Sept.
14th , 2004 TG269 CD Sally Timms: In The World of Him
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UPCOMING:
Sept.
14th , 2004 TG269 CD
Sally Timms: In The World of Him
Jump to the EPs, LPs, Guest appearances, a Sally Timms playlist
Sally Timms Singles |
Sally Timms EPs |
(1987 on T.I.M.)Reviews
Musicians:
1. Waco Brothers with Jessica Biley, fiddle
2. The Handsome Family
3. Brendan Croker & Jon Langford guitars, Steve Goulding drums
4. The Baron bass, Harry steel drum, Jonboy ac. guitars
5. Brendan Croker & Jon Langford guitars, Tim Tylor bass, Steve Goulding drums
Review:
from New Jersey Online:
Sally Timms has to be the most unlikely country singer this side of, um,
her pal Jon Langford, I guess.
Both are longtime members of The Mekons, one of the original punk bands
that came out of England in the late '70s (along with the Clash,
Buzzcocks, etc.). But a funny thing happened to Timms, Langford and the
rest of the Mekons during a mid-'80s trip to Chicago.
They discovered country music. It wasn't the Eagles-influenced,
radio-ready country rock that's been dominating Nashville for the past
two decades. Instead, it was the raw honky-tonk of Hank Williams and
Merle Haggard, as personified by the Sundowners, a legendary Chicago
roadhouse band.
Things were never the same for the Mekons, who began morphing their
sound to include country influences -- which really wasn't that far
spiritually from their British beer hall-inspired punk -- and made the
underrated late '80s greats Fear and Whiskey and The Mekons Rock 'n'
Roll.
Today, Timms and Langford are both working solo country projects.
Langford's a leader of the Waco Brothers, who just released their second
album of "Cash-meets-Clash" hardcore country.
Timms, meanwhile, this month released her second solo record in the past
three years. This one's called Cowboy Sally, and it features Langford --
along with fellow Mekon Steve Goulding, as well as Brendan Croker and
Chicago cult heroes The Handsome Family -- backing her on four country
classics and one Handsome Family original that doesn't sound out of
place next to the others.
Timms isn't your typical country songbird. She's got an upper-class Brit
accent and can sound very proper, with her perfect enunciation. But she
clearly believes in the music, and the emotion comes through on a
quietly twangy version of John Anderson's "Seminole Wind," and
much-played classics like "Tennessee Waltz."
She turns it into a sweetly attractive romp, sounding like a frontier
schoolmarm who loses her reserve and conjures up some passion with
bittersweet memories. Singing the Handsome Family's "Drunk by Noon" --
the only new song on the album and one of the best -- she could be a
Tennessee Williams character, a faded southern beauty who hides in a
bottle but still hasn't lost all of her class.
Her singing is very feminine, yet the spirit behind it is always robust
and passionate. That makes for a seriously sexy listen. My only regret
about this album is that it's really an EP. The five songs come and go
way too soon
Sally Timms LPs |
"A Surrealistic Film Soundtrack"
(Sometimes referred to incorrectly as Manpahar.)
I asked: maybe someday we'll see the three Groovy recordings (STP1, STP2 & STP3) available on CD with liner notes?
Pete Shelley replies: 'I have a meeting this week [of Nov 22, 1994] which should address this querey.'
Pete Shelley contributes the remainder of this entry:
Recorded 1979 at Smile Studios, Whalley Range
The sleeve says 'Hangahar'. (As with 'Sky Yen', sleeve by Malcolm Garrett.)
Sleeve reads:- (note: sleeve opens to the left, not the right)
[Front] HANGAHAR Sally Smmit and her Musicians. Special Guest - LINDSAY LEE.
[Back] Soundtrack of the film HANGAHAR
photos~Groovy design~Malcom #GR**VY
Sally Smmit (reverse Smmit and you get Timms) Now singer with the Mekons.
Lindsay Lee (Tony Wilson's first wife. Now Lindsay Reed(?). )
Pete Shelley
Francis Cookson
Gerard Cookson
The Drifting Cowgirls are:
Brendan Croker, Jon Langford, Robert Worby, Steve Goulding, Emma Bolland, Chet Taylor and Kenny Braithwaite
A dreamy album of lullabies for the lonely, the sad, and the lovelorn. Sally (singer for the Mekons, remember?) has never been in finer voice. It's a weary, warm whisper to help smooth your way to the elusive Sandman. It'll raise the hairs on your arm. Features songs written for her by Robbie Fulks,Jon Langford, Handsome Family, and Jeff Tweedy. The cast of musical contributors inlcudes Jon Langford, Robbie Fulks, Jon Rauhouse of the Grievous Angels on pedal steel and hawaiian guitar, Andrew Bird, Jane Baxter Miller, Tom Ray, and more.
Out November 2nd (Blloodshot poetics)
Twilight laments lyrics and reviews
Songs:
1. Howdy Folks & Gather Round (Intro)
2. Dreaming Cowboy
3. Sad Milkman
4. Dark Sun
5. In Bristol Town One Bright Day
6. Sweetheart Waltz
7. Snowbird
8. Cry Cry Cry
9. When the Roses Bloom Again
10. Cancion Para Mi Padre
11. Rock Me to Sleep
12. Goodnight Cowboy Sally (Outro)
Guest appearrances: |
Sally Timms
To the Land of Milk & Honey
Feel Good All Over
Sally Timms, familiar to fans of the Mekons, continues to distinguish
herself as an abundantly talented songwriter. On "Longing, Madness &
Lust," she boils modern life down to just three unfortunate motivating
factors. The song laments the low prospects for achieving a sense of
direction in world ruled by such a sorry triumvirate with lines like,
"Out of the shopping mall/steps the new Jesus Christ." Salvation,
contrary to Gap executives and many Americans, is not achieved through
shopping. The sense of disconnected longing continues on "Junk Barge"
when Timms sings, "I am the captain/of that junk barge/off the coast of
New York/and I don't know where I'm going to/My dog sits up on the
bow/grasping for that air/and I sit in the derriere/steering and
drinking beer." The somber mood, however, is tempered by the oompah-band
music that accompanies the lyrics. In fact, the subtle melodies and
mild-mannered hooks on this collection give it an inspiring, uplifting
country-music quality that contrasts with the clever, often
disheartening lyrics.
--Gordon Young
