I'm pretty sure everyone is going to think I'm nuts, but this is my favourite album of the year, and by a longshot.
It's a re-issue of a country album originally released in 1993--that was pretty much only popular in Alberta and in odd parts of Canada. If you don't believe me, check Wikipedia, the band merits only a footnote on Billy Cowsill's page.
Why do I like it so much? If you took the Beatles and spliced their DNA with the Everly Brothers and Hank Williams Sr and modernized it a bit into something like Blue Rodeo...you'd get something like the Blue Shadows. This is pure music, pure talent and absolutely amazing songwriting. I have no clue how this didn't become a world-wide phenom.
Recently Bumstead records (who you may recall published K D Lang and Yukon Blonde) re-released a bunch of Billy Cowsill's old recordings; and this is definitely the pick of the litter, if you ask me. It's a 2 disc set that includes not only the original "On the Floor of Heaven" but also some unreleased recordings that include some absolutely wicked covers like "Raised on Robbery" (Joni Mitchell) and "Soldier of Love" (Buzz Carson).
As always, Billy Cowsill is an absolute musical demon. This was a guy that even K D Lang was intimidated to work with. Yikes. Unfortunately, Billy died in 2006 after many years of fighting drug addiction and without the fame he deserved. I wish I had known more about him when he was still around.
Listen and get blown away:
Coming on Strong:
Soldier of Love:
No comments:
Post a Comment