Disc of the day
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
Magnificent late-'50s singles round-up that keeps on giving.
(Righteous, 2009)
Heartbroken honky-tonkin' from Karnes City, Texas.
Another gem from the dragon's hoard of MOJO's Dave Henderson, who runs eclectic reissue label Righteous and manages our covermount CDs when he's not wrangling talent for MOJO's annual Honours List awards ceremony. This, one of many excellent titles he's disinterred so far this year (the Merle Travis is another humdinger), is a compilation of the weepiest '50s tracks by the honky-tonk hottie born with the fanciful handle of Argolda Voncile Hill. From the "it shoulda been me" soul-scrape of Boye/Glazer's Call Off The Wedding, this is a three-lane pile-up of romantic calamity, with Hill's gritty holler vying with some of the starkest arrangements (and, come to that, some of the most unashamedly pathetic pedal-steel playing) in the canon. So, wince and swoon with vicarious sorrow as Hill's man done gets boozed up (Liquor & Women), beats her, cheats on her (Please Don't Betray Me), and neglects to write that "letter that means more to me than gold". What a complete bastard. Hill, who'd blazed a trail for female country singers when her version of I Let The Stars Get In My Eyes topped the Country chart in 1953, gave up the honky-tonk game soon after to shack up with June Carter's ex-hubby Carl Smith. She seems to have been luckier than her songs, and Smith and Hill were still married when she joined that Hayride in the sky in 2005, aged 72.
Danny Eccleston
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 27/10/2009
Hank Williams - ...As Luke the Drifter (MGM, 1953)
Patsy Cline - Patsy Cline Showcase (Decca, 1961)
Loretta Lynn - Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind) (Decca, 1967)
Magnificent late-'50s singles round-up that keeps on giving.
6:00 AM GMT 20/11/2009
The Cincinnati siblings bed into their heavy period.
6:00 AM GMT 18/11/2009
The trumpeter's most soulful excursion entrances MOJO messageboarder.
6:00 AM GMT 16/11/2009
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