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Goodbye Nashville, Hello Camden Town : A Pub Rock Anthology Année : 26 mars 2007 Disque 1 |
Article de Terry Staunton © Classic Rock Magazine
The passing of the years has seen 'pub rock' become a dismissive and derogatory term in some circles, but this stonking, 49-track, two-CD collection of the loose early 70s scene goes some way to rescuing the form from the scorn of the sneermongers.
Called pub rock because its practitioners largely plied their trade on a circuit of smoky boozers, it actually offered punters aural pleasures of many a varied stripe. Here we have lashings of heads-down R&B (Dr Feelgood, The Pirates), Jazzy fruggers (Kursaal Flyers, Jo Ann Kelly), thinly-veiled old-style music hall (Chas & Dave, Kilburn And The High Roads), or the rural Americana vibes pioneered by The Band (Brinsley Scliwarz, Bees Make Honey). And so it goes, with little regard for the cohesion one might expect from a recognisable musical 'movement'.
That was the thing about Pub-Rock : it advocated a come-one-come-all to the point where old-school sessioneers like Zoot Money could find themselves sharing a bill with proto-punks like Eddie & The Hot Rods or The Count Bishops.
The first protagonists of Pub-Rock are largely accepted as US band Eggs Over Easy, who are represented here by Runnin’ Down To Memphis.
As the scene grew, some of its movers and shakers managed to catapult themselves into the mainstream : Graham Parker, Paul Carrack, Elvis Costello (fronting Flip City) and the Brinsleys’ Nick Lowe all went on to greater things. Of those only Lowe makes an appearance here. Instead the compilers have trawled the vaults to belatedly big-up some forgotten but nonetheless fine outlits.
The Fabulous Poodles have a couple of tunes, including a cover of the Amazing Rhythm Aces' country stroller Third Rate Romance. Among the many other highlights are Nine Below Zero’s harmonica-howling Homework, McGuinness Flint’s Ride On My Rainbow, and a couple of tipsy swingers from Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers.
Nothing here is going to ever feature in a Capital Gold all-time Hot 100 , but it’s a gloriously blurry and bleary snapshot of a ragbag bunch of musicians who had their very own hic parade.
