arty rocks- Davey Payne & Ralph Carney

[Jules]

Two interesting guys I thuoght I'd flag from the left field of rock music. Ian Dury and Tom Waits' horn players respectively. These guys are both rockers but with a strong avant garde jazz influence and some very wierd imaginations at work in their playing.
Both of them really only come into their own on live recordings, Ralph Carney in particular only really gets fair room to go crazy on the Big Time Live video. Davey Payne's sax solo in Hit me with Your Rhythm Stick has got to be one of the most inventive uses of a 16 bar space in the middle of a song ever- Albert Ayler, Roland Kirk and honking R&B all rolled into one, genius!

 

[Bobby G]

I love the Blockheads, one of those bands with integrity that sound like they play together instinctively (the Band, who I also love, were another case in point). Ian Dury was a diamond, bless 'im. As a bass-player at the time I really liked Norman's playing - check out his lines on Rhythm Stick while you're waiting for the great Davey Payne in the middle, every line he plays seems to be subtly different, and it's so nimble without being showy - a case of the part fitting the song perfectly.

Is Carney the tenor player on Tom Waits live album from about 1975, called Nighthawks At The Diner? I love everything about that album - Tom's voice, the whole band's playing, the intermittent drunken sentimentality of some of the songs, the intros, it's all great. No-one paints a picture or celebrates the underdog like Tom Waits.

Well, I gotta make like an ice hockey player and get the puck outta here.

Cheers, Bob

 

[Jules]

Ralph Carney's on all the 1980s clanky, Kurt Weil influenced stuff- Raindogs, Frank's Wild Years, Swordfish Trombone etc- plus live album 'Big Time' (which is well worth tracking down). The guy on Nighthawks is great- suspect its the same player as is on Blue Valentine- really warm, smokey blue tone, lovely stuff...

 

[Bobby G]

Right, I'll dig out my copy of Nighthawks (only have it on tape) and see who's on it. Blue Valentine, Heart of Saturday Night, I love that Waits sound, as well as the clanky Weil-y stuff from later on.

Cheers, Bob