Rico Bell: The return of... |
Recorded and mixed at King Size Sound Laborartoies, Chicago / Engineered by Mike Hagler and The Baron / Produced by Jon Langford
A Celtic-infused brand of Leeds high lonesome soul from the suave and lady-killing accordionist of the Mekons. Produced by the indefatigable Jon Langford (who lends his fractured guitar work as well), backed by the crack rhythm section of Harry and Dave Trumfio (soon to be famous throughout the land as The Pulsars), and featuring appearances by Waco Brother pedal steel whiz Mark Durante, it's our most romantic release yet. It's big, meaty chunks of heartache, displacement, and resignation underpinned by that moaning accordion, snarling guitars, and that pleasantly ravaged voice...
(OK, not your standard idea of romance, but it's as close as we at Bloodshot can get cloaked in our Bukowskian wariness). Features Rico's whiskey-cured renditions of Merle's "Lonesome Fugitive," The Band's "Acadian Driftwood" (actually done first by Cajun old-timer Belton Richard, but if we'd said that you wouldn't have known what the hell we were talking about), and--talk about incest--The Waco Brothers' "Lake of Vinegar." Sure to magically transform even the coziest living room into a dimly-lit Chicago tavern on a dreary winter day.
"It's a loose, frayed collection that asks the question 'What would happen if the Temptations' tour bus collided with Hank Williams' and they had to make the best of the situation."
Gil Kaufman, Chicago New City
"It's like Mick Jones (of The Clash) fronting Son Volt."
Option
"...suffused with an unfeigned enthusiasm and affection for his material that
belie its air of alcoholic tragedy."
Bill MeyerChicago Reader
Reprinted with permission from the Chicago Reader's Music Section.
Copyright (c)
1996 Chicago Reader, Inc.
on the streets
on the streets, across the roads
round the corners and the drains
by the beaches and the pathways in the parks
buying beer and cigarettes
looking east and moving west
watching tv getting drunk and falling down
shouldn't i be holding you
say no jail could hold him
but these bars will keep me here
behind the liones, out of sight and out of mind
i might rob a bank
blow through those concrete walls
take a hostage and escape on a phone
this opression i feel now
will never leave somehow
back in my box, a label with a name
shouldn't i be holding you
old spiny men
in shiny towers of glass
driving blades and razors through the ties that bind
take another snip
and pull off a whole chunk
there's nowhere i can go,nowhere to hide
lyin awake on a mattress
crawling across the floor
the streetloight blinds me as I fumble with the door
i don't care anymore
where i go or who i meet
just don't punch me and i'll keep out of your way
and i'll remember that none of it
really happened at al
i can se a fave that don't exist anyway
shouldn't i be holding you
couldn't take it anymore
she left him in the spring and moved away
they'd never really talked
and always blamed themselves
just fillin up the hours in every day
put the lid on too tight
shorter days, longer darker nights
didn't leave a note
didn't say goodbye
the earth sheds another layer of skin
planet swinging round
clouds of fluff and yellow on their way
and underneath the stars
they'll finmd another bar
they might spend some time at Whirlaway
Spinning round the sun
summer's moving on
and time is moving faster everyday
she goes out again
he goes out again
and they might meet tonight at Whirlaway
someone asked me how i was
i replied "i'll get there soon."
sure enough i was feeling good by the time the clock struck five
when the drink ran out i was alone
without you on my side
i looked around for company and drifted with the crowd
in to a bar, into the ring
though i couldn't stand a round
took all the punches i copuld take and took some more besides
i'm so broken down and weak
whithout you by my side
without you on my side
got so many debts to pay
and scars upon my soul
say goodbye and lose the fight I'm drunk out of my mind
it kills the pain
so I'll survive
without you on my side
Devil's dream
I'm lying here alone like yesterday
In my dreams I knew the words to say
The lie that kills, humanity swept away.
