Off The Beaten Tracks
Radio show playlists, occasional gig reviews and other bits of writing.
Thursday, 14 November 2024
Off The Beaten Track 18 November 2024
Friday, 8 November 2024
Off The Beaten Track mix 11 November 2024
Wednesday, 30 October 2024
OTBT Phil Lesh tribute show
*** Show now uploaded. This link will take you to Mixcloud. ***
I have recorded a new show mainly in tribute to bass player and founder member of the Grateful Dead Phil Lesh who passed away recently. I thought I had uploaded it to Mixcloud but discovered that they are doing some systems work on their website today and everything is up the pictures, to coin a phrase.
So some thoughts about the Dead. The first album of theirs I bought was Live Dead which I might well have found in a record shop in Camden Town. I lived in London from the end of 1988 to March 1991. I can't remember the name of the shop but it had a basement which I'm pretty sure you got to via a spiral staircase. As with many things, the passage of time robs one of memories but I can still see the record shop in my mind's eye having made a few purchases there. They had a fine selection of LPs from the hippie era and I picked up albums by other West Coast bands like Quicksilver Messenger Service.
From Live Dead I bought Workingman's Dead and it must have been something of a surprise to hear the radical change of direction they took on that album. Remember, this was in the pre-internet days so unless you heard something on the radio or TV or heard a record at a friend's house you were more or less taking pot luck (if you'll pardon the unintentional drug reference) regarding the music you were buying. But like it I did and not long after I found a copy of American Beauty, both on CD as I had bought my first CD deck by then.
I never got to see the Dead in concert which is a shame as they had a reputation for playing long sets with no two nights ever being the same. As we got into the 90s with the Madchester & Britpop scenes exploding onto the UK music scene I started buying fewer records from yesteryear and paid more attention to the new sounds of Manic Street Preachers, Dodgy, The Charlatans, Echobelly and of course the dominant duo - Blur and Oasis.
I did buy one final Grateful Dead album namely their 1987 release In The Dark which I picked up on cassette for the very reasonable price of 99p in a branch of John Menzies which was Scotland's equivalent of WS Smith.
So on to the playlist. Three numbers by the Dead with a CSN&Y song which Jerry Garcia guested on along with various other late 60s\early 70s favourites and some more recent cuts. But probably best to leave going onto Mixcloud until tomorrow.
Carole King - So Far Away
Dom Martin - Belfast Blues
Katie Spencer - Hello Sun (live)
Phil Ochs - That Was The President
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Teach Your Children
Grateful Dead - Cumberland Blues
Blue Rodeo - Go Go Round
Martyn Joseph - Born Too Late
Roddy Frame - Small World
Virginia Kettle - Promise of a Sunrise
The Broken-Hearted Few - Hidden From The Sun
The Doors - Hyacinth House
Grateful Dead - Friend of the Devil
The Byrds - My Back Pages
Wednesday, 23 October 2024
Off The Beaten Tracks mix October 2024
Two songs from the Richard Thompson tribute album Beat The Retreat which was released in 1994 and a track from Yasmin Williams' new album Acadia. Also a few song titles with a Hallowe'en connection. Listen now on Mixcloud.
Nuala Kennedy - Death and the Lady
Yasmin Williams - Hummingbird (feat. Allison de Groot, Tatiana Hargreaves)
Allison de Groot & Tatianna Hargreaves - Each Season Changes You
Band of Burns - To Daunton Me
Fotheringay - The Pond and The Stream [demo version]
Ewan MacColl - The Banks of the Nile
Beausoleil - Valerie
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway - The River Knows
Kris Kristofferson - The Law Is for Protection of the People
Heather Bristow - Somebody's Cryin'
Larkin Poe - Blood Harmony
The Tillers - I Gotta Move
Pokey LaFarge - Run Run Run
The Mountain Firework Company - The Gravedigger's Lament
Luke Jackson - Ghost at the Crossroads
Friday, 11 October 2024
Off The Beaten Tracks 14 October 2024
Friday, 4 October 2024
Off The Beaten Tracks 7 October 2024
Friday, 27 September 2024
Off The Beaten Tracks 30 September 2024
A mixture of music from the UK and the USA on this week's show with two tracks from singer and double bass player Miranda Sykes. Listen now on Mixcloud or from Monday at 1pm or 8pm on Ginger Feather FM.
SykesMartin - Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies
Danny Schmidt - Soon The Earth Shall Swallow
Meg Baird - Cross Bay
Rosanne Cash - September When It Comes
The Foghorn Stringband - Lost Gal
Eric Bibb - 'Tain't Such A Much
Plu - Ddim ar Gael
Megson - Road To Hell (Part 2)
Miranda Sykes - What's The Use Of Wings If You Can't Fly
Kathryn Tickell - Sycamore Gap
Crosby, Stills & Nash - Cathedral
The Low Countries - You're Here Again
Bob Fox - From Me To You