) Casey Kelly (2) Most any Neville Brother/Meter by their lonesome (3) The dude who wrote "Too Long at the Fair" Bonnie Raitt covered...Joel...Zloss?
ReplyDeleteGreat post Farq, but it begs the question: Was Mac Gayden a secret member of the Beatles?
ReplyDeleteSomehow subconsciously you might have stumbled onto something really fishy...
It smells like a conspiracy!
I thought it smelled like teen spirit....best Beatles song not by the Beatles? "About a Girl."
DeleteChris Smither (first one who came to mind) --Muzak McM
ReplyDeleteYoko Ono, she has been treated misogynistic, been called chinese panda, people hated her. She is and was atrue great artist as a member of fluxus.
ReplyDeleteHurrah! But I think we're talking about underrated solo *recording^ artists? Not victims of toxic misogynist male hegemony or trail-blazing contemporary conceptual gallery artists. As a recording artist I think she's rated about right.
Delete(*scag* panda, please - I'm not racist, and chose the popular gender-neutral mammal to elicit cuddly, protective feelings.)
When I read the first line, it just states solo-artist. You did not say "recording" solo artist. But that is my pedantic way out. Calling someone Panda is not racist, calling a Japanese woman, Chinese is, albeit unintentionally.
DeleteI think "recording artist" is implicit, yes? Given the context of a blog piece about a recording artist in a blog that's mostly about recording artists. Who called her Chinese? And why would this be racist, anyway? What's racist about being Chinese or not being Chinese? I'm guessing English is not your first language, and you're doing very well in it (that's not condescending, or racist, I appreciate the effort you take to post a comment) but I get it, you like Yoko, which is fine. She's on the list of underrated artists, although I'm not sure she'd be flattered by the inclusion.
DeleteMichael Nau, King Creosote, David Garza, Michael Head, Sibylle Baier, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Shannon Lay, Caitlin Rose, Sherry Kean
ReplyDeleteDah-veed Garza is an excellent call...when he is backed by Nina (La Nina) Singh, teeny tiny badass drummer extraordinaire, it is even better if no longer solo
DeleteNick Holmes Leo Kottke Chip Taylor and Ms. Ono
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to underrate Kottke's vocal talents.
DeleteNick Harper, great solo musician and performer. Also Chuck Prophet.
ReplyDeleteAnother Caitlin: Caitlin Cary (ex Whiskeytown)
ReplyDeleteDon McGlashan (ex Muttonbirds)
Yep, I know they didn't start out as solo artists, but they ended up that way.
Caitlin Cary is a true treasure. It pains me no end that she has given up on a music career. --Muzak McM.
DeleteOooh another one. Kendra Smith (ex Opal, ex Dream Sydicate, ex Clay Allison, ex Guild Of Temporal Adventurers.
ReplyDeleteThis is the link, the link is here, here is the link:
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/UBz92uKKkxS
(The McGavock Gayden file is the same as the one linked above by our celebrity guest Bibre, so if you downloaded that, you have an extra album you can give to a close friend or loved one as a token of your undying affection, thereby endearing yourself to them and placing them in the awkward position of owing you a favour - this could be useful leverage if they are in a position of influence.)
Thankie, the new Mac Gayden is going on the Bambi Dancette imminently.
DeleteI intend to pass on the extra album to someone in exchange for Greenland.
Nice album. Ah yes, Greenland.
DeleteSounds great, and I missed Nirvana Blues most welcome as well.
DeleteHere's an underrated artist - Donovan. No, no, hear me out! I'm not saying he's an undiscovered genius, or even unpopular. He's sold scads of records, yet a good proportion of those who know him think he's a lightweight, or a Dylan wannabe, when he's neither. That's underrating him and his achievements. His early singles, recorded in LA, were psych-pop before anyone else was doing it, and his fey vocal style influenced more singers than it had a right to. A Grift ["Gift"? - Ed.] From A Flower To A Garden was the first double box set, and so on. He's tarnished his legacy by being a braggart and a liar and a thief, so his real achievements are underrated. You don't have to be unknown to be underrated. Just a twat.
ReplyDeleteYep you are right, of course. The Sunshine Superman & Mellow Yellow albums (or just Sunshine Superman in the UK) had wonderful songs performed beautifully, with great musicians. And yes, the guy was truly up himself, but I try to overlook that, when I hear those songs.
Delete"Art not the artist" as ever. My constant companions are Liquid Sunshine Donovan and Gift From A Flower.
Deletehttps://falsememoryfoam.blogspot.com/2019/04/liquid-sunshine-donovan-interview.html
... and here ... https://falsememoryfoam.blogspot.com/2021/04/donovans-brain.html
DeleteDonovan's Open Road was my favorite album by him.
DeleteScott Walker. His solo lps were relatively unknown outside the UK, and didn't really generate any sense of traction until the 90s. His voice and compositional skills were other worldly.
ReplyDeleteThe "Walker Brothers" have a fascinating history. Not brothers, formed in LA, drummer from the Standells, bass by Scott from the Routers, a surf/twang group. Big in the UK until the ballad style began to sound dated. Scott's successful morphing into avant-garde makes for quite the career curve!
DeleteThere was band in the late 90s whose singer was eerily reminiscent of Walker, Cousteau. They made 2 great lps that went nowhere, and have reformed a few times also to no success. Last I heard, that singer was painting houses somewhere in Italy.
DeleteSo tell us, oh mighty potentate, how many hits did your BeatleHoff twofer get ya?
ReplyDeleteIt's already overtaken everything since Gina Lollobrigida, and I strongly suspect that the Bread Love And Dreams albums weren't the attraction there. Click catnip: Beatles, La Hoffs, breasts that show on thumbnail. Click kryptonite: unknown bloke/obscure band, Myra Nussbaum Foam-O-Graph©.
DeleteI guess it's nice to know I track with the crowd.
DeleteActually, I eventually look at pretty much every page of your blog. But it takes longer without catnip, and I'm willing to admit it.
D in California.
I see your gum card hasn't been posted. Heads will roll.
Delete