AMANDA THORPE BEWITCHES THE AMERICAN SONGBOOK

 

This feature appeared in Huffington Post in January 2015.

"Yip wrote about universal human emotions and conditions, his lyrics have remained remarkably relevant. In every day and age we have had dreamers, lovers and soul searchers. But Yip was also a human rights activist and he viewed his songs as more than mere entertainment. Theodore Taylor - in a biography about composer Jule Styne - said Yip was often 'caught at the art of sneaking social messages into his lyrics.' Per Yip, 'I am a rebel by birth, I contest anything that is unjust, that causes suffering in humanity. My feelings about that are so strong; I don't think I could live with myself if I weren't honest."

Perhaps if Edgar Yipsel "Yip" Harburg had plugged in an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, we'd revere his canon as much as we do the works of Robert Allen Zimmerman. Nowadays the name of this iconic pop lyricist born Isidore Hochberg on New York's Lower East Side in the year 1896 is mostly known among nostalgia buffs and theater musos, but not the masses. Yet Mr. Harburg was a "Bob Dylan" of his era - assuming a fresh new identity and penning lyrics to such classics as "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?" all the songs in The Wizard of Oz including "Over The Rainbow," "Old Devil Moon," "April in Paris," and "It's Only a Paper Moon," among many others, which deftly merged romance, clever observations of the human and social condition, and politics into a timeless libretto. Somehow Yip has evaded the perpetual hosannas routinely afforded his contemporaries Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart, and Johnny Mercer.

Leave it to a British artist to once again to remind us Yanks of a neglected American musical treasure through an album before and after its time: Amanda Thorpe's Bewitching Me. Ms. Thorpe, born in Derby, England, and currently residing in Paris, forged an impressive career among New York City's indie pop royalty over the past two decades, releasing several collections under her own name, and as a member of the highly acclaimed Bedsit Poets with Edward Rogers and Mac Randall (who guests on one track), among other collaborations. As a recording artist, performer, and composer, Ms. Thorpe's artistry traverses folk, rock, jazz, cabaret, and every conceivable variation thereof.

Amanda's connection to the Harburg family essentially prompted the realization of Bewitching Me. "I had been working with Deena Rosenberg (Yip's daughter-in-law via her marriage to Ernie Harburg) for a couple of years on various musical theater and tutoring projects" she recalls. "We had a meeting at DeRoberti's old Italian bakery on 1st Avenue - which has since sadly closed after 100 years - for a holiday drink and to discuss future plans. As we supped on our favorite warm beverage and nibbled on select pastries, I suppose it was quite natural for Ernie, who is a champion of his father's work, to suggest my considering covering some of Yip's catalog…I laughed it off initially, I associated Yip with Broadway show tunes."

Intrigued by the challenge, Amanda forged ahead with the project. The Harburgs opened their vast Yip archives to Ms. Thorpe - providing numerous recordings and compositions grouped by eras and various categories: moon songs, love songs, troubled love songs, rainbow songs, social songs, and then some. "One of the most important things for me was not to record an album that sounded like me singing jazz standards. Yip seemed dedicated to the exploration and joy of language - he had countless notebooks in which he would capture all types of phrases or words, and he would often rework a concept or a lyric approach multiple times and in different songs. He sounded like a fascinating man and a force of nature, so passionate and full of life and ideas. I imagine he saw the world in 3D Technicolor even before the Wizard of Oz! He could dig so deep into emotions and sprinkle them so lightly into lyrical vignettes. His mastery of words is pretty intimidating…"

By way of its modern Americana veneer, Bewitching Me emerges as a cousin to the recent commercially popular and critically acclaimed Lost On The River (2014) collection: an extraordinary archival based endeavor produced by T Bone Burnett which set new music to a recently recovered cache of hand-written Bob Dylan lyrics circa 1966-67. Burnett amassed an all-star ensemble dubbed The New Basement Tapes which features Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddons (Carolina Chocolate Drops), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), and Marcus Mumford (Mumford & Sons), among others, to complete Dylan's mid-life musings with a contemporary resonance .

Ditto Ms. Thorpe, who enlisted her own local legend and long-time collaborator to helm Bewitching Me -producer, engineer, musician Don Piper whose list of indie credits on the New York City music scene is as exhaustive as it is impressive. "I do believe that a good song can be interpreted in many different was and still shine" emphasizes Piper. "The big goal was to remove as much of the 'jazz' out of it as possible. There are moments that are still 'jazzy' here and there but I think we made a well-rounded album that ventures into different landscapes in a natural way."

