Don't Be Concerned

I was dimly aware of Bob Lind's one big hit 'Elusive Butterfly' - but had probably heard Irish crooner Val Doonican's version rather than Lind's original. Nine or ten years ago I caught Jarvis Cocker interviewing Lind on his radio show. Lind's was a story of brief success in the mid-to-late '60s, followed by years struggling with addiction, and a longer period out of the limelight, including a stint where he worked as a writer for tabloid 'newspapers' in Florida.

At length he returned to music, releasing a live album in 2006 and his first album of new material for decades in 2012. A few years after hearing about him, I found a copy of his debut album Don't Be Cocerned at the 'Serendipity' junk-shop in Chepstow (sadly long-since closed). It's a record very much of its time, doubtless one of many post-Dylan releases by poetically-inclined singer-songwriters.

The arrangements and production are courtesy of Jack Nitzsche, who also wrote the sleeve-notes. These include such some jocular disparagement of the artiste: "Bob Lind is, without a doubt, the worst pool player I have ever known. He is afraid of airplanes and can't stay alone in the dark." A few of the songs come across as discount Dylan - 'Mister Zero', for example, but there are highlights too - 'Cheryl's Goin' Home' is lovely, as is 'Elusive Butterfly'.

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All Wrapped Up

Here's another of the compilation cassettes I bought this summer, having taken home a Denon twin-deck hi-fi cassette player from the local charity shop. All Wrapped Up is a 1983 compilation of singles by The Undertones, with Side One filled with A-sides, and B-sides on Side Two. A cassette must be the least desirable medium for such an arrangement, with a long rewind required if one just wants to hear the hits repeatedly. The Undertones were unapologetically provincial and anti-fashionable, with their songs sharply-written slices of life that pointedly avoided any mention of politics, or of the then-continuing violence in their native Derry. My favourite tracks are the obvious choices: 'Teenage Kicks', 'Jimmy Jimmy', 'Here Comes the Summer', 'My Perfect Cousin' & 'Wednesday Week'. Their later singles showed increased sophistication but lack the some of the straightforward charm of their earlier work. The B-sides, not unexpectedly, are mo...

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Onslow

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