Tuesday Tunes 297: More Brown

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If you cast your mind back, you may recall that before I took a detour for the past couple of weeks I gave you a set of brown songs, three weeks back. I had some more of these that I wanted to play you so I’m going back to brown for this week, too. In my usual state of indecision I can’t choose which of these to leave out, so you’re getting six again today. Any complaints should be sent to the usual address! (Yup, I don’t know either).

Going back a while for today’s first tune:

Golden Brown was first released on The Stranglers’ sixth album, La folie, in November 1981, and the album peaked at #11 in the UK and #13 in The Netherlands. Nothing doing in the US, though: they have only had one very minor placing for a later album there, and nothing at all in the singles charts, so I’m guessing this one will be unfamiliar across the pond, though I expect those here will remember it. It gained its popularity from being released as a singe in January 1982, making #2 in the UK, their highest ever chart placing. It also got to #3 in Ireland, #7 in Belgium and #8 in The Netherlands. It was in some ways an unlikely song from them if you had followed their previous records, coming as they did out of the aftermath of the punk scene: the inclusion of the harpsichord was a very pleasant and welcome surprise. The video was directed by Lindsey Clennell, and depicts the band members as explorers in Egypt in the 1920s and as performers for a fictional “Radio Cairo.” It is intercut with stock footage of the Giza pyramid complex, the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah in Bukhara, the Shah Mosque in Isfahan, the Great Sphinx, sailing feluccas, Bedouins riding camels, and camel racing in the United Arab Emirates. The performance scenes were filmed in the Leighton House Museum in Holland Park, London – probably cheaper than taking the band to Egypt and letting them soak up all that history and geography!

I’ve played this next one several times, including a couple of recent appearances for Song Lyric Sunday, but it is a long time favourite and the animated video is charming:

One Brown Mouse was a track on Heavy Horses, the eleventh studio album by Jethro Tull, which was released on 10 April 1978. The album is often considered the second in a trio of folk rock albums released by the band at the end of the 1970s, alongside Songs from the Wood (1977) and Stormwatch (1979). This one, and its title track, is dedicated to the “indigenous working ponies and horses of Great Britain.” This song was inspired by the Robert Burns poem To A Mouse – not many bands were taking the great Scottish bard as their inspiration back then, if ever. The album peaked at #20 in the UK and at #19 in the US, going Silver and Gold respectively.

Having started with the ‘might be known,’ followed by the ‘probably won’t be known,’ I’m now moving to the ‘amazed if anyone knows this’ category:

Frazey Obadiah Ford (born February 11, 1973) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actress. She joined the Be Good Tanyas in their first year, 1999, and made three albums with them. Her solo debut Obadiah  – the first of three so far – was released in July 2010. Purple And Brown is a track on her third album, U kin B the Sun, which was released in February 2020. Information on her is a bit hard to come by, but I just love her voice and style. From her folk band beginnings she has added her own love of soul and blues into the mix, all delivered with a big helping of sass. Her own website describes the beginnings of this album:

On her third album U kin B the Sun, Vancouver-based singer/songwriter Frazey Ford inhabits an entire world of shapeshifting rhythm, elevating every beat and groove with the subtle magnetism of her mesmerizing voice. At turns ecstatic and heavy-hearted, gloriously shambolic and deeply purifying, U kin B the Sun is the outcome of a certain personal transformation that Ford has experienced in recent years. With its graceful collision of soul and psychedelia and sometimes ’70s funk, it’s a body of work that invites both self-reflection and wildly joyful movement, and ultimately sparks a quiet transcendence.

I couldn’t have put it better myself! This is a song about a lost love and rejection, and I wonder f it is personal – it certainly feels like it. If Frazey’s vocal style is a little hard for you to pick up you might like to see the lyrics here.

Although you might have to cast your mind back a bit this next one is probably more familiar:

That was, of course, the late, great Jim Croce with Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, a track from his fourth album, Life And Times, which was released in January 1973, just nine months before he was killed in a plane crash. The album was successful in N America, peaking at #1 in Canada and #7 in the US, driven by the success of this song when taken as a single from it, topping the charts in both countries, though neither the album or single made the UK charts: we have been very unkind to him! This probably isn’t my favourite of his songs – some of his more wistful pieces take that accolade – but it is still a favourite after all these years.

Back into ‘does anyone know this?’ territory again now:

Seth Lakeman (born 26 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who is most often associated with the fiddle and tenor guitar, but also plays the viola and banjo. Nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize, Seth has belonged to several musical ensembles, including one with his two brothers, fellow folk musicians Sam and Sean, but has more notably established himself as a solo act. He is recognised as a fiddle-singing pioneer, an act which has been continued by the likes of Bella Hardy. Solomon Browne is a track on his fourth solo album, Poor Man’s Heaven, which was released in June 2008 and reached #8 in the UK Albums Chart.