With Piper behind the console, Amanda's core band of drummer Robert DiPietro, bassist Rob Jost, and guitarist Tony Scherr afford Harburg / Thorpe's song-cycle a sense of warmth and immediacy not often evident in studio recordings." I wanted everything to be recorded as live as possible - for practical, and musical, reasons. Practically - we had 13 songs to record in a weekend. Musically- I’m a fan of spontaneous interactions of musicians! So the approach was 'three takes and move on.' Don set up drums, bass, and guitar in the same room, and me separately. He always manages to capture the intimacy of live recordings. There was no click and we recorded each song all the way through three times."

Amanda's organic rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" turns subtly anthemic upon the arrival of the chorus. "I Like the Likes of You" emerges as a pop confection worthy of Sonny & Cher lore. And Scherr's exquisite solo on "Adrift on a Star" deeply echoes Thorpe's seductive pathos. "Yip said, 'words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought.' I do think these songs are great and have a magic to them. His work with Harold Arlen is particularly powerful, the melodies and words mesh perfectly. The fact that Yip can tackle such big issues with witticism, simplicity, and a unique lyric style make his work accessible to all.

Amanda’s Bedsit Poet partner Edward Rogers concurs- "a great song always helps, and with the right love and vision, the artist and the producer can create a wonderful interpretation that makes the listener believe the song was always meant to be heard that way."

RONNIE LANE & SLIM CHANCE ARE ALIVE AND WELL

By Tom Semioli

This feature appeared in Huffington Post UK in November 2014

"Me brother ain't dead....he's still alive. As long as these boys keep playin'... and these people keep singing his songs...he's 'ere with us!"

On a chilly November evening, a joyous Stan Lane - brother of the late, great Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame singer, songwriter, bassist, founding member and heart and soul of the Small Faces and The Faces - is holding court at the hallowed Half Moon in Putney. This cherished, intimate venue has served as one of England's most beloved, essential music pubs since the early 1960s, presenting such seminal artists as Roy Harper, John Martyn, John Mayall, Dr. Feelgood, Bert Jansch, Alexis Corner, The Yardbirds, Kate Bush, the Rolling Stones, The Who, and Elvis Costello, among scores of others, to the working class residents in the Southwest London borough of Wandsworth.

"These boys" which Stan raises his glass to repeatedly throughout the evening, are the surviving, still thriving, re-united members of Ronnie Lane's legendary "hobo-billy" ensemble Slim Chance. An organic, multifaceted collective that Lane assembled after he bravely departed the aforementioned super-group in 1973, which was then comprised of Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, Ian McLagen, and Kenny Jones; Slim Chance afforded Lane the platform to pursue his diverse artistic and musical yearnings away from the spotlight. Young rockers are advised to seek out Ronnie's matchless canon and legacy: Small Faces, featuring Steve Marriott, continue to be a tremendous inspiration to rock artists on both sides of the pond almost 50 years after they hit their first note together. And swaggering, booze swilling musos given to velvet trousers, scarves, and tousled hair-dos all owe their careers and rehab memberships to the Faces with Woody and Rod the Mod.

Lane, who passed in 1997 after a long, heroic battle against multiple sclerosis, anchored both versions of the group with his melodic bass artistry, uncanny songwriting expertise, and unbridled spirit. The Ronnie Lane Appeal for ARMS (Action into Research Multiple Sclerosis) benefit concerts in the UK and USA in 1983 featured the stricken musician along with a who's who of rock royalty to raise funds and awareness. Though he suffered terribly from the disease for over 21 years, Lane somehow managed to make it to the stage until 1992.

Slim Chance never scaled the commercial heights of Ronnie's former bands - nor were they designed to. Their original records are long out of print - yet that sad fact does not render Slim Chance any less vital. Emphasizes bassist Steven Bingham, who joined Ronnie's initial Slim Chance line-up when the band-leader switched to rhythm guitar to facilitate his singing: "super stardom was not Ronnie's bag at all! He wanted to do his own thing, which was to continue writing and performing in his unique style."

Ronnie and Slim Chance's minstrel-like British folk inspired repertoire additionally incorporated American country, jazz, bluegrass, and rhythm and blues influences - long before modern day roots chart-toppers Mumford & Sons, Fleet Foxes, Laura Marling, The Decembertists, and Noah & The Whale, among others, were born. Slim Chance's legendary 1974 tour - a trek which included a traveling circus replete with jugglers, dancers, clowns, and animal acts - was beautifully documented in a must-see film entitled Passing Show: The Life and Music of Ronnie Lane (2006) by director Rupert Williams, who was also in attendance at the Half Moon to celebrate the return of Slim Chance.

