As a kid we had an old 78 rpm player, (yes, I really am that old – now deal with it and move on!), along with The Teddy Bears Picnic and The Yellow Rose of Texas by Billy Cotton and his Band, among my particular faves was a disc on the old Embassy label by Larry Cross and the Canadians with The Ballard of Davy Crockett on one side and Sixteen Tonnes on the other. So you can no doubt imagine that an evening like this rings enough bells to give even the most dedicated campanologist severe psychological problems.
The Company Store is an evening organised by Danny Roberts of the band SIXTEEN TONNES, and features all that is best in roots, Americana, blues etc. The Zanzibar are getting really good at this kind of thing, and don’t get the credit they deserve for their contribution to local music.
First on were DANIEL ROSS & THE SINKING SHIPS, whose set was competent, but didn’t really take off until the closing cover of Paul Simon, “The Boxer”, but they show promise. Christina Malley has an amiable personality that belies the sheer visceral blues power of her voice, particularly on the opening unaccompanied number, which may have been called “Angel On My Tail”.
MIKE BADGER was playing a warm up set before heading over to Louisiana and Texas to play some gigs. He was joined onstage by Ian Laney and Chris Mason of Tramp Attack on drums and bass and well as the aforementioned Mr Roberts playing some deft guitar on a couple of songs.
There’s a climactic fantasy scene in Powell and Pressberger’s amazing film “A Matter of Life and Death” – David Niven’s fighter pilot is fighting for his life on an operating table, meanwhile Roger Livesey and Raymond Massey are angelic advocates putting the case for and against his survival in a vast celestial court. Imagine if it your life depended on the protagonists duelling with songs. I’d want Mike Badger in my corner, his erudite songs display an innate understanding of the human condition and he deliver them with compassion and wit.
|
Tonight’s set features three new songs “Mean and Nasty Devil”, “Drank By The Sand” and the heartbreaking “Adios Amigos (Vaya Condios)”. The latter is Mike at his best, a song about drug smuggling over the Mexican border, a process fraught with danger and usually results in death for many of the protagonists. This song shares more than mere nomenclature with Woody Guthrie, it’s a song whose lineage can be traced right back to his subject matter and is conveyed with eloquent sincerity.
Johnny Cash’s “Mean Old Cat” is dedicated to the Man in Black; whose birthday it would have been a few days previously and we get a fair approximation of the Tennessee Two Shuffle. There is also a song from Mike’s days with The La's, “Open Your Heart”, not played for 24 years. Mike’s playful side is neatly shown by the fairly self-explanatory “10 Commandments of Rock”.
I was sorry to have to miss Sixteen Tonnes, but you can safely sell your soul to The Company Store, they’ll look after it for you. As for Mike Badger, the denizens of Louisiana and Texas should clasp him to their hearts as if he was one of their own. Spiritually, that’s what he is anyway.
|
