Big Country: Restless Natives & Rarities

Y'know watching Adamson ply his folk-powered guitar-sculpting* got me thinking: if John Peel was a bit off in calling Adamson "the British Jimi Hendrix", maybe's he could be better described as "punk rock's Richard Thompson". By the way, this long out-of print collection of miscellanea goes for between $79 and $365 on Amazon, so if you appreciate this being available here maybe it's time to see what's in the band's catalog.

Restless Natives & Rarities link is in the comments

Speaking of comments, thanks for your words on Adamson, Big Country (and The Skids!) thus far, please leave some words on this collection.


Support the band!


Homepage


MySpace


Amazon


iTunes


* One day, I'll describe it right...

Big Country: BBC Live in Concert

It's $199.00 on Amazon for this high-spirited but now out-of-print live show taped for the BBC in 1989 is here. Now that we've offered it to you as a little Christmas gift, perhaps it's time to check out the band's rich catalog.

BBC Live in Concert link is in the comments

Speaking of comments, remember it your words that encourage the posts to continue, and I've got still more expensive out-of-print BC rarities to share...

Support the band!


Homepage


MySpace


Amazon


iTunes

Big Country: Radio 1 Sessions (1983)

Y'know, to many North Americans Big Country were yet another One Hit Wonder but that's bullshit. True, over here only "Fields of Fire" approached "In A Big Country" chart-wise but back home in the UK the first three albums were huge critically and commercially. On this out-of-print collection of immediate-sounding radio sessions, tracks 1 to 4 were recorded 12/8/82 and tracks 5 to 8 were recorded on 9/3/83. Enjoy!

Radio 1 Sessions link is in the comments

Speaking of comments, please leave one behind if you want to hear more out-of-print Big Country!

Support the band!


Homepage


MySpace


Amazon


iTunes

Big Country: King Biscuit Flower Hour (1983)

Y'know, back in the eighties, Friday Night Videos played the hell out Big Country.

Big Country - Fields Of Fire

Rab | Myspace Video

As I sat there on the couch in my underwear eating crackers and cheese, I don't recall thinking how the band were forcing Scottish folk motifs into the pop lexicon or that Stuart Adamson was deftly re-defining the role of the guitar in the Synth Age. Nope, what took me in was the hugeness of the sounds in songs like "In a Big Country and "Fields of Fire". That guitar didn't ring like a bell but roared like the war pipes and those choruses weren't chirpy jingles but echoed like a choir in a canyon. Like many of you, I too bear a grudge against the rampant soullessness of the eighties but I stand by those who fought against this deadness and Stuart Adamson & co, did that. So Rest in Peace, Mr. Adamson, Rest In Peace.

What you have here is a damn fierce performance in the men's hometown of Glasgow on NewYear's Eve 1983, which includes a visit from a genuine Scottish pipe band in the middle of the show and a near-inevitable performance version of Robbie Burns' "Auld Lang Syne".


King Biscuit Flower Hour (1983) link is in the comments

Speaking of comments, our Skids post generated a paltry four comments, can Big Country fans take up the slack????


Support the band!


Homepage


MySpace


Amazon


iTunes

V.A. Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan Volume Eighteen

This thirty-one volume series features artists covering Bob Dylan songs. All of the tracks are recordings of independent origin (ROIO) and hence officially unreleased.

I'm so pleased about this almost-all-bluegrass edition that I'm not even gonna snark on Jerry Garcia's making the cut (in fact, ALL of my favourite Dead moments are the results of the band's love of bluegrass and country).

(sorry as these are all ROIO, it's hard to find videos of the exact cover version...)

01 You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere – Earl Scruggs (Jul 3, 2002, The Meadows, Steamboat Springs, CO)
02 She Belongs to Me – Jerry Garcia and Dave Grisman (May 10, 1992, Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA)
03 Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You – Larry Keel and Natural Bridge (May 29, 2005, Smilefest, Mills River, NC)
04 Tangled Up in Blue – String Cheese Incident (Apr 7, 2005, Big Easy Concert House, Spokane, WA)
05 The Times They Are a-Changin’ – Blueground Undergrass (Aug 6, 1998, Smith’s Olde Bar, Atlanta, GA)
06 Tombstone Blues – Hit and Run Bluegrass (Aug 5, 2005, Millennium Harvest House, Boulder, CO)
07 It Takes a Lot to Laugh – Yonder Mountain String Band (Oct 22, 2005, State Theatre, East Falls Church, VA)
08 Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right – Doc and Merle Watson (Jul 4, 1980, Freedom Park, Charlotte, NC)
09 Father of Night – Tim O’Brien (Jun 15, 1996, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz, CA)
10 Wallflower – David Bromberg Band (Dec 14, 1985, Chestnut Cabaret, Philadelphia,PA)
11 Girl From the North Country – Tony Rice Unit (Feb 23, 1991, Town Crier, Pawling, NY)
12 Walk Out in the Rain – Del McCoury Band (Oct 2, 2004, Smiley Hollow, Ridgetop, TN)
13 Tomorrow is a Long Time – Wayward Sons (Dec 28, 2005, Quioxte’s True Blue, Denver, CO)
14 You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go – The Waifs (Jul 23, 2005, Finger Lakes Grassroots Music Festival, Trumansburg, NY)
15 Abandoned Love – Watkins Family Hour (Nov 2, 2006, Largo, Los Angeles, CA)
16 Oh Sister – Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (Apr 28, 2004, Orange Peel, Asheville, NC)
17 Every Grain of Sand – Railroad Earth (Nov 26, 2005, Whitney Chapel, Hackettstown, NJ)
18 Buckets of Rain – Charles Welch with Doc Watson (Mar 7, 1998, Walker Center, North Wilksboro, NC)

Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan Volume Eighteen link is in the comments

Speaking of comments*, if you'd like the series to continue please don't forget to leave some words about these volumes.

* I'm really hoping that the dearth of comments for the last volume (3 comments, 167 downloads!!) was on account of it being the least intriguing volume in the entire series.

Thanks to Jeffs98119 for compiling these and to obatik for the images.

• For V.'s 1-17 of Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan go here
  

• For slugline's impressive spreadsheet of the whole series go here

• For stewART's excellent alternate cover art go here