"I'm so glad we got back together" says Bingham, who can hardly contain his enthusiasm during sound-check while his band-mates chide him as he is not often the subject of interviews. "There was something slightly un-finished about the first incarnation of Slim Chance. The Passing Show was an incredible adventure for him to undertake. It drained Ronnie financially and in other ways."

When his Slim Chance brethren Charlie Hart and Steve Simpson, noted individually for their work with such artists as Ian Dury, Eric Clapton, Frankie Miller, Eric Bibb, Roger Chapman, and Pete Brown, among others, approached Steve about resurrecting the band, the youthful bassist never hesitated. "I follow my instincts - I heard a million voices telling me to do this! I came home from our meeting late at night, woke up my wife and told her 'you won't believe this! I'm going to have another bash at Slim Chance!"

Previous to the modern day Slim Chance re-birth, among their most high profile appearances in recent times occurred at the Ronnie Lane Memorial Concert held on April 8, 2004. After years of haggling over issues best left to the explanation of music business attorneys, Ronnie's old friend and collaborator Pete Townshend intervened and now the masses can see and hear that historic event by way of the new Angel Air DVD: One for the Road: The Ronnie Lane Memorial Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Slim Chance's performances with Townshend, Chris Jagger, Sam Brown, ex-Sex Pistol Glen Matlock, Mick Jones of The Clash, Paul Weller, and Ronnie Wood are transcendent.

In the summer 2011, Slim Chance alumni, including guitarist and long-time Cat Stevens / Yusuf Islam collaborator Alun Davis, returned to the studio to update compositions from all phases of Ronnie Lane's brilliant career on a riveting collection aptly titled The Show Goes On: Songs of Ronnie Lane (Fishpool Records).

And the show goes on for Slim Chance as well. Bingham reports that an album of all new Slim Chance compositions will be ready by Spring 2015. "We don't want to be a tribute band...Ronnie wouldn't have that! Our new songs will pick up where Slim Chance left off. And that's what is great about this band - we're not massively well-known, but the fans love us and that's what keeps us going strong."

As expected, Slim Chance raised the roof at the sold-out Half Moon. Pensioners outfitted in dubious 1970s garb complimented by tartan accessories, including several grand-dads sporting skullets, boogied alongside the hipsters who made the pilgrimage to hear the real deal whilst these pub-rock masters still traverse this mortal coil. Everyone knew the songs, the riffs, and Ronnie's inflections. In addition to a few new numbers, Slim Chance's set-list included such Lane classics as "Debris," "You're So Rude," "How Come," "Anniversary," "Silly Little Man," and "Ooh La La" the latter of which was performed with the welcome addition of buxom can-can dancers and Stan Lane on vocals and tambourine.

After the gig, Mr. Stan Lane stood regally outside the Half Moon in the pouring rain, bidding fans farewell, chatting with young rockers about Ronnie, and posing for pictures.

"I'm glad you American lads are here tonight - this is real  English music, mate...real English rock 'n' roll..."

GEORGE USHER & LISA BURNS: TOGETHER AT LAST FOR THE LAST DAY OF WINTER

By Tom Semioli

This feature appeared in No Depression, November 2014

"I feel like I'm at my own wake!" proclaims a beaming George Usher from the stage of the sanctified Mercury Lounge in lower Manhattan.

With his latest musical partner Lisa Burns by his side, along with a crack backing ensemble comprised of New York City's finest, George Usher is indeed alive and well and co-writing some of the best songs of his long and winding career. The hallowed venue is packed with fans on a cool October evening, including a new admirer - Morgan Fisher of Mott the Hoople fame. Fisher greeted the co-band leaders, whom he had never met, in their dressing room minutes before George and Lisa delivered a set of songs that will eventually emerge as their highly-anticipated debut duo album entitled The Last Day of Winter.  Usher, Burns, and their bassist Sal Maida –who toiled in Roxy Music and The Sparks whilst Morgan was plying his patented theatrical plinkery for the iconic Herefordshire ensemble, bestowed the gregarious Brit the title of "rock royalty" and afforded the dapper piano-man half- bows of reverence in his presence. Indeed, rock ‘n’ roll fandom knows no age limits!  Which brings us to George and Lisa…

The folksy, autumnal, and ultimately celebratory song-cycle The Last Day of Winter is not quite the standard fare for Usher, who is among America's greatest indie-pop tunesmiths and recording artists. If you are unaware of his history be advised to research Mr. Usher's extensive and impressive rock 'n' roll curricula vitae. In 2010 Mr. Usher was diagnosed with cancer - which is the underlying catalyst of Winter - though the ailment is never directly referenced. Details George, "we call it a document of hope, friendship, and defiance in the face of crippling illness and potentially the loss of life." Treatments for the disease rendered George unable to do things that most healthy folks take for granted, including the ability to play an instrument.

