A belated response to their Union Chapel show last month
I have an awful lot to thank Mark Olson and Gary Louris for. Their band, The Jayhawks, were my first Americana heroes and in the fifth form I wore out my cassette of their album Hollywood Town Hall. That record, along with a photo of Evan Dando wearing a Gram Parsons t-shirt on a Lemonheads sleeve, were the chief ingredients mixed in the crucible that formed my love of 'alt.country' (whatever that is/was). Sadly I never got to see Louris and Olson sing their wonderful harmonies together on stage. I think The Jayhawks played in London the day before my English A-level so that was a no-no. By the end of 2005 Mark Olson had left the band.
Since then I've seen both the Louris-led Jayhawks and Mark Olson perform plenty of times but I never thought I'd ever get to see the pair play the songs together that first set my musical taste on a twang trajectory. I'd heard rumours that Louris and Olson had recorded a new album together and at Dingwalls last year I asked Mark Olson if a tour was likely. He was optimistic; I was excited.
And so to a 19th-century Gothic church in Islington a few weeks ago...
Watching two middle-aged blokes with acoustic guitars isn't comparable to seeing a band in their youthful prime but the fantastic reaction to songs they wrote together like Settled Down Like Rain and Over My Shoulder proved that I wasn't alone in being overwhelmed by both nostalgia and enormous affection for the men in front of the pulpit.
Thankfully, a lot of the songs on their new album, Ready For the Flood, are pretty good. They're certainly more Simon & Garfunkel than Gram & Emmylou but you can imagine tracks like Bloody Hands being worked up into full-on country rockers.
Unless you're a Jayhawks fan of old this I can't imagine this reunion would mean much. Perhaps the tracks below might convince you otherwise. Let me know.
MP3: The Jayhawks - Sioux City
MP3: The Jayhawks - Settled Down Like Rain
MP3: The Jayhawks - Over My Shoulder
MP3: Mark Olson & Gary Louris - The Rose Society
MP3: Mark Olson & Gary Louris - Bloody Hands
Related Posts Related Links Buy This Music
Mark Olson - Dingwalls, 17 October 2007
Mark Olson - MySpace
Gary Louris - official site
The Jayhawks: Amazon | 7digital
Mark Olson & Gary Louris: Amazon
Mark Olson: Amazon | 7digital
Gary Louris: Amazon | 7digital
2 comments:
Found my way here from Captain's Dead. Like you, I wore out my Jayhawks records but never saw them play live. Thanks to your post, I am looking forward to their show here next month with even greater anticipation!
Who know what that song is they did about mountains. And it was also about death and passing on. Please help me find it. Thanks.
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