Blue Moon Playlist Review Club - Season 2 - Episode 27 - Out on blue 6 - Gone Too Soon (pg 438)

[RobMCFC]

Gone Too Soon

The last time that @Out on blue 6 created a playlist, he gave me Dennis Wilson's brilliant "River Song" that I'm still playing regularly all these months later.

This time he kicks off with another couple of good tracks that I'd never heard before: "Buzzin' Fly" by Tim Buckley and "Northern Sky" by Nick Drake.

My favourite track that I'd not heard before was "Mouthful of Cavities" by Blind Melon. It made me go back and listen to their debut album, which I do own. Although I didn't discard this in the way I did with the Elliot Smith album we reviewed recently, I have probably underplayed this one because it has some very good tracks on there: the standout single "No Rain" but also "Tones of Home", "I Wonder" and "Holyman" amongst others.

Others new to me that I enjoyed:-

"Detroit or Buffalo" - Neal Casal
"Blue Sky" - Allman Brothers Band
"Tuesday Wonderland" - Esbjorn Svensson Trio
"Wild Dogs" - Tommy Bolin
"Never Seen the Sea" - Gavin Clark
"River of Deceit" - Mad Season
"Heyday" - Mic Christopher

I know "Peace Frog" by The Doors and think that this is one of their best tracks.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Gone Too Soon

This was a bittersweet playlist with the gifts of the great songs we have, but the sad feeling those (mostly) responsible were no longer with us and didn't perhaps live their life to fullness for whatever sad reason. I found that hard to shake in listening to the songs here.

What I know I can usually rely on from an @Out on blue 6 playlist is I'm going to get 4 or 5 new songs I've not heard, and likely will like most if not all. This delivered again, with all 5 being all new and enjoyable. It was tough to pick a standout amongst that bunch, but The Sound's "Judgement" really was it from a band I regret missing from the 1980's, but then again their albums weren't released in the US, so that's a partial reason why. GO4's "To Hell With Poverty" was a very close second, and it wasn't heard to read how and why they've inspired many bands I very much like and still listen to. Another one I need to check out more. I could easily hear the bass on that track inspiring Flea. Just superb.

On the new tracks I wasn't familiar with, the clear winner for me was "Acts Of Man" from Frightened Rabbit. Some pretty sobering analytical lyrics and a nice musical buildup to what was a very poignant song.

Other new tracks I enjoyed:

• "Mouthful of Cavities" - Blind Melon, very close contender for the top spot on the overall delivery and how it builds to the end. Not surprised Rob had this at the top.
• "Never Seen the Sea" - Gavin Clark, just really liked this mellow tune
• "Heyday" - Mic Christopher, just an enjoyable song from an artist I didn't know
• "Italian Plastic" - Crowded House, just hadn't heard this one, very nice tune
• "Tuesday Wonderland" - Esbjorn Svensson Trio - very cool jazzy mood song
• "Wild Dogs" - Tommy Bolin, some great guitar-work on that song
• "Detroit Or Buffalo" - Neal Casal
• "It's Just a Ride" - Bill Hicks, I'm assuming our Spotify host added this track that I enjoyed and got a laugh out of it. Remember, it's just a choice, and I don't regret mine for the ride. I made the same one again this past week.

Ones I know by heart and enjoyed again:

• "You're All I Need To Get By" - Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell, childhood memories of hearing this classic
• "I Don't Believe In You" - Talk Talk, was listening to this album this very week for some strange (or not) reason
• "Blue Sky" - Allman Brothers Band, the missus was glad when this song came on during our road trip while listening. One of the few she recognized. You're my sunny day.
• "In My Time of Dying" - Led Zeppelin, the classic from the masterpiece double album
• "A Change Is Gonna Come" - Sam Cooke, just wish it was the needed change...
• "Here Come The Judge" - Shorty Long, we could use a judge because the jury done gone wild this past week
• "Jeepster" - T. Rex, not heard enough unlike it's similar sounding sibling track from the same album
• "That'll Be The Day" - Buddy Holly, the song that means something different afterwards

After the playlist ended, I got "Walkin' Back to Georgia" from Jim Croce, so Spotify AI was all over this theme.

 

[RobMCFC]

"Italian Plastic" - Crowded House, just hadn't heard this one, very nice tune

The album that this is from, Woodface, was my favourite for a good few years.

(Funny how favourites shift around, even though long-time favourite, The Lonesome Jubilee, predates this!)

Anyway, as I know you've been to see Crowded House live, you need to give this album a listen.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Gone Too Soon

This was a bittersweet playlist with the gifts of the great songs we have, but the sad feeling those (mostly) responsible were no longer with us and didn't perhaps live their life to fullness for whatever sad reason. I found that hard to shake in listening to the songs here.

What I know I can usually rely on from an @Out on blue 6 playlist is I'm going to get 4 or 5 new songs I've not heard, and likely will like most if not all. This delivered again, with all 5 being all new and enjoyable. It was tough to pick a standout amongst that bunch, but The Sound's "Judgement" really was it from a band I regret missing from the 1980's, but then again their albums weren't released in the US, so that's a partial reason why. GO4's "To Hell With Poverty" was a very close second, and it wasn't heard to read how and why they've inspired many bands I very much like and still listen to. Another one I need to check out more. I could easily hear the bass on that track inspiring Flea. Just superb.

On the new tracks I wasn't familiar with, the clear winner for me was "Acts Of Man" from Frightened Rabbit. Some pretty sobering analytical lyrics and a nice musical buildup to what was a very poignant song.

Other new tracks I enjoyed:

• "Mouthful of Cavities" - Blind Melon, very close contender for the top spot on the overall delivery and how it builds to the end. Not surprised Rob had this at the top.
• "Never Seen the Sea" - Gavin Clark, just really liked this mellow tune
• "Heyday" - Mic Christopher, just an enjoyable song from an artist I didn't know
• "Italian Plastic" - Crowded House, just hadn't heard this one, very nice tune
• "Tuesday Wonderland" - Esbjorn Svensson Trio - very cool jazzy mood song
• "Wild Dogs" - Tommy Bolin, some great guitar-work on that song
• "Detroit Or Buffalo" - Neal Casal
• "It's Just a Ride" - Bill Hicks, I'm assuming our Spotify host added this track that I enjoyed and got a laugh out of it. Remember, it's just a choice, and I don't regret mine for the ride. I made the same one again this past week.

Ones I know by heart and enjoyed again:

• "You're All I Need To Get By" - Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell, childhood memories of hearing this classic
• "I Don't Believe In You" - Talk Talk, was listening to this album this very week for some strange (or not) reason
• "Blue Sky" - Allman Brothers Band, the missus was glad when this song came on during our road trip while listening. One of the few she recognized. You're my sunny day.
• "In My Time of Dying" - Led Zeppelin, the classic from the masterpiece double album
• "A Change Is Gonna Come" - Sam Cooke, just wish it was the needed change...
• "Here Come The Judge" - Shorty Long, we could use a judge because the jury done gone wild this past week
• "Jeepster" - T. Rex, not heard enough unlike it's similar sounding sibling track from the same album
• "That'll Be The Day" - Buddy Holly, the song that means something different afterwards

After the playlist ended, I got "Walkin' Back to Georgia" from Jim Croce, so Spotify AI was all over this theme.

Mic Christopher was a good friend of Glen Hansard of The Frames. He was very well respected by his contemporaries in Ireland and he headed the band The Mary Jane’s before going solo and releasing the Heyday EP in 1999.
A lot of Irish stuff dedicated to him.

• Since Christopher's death, Glen Hansard of The Frames has dedicated each of that band's albums to him. They also dedicate their cover version of his hit "Heyday" to him when played live.
• Damien Rice dedicated his album O, released eight weeks after Christopher's death, to his departed friend.
• Lisa Hannigan dedicated the song "Splishy Splashy" to him on her debut album Sea Sew (2008).
• Rónán Ó Snodaigh from Kíla, who co-wrote the song Friends with Mic and shared a flat with him in the years before his death, wrote the song "The dream I haven't shown her" on his album The Playdays for Mic, it is a medley of the W.H. Auden poem; Funeral Blues and a song written by Mic Christopher Embrace the Day.
• In 2021, The Mary Janes released a previously unrecorded track named "Heartbreaker" about Christopher.
• In 2021, Christopher's friends and family held a tribute concert, titled Happy Birthday Mic Christopher. The concert was held at Whelans, Dublin.[12] On 21 September 2021, a live album, recorded by Christopher in 2001, was released.[13]

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

The album that this is from, Woodface, was my favourite for a good few years.

(Funny how favourites shift around, even though long-time favourite, The Lonesome Jubilee, predates this!)

Anyway, as I know you've been to see Crowded House live, you need to give this album a listen.

I need to give the original album a proper listen, agreed.

Back in the late '90s, I picked up the Recurring Dream CD 19 track compilation which had these 4 gems off of Woodface, but I'm probably ready for more:
"Weather with You", "Fall at Your Feet", "Four Seasons in One Day" and "It's Only Natural", which first three where the ones they chose to play on this tour and I well enjoyed.

 

[RobMCFC]

I need to give the original album a proper listen, agreed.

Back in the late '90s, I picked up the Recurring Dream CD 19 track compilation which had these 4 gems off of Woodface, but I'm probably ready for more:
"Weather with You", "Fall at Your Feet", "Four Seasons in One Day" and "It's Only Natural", which first three where the ones they chose to play on this tour and I well enjoyed.

All great songs. In fact the first 8 on Woodface are all superb and there are not really any clunkers.

It's also one of those albums that has an interesting backstory: in summary, Tim and Neil Finn were working on some songs together at the same time as Neil was writing for the next Crowded House album. Struggling to manage the two, the obvious answer was to combine their songs and therefore Tim joined the band for just one album. I said the other day that I've never listened to any music for the vocals alone but on this album, the Finn brothers are truly superb together.

On the extended special edition of the album there are a load of tracks that didn't make the cut and a few of them are great. There's also a few more on the Afterglow compilation from 1999. Woodface could have been astonishing double album because in at least 5 or 6 cases, the "rejected" songs are as good as those that made the album.

I was such a big Crowded House in the 90s that I bought Recurring Dream even though I had all of their albums :)

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

All great songs. In fact the first 8 on Woodface are all superb and there are not really any clunkers.

It's also one of those albums that has an interesting backstory: in summary, Tim and Neil Finn were working on some songs together at the same time as Neil was writing for the next Crowded House album. Struggling to manage the two, the obvious answer was to combine their songs and therefore Tim joined the band for just one album. I said the other day that I've never listened to any music for the vocals alone but on this album, the Finn brothers are truly superb together.

On the extended special edition of the album there are a load of tracks that didn't make the cut and a few of them are great. There's also a few more on the Afterglow compilation from 1999. Woodface could have been astonishing double album because in at least 5 or 6 cases, the "rejected" songs are as good as those that made the album.

Ok, I'm sold and will add this to my shortlist to listen to soon. I would agree on the harmonies I've heard on the 4 songs I'm more familiar with.

I was such a big Crowded House in the 90s that I bought Recurring Dream even though I had all of their albums :)

I'm not surprised there, and you'd pretty much have to given they put out 3 new songs as well, which is more than most bands do on a compilation of hits with a token 1 or 2 new tracks in most cases.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

All great songs. In fact the first 8 on Woodface are all superb and there are not really any clunkers.

Given I've had time and we're on hiatus here, I've given this album a good proper listen and can certainly agree with you on that. However, I do think those 4 hits stand for themselves and have lasted the test of time as consistent concert staples and audience favourites.

I'm not sure how well references to "Tammy Baker" has held up in "Chocolate Cake", but I did enjoy the American bones line. ;-) The harmonica was well used in that song too.

It's also one of those albums that has an interesting backstory: in summary, Tim and Neil Finn were working on some songs together at the same time as Neil was writing for the next Crowded House album. Struggling to manage the two, the obvious answer was to combine their songs and therefore Tim joined the band for just one album. I said the other day that I've never listened to any music for the vocals alone but on this album, the Finn brothers are truly superb together.

I think the main thing I noticed in re-listening to the songs I knew is how their vocals harmonizing together really added to the songs' overall value here. Even on Neil's "Fall At Your Feet", which I've known quite well, it's the harmonies from Tim that helps it become the classic it is. "Weather With You" and "Four Seasons In One Day" it is quite apparent as well, and are other classics I've loved since the 90's where their harmonies really carry those tracks.

"Italian Plastic" was probably the perfect choice here with both of them singing together and it not being as well known as their other popular harmony songs from this album.

On the extended special edition of the album there are a load of tracks that didn't make the cut and a few of them are great. There's also a few more on the Afterglow compilation from 1999. Woodface could have been astonishing double album because in at least 5 or 6 cases, the "rejected" songs are as good as those that made the album.

Those Home Demo songs are quite good and cheers for mentioning them as I've not heard those tracks before. "Burnt Out Tree", "My Legs Are Gone", "Fields Are Full Of Your Kind", and "Creek Song/Left Hand" are all great songs that one would think could be released on their own.

 

[RobMCFC]

Given I've had time and we're on hiatus here, I've given this album a good proper listen and can certainly agree with you on that. However, I do think those 4 hits stand for themselves and have lasted the test of time as consistent concert staples and audience favourites.

I'm not sure how well references to "Tammy Baker" has held up in "Chocolate Cake", but I did enjoy the American bones line. ;-) The harmonica was well used in that song too.



I think the main thing I noticed in re-listening to the songs I knew is how their vocals harmonizing together really added to the songs' overall value here. Even on Neil's "Fall At Your Feet", which I've known quite well, it's the harmonies from Tim that helps it become the classic it is. "Weather With You" and "Four Seasons In One Day" it is quite apparent as well, and are other classics I've loved since the 90's where their harmonies really carry those tracks.

"Italian Plastic" was probably the perfect choice here with both of them singing together and it not being as well known as their other popular harmony songs from this album.


Those Home Demo songs are quite good and cheers for mentioning them as I've not heard those tracks before. "Burnt Out Tree", "My Legs Are Gone", "Fields Are Full Of Your Kind", and "Creek Song/Left Hand" are all great songs that one would think could be released on their own.

Yes, I've said it before that the number of very good songs that they've put on compilation album is incredible, "Time Immemorial" from Afterglow being a superb example.