I belive in all sencirety
Someone out there really cares for me,
But dead sea fruit tastes so good to me
oh forever oh for you
oh forgotten
The apple fell and ripened where it lay
a love so beautiful now in decay
the devil's dream, another debt to say
You never take good care of me
you come and go as you please
you call me in
I fall again
I lose control and I come running
you always hang around the shadows
your silence takes me by surprise
the arrow flies
I close my eyes
some sleepless nights are gonna follow
It's been a long time since I felt her touch
It's been a long time and I've missed so much
It's been a long time, not for the first time
I se my life it's meant to be
I read the signs there on TV
I know your name
you never change
you come to me by my own making
we were waltzing in that old dance hall by the river
wrapped up on our own
now the lights have gone and the band has left town
the poison runs cold and long
now our lioves are broken say goodbye to love
in the darkness, in hushed tears
say goodbye forever
for we will never pass this way aagain
and we will cry cry cry
burn world burn, turtn off the lights
it's time to go
now the darkness has come and the lust for reason gone
no more dancing together
no more searching from now on
I remember them saying no one can make you go
I remember thinking how I wish belief was all
If I could stop the towers falling
if I could change everything
I would grab the chance with both hands
yes I'd be there
Dark Side Of The Mersey* (Bloodshot 99)
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Philip Brennan (one time 'Three Johns' bass player): lead guitar
Hugh Whitaker (ex House Martins): drums & percussion
Phil Mayne (Mook Records):on Bass guitar
Roddy Johnston (Bag-piper extraordinaire) on Fiddle
Rico Bell: accordions guitars vocals etc.
Also appearing:
Mark Creswell (ex Brendan Croker & The Five o'Clock Shadows/ Tanita Tikarum
etc.)on guitars engineering & co.production
Barkley McKay (a one time member of the re-formed 'Pretty Things')on keyboards
Recorded & engineered by Mark Creswell at PeeBee's Garage Leeds / Mixed
at PeeBee's & Touchwood Audio Leeds by Mark Creswell & Bruce Wood /
Produced by Rico bell & Mark Creswell
*Rico Bell was born in Wallasey which is on the dark side
of The Mersey River opposite Liverpool
when I look back across the border
through the mists that roll to me
from this tower on the mountain
high above the restless sea
I close my eyes and think of you
down under ground, in the ultra violet blue
by Sefton Park, we stumble in the dark
On Formby Sands, I wanna hold your hand
down by the riverside
stared nights, holding you tight
blue days, drinking time away
down by the merseyside
They came to take, they came to plunder
mixing drinks and dealing songs
I stood in awe, I watched in wonder
wishing I could be the one
six years have gone by
since I came into this town
a stranger looking for some work
and a place to settle down
my eyes and ears were open
to all the things that I might do
but I didn't count on the heartache
this town would put me through
now every night, I pull the shades
as another day slips away
and I dim the light and take a walk
down to the bar, where noone talks
in this bar where noone talks
the walls are stained with misery
drinking kills the pain sometimes
but in this silence I get no relief
I know every face in here
but I don't know their names
strange eyes look across at me
and I look back the same
If I don't talk to someone soon
I swear I'l go insane
this whole country's dying
and I can't move again
Cold Comfort
I have tried every trick in my book
but I ain't had no luck so far
I've been down through the fog and the dust
on a mission just to find the heart
in a dark town, on a rainy Monday morning
facing things lid rather not
I took a call and in return
cold comfort was all I got
on the front lines, I fought the monster hard
and many others helped me on the way
in the dockyards and deep down in the mines
we made a little ground for better days
then they tricked me with smooth talking tongues
and a fissure of lies with which to plot
they sold me down and stole that ground
cold comfort was all I got
in my prime I came over the seas
persuaded by the pleas for working hands
I was found then the changes came
and I became the victim in the plan
in a ghetto, backed into a corner
no way to improve my lot
I slved I gave and in return
cold comfort was all I got
Hear The Sirens Call
hey karen how're you doin out there
in a line from the past somewhere
I caught your face turned into the morning tide
big ships sailing in my view
men waiting in the docker's pool & the smoke filled pubs
by your father's side
I broke through the lines
and found myself a place to hide
I'm waiting for the fog to rise, clearing the western sky
heed the sailors warning
shadows i the cruel sea, it's not a god place to be
I hear the sirens calling
I suppose I could have stayed around the pool
but if I had, I never would have been with you
our days where long but I lost the key
I can't get back inside the story
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New ep: |
