There is a line running through Bill Callahan’s songwriting that is similar in approach as nature writing, one that was previously referenced in an earlier Recliner Notes post. Another good example of Callahan working in this mode is the song “Spring” from his 2013 album Dream River: The song opens with a riff on electricContinue reading “Spring”
Tag Archives: William Wordsworth
Eid Ma Clack Shaw
“Eid Ma Clack Shaw,” the second song on Bill Callahan’s 2009 album Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle, starts with minor chords on a piano: An ominous beginning to be sure! Callahan sings the song’s first line a cappella: “Working through death’s pain.” It’s a heavy line to match the foreboding nature of theContinue reading “Eid Ma Clack Shaw”
Deportee
Elvis Costello and The Attractions released their album Goodbye Cruel World in June 1984. To say Costello was disappointed with the album is an understatement. In the liner notes for the re-release of Goodbye Cruel World, Costello wrote: “Congratulations! You’ve just purchased our worst album.” After the release of the album, Costello took stock whileContinue reading “Deportee”
Up to Me
On September 19, 1974, Bob Dylan recorded the song “Up to Me”: It was the last day of the New York sessions for what would become the 1975 album Blood on the Tracks. Dylan, aiming for a more commercial sound, re-recorded some of the songs captured in New York before the release of the album.Continue reading “Up to Me”
One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
The established narrative around the making of Blonde on Blonde is that in early 1966, Bob Dylan was dissatisfied with the music he was recording in New York City, and so, with the urging of his producer Bob Johnston, shifted operations to Nashville where the bulk of the album was recorded with the so-called NashvilleContinue reading “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)”
Recliner Notes 