A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
ONE of the most spectacular plants you will ever see in this country is giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). It can grow to 16ft or even more with leaves up to … Continue readingGiant hogweed: Look but don’t touch
‘Just bury me down beside the railroad, so I can hear the trains go by.’ And so the title track of Ry’s classic 1972 LP concludes our season of train … Continue readingRy Cooder: Boomer’s Story
I always thought Cat Stevens (born Steven Demetre Georgiou, now known as Yusuf Islam) was underrated both as a singer and a song-writer. This great track is from his 1967 … Continue readingCat Stevens: I’ve Found a Love
Excellent cover of the Terry Allen song, highlight of the 1977 Time Loves a Hero album. And here’s the man himself on the album Lubbock (on everything) which didn’t appear … Continue readingLittle Feat: New Delhi Freight Train
A bit of gospel never did anyone any harm. Written by Turner, this was the title track of his 2003 debut album.
From the 1983 album Hearts and Bones. And here’s a live version from 2008.
DESPITE its being ridiculed in a Monty Python sketch (here’s a Lego version) which led to its adoption as a term for junk mail, I have always been inordinately fond of … Continue readingIn praise of Spam
A real period piece, this. A 1982 live version of the song from 1971’s Aqualung. Ian Anderson sweats for England.
The first part of which is The FFV – Bill Monroe’s story of a train crash. ‘So the very last words poor Georgie cried were, “Nearer my God to thee”.’
This is one of my favourite songs, and I love this version on Nilsson’s 1973 album A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night. The orchestration by Gordon Jenkins is terrific, almost … Continue readingHarry Nilsson: As Time Goes By