August 2015 Newsletter ------------------- Yesterday & Today Records PO Box 54 Miranda NSW 2228 Australia Phone: (02) 95311710 [email protected] www.yesterdayandtoday.com.au ----------------------------------------------- Postage It takes a lot to understand Australia Post. Essentially there are 2 main things. If an item is under 20mm thick it goes as a large letter at a much cheaper rate to something over 20mm thick which is then classified as a parcel. This applies to both Australian and overseas Australia 1 cd $2 2cds $3 3/4/5 cds $8. The latter is up to 500grams and then individual areas are charged separately. If not in NSW it is usually cheaper to send anything over 500 grams in a prepaid satchel. It is $14 for a 3 cds satchel and you can get around 25 cds in one. That is in cases. Without cases you can get maybe 60-70 in a 3kg satchel. Overseas 1 cd or 2 cds is going to be $8 (cheaper for N.Z) and that is with cases. BUT 6 or so can go for $8 if you send without cases. Maximum weight is 250grams. Over 250 grams or thicker than 20mm it goes as a parcel BUT the good thing is the weight is 500 grams maximum. Box sets will be too probably too heavy. ---------------------------------------------------------- Extras/ lucky dip How about 50 cds for $50. They will be sent without cases in a 3kg satchel $14 or if in Sydney postal region $10. Good titles all as new and no dud labels. Can also add cds in at $1 each to make up to post maximum weight. Consider! It is a great deal. Generally only applies to Australia. --------------------------------------------------- ALL THE LATEST **Christian, T Jae “Old Violin” (Universal Sound) $28 T Jae is a certified member of the great indie artist’s club. He has his own drawling style which can add something to even the songs you know by heart. He also writes a great song himself and for an artist we have done particularly well with I would have to say this is the most of his own I have seen on any of his albums. “Highways Music & Songs” has an “i’ve heard that before” flavour about it and fits in well with the well chosen covers. Johnny Paycheck’s “Old Violin” is given a great reading but an obscure Canadian, Clayton Claxton provides the wonderfully honk tonker “Whiskey I.V.”. When Clayton did it he called it “Broken Heart Surgery”. Superb. He is great on “Too Far From Home” the story of a hard working man forced to work away from his family and deciding it isn’t worth it. In the hands of someone else it may be a tad mundane. In the hands of T Jae it is brilliant. **Hot Texas Swing Band “Ain’t Dead Yet” (HTSB) $28 Remember years ago a cd by Erik & Erik? Well Erik Hokkanen is the fiddle player here and by gum he is good. He also does a lot of the arranging it seems which gives them a unique sound.In combo with guitarist Cat Clemons there is a refreshing jazzy flavour to a lot of the songs. This is especially true on the late great Johnny Gimble’s “Junior’s Shadow. Really good. There are 2 lead vocalists. The male lead Alex Dormont (also the bass player) reminds a little of Junior Brown. Like all great Western Swing bands there is also a little horn embellishment and it works well on the firecracker version of “Bang Bang” which was Janis Martin song so well dones by Kelly Willis many years ago. There is some riotous fiddling playing on this. In contrast the next “Along the Navajo Trail” has a loping western feel. “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” seems out of place but that is the only criticism. **Houston, Jake “Carrying the Flame” (Jake Houston) $28 Pure honky tonk with all songs written by Houston. But “Austin” is an ode to the live music capital of the States. If only he did a song to Fort Worth & San Antonio he would have it all covered. Funny thing he comes from Reno Nevado something he sings about on the great “Just thought I’d Ask”. The slow concluder “Maybe” offers a nice contrast with a little sly wit thrown in....”if the devil and the tax weren’t the same”. This album received a 5 star review in Country Music People. Individual style is great. **Lynch, Richard “A Better Place” (MOD) $28 Richard is the first outsider to have an album released on Billy Yates’ My Own Damn (abbreviated MOD)label. Have to say Richard reminds a liitle of Billy as well and that is a big compliment. Well Billy had also done “Daddy’s Radio” so that is a little understandable. He duets with Billy