Last night, in Oslo, Norway, Chip Taylor stopped by, and played us an
incredible bunch of songs, from his megahit "Wild Thing" (Jimi Hendrix)
and a string of other songs made popular by people like Emmylou Harris,
Linda Ronstadt and others. But, even better, he played the great songs
from his last and forthcoming albums. His guitarplaying compadre, John
Nataglia, made an excellent job, playing sensitive guitar behind Chip,
and great harmony vocals. It was a very unique experience, as the crowd
was just the "chosen few" - but then, Chips performance is not to
crowds, but to you and your heart.
Chip was off the road for many years, and didn't make music, but making
a living as a professional gamler. A few years ago, he went home, to his
old mother, and to creating great music - first the Living Room Tapes,
and then one the highlights in country music in the nineties, in my
opinion - "Seven Days in May". The whole story is about Chip meeting
this young french girl, Florence. She is pregnant at the time, he fell
deeply in love and spends seven days in May with her, before she leaves
for France and marriage with the father of the child. The song cycle
gets everything, the story, and the feeling of falling in love, the
despair and sadness of not being able to hold on to this love ("How Can
I Get Through This"), and one of the saddest and greatest
"love-that-can-not-continue"-songs I ever heard, "Just Keep Holding On".
The album is bathed in real emotions, put through in a poetic way,
showing us feelings that many of us may know, a beautiful soundtrack to
love stories. The sensitive ballads, the strong emotions and the very
intense vocals can be compared to Bob Dylan's masterpiece, Blood On The
Tracks. And then we're on the all time top of the list! In many ways it
gets under your skin the same way Iris DiMents "My Life" did, a few
years ago.
But Chip is not alone on this record. Among others he got members from
The Band, Rick Danko and Garth Hudson helping him out, and we also get
two beautiful duets with Lucinda Williams. Guy Clark made harmony
vocals, and duets with Chip on the song, "One Hell Of A Guy" (!).
The record is released on Chips own company, TrainWreck Records (What a
great name for a record company).
It's a shame that so few got to hear Chip last night, though it made it
a very memorable event for me and the others watching.
But the record is out there - go get it, you won't regret it! And then,
when you heard it, tell us all about it!
Johnny
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(O_O)
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"Don't ask me nothing about nothing, I just might tell you the truth!"
(Bob Dylan)
"You're getting closer to the grave each day!" (Hank Williams)
