You And Me – Paul Kossoff

What can you say about Paul Kossoff?…, the guitarist for Free…, Alright Now.., Wishing Well… remember those songs?… classics. He was, without doubt, one of the UK’s finest blues guitarists. He was also another one of rocks casualties, he died in 1976 at the age of 25.

When I was a kid there used to be shows on the TV on Sunday evenings, religious shows, and on one of those shows a guy called David Kossoff used to tell stories from the Bible. He used to sit in a big wooden chair and tell the stories to a group of kids sat in front of him.., he was very good too, sticks in my mind vividly. Never did I realise while watching those shows that David Kossoff’s son would become one of my all time favourite musicians later in life.., strange world, but’s that’s what happened.

The thing with Paul Kossoff was that he didn’t just play the guitar, he played it like it was a part of him and he seemed to pour his emotions out through it… like it was crying sometimes. But he was addicted to drugs, very addicted. It seemed that no matter how hard people tried to get him off them he just couldn’t, or wouldn’t, and when Free split up it seemed to make his addiction worse. His life ended on a flight from Los Angeles to New York, his heart gave out. Tragic tale, isn’t it?…, but an all too familiar one in the music business, as we all know. But during his short life he recorded some superb music, not just with Free, but with his own band… Back Street Crawler.. and various line ups featuring his old bandmates from Free.

I would have to have both these songs amongst my desert island digital collection. Some songs are just so good, so wonderful, and yet no one has hardly heard of them. This first song comes in that catagory, the lyrics are so good, just listen to them…, and the guitar playing is Kossoff at his bleeding heart best, the sound he gets from it gives you the shivers. It’s called You And Me, a very special song for me…, one of those songs that goes with you through life, Jim Capaldi provides the wonderful vocals.

The second one is called Molton Gold, from his solo album.. Back Street Crawler. Paul Rodgers sings lead vocal.. the old Free connection… and Jess Roden backs him up, while Kossoff plays the guitar as only he could.

I’ll just say this. If you listen to any of the linked songs on here… listen to these two.. really. Listen to the talent the guy had, the ability to produce a unique sound from the guitar…., the passion and the feeling he put into it. Then sit for a moment and wonder…., wonder how good he would be today if he were still alive. He was playing these in his early twenties, he was still learning… and listen to what he could do.

If I ever had to choose a favourite song… and it would be very, very hard…. You And Me would be hard for me to ignore. You know how it is.., someday it’s your favourite, others it’s not.. we all know those songs. But that one is never out of the top three… never.

*Okay.., as a footnote to this post I’m going to put the lyrics to You and Me on here. You can’t seem to find them anywhere on the internet and people who are searching for them keep ending up here. So, as I know them off by heart, here they are*..

You and Me.., lyrics

There’s no words that can’t be put to music, if you try
There’s no story that can’t be told
There’s no sin that can’t be forgiven, in time
There’s no mountain too high to climb

(chorus)
You and me, we’ve been through storm and rain
And I know, we’ll go through it again

There’s no heart that can’t be broken, in two
There’s no one too hard to cry
There’s no door that can’t be opened, with the right key
There’s just you.., you and me

(repeat chorus)

There’s no words that can’t be spoken, if you want
You can say just what you feel
There’s no spell that can’t be broken, with a will
Everyone can feel free
Everyone can learn to see
There’s just you.., and me

The song was written by Jim Capaldi, and released on Island Records.

White.., But More Than Average

Between 1974 and 1980 the Average White Band had a run of hit songs, songs that have stuck in my mind ever since. They’re a Scottish band playing music that you really didn’t expect to hear being played by.. well., a Scottish band. But they took the charts by storm and were a fantastic live act, funk, soul, r&b… the best words to describe they’re style. Their music was also played a lot in the disco’s that I used to go to back then, and when their songs were played the dancefloors were always packed… a sign of their popularity for sure.

First time I saw them perform live was on a TV show called The Old Grey Whistle Test, a late night music show on the BBC where bands would play one or two songs, but live.., no miming.. or so they reckoned. Anyway, I vividly remember watching AWB, as they became known,… because I’d heard their stuff but never seen them. They were great to watch, good musicians, qiute a few of them.., can’t just remember how many, but they could really play…, really play! And so I went and bought their album, took it home and listened to it for hours… that good it was. They made so many good songs during those six or seven years, songs that have really stood the test of time and barely a week goes by when I don’t play their greatest hits cd.

So these next two tracks I know off by heart, two very funky songs. The first one is You Got It… one of their most popular…, and the second is Put It Where You Want It… which is one of my all time favourites…, a top tenner in my list for sure…., a desert island essential, and the one they performed on the OGWT all those years ago.

Friday Night With Rory Gallagher

So the coconut vodka is starting to kick in at my Friday night party for one on Grooverider Atol… may as well give my desert island a name… sounds good?… and it’s time to give the laptop some hammer.. good job I have a small wind powered generator to charge it and keep the music flowing.

Rory Gallagher.., thank goodness I have some of his songs on the hard drive, a guitar legend if ever there was one. Not the most famous or revered blues guitarist of all time, but he could stand up and play with the best of them in his day. He still sold over 30 million albums, though, and toured endlessly throughout his career… not bad for a very shy man who didn’t really like the spotlight on him too much. He died, unfortunately, in 1995 from complications after a liver transplant at the age of only 47… such a shame. But Rory left us with some great music, and I’d have to have some of it with me if I was stranded on my atol in the ocean. I’ve collected his albums since my teens… don’t think he ever made a single, he was an album artist, not interested in getting into the charts. And over the years I’ve pretty much managed to collect most of his stuff… not all of it because much of it was released on bootleg albums.. but the legit ones, I have them all.

So Rory’s music is blasting out over my private beach, it’s Friday night… and my mind drifts back to October 30th 1992 which, strangely enough, was also a Friday night… the night when I travelled over to Leeds to see him play live at the opening night of the Town and Country Club, and what a night it was…. he blew the doors off the place. The guy just ripped through all my favourites, smacking out one blistering solo after another on that battered old Stratocaster of his…. simply awesome. I just stood there and soaked it all in, jaw dropped, not quite believing what I was witnessing. He played an incredible set that night and right at the end I managed to shake his hand, a massive honour…. for me not him… then made my way home grinning from ear to ear… what a night!!

Two tracks from Rory in this post, both from one of his live albums from the ’70’s… Live in Europe… great live album, I reckon it’s his best. First track is the opening one on the album, Messing with the Kid, which is excellent… then the second is my favourite… Bullfrog Blues… Rory at his best, and accompanied by Gerry McAvoy on bass, with Wilgar Campbell on the drums, a very powerful trio who together produced some great music throughout their years together…. God Bless you Rory.., top man!!.. must have music for my digital desert island collection.

Zeropage

We’ll carry on with the electronic theme from the previous post for this next track, I love ambient/chillout stuff, but Zeropage make chillout music to be played loud !!… which is maybe a condradiction of what chillout is all about. I always think of it as great background music, you know?.., playing away in the background at a party and everyone asking “who’s this?…, it’s good”.. Anyway, I came across Zeropage on Jamendo.com.. never heard of Jamendo? well, I’ll explain later in this post. Zeropage are a duo from Switzerland and they make some fantastic music, all electronic, they’ve released a couple of albums in the past two or three years.

Now, today is Friday and if ever I came across a Friday song this is it… weekend’s here so let’s go for it. Thing is, this is music I’d take to a desert island… and it might be difficult to conjure up that Friday feeling if you were stuck on your own in the middle of the ocean. But I’m imagining my desert island would be awash with coconut trees, and from coconut trees tuba is made… coconut vodka no less… now we’re talking. A gallon of tuba all to myself, plus a laptop with a hard drive stuffed full of good music and a blazing beach fire…. maybe getting that Friday feeling going wouldn’t be too hard after all. So I’d imagine having three or four cups of tuba and cranking this up would have my beach party for one bouncing. The song is from an album called Ambient Pills, good album, and it’s called Ambient India … and remember, it has to be played loud, perfect… and no neighbours to worry about.

….oh, and about Jamendo. If you’ve never visited the website use the link over on the right, you’ll not be disappointed. Thousand of albums to listen to of every genre, there’s some fantastic music on there and if you like an album or a song or two all you have to do is register and you can download them.. for free. It’s all free and there is no limit to how much you download… and it’s all legal and above board because it’s all Creative Commons Licence… not Copyright… There are no mainstream artists as such, but it makes no difference because a lot of the music on Jamendo is excellent… so go have a look… and when you get there look up Zeropage.

808 State

Ok…, let’s get into this. Second song is by 808 State, a band that’s been around since 1988 and they’re from Manchester. Acid house/techno… if you thought this was going to be all old blues and rock, you’re wrong. I first heard this when they played it on Top of the Pops, the BBC chart show, and was instantly impressed. It’s probably one of the first techno songs I ever really listened to, or took notice of. I love the beat and the sound of this song, in a club, around the house or in your car… it just fits the mood for me and gets the fingers tappin’

There are several versions of it but the one I’m posting is my favourite version, as opposed to the original, which is brilliant, but this version has added vocal. It just gives it a little something extra, it has a real happy feel to it and makes it sound slightly eastern to me… if you know what I mean.., anyway, the song.

It’s called Pacific State, their first hit record…, I think it got to number 10 in the UK charts but that’s irrelevant because it’s still a great piece of music.

If you listen to it, via the link, and like the sound of 808 State then look over there to the right, the links. The 808 State link will take you to their website where you can listen to, and download some exclusive tracks by them. There’s a ton of their stuff to download, even some live gig recordings, and it’s all free to download for personal use. Having Pacific State on my desert island would sure have me dancing around the campfire at sunset…. awesome.

Welcome

Desert Island Discs is programme on BBC Radio 4, it’s been one of the most popular radio shows for decades. It started in 1942 and each week a guest is interviewed on the show. During the course of the interview they are asked to choose eight records that they would take with them to a desert island, simple format but it’s a very good radio show. So with that in mind I’ve decided to use that format as a basis for this blog, only there will be a heck of a lot more than eight songs… and instead of it being someone famous choosing their songs…, it’s just me.

Welcome to Desert Island Digital.

What music would you like to have with you if you were marooned on a desert island?…. a question that’s been asked many times in the past. Of course, it used to be desert island discs… records, but now in the age of the laptop you’d be able to have much more music with you on your desert island. Desert Island Digital is a music blog… pure and simple…. a blog about the songs I’d like to have with me on my desert island, and why.

I’ve always loved music, spent a fortune on it over the years, and I can still remember the first record I bought with my own money, as opposed to my parents buying them for me. It was by Canned Heat, a song called Let’s Work Together and it was on the Liberty record label… I still have it, along with all the others I’ve bought since. So if I was marooned on a desert island then that song would have to be with me… it brings back so many memories…, and it’s a great song. I’d been used to listening to The Rolling Stones and The Beatles but Canned Heat were something different, electric blues, they were American. It sounded brilliant, the guitar.., the voice, I heard it on the radio then rushed out to buy it and played it over and over again on my Fidelity record player… which was mono and didn’t have a really good sound.

So with this being the first post it’s only right that that song should be added to the blog. It’s not my favourite song…, I couldn’t choose a favourite, but it makes a nice start and gives you an idea of what this is all about. I’ll be adding more songs and links once I get into this but for now, if you want to, click on the link and have a listen to Canned Heat, the song that got me really into music…, and used up an entire weeks pocket money.