Neal Casal interview + Folk You! (la génesi del Waiting For Waits)

setembre/september 2000:

TIME OUT - London 

"Described by The Washington Post as "One of the best new songwriters of the year", Neal Casal is back at The Borderline (20th September) following his successful gig in May, promoting his new album, 'Anytime Tomorrow'"  

english / català

September 2000: at The Borderline (Soho- London) a part-time box-office attendant was required...

La tardor de l´any 2000, a una petita sala del Soho londinenc anomenada The Borderline hi havia penjat un fol amb el reclam: "PART TIME JOB - Box Office Attendant".

After buying a ticket for Neal Casal´s show (taking place the 20th September) I got a job that would last for about five years.

Després de pagar la meva entrada pel concert de Neal Casal que havia de tenir lloc el 20 de setembre (avui fa 14 anys), me varen donar aquella feina de caps de setmana que duraria uns cinc anys...

That precise moment was the starting point of the Majorcan music event Waiting For Waits (so thank you Neal and thank you The Borderline!).

En aquell moment es va sembrar, sense saber-ho, la llavor del Waiting For Waits (així que gràcies Neal Casal i gràcies The Borderline!).

WAITING FOR WAITS vs FOLK YOU!

In fact, because of a sticker that Neal Casal had on his acoustic guitar (actually a patch, as Neal mentions in the interview below), Waiting For Waits could have been named Folk You! instead...

A la seva guitarra, Neal hi tenia aferrat el que jo recordava com un adhesiu (si bé de fet era un "patch" (pegat?), com ell ens confirma a l´entrevista que podeu llegir a continuació) amb l´inscripció: "Folk You!".

Vaig pensar que seria un bon nom per una promotora musical, si bé finalment me decantaria pel beckettià Waiting For Waits.

La resta, com sabeu, ja és història...

NEAL CASAL INTERVIEW (english)

nota: si voleu una traducció al catalá o castellà de la següent entrevista, enviau un correu a orphans.of.waits@gmail.com

foto: Megan Kathleen McIsaac (www)

- Are you aware that you were somehow responsible for the beginning of Waiting for Waits? (you know the story…)

It's amazing to think that I was an integral part of this festival that we all loved so much. It´s quite an honor for me to know that.

- We almost gave the festival a different name: Folk You!, because of the sticker you had in your acoustic guitar that night you played in London fourteen years ago today!. Where did you get that sticker?

It's actually not a sticker but a patch, which I never sewed onto anything. I would just attach it to my guitar strap with a safety pin!!  I bought  that patch in a small vintage shop on Avenue A in the east village, New York City, in 1993. That patch has stayed with me for over 20 years, it's one of my prized possessions!. 

- What are your memories of your shows in Mallorca (first in 2003 with lovely Lisa Germano, and the following year sharing the bill with the great Chris Eckman)?

It was incredible and such an honor for me to discover Mallorca, it felt like entering a different world. The shows were always in really nice locations, the audiences were enthusiastic and attentive, and to share the stage with talents such as Lisa and Chris was just amazing.

- When did you discover Tom Waits? Which album? We have fond memories of the song cover you played using Lisa Germano´s electric guitar: "On the nickel"...

I'm not exactly sure what the first record was, maybe Nighthawks At The Diner. It just seemed to me that his music was always everywhere y'know?

But it was Heart Attack And Vine that really changed my life. That was the record that turned me into a Waits fanatic.

- Do you still keep that Neil Young HARVEST t-shirt that I gave you? It certainly looked better on you than on me!

 Of course I still have it, it's in the same drawer as my Folk You patch!

- Today we celebrate yet another anniversary related to Neal Casal: Leaving Traces (1994-2004 compilation; Fargo records) was released 10 years ago (20th September 2004).

After a solid 20 years solo career and your collaborations with some "big" names: what´s your own album you´re most proud of? Own song?. And collaboration?

