Since the days of Napster, record labels have recruited recording artists as allies in their fight against unauthorized music services, arguing that what was good for capital was also good for labor.
But as Teresa Nielsen Hayden says, “Just because you’re on their side, it doesn’t mean they’re on your side.”
Since the rise of streaming services, recording artists have complained bitterly about the pittances they receive in royalties, while the streaming services countered that they were sending billions to the labels, who were pocketing all the money without passing it on to the talent…
If you believe the press release — and in these credulous times, why wouldn’t you? — semi-famous British rock dinosaur Derek Smalls, known for holding down the low end in Spinal Tap, has chosen his 75th birthday to release his first ever solo album, Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing). Claiming it as “halfway between ‘rage against the dying of the light’ and trying to find the light,” Smalls begins with the orchestral “Openture” by proclaiming with terse insight: “Age…is just a number. Number…is…just a word. And word…is just a thing.”
The truth, of course, is that comedian/actor Harry Shearer has happily donned the now incredibly grizzled hair and mustache of Smalls once again. Smalls Change is at once an extension of the now honestly storied tale of the ultimate fake band and an amusing indulgence in its own right, recognizing that time waits for no man, even double bass wielders…
Sweet-voiced songstress Nanci Griffith straddled the folk and country genres, enjoying modest success with her own recordings and having her songs recorded by country hit makers such as Suzy Bogguss and Kathy Mattea.
Before courting a wider audience with the more pop-oriented releases that followed–much the same way that Mary Chapin Carpenter had done more successfully a couple years earlier–Griffith’s August 1988 Anderson Fair (Houston) performance neatly encapsulated her career to that point with a combination of originals and well-chosen covers
She even made Julie Gold’s “From a Distance” a top ten hit in Ireland prior to Bette Midler taking the song to stratospheric heights.
The sympathetic, restrained accompaniment of the Blue Moon Orchestra gives this live release an organic feel throughout. Compared to the original studio versions, which often seem over produced, these recordings feel like the definitive versions of these songs.
Despite only modest success on its release, this album feels like a classic today.
Every Moment Has A Song 