Blog: Carnival Saloon

It's one of rock'n'roll's most worn-out cliches that the Devil has the best tunes. But as this selection highlights, Jesus has his fair share of great songs too. MP3: Neutral Milk Hotel - The King of Carrot Flowers Parts Two & Three There's something slightly menacing about this song, the second track on Neutral Milk Hotel's masterpiece In The Aeroplane Over Sea . In fact, I've found that singing the opening aloud after a few pale ales does indeed scare people. [...]

Taking Off With Hawkwind Last night I did something I've been meaning to do for some weeks. I watched a BBC documentary about 70s space-rockers Hawkwind I recorded last month. Until yesterday I knew nothing about the band other than they had a rubbish name and Lemmy had been among their number before he formed Motorhead . If you're equally ignorant, the All Music Guide nicely sums up their marijuana-scented essence: Any sci-fi [...]

Carnival Saloon regulars will know that my first post of the new year was about chicken songs and the second was the start of my musical tour of every American state which began in Alabama . So, imagine how I felt yesterday when I discovered I actually own a song called Alabama Chicken and didn't mention it in either post! I believe there's always room for more chicken so here's that song plus some more premium poultry. MP3: Sean Hayes - Alabama Chicken I [...]

Last year I saw Hayes Carll and Tom Russell in fairly quick succession at the Luminaire . Both performed excellent sets; both sang songs about chickens - one a fighting cock, the other of barnyard-to-plate variety. Which got me thinking... MP3: Joe Ely - Gallo Del Cielo I think Joe Ely's version is better known than Tom Russell's original. Like so many Tom Russell songs this is a wonderful evocation of borderline lawlessness. More Joe Ely: official site | Amazon [...]

Photo: StuSeeger @ Flickr After an easy musical run through the first three states of the journey I admit to struggling slightly with Arkansas. The state's tourist office promotes it as a fine destination for hunting and bird watching but these activities have inspired few visiting songwriters. MP3: The New Lost City Ramblers - The Arkansas Sheik The NLCR were pivotal in the late 50s and 60s folk revival and Mike Seeger and [...]

A Southern start to an epic musical journey Last October Joanne and I were driving back from a weekend away with friends listening to the brilliant Port O'Brien album All We Could Do Is Sing on the stereo. Track 3, Fisherman's Son, opens with the line, "I'm doing fine in Alaska" which got us talking about the potential of a great '50 States, 50 Songs' playlist we could lovingly compile for a future road trip. The more we discussed songs about places [...]

My favourite links week ending 12 September 2008 Photo of the Week The picture above is of Salt Lake City in the 1950s that I found via my friend Dave Varley's delicious account. It's one of a dozen or so vintage photographs of American cities taken by a chap called Charles W Cushman that are posted on a forum about skyscrapers . I recall that buying booze in Salt Lake City is not [...]

Hank Williams died seven months before Elvis set foot inside Sam Phillip's Sun Studio . Which of them was the most rock'n'roll? No contest. Listening to The Raveonettes' cover of I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry last weekend set me scouring the shelves for more. These are five Hank Williams covers I found in my collection - all recorded this decade. You can hear and download the originals at the bottom of the post. MP3: The Raveonettes - I'm So Lonesome I [...]

A belated response to their Union Chapel show last month I have an awful lot to thank Mark Olson and Gary Louris for. Their band, The Jayhawks , were my first Americana heroes and in the fifth form I wore out my cassette of their album Hollywood Town Hall . That record, along with a photo of Evan Dando wearing a Gram Parsons t-shirt on a Lemonheads sleeve, were the chief ingredients mixed in the crucible that formed [...]

Last Saturday's Times placed Jimmy Carter at a lowly number 32 in their comprehensive list of America's greatest presidents (Honest Abe was Top of the Pops, Dubya tied with Nixon at 37). I've always had a soft spot for Jimmy though admit it might be because I find the phrase "peanut farmer turned president" as amusing as Carter's admission to Playboy that "I have committed adultery in my heart many times" . I'm cautiously optimistic that Barack Obama will win today's election but am worried that [...]

Random Thoughts on an American Holiday Years ago I saw Greg Proops do a routine at the Edinburgh Festival where he suggested that the British should celebrate Thanksgiving as much as his countrymen. Instead of being thankful for breaking bread with the Natives we should be grateful for saying "fuck off" to the Puritans. I don't know. If Benjamin Franklin's dad had stayed put in Northamptonshire we could have claimed the lightning rod and the glass armonica [...]

Our musical tour around the United States takes us to the country's most northern point. Until Sarah Palin made her unwelcome entrance into my consciousness pretty much all of my impressions about Alaska came from Northern Exposure , a whimsical 90s TV show that was actually filmed in Washington state . This was my favourite programme as a teenager. What was not to love about the eccentric small town of Cicely and its residents that included Martin Scorsese's pen pal, a sexy female pilot and a well-read DJ who still [...]

What Have The Neo-Cons Ever Done For Us? While the only tears I'll shed as George W Bush leaves the White House will be ones of joy, I am grateful for Dubya's contribution to my cultural life over the last eight years. These are just five things we wouldn't have had without W. 1. Journeys With George Although Alexandra Pelosi's fly-on-the-press-corp documentary is as much about the media as it as about Dubya's presidential bid I think it [...]

Seven Festive Favourites Our modest Christmas tree is illuminated, a few presents have been bought and so far I've eaten two mince pies this month. If you're not feeling festive yet these seven songs should help. MP3: Sufjan Stevens - Get Behind Me, Santa! This is from Stevens' Songs For Christmas box set. Not the greatest Christmas song of all time but certainly the one with the best title. MP3: [...]

Barack Obama's geek appeal As a fan of both Barack Obama and the Man of Steel I was delighted by last week's revelation that the presidential hopeful is actually Superman. The speech in New York , which also referenced Mad magazine icon Alfred E Neuman, was obviously a well planned attempt to appeal to any comic geeks still unsure who to vote for. It's an aspect of the campaign that's received little press [...]

Paste magazine have marked the inauguration of Barry H Obama by giving away this cute song by Clare Muldaur and the Reasons . You can download it from Paste's website . Enjoy! Clare and the Reasons - Obama Over The Rainbow Related Posts Super Obama Thank You George W Bush Related Links Paste Magazine BBC - Full Obama Inauguration Coverage

Six More Drinking Songs A few week's ago I posted half a dozen songs about booze . In reponse a few people suggested their own favourites , so here they are - plus one more of mine. (Apologies to Sam Jordison , I tried and failed to find a copy of your suggestion, The Dubliners' Jar of Porter. It would have been a nice tribute to the owner of folk music's greatest facial hair ). MP3: [...]

The White House in Hollywood BBC Four had a great double bill of programmes this week about Hollywood's representation of the US president that I'd recommend any American Studies graduate or West Wing fan fire up the iPlayer to watch while they're still both available. In Dinner with Portillo , the former MP chows down with the likes of Joe Klein , Peter Biskind , Republican speechwriter Lisa Schiffren [...]

McCain Not The Only Loser on Election Night Without access to CNN , Fox News or Al Jazeera I stayed loyal to my employer on US election night and watched the BBC's coverage. A revolving A list of pundits including Christopher Hitchens , Ted Koppel , Simon Schama and David "Axis of Evil" Frum joined David Dimbleby to watch Barack Obama became president. It was not a broadcast that always showed the BBC at its [...]