on the upbeat “She’s Got Me Drinkin’ Again” and you’d almost expect someone to introduce each. The jaunty swing of “Texas Front Porch Swing” is toe tapping good with excellent fiddle. A rather unusual choice is “Your the Reason God Made Oklahoma” given a simple unadorned rendition which works well. He is joined by David Frizzell and Stacy Houston and the whole thing works remarkably well. He is great on “Hold Your Horses” a rodeo lament. Great album especially if like me you are a big Billy Yates’ fan. **McNurlin, Rob “Blue Nashville Guitar” (Buffalo Skinner) $28 McNurlin has a style that is in part reminiscent of Hank Williams and that is probably due to the way he writes. There are 11 songs and all have that feel. All are by Rob too. “Satan’s Bouquet” is more Hank than Hank. Well “Be Careful of the Stones That You Throw” gets more than a look in.The short 11th song is hidden for some reason. It is darn good too. Probably called “Nashville”. And about the real Nashville not the one that exists in the Billboard charts. He “humanises” Nashville so to speak. On the intro Rob sounds like Slim Pickens and that is a compliment. Yes, I hand out strange compliments. There is also a retro instrumental feel which works well. Steel guitar Kayton Roberts dates back to Hank Snow and Kenny Vaughan is currently a member of Marty Stuart’s band. In fact “That Old Guitar” is about playing an old Martin guitar at Marty’s behest, that guitar finding its way to Marty from Hank Williams via Johnny Cash & Hank Jnr. The unadorned instrumentation also features Jimmie Fadden, harmonica player with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, but he doesn’t intrude much at all. In fact I am still trying to work out if he is there at all. Great album **Mallery, Brian “That’s Just Me” (Dirt Road) $28 **Mallery, Brian & Georgette Jone “Special Celebration (to George Jones & Tammy Wynette)” (Dirt Road) $28 **Mallery, Brian “Legends” (Dirt Road) $28 **Mallery, Brian “Legends II” (Dirt Road) $28 Wow, not one but 4 Brian Mallery albums. We had an earlier one of Brian a couple or more years ago and it was very good. He is a Canadian from New Brunswick which is right over on the Eastern side just over from the USA but seemingly he could be from the prairies as shall we say the communication skills of his manager and the label leave more than a tad to be desired. BUT in saying that the difficulty in getting them is made up for by the quality of the content. His style probably fits with the likes of Daryle Singletary and is bathed in the honky tonk traditions. You have to love the title “Whiskey & Whitley”, a great ballad....a ballad for the ages in which he mentions the great man and even a few of his songs to tell the story of a broken romance. Fabulous. Crying steel guitar and lonesome fiddle. Nothing like continuing the name dropping on the great “Jonesin’ for Some Hank”...this is the real thing no poncey Kenny Chesney claptrap here. “Where All Dreams Come Alive” is about the dreams of an aspiring singer going to Nashville. Nice play on words on “I’ve Still Got a Few Tears On You”. He joins with Georgette Jones on a great version of “Golden Ring”. So ends a great album This leads on to the duet album. Interesting in that they include some of George and Tammy ‘solo’ numbers. The performances are pretty darn good. The Legends I & II sees Brian doing some covers and they are largely not overly familiar, I has 16 with perhaps the best known track, “Brotherly Love” being a duet with Wesley Dennis, another great vocalist. 16 tracks on I & 15 on II. One of the best vocalists around. **Malpass Brothers “Malpass Brothers” (Organic)$28 The Malpass brothers are Merle Haggard’s opening act. They have the best hair you have ever seen and a 1960 hairoff with Don & Phil Everly would be a dream made in heaven. The brothers are not only great singers but fine interpreters as well. “Death in the Family” is a Bill Anderson song and the subtle nuances they show are a winner from the start. Although only in their mid twenties they show they know what it is all about. They look like they may have been in Sid King & the Five Strings and show a real flare with a ripping cover of Jack Clement’s “It’ll be Me” with a terrific and all too brief piano solo. Production is first class. Surprise that bluegrass legend Doyle Lawson is in the producer’s booth as there are only hints of bluegrass.