"It's funny with a thing like cancer," reflects George, sitting in his West Village kitchen where he and Lisa created Winter, "I did not announce it on Facebook…there are some people who are still finding out about it! Other people, when they heard about my condition, they ran for the hills…but I forgave them immediately. Yet I had other friends who stepped up…"

Among those other friends who stepped up was Lisa Burns - a distinguished New York City songstress with a notable canon that includes her 1978 MCA self-titled solo album, plus such acclaimed releases as Unadorned (2004) - which won praise from Phil Manzanera and Russell Mael among others, Channeling Mary (2011), and New Randy (2006) with Holly Anderson, among many other musical projects. Note to readers: after you research Mr. Usher, investigate Ms. Burns!

George remembers "my cancer treatments left me walking around like a zombie…but I had to somehow speak to things, so I started composing lyrics. I also write poetry, however lyrics are different, they need to be 'mathematically and rhythmically correct.' Many times I'd written lyrics and given them to musical colleagues, but they didn't know how to do the 'Bernie and Elton' thing. It is particular talent all its own to write lyrics to fit a melody that has yet to be written, and to write a melody for lyrics someone hands you."

Enter Lisa Burns, who flourishes when penning melodies and chords to a fully realized libretto. "It's butter!" responds a rather modestly ebullient Ms. Burns. "I was grateful. I have so much melody. And George's lyrics suggested melodies to me. I was like a jeweler looking through a loupe at a gem -my job was to bring out the essence of his words in song." She pauses, "actually, if you are a songwriter, and you are open to it, having lyrics already written is an easier way of working."

At regular intervals the two would meet in the Usher family kitchen to exchange lyrics and for Lisa to perform the songs she had completed in chronological order for George - who was still incapacitated for extended periods of time during the writing process, and who was not always in the best of moods. Says Lisa "I was not intimidated -I was challenged - I wanted it to be my best work. One part of me was inspired by the fact that I had great lyrics, and the other part of me was motivated by the seriousness of the situation. We never talked about the meaning behind a particular lyric - I wanted it to be fresh and objective."

Usher: "whenever she came in with a finished song - I didn't expect it to be so good!" As George's health improved and he gradually regained his motor-skills to the extent where he could sing and play with Lisa, they commenced to demoing the songs as a matter of record with no intentions of making an album. That changed, though Usher initially envisioned their work to be a Lisa Burns solo collection.  “I always heard these songs in George’s voice,” counters Lisa. Usher reveals “when we were working I had it in the back of my mind that this could be the last songs I’ll ever write.”

Because George's regimen was best served by not traveling, and as a matter of convenience, the duo recorded the album locally with an impressive cast of musical friends and family: bassist Maida (who, incidentally, is married to Burns and who reveled in the long-awaited opportunity to record with Usher); keyboardist Dylan Maida (son of Lisa and Sal); drummer Wylie Wirth (Dead Ex's); guitarists Captain Kirk Douglas (The Roots), Dave Schramm (The Schramms), Mark Sidgwick (Holly & The Italians), and Jonathan Gregg; among others. With Usher and Burns serving as their own producers, they brought Winter to resident Americana legend Eric Ambel of The Del Lords renown to render the mixing. As with all of Ambel's work, you can feel the band on record as if they were three feet away from you.

Emphasizes Lisa - "the album captures the magic of the performances - it's an extension of us playing in our living room. These songs are universal, at some point in everyone’s lives; we confront our mortality and have to deal with things like cancer. Even from the stage of the Mercury I could see people singing along to songs that they'd never heard before."

At present Usher and Burns are still shopping the album. However they have filmed a video produced by Spencer Gordon as a teaser, choosing the track "More Than That I Cannot Say." George refers to the song as the album's single, though Lisa reminds George that “45s” cease to exist in an official capacity.

Regardless, Usher can hardly contain his joy. "I can't believe I made an album with Lisa Burns!" George, who once labored at establishments known as “record stores,” proudly displays his vinyl copy of Lisa Burns' major label debut waxed during the Carter Administration, greatly admiring Ms. Burns’ sexy image which adorns the jacket, and which she still maintains.

"Wow! I love this album, and I really, really love the cover! They don't make album covers like this anymore!"

For updates regarding The Last Day of Winter release and upcoming George Usher & Lisa Burns shows, check in regularly on www.TheLastDayofWinterAlbum.Com

Video Link “More Than That I Cannot Say” : http://vimeo.com/106217636