The song tells the story of the lifeboat of that name, which was involved in the Penlee lifeboat disaster on 19 December 1981 off the coast of Cornwall, England. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat Solomon Browne, based at the Penlee Lifeboat Station near Mousehole, went to the aid of the vessel Union Star after its engines failed in heavy seas. After the lifeboat had rescued four people, both vessels were lost with all hands. Sixteen people died, including eight volunteer lifeboatmen. As a West Country native this story has touched a chord with Seth, though he was probably too young to understand about it when it happened. As well as this live version, from the amazing surroundings of the Minack Theatre, an open-air venue built into a cliffside, four miles from Lands End, Seth has also recorded a special version to help raise funds for the RNLI. A very poignant song, with much meaning. His brother Sean plays guitar on this, as he did when I saw Seth in concert some years back: he was phenomenal!

And to close today, a rock and roll standard, though the guy who wrote it is kindly leaving front stage to another in this performance:

Brown Eyed Handsome Man was included on Chuck Berry’s debut album, After School Session, in May 1957. Like almost all of the tracks on that album it had previously appeared on a single, as the B-side to Too Much Monkey Business, released in September 1956. The single made #4 in the US R&B Chart, but the album missed out. It is still a classic, though, and this live version from much later wth Robert Cray taking lead and Keith Richards helping out on guitar is great fun.

That’s my lot for today, and as always I hope you found something to enjoy in this rather mixed bag. I’ll be back in a couple of days, so until then I wish you well 😊

 

[As I always do, I’m sharing this piece at Esme’s Senior Salon Pit Stop and, a more recent addition, at Cathy’s Monday’s Music Moves Me. Do drop in on both to see what else you can find.]

48 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 297: More Brown”

  1. I had forgotten how many ways “brown” turns up in song. The Stranglers’ harpsichord shimmer and Jethro Tull’s mouse still stand out, but Seth Lakeman’s account of the Penlee lifeboat hit harder than I expected on a Tuesday morning. Solid choices all round.

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    • Happy to have brought back those memories and to have made the introductions to the others. Funny thing for me is that I played that one as it fitted my theme but I prefer others of his to it!

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  6. Lots of new ones this week for me. Of course, I knew the Croce tune (I like so many of his other songs better than this one, but they of course didn’t fit the category) and the last one. I certainly recognized the easily identifiable work of Jethro Tull, but I don’t remember that tune. My two favorites this week were two first-timers. (Fraezy Ford and Seth Lakeman).

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  7. A good selection once again! Bad, bad Leroy Brown is stuck in my head now. LOL!
    The love lost song does sound like its from personal experience.
    Very sad about the lifeboat tragedy. Seth would have been only a child when it happened. Very interesting how it affected him so strongly as to write a song about it. Must have an empathetic soul!

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  8. Frazey Ford is the one who caught my ear today, the first song has great backing, ‘Done’ is a fine one as well. I’ll be listening to her in the future, so thanks.

    Can’t go wrong with Chuck- he was the bedrock of rock ‘n’ roll.

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  10. Oh, so good to be here on a Tuesday again. The past weeks were crazy and I just noticed how much I missed your Tuesday Tunes. It’s great to hear some songs again, I have not heard in a long time. And how sweet that One Brown Mouse song (and video) is. Thanks for this list today, Clive!

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  11. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown is a good oldie. I loved this song as a kid! This is the only song in your line-up I knew, so I appreciate the introduction to all the other ones. Of these, my favorite is Golden Brown. It has resonates quite nice with my ears. With a name like The Stranglers you’d think they’d be creepy and some of their artwork on YT is kind of scary. I’m listening to one of their playlists right now and it sounds nice. Thanks for sharing and for joining the 4M party, Clive. Have a boogietastic week!

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  14. A great mix of old and new and I especially enjoyed your closing video with Chuck Berry, Keith Richards, and Robert Cray; what an ensemble! I love The Stranglers, but I was not familiar with today’s song. I really like it so thanks for the intro. Their ennui is somewhat hilarious! 😂 Frazey Ford is interesting and unique. Her group has a cool classic jazz vibe. It sounds to me like she could be classically trained, but you were right …. I couldn’t find much info on her. Nice eclectic collection this morning, Clive. 😎

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    • Thank you Nancy, I’m pleased you enjoyed the mix. That last one was a real find: I was looking for a live Chuck Berry one and that leapt out at me.

      That was The Stranglers biggest hit here but did nothing there, so I’m not surprised you didn’t know it. It’s good, isn’t it, and they played their parts well in the video.

      Frazey is unique, I agree. I didn’t see any references to musical training, and as she started out in a folk band she clearly has a wide range of influences. I think you’ll like this one by her too:

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