I think Roots And Wings is my strongest collection of songs, 

but I guess Sweeten The Distance is my favorite overall record. "White Fence Round House" is one of my favorite of my own songs. 

As for collaborations, the new Chris Robinson Brotherhood record Phosphorescent Harvest is definitely my favorite.

- Last question: RUDY SESSIONS, who recently booked Graham Parker to play in Palma, would be interested in having you back to Mallorca. What about that, Neal?

Wow, that is so exciting, thank you for thinking of me again!. The idea if coming back to Mallorca is just amazing to me, can´t even believe it!

Next: video of Neal Casal playing his own favourite song two years ago at The Borderline backstage!

Com no podia ser d´altra manera, a continució un video de Neal Casal cantant fa dos anys la seva propia cançó preferida...al backstage de la sala The Borderline

Blood shot eyes in the morning
Wait to the day with a memory in my mind
A plane touches down and I can see those street lights
A plane touches down and I know it's time to fly
One thing I can't leave behind
One thing I can't leave behind
One thing I can't leave behind

It's so cold here in the evening
Wait till the dark that I've done my fire right
I feel such a fool and just keep waiting
I feel such a fool cause I know I still hope to find
One thing I can't leave behind
One thing I can't leave behind
One thing I can't leave
But I want you to take your time
Think it over
Stay a while, till
...taking me easy way out, easy way out

Star close the night, set the candle
Everybody frightened, it's the whole damn place alive
Come from all the father's preachers
Everybody looking for something, I hope they can find
One thing they can't leave behind
One thing they can't leave

Eyes fall open with the first...
Make my way down to the ocean burning...
Each day I'm constantly in a falling
Each day the current pulls me closer down to you
One thing I can't leave behind
One thing I can't leave behind
One thing I can't leave behind
One thing I can't leave
But I want you to take your time
Think it over
Stay a while, till
Just remember to take your time
and think it over
Stay a while, ill it shows
You're not taking the easy way out, easy way out
Not taking the easy way out
I can show you the easy way down

Blood shot eyes in the morning
Wait to the day with a memory in my mind

Sylvie Simmons: TVZ 70th anniversary / aniversari

english / català

"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that" (Steve Earle)

"TVZ és el millor songwriter del món, i ho diria damunt sa taula de cafè d´en Bob Dylan amb ses meves botes cowboy posades"

"I've met Bob Dylan and his bodyguards, and I don't think Steve could get anywhere near his coffee table." (Townes Van Zandt)

"Jo he conegut a n´en Bob Dylan i als seus guardaespatlles, i no crec que n´Steve es pogués apropar mai a la seva taula de cafè"

 Welcome to Orphans of Waits , Sylvie!

I was honoured to meet Sylvie Simmons in the Autumm 2000 while working at The Borderline´s ticket-office (best said "freezing ticket-cage"). Ryan Adams had sold out for his first solo career UK show.

Sylvie came with her boyfriend Neil, but she did not have "plus one" on the list.

So I begged the bouncer to let both of them in (risking my shitjob I assumed). His name was Ishmael (amateur boxer as well) and he made a wisely sarcastic smile while he whispered: "you want to make big contacts for your shows in Mallorca, eh, little bastard, he-he".

So in came Neil and Sylvie to enjoy Ryan´s Heartbreaker...so glad that they did, because unfortunately Neil is no longer with us (rest in peace that extremely cool guy; as cool as Sylvie).

Vaig conéixer Sylvie Simmons la tardor de l´any 2000 quan treballava a la taquilla de The Borderline (sala de concerts del soho londinenc). Recordo que va venir a actuar Ryan Adams per presentar el seu nou projecte en solitari (disc Heartbreaker) després d´haver tancat l´etapa Whiskeytown. Es va crear un gran rebonbori mediàtic i fou un d´aquells vespres de sold-out cantat. Sylvie era a la llista de convidats, però no tenia "plus one" . Va venir amb la seva parella, i com el "segurata" no podia deixar passar ningú que no estés a la llista, ni li podíem vendre cap entrada, na Sylvie va donar mitja volta per anar-se´n. En un impuls de fan (era un autèntic goig llegir les seves ressenyes a la revista MOJO) li vaig demanar per favor a Ishmael (boxejador amateur a més de guarda de seguretat) que la parella de Simmons fos el meu "guest".

Recordo perfectament el seu somriure de "selfmade man" i com em va susurrar sarcàsticament "you want to make big contacts for your shows in Mallorca, eh little bastard?, he-he".

I cap endins entraren Sylvie i Neil per disfrutar dels temes del Heartbreaker de Ryan Adams.

Desgraciadament Neil ja no és entre nosaltres (en pau descansi), així que estic realment orgullós de que ella pogués disfrutar amb ell d´aquella especial vetlada de música en directe, enlloc d´haver-se anat a fer pintes pel Soho...

With her worlwide recognised subtle English sense of humour, the prestigious music journalist (MOJO magazine and the wonderful Too Weird For Ziggy stories) and author of indispensable biographies of Serge Gainsbourg (click www), Neil Young (click www) and Leonard Cohen (click www)...

... has made an effort to remember her introduction 10 years ago to the Darkness On The Edge Of Townes - tribute show to the one and only Townes Van Zandt, promoted by Waiting for Waits.

Amb el seu característic humor fi (100% anglés a pesar dels molts anys que du visquent a San Francisco), na Sylvie ha fet un esforç per recordar l´introducció que va fer del concert "Darkness On The Edge Of Townes" fa 10 anys al Centre de Cultura "Sa Nostra" de Palma...

Townes for Tomeu

[NOTA: si vols una traducció al català o al castellà d´aquest text de Sylvie Simmons, envia un correu a orphans.of.waits@gmail.com]

His life reads like a Tennessee Williams story or like one of those great American ballads - a man born in Texas to a wealthy, high-class oil-family, who sent him to military school and later, when it all went bad, to a mental hospital. When he finally checked out he took to the road with his guitar and a pen and never looked back; Townes, so his best friend Guy Clark said, was "a rambling kind of guy".    Along the way he met Lightnin' Hopkins, who inspired him to play, Mickey Newbury, who encouraged him to write, Jack Clement, who got him his first record deal, and Roky Erickson, whose house and girlfriend he shared. And everywhere he went - which, being a rambling kind of guy, was everywhere - he played riveting performances of his songs.

Maybe he rambled to Majorca too - I don't know, but I wouldn't put it past him; he was still flying to England to perform towards the end of his too-short life. Townes, his friends all say, was about as much concerned with looking after his physical as he was his  'music career'. His last-ever show was in December 1996 in London, at a basement Americana music club called the Borderline.

Which, by coincidence, was where I first met Tomeu, who told me about the show he was going to put on in Majorca of singer-songwriters - British and Spanish - paying tribute to Townes' songs.

Tomeu emailed me from Majorca recently to ask if I would write my memories of the event for him to use in his upcoming celebration of Townes' 70th birthday. But all I can remember are glimpses... a beautiful but chilly villa in the orange groves, where we all stayed, drinking into the early hours and fighting over who would get the extra blanket; hearing Nacho Vegas for the first time; watching an old man in the audience slowly drift off to sleep when I spoke and Tomeu translated; the dusty delicacy with which the great Neil Halstead sang Townes' songs....

So instead Tomeu asked me if I would write a little about Townes and what makes him special. 

Hey, Townes was so special I could probably write a book - but, having just recently completed a huge book on Leonard Cohen, for now I'll just contribute these few words. Townes Van Zandt wrote unique, unflinching songs that both tear your heart inside out and show you what it is to be alive. He captured the crazy beauty and the deep melancholy of being alive like no-one else.

Sylvie Simmons, March 2014 
http:sylviesimmons.com

 
Many thanks Sylvie!. And best of luck in Frisco with your almost to be launched ukelele debut album!.

ANÈCDOTA/ANECDOTE WFW:

Simmons va entrevistar Tom Waits l´any 2004 amb motiu del llençament del disc Real Gone. Off-the-record li va comentar l´existència del nostre festival d´espera. Quan vaig tornar veure na Sylvie per The Borderline me va entregar una postal signada per Tom Waits on deia "stay green"...

Sylvie interviewed TW in 2004 and told him off-the-record about our Waiting for Him festival. When she came back to The Borderline, she handed me a postcard signed by Tom. It said "stay green"...

 

Idò avui, amb motiu del 70 aniversari del dia del seu naixement, toca una miqueta de "brightness on the edge of Townes"...

So today, a little bit of "brightness on the edge of Townes" to celebrate TVZ 70th anniversary ...

video-audio: 

TVZ "Fare thee well, Miss Carousel"

The drunken clown's still hanging round

but it plain the laughter's all died down

the tears you tried so hard to hide

are flowin'

A blind man with his knife in hand

has convinced himself that he understands

I wish him well, Miss Carousel

but I gotta be a-goin'

CHORUS:

Won't you come and get me when

you're sure that you don't need me then

I'll stand outside your window

and proudly call your name

The lady's been told that all of gold

is worth so much it can't be sold

No time to weep she'll need her sleep

tomorrow

When she carries her face to the market place

and bets it on the opening race

she can ring her bells, Miss Carousel,

but her singing brings me sorrow

(Repeat Chorus)

It's always done every mother's son

is shown that grown men never run

and so they fight with all the might

inside them

When the battle's been fought and they all been taught

that the trick is just not being caught

Will you give them hell, Miss Carousel,

when they're begging you to hide them

(Repeat Chorus)

When the need arose your eyes fell closed

you clamped your fingers round your nose

Would you say that's any way

to judge him

You haven't got the authority

to kill him in the first degree

but would you feel compelled, Miss Carousel,

if you had something to begrudge him

(Repeat Chorus)

On a velvet beach far beneath the reach

of those that come to pray and preach

The natural man who tries to stand

is fallin'

How long will it be before he sees

you own his legs but his mind is free

Only you can tell, Miss Carousel,

how long will he be crawling?

(Repeat Chorus)

The castle wall has grown so tall

it seems there ain't no hope at all

to reach the top even though you stop

for breathin'

But I ain't gonna try to make you cry

the tear drops couldn't find your eyes

It's all been swell, Miss Carousel,

but the time has come for leavin'

(Repeat Chorus)

Per escoltar la versió que va fer Nacho Vegas d´aquesta superlativa cançó, podeu clicar AQUÍ

If you want to listen Nacho Vegas (the most respected Spanish songwriter of the last decade) cover "Que te vaya bien, miss carrusel" you can click HERE

r.i.p. The late & great TVZ

Lo Plano & Supergroup; Ed Harcourt & Tom Waits

El bon xicot Mane Capilla, pioner de l´ús de sa bicicleta per Avingudes segles abans dels carrils-bici, me va demanar que li donés un cop de mà per publicitar s´imminent cita musical d´en Pere Plà amb el seu "supergroup": Pep Toni d´Oliva Trencada (i Lost Fills), Púter dels Satellites, Toni Cobretti (The Last Dandies), i el propi Mane (Sunflowers, exFurnish Time).

Mane, encantado de echarte un cable porque además te debo una y te explico por qué: hace diez u once años me pediste que trajera a Mallorca a Ed Harcourt. No lo conseguí. Y encima he perdido una entrevista que me mandó Ed por correo electrónico el año 2000 para un fancine de Tom Waits que nunca vió la luz...

Harcourt, que per cert col.labora en el darrer disc de na Kathryn Williams, és molt fan del californià, com es pot apreciar en la següent instantània de l´any 2009 (si bé observant sa foto pot ben bé ser que el que està davora E.H. fos una reproducció de cera d´en Waits, no?):

ANÈCDOTA: el maig del 2002 vaig arribar a l´aeroport de Gatwick procedent de Palma amb el cap ben baix, ja que el vespre abans, a la mítica sala Sonotone, només 40 persones havíen assistit al concert WFW de The Handsome Family.

Casualitats de la vida, al mateix vagó de tren direcció a Victoria Station em vaig trobar amb Ed Harcourt, que venia de Brighton, i que també estava "de bajón" perque ho havia deixat amb s´al.lota.

Vam xerrar una mica d´Americana i del seu concert a The Borderline anys abans, quan el vaig conéixer i estava promocionant el seu Ep de debut. 


"For a while, real stardom seemed to beckon Ed Harcourt. His debut EP in 2000, Maplewood, introduced a Tom Waits-worshipping, 23-year-old prodigy.The album that followed, Here Be Monsters, was Mercury-nominated, and gave him a more widescreen and fascinating role, as an exotic, sometimes self-destructive troubadour. There has been no big breakthrough in the decade since. Instead, Harcourt has settled into the margins, an enduring, always welcome romantic"
(font: The Independent).

Una pena que el seu agent mai va fer cas de l´oferta de Waiting For Waits per un concert a Mallorca...

Anyway, reprenent el tema d´actualitat, aquí teniu el póster del concert de divendres...

En Mane  me comenta que també hi haurà en Rafel Joan dibuixant al mateix temps que Lo Plano & Supergroup ens mesuren The Weight Of The Sky

Ens veurem per Lloseta!

John Tams - Cors de Carbó

Sa primera vegada que vaig poder veure un concert de folk anglés per puristes va ser John Tams amb una banda maravellosa (menció especial al guitarrista Graeme Taylor) a la sala The Borderline de Londres al novembre de l´any 2000 

(sala on vaig fer feina a taquilla els caps de setmana entre el 2000 i el 2005, i que fou responsable directíssima de gran part de la programació de les cinc primeres edicions del Waiting For Waits).

Avui, diumenge 16 de febrer, John celebra el seu 65 aniversari. Així que per celebrar-ho vos deix amb la millor cançó del disc Unity que es va publicar aquell any 2000 a l´enciclopedic segell folk Topic Records (i que li va valer a J.T. el doble premi BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Best Album & Best Song; poca broma!).

 

Si no veus el vídeo de la cançó "Harry Stone (Hearts Of Coal)"  que hi ha a continuació, pots fer clic ->AQUÍ per un enllaç directe a youtube

Lyrics to Harry Stone (Hearts Of Coal) :

Harry Stone was a miner born
He worked to win his wages
Riding down the cages
And raging at the seams
He worked his stall from dusk till dawn
Sweet sweat and raw endeavour
Black diamonds bound together
By a strong and simple means
He met a girl from Ironville
He promised he would love her
He'd put no-one above her
At last they went to town
He promised he would love her
Til the blackbirds stopped their singing
The mission bell stopped ringing
And they closed the coal pit down
chorus
Where are you tonight now we need you
Left out in the cold - cold
Where are you tonight now we need you
They broke the hearts of coal
Hearts of coal
They raised their children chapel proud
The lamb and the flag to guide them
They each strove to provide them
With a sense of right from wrong
And when the strikes and lock-outs came
And bare-foot hunger tried them
All hopes were denied them
Their unity held strong
chorus
Forty years of coal-dust
Is a lot of pain to carry
It made a cripple out of Harry
But his family came and took up his tools
And they faced the Orgreave cavalry
While the world looked on and wondered
Their right to work was plundered
By the statesman-ship of fools
chorus
The 'Enemy Within' they cried
And the boney finger pointed
Dripping gold from the anointed
At the beggar and her bowl
And just like the Union said he would
The axeman came in dancing
His psychopathic prancing
Chopped out the hearts of coal
chorus
He promised he would love her
Til the blackbirds stopped their singing
The mission bells stopped ringing
And they closed the coal pit down

Happiest Birthday Master Tams!