MUSIC REVIEW - TROUBLE IN MIND BY STEPHEN DUNWOODY

TROUBLE IN MIND

Stephen Dunwoody

2016

Recorded at Haddington and Chicken Shack, Belfast.

www.stephendunwoody.com

TRACK LISTING:

Trouble In Mind

Miami

Tell It To The One You Love

Black Coffee

Nobody’s Fault But Mine

Black Is The Colour

Maybe I’m Mistaken

Night Train

Never Said Goodbye

Stephen Dunwoody is an independent musician who has supported numerous international acts during a 20-year career, including Jools Holland, Vonda Shepherd, Wishbone Ash, The Corrs, Tom Robinson, Kirsty McColl and Bjorn Again.

I am old enough to remember the shocking news of the 1975 ambush by the UVF of the Miami Showband. Singer Fran O’Toole, trumpeter Brian McCoy and guitarist Tony Geraghty were murdered. Two others were wounded. Brian McCoy was Stephen Dunwoody’s uncle.

The song Miami reflects on a trip Stephen made to Florida and, while not dwelling on the the terrible atrocity, his memories are interwoven with references to his uncle and the band. It is a powerful song, a memorable song made even more so by Linley Hamilton’s spine-tingling trumpet playing. It is the stand out track on a quite amazing album.

In terms of quality and effect, there are other strong tracks on what in essence is a moody, broody, soulful work introduced by a terrific opener, Trouble in Mind, reinforced by an incredible cover of Feeling Good and complemented by a great version of Black is the Colour. Black Coffee is a melancholy song of solitude that contrasts with the chug-chug enthusiasm of Night Train and the bounce of Tell It to the One You Love, perhaps the most radio-friendly song here.

Throughout the album, the moods change but what doesn’t change is the power of Stephen Dunwoody’s vocals, his mastery of the piano and the clarity of the arrangements. Sometimes the songs are spare and (in corporate-speak) the ‘less is more’ notion works a treat. I listened to the album for the first time and thought: “Okay. Now what have we here?” Ten plays later and I get it. I love its sentimentality and swagger. I love the way it pushes and pulls at emotions. I love Stephen’s ability to inject new life into old songs. I see it as my Sunday morning record – coffee, papers and a perfect soundtrack. (You are encouraged, obviously, to play it on any day of the week!)

I hope radio stations and enlightened presenters give this album airtime and share it as widely as possible. It deserves attention for its distinctiveness and diversity, and as a defining showcase for a superbly talented performer.

Here's a YouTube link to Trouble in Mind track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeBgqSmDH4w

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WHEN ELVIS PRESLEY DIED, THEY DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO BREAK IT TO ME GENTLY

Today in 1977, we lost Elvis Presley at 42.

Here's a link to my poem in The Galway Review - When Elvis Presley Died, They Didn't Even Break It To Me Gently.

http://droppedthemoon.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/the-galway-review.html 

I read it at last year's Derwent Poetry Festival (Templar Poetry) and it received some very nice comments.

COUCH

I am building a settee,
slowly, 
painstakingly, 
methodically,
as a skilled 
and patient 
craftsman should.

Progress?

Sofa, so good.

MICK JAGGER'S CHATEAU

During a holiday to the Loire valley...........


The old potter told us
that Mick Jagger's chateau
was not far away,

so we drove towards
Poce sur Cisse in the hope
that we would find it.

We think we did,
squinting through some snatches
of space in a high, thick hedge,

a magnificent white building,
majestic entrance steps,
immaculately tended gardens.

But, alas, in our vain search
for a glimpse or two
of rock star action,

we failed to spot Mick
and we didn't get
no satisfaction.

POET LAUREATE

This piece was written as a song, a folky piece, but based on a true romance in the hot summer of 1976 in Manchester.

I used to write poems for you
in our hot summer love affair
and I'd smile as I read them to myself
when no one was there.

I wrote seven* that are special,
some more along the way
and I'll give them to you, wrapped with love in velvet,
maybe one day.

I thought I was your Poet Laureate
for you were my ambition
and that summer was the best of times
without a contract of conditions.

Maybe I wrote this song for you,
or perhaps it wrote itself,
you've gone so I place it gently out of reach
up on a shelf.

I thought I was your Poet Laureate

for you were my ambition

and that summer was the best of times

without a contract of conditions.

*I found the seven (not great poems but wonderful memories) in a notebook I still treasure. Regina.

DUNG

Ah, the smell of the country,

unfresh fresh air,

resonates like the farming news at ten,

dung, dung, dung, dung,

excrement, fertilizer, manure,

lathered all over the filthy fields,

spread thick like beef extract on baps.

I lift handfuls of it and hold it to my nose,

breathe in the beautiful bovine bouquet,

celebrate the goodness of the soil

before throwing up in the hay.

https://www.feedaread.com/books/The-Poems-Of-Hamish-Sheaney-Remastered-Expanded-9781785100727.aspx

The Poems Of Hamish Sheaney : Remastered & Expanded

By Joe Cushnan

In 2012, I published a book called Hamish Sheaney: The Nearly-Man of Irish Literature. The book began with this disclaimer: Hamish Sheaney may not exist, so it might have been necessary to invent him. Hamish Sheaney might be Joe Cushnan or Joe Cushnan might be Hamish Sheaney. They are never seen in the same room together, but more often than not they are in the same room. Shirt collar, shoe size, dental records and preference for Mini-Cheddars are purely coincidental. The book is still available from www.feedaread.com and via Amazon Kindle. It contains a short biography of Hamish as well as lists of his failed screenplays, literary influences and proverbial wisdom (whizz dumb) quotations. This updated book is a remastered (regurgitated?) and expanded version that concentrates on the nearly-man’s specific biographical and observational poetry, and it leaves out the “and other funny stuff”. So as not to short-change anyone too much, other poems and witty gems have been discovered in a holdall in Hamish’s shed. They are printed here for the first time. Granny Sheaney also makes an appearance with her terse views on life and poetry. Unlike my other books of fun verse - Juggling Jelly, The Chuckle Files, Boxset (Without A Box), etc, this collection is a bit more adult in parts.

ISBN: 9781785100727

Type: Paperback

Pages: 99

Published: 17 September 2014