- The John
Peel Session on BBC Radio 1
- (Thursday 29th July '99)
From John Peel's column in the
'Radio Times' :
This year Radio
2 is giving the Cambridge Folk Festival what it has boldly styled
"enprecedented coverage". Detailed info is sparse,
but I do know that Billy Bragg will be presenting The Saturday
Music Show live from Cherry Hinton, home of the festival. Quite
who will feature probably won't be known until someone points
at Billy and shouts, "You're on air", so I can do little
other than alert you to some of the possibilities.
At some stage,
Loudon Wainwright III will almost certainly be heard. I was about
one-fiftieth of the audience for Loudon's first UK gig in Hampstead,
in the days when Hampstead was a well you go across the field,
turn right when you've crossed the stile, and head for the old
cow byre sort of trek from central London. Loudon then was intense
and rather alarming. He has mellowed, but is still well worth
the price of admission. And he is live on Radio 1 from our house
on 29 July my brother Francis's birthday.
John Peel said that 27 years
ago he'd invited Loudon to visit his home in the country, and
he was pleased to say that it had finally happened.
He began by reading an email
I'd sent to the program earlier in the day (and then totally
forgot I'd sent it). It read as follows:
Hi
John
I'm
delighted that your guest tonight is Loudon Wainwright who is
my all-time favourite singer and songwriter.
Via
the Internet Mailing List I heard that Loudon sang three new
songs in Paris this week. Apparently, one was a very funny song
about George Washington, and was a world premiere.
Any
chance of Loudon singing any of the new songs on your programme
tonight? It would be VERY much appreciated.
Thanks
and very best wishes from Martin in Belfast, on behalf of all
on the Internet Mailing List in the UK, and around the world.
I'd accidentally left on the
'signature' with the link to my website, so John mused over the
title ('Loudon Wainwright - the Belfast Website') and asked Loudon
had he heard of these people? Loudon hadn't (of course).
Instead of doing the 'George
Washington song' Loudon sang :
Song : 'When I'm At Your House'
A break for some records, then
Loudon agreed to do a request "from yesteryear, for the
intoxicated relatives". The song was
Song : 'Be Careful There's A Baby In The House'
Unfortunately John forgot to
fade up Loudon's mikes so a record automatically 'kicked in'
instead. Loudon agreed to sing it again for the radio. John gave
a plug for the Cambridge Folk Festival where Loudon was appearing
on Saturday and Sunday.
Another break, then Loudon sang
Song : 'The Doctor'
This song was Loudon gathered
with all the various people in the house for a singalong. The
rehearsal of the chorus was rather uninspired, "not exactly
the Von Trapp Family" as Loudon put it. During the chorus,
he also described the singing as "anaemic", and "gonna
have to do Kumbaya next." John remarked that it'll be better
in Cambridge.
John read out some of last Saturday's
Guardian article, and asked for some details about the new movie
which stars Sandra Bulloch.
Loudon : I'm
great in this movie. It's called '28 Days' and it all takes place
in a drug and alcohol rehab (laughs)
John : And what's your role in it?
Loudon : "I play a guy who kinda is slumped
over in the corner, playing the guitar and writing songs"
John : (looking at the newspaper article)
It's not a nice picture of you this, is it really?
Loudon : Which - the one in the Guardian?
John : Yeah!
Loudon : Oh.
John : Did you think so, did you like it?
Loudon : Oh, I thought it was alright (!)
John : You look a little mental, frankly
(people giggle in the background). Do you not think so?
Loudon : Let's describe it to the radio audience
out there (!)
John : You look like an assistant in a butcher
shop (more laughing in background). I mean, slightly red-faced,
and eh, . a little manic I feel. Am I being a little unfair?
Loudon : No, whatever you think. It's your
show (!)
Loudon then sang the first two
lines of 'A Father And Son', stopped and said, "Gawd I'm
gonna screw this up again. You remember I did this the last time
I was on your show (August 1993) and I completely screwed this
particular song?" He tried the first two lines again, said
he couldn't do it, and he was gonna do something else.
"Here's a song I wrote for
this movie, '28 Days'. It's called 'One Time In A Time', as I
said, it takes place in a drug and alcohol rehab"
Song : 'One Time In A Time'
The song is a
quiet reflective song, reminiscent of the song 'Men', and has
a nice quality about it. I'm still trying to work out who 'Brian'
is in the second verse though.
- You
got to let go, 'cos God only knows
- That's
the Gospel according to Brian
- He's
a son of Will, any friend of Bill
- Is
someone who's thought about dying
-
- It's a song
that certainly grows on you with each listen.
Next, time for a plug for the
Social Studies CD, John saying he liked the one about 'street
people', because we have the same thing over here.
John : What about another LP, in the sense
of, like, stuff that you're writing now.
Loudon : Ah, yeah, I've got another one (he
pauses) damm near written I'd say. I mean, just in terms of volume,
I have a bunch of new songs that, eh, I'll foist upon the unsuspecting
public in no time."
There was the odd comedy moment
- John got an email from a listener that ran "Whilst listening
to this program, I'm playing a computer cricket game with a team
entirely consisting of Loudon Wainwrights. Loudon Wainwright
the Seventh has just bowled a 'double maiden' - do you understand
that, do you know anything about cricket?" (Loudon didn't).
After a break, time for another
song
Loudon said he lived in England
for several years, "I used to have a flat up in Inglewood
Road in West Hampstead in 1994, 1995 round about that time. I
was listening to the radio, probably the BBC, and they were reporting
on the Seige of Sarajevo, a kind of apex of the Bosnian chapter
of the Balkan whatever. And I was washing dishes, and watching
gallons of water going down the plughole, or sink as we say in
America . . . " (and plays)
Song : 'Pretty Good Day So
Far'
John said there was time for
one more song, and asked whether he'd ever thought about doing
'standards' like "Stormy Weather, Smoke Gets In your Eyes",
adding "people would say that's the beginning of the end
- though I don't"
Loudon : Well, I'm close to the end (laughs),
so I could start to begin. There are a few songs that I do that
I haven't written . . . if I do cut a record of 'standards',
I'll bet this would be on it. This is a Marty Robbins song.
Song : 'At The End Of A Long
Lonely Day'
John thanked Loudon for being
on the show, whilst continuing to suggest other songs for him
to record by artists like Jerry Butler, Willie Nelson, and Don
Gibson (does he think Loudon is a Country artist?). |
