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Wild Billy Childish and The Chatham Singers Kings Of The

Medway Delta Damaged Goods ASIN: B082PPKD69

This record features (Wild) Billy Childish (Steven John Hamper) in
the guise of The Chatham Singers and the sound is very much 60s-

style British R&B rather than Billy’s other interests in 60s rock and
roll and 70s punk. The Chatham Singers are Billy, Nurse Julie

(Hamper) on bass and Wolf Howard on drums, with occasional

Childish acolyte Jim Howard guesting on harmonica on most tracks.
“The Good Times Are Killing Me” sets the tone for the record, real

thick vintage sound (recorded at Ranscombe Studios), pounding guitar and rhythm section and the
wailing echoey blues harp and Slim Harpo’s “Got Love if You Want It” is like a cross between the

original and The Yardbirds’ version from ‘Five Live Yardbirds’ - raw and loose. “When I Was a Cowboy

(Out On The Western Plains)” is the Leadbelly song but I’m afraid that its doesn’t have the original
song’s melody or charm.

“Ranscombe Farm Boogie" is a pounding instrumental featuring harp upfront and "Wiley Coyote" is

like a rewrite of Slim Harpo's "King Bee", while "Why Did I Destroy Our Love?" sounds like Bo Diddley.

I really liked "My Love For You" a more original song with twangy guitar and echoey harmonica. The
final two tracks "What's Wrong With Me" (sounds a bit like John Otway) and "You Wonder Why I'm

Hurting" are both quite bluesy and again make full use of the echo chamber. I'm always a bit
ambivalent to Billy's attempts at blues, in some ways it seems like an exercise in reconstructing The

Downliners Sect - raw and loose and slightly out of tune - but I also love that amateurish enthusiasm
and the whole thing sounds like it would be a blast to be part of.

Graham Harrison

Whitney Shay Stand Up! RUF Records ASIN: B082JNS2MQ

I liked Whitney’s last album 'A Woman Rules the World' recorded in

Kid Anderson's Greaseland studio in San Jose and featuring some of
the Bay Area's best players, this album was recorded in Austin’s Wire

Recording Studio with producer Kaz Kazanoff and features