Features Disc of the day
Edgar ‘Jones’ Jones
Soothing Music For Stray Cats
(Viper, 2005)
Hardy perennial, mystic scouse muso creates vintage R&B curio... in his bedroom.
As he emerged from the ashes of Liverpudlian garage-rockers The Stairs, Edgar Jones – the band’s bass-bashing, blues-hollering singer (far right in Stairs pic) – became embroiled in live work for the likes of Paul Weller and Johnny Marr, before enlisting future members of The Stands and The Zutons to kickstart short-lived outfit The Big Kids. After years of near misses and record label woe, his moment of genius finally arrived in the form of Soothing Music For Stray Cats – a homegrown collection of smouldering doo-wop, jazzy instrumentals and growling R&B cool. Recorded in his bedroom on a trusty eight-track, Jones’ reverence for the crackling reel-to-reel sounds of vintage New Orleans 78s is all-encompassing, making his solo debut sound confidently authentic. But to praise Soothing Music… for its sonic proficiency alone would be foolish. Jones is a deft tunesmith and, amid all that heavy retro production, sits a series of whip-smart songs. More Than You’ve Ever Had and Tenderly are ’50s R&B hits reawakened for the 21st Century, while Freedom sounds like an unearthed outtake from the sessions for Sly Stone And The Family Stone’s Fresh. Similar levels of harmonic ambition and instrumental invention have made all of his subsequent releases worthy of lengthy investigation, but SMFSC is still his Everest.
Ross Bennett
Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 6:00 AM GMT 08/08/2008
Further Listening
Edgar ‘Jones’ Jones – Gettin' A Little Help From The Joneses (Viper, 2007)
Allen Toussaint – From A Whisper To A Scream (Kent, 1995)
The Coral – The Coral (Deltasonic, 2002)
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