 Jugband Jukebox (2004)
This is the first album by the Mescaline Smugglers... or is it? Well, at this
point Jore hadn't even thought up the name of the Mescaline Smugglers yet - this
band was called The TJD Band, but the players are the same and the music is pretty
much the same. Jugband is well represented - as you would guess by the name of the
album. It looks like Mungo Jerry might be their favourite band! Anyway, Tuomas
shines here, he sings half of the songs. He also offers two of his own compositions
- where Davy has only one and Jore none...
Tracklist: 1. Salty Dog (Trad. arr. TJD Band) I must say I love this. Tuomas sounds crazy (which he is of course). I think we were a little drunk. It verges on anarchy but never quite slips into it. I learned this song from a Mississippi John Hurt album --davy 2. In The Summertime (Dorset) This was a huge hit single for Mungo Jerry in 1970. I think their first album in a fantastic 'good time' LP - one of my 'Desert Island Discs' for sure. This is a decent enough version - but nobody can sing it like Ray Dorset on the original. --davy 3. Makasiinin luona (Rodgers - Nurmio) I don't know much about this - I think it's a Hank Williams song. Tuomas yodelling is obviously a hightlight! I think I played guitar on this - I remember it was all recorded pretty fast. Is it me or Jorma playing the mandolin? Nice laid back song with a hint of melancholy. --davy 4. Candy Man (Trad arr. The TJD Band) Nothing melancholy about this! I love the way it turned out. There was another mix where all the instruments start at the beginning - but Jore wisely changed it to bringing them in one at a time as the song goes on. We had a good time on this song! --davy 5. Right Down Here (J.J.Cale) A slice of J.J. Cale - who Jore, Tuomas and I love. As I remember it was pretty much improvised as we went along. I think we did it OK. Love the Hammond organ sound. It's Ok if you fall asleep listening to this - that means we did a good job! --davy 6. Second Time Around (Laitila - Mc Gowan) This was melody on one of the TJ band CD's. Tuomas wrote the tune. I just thought it was crying out for lyrics - and the words came very quickly to me. It's Tom Waits influenced - but I think it has a little bit of Finland in it too. --davy 7. Sunday Island (Mc Gowan) is another Tom Waits influenced track. Think of 'Bohemia'! The mix Jore made is really great - it captures everything I could have wanted for the song. --davy 8. Dear Someone (Rawlings - Welch) Tuomas saw Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on TV. Not much after we were taping it! --jore 9. My Friend (Dorset) Another song from the first Mungo Jerry album. Our version is too frantic - but as I was the only one who knew the song it's hardly surprising it's a bit of a shambles! Should have been an outtake. --davy 10. Baby Jump(Dorset) Yet another Mungo Jerry song! This was a Number One hit in 1971 I think. Great lyrics! This is a bit shambolic as well and doesn't do the song the justice it deserves - Go and listen to the original. --davy 11. Bottle of Wine (Paxton) A Tom Paxton song. I'm not a big fan of Tom Paxton - but he's a decent enough songwriter and this is a decent enough song. I'm on guitar and Tuomas is singing of course. I think I'm playing a mandolin on it too. Jore on second guitar. --davy 12. Summertime (Gershwin) There's a version of me singing this too somewhere. This is really nice though. It's cool to fall asleep to this too...... I want to make a full jazz album! --davy 13. Big Time Woman (Laitila - Mc Gowan) This was another tune of Tuomas's which was on a TJ Band CD which I thought was desperate for words - so I wrote some and the boys were happy with them. I was quite happy with them too. --davy 14. San Francisco Bay Blues (Trad arr. The TJD Band) I think most of this was recorded after I went home. I played harmonica and kazoo - I think that was all. Not as good as Mungo Jerry's version - but I've heard worse. --davy I can't remember what happened, maybe I "lost" your vocal on cyberspace as I seem to do sometimes. Tuomas gladly sang the vocals, but my mixing troubles continued. I was a rookie at the time. --jore 15. Tangerine Puppet (Leitch) This was made for Cover Stories. Crazy but great version! I love the way Jore has made us sound like a Lithuanian amateur jazz band from 1934. --davy
no reviews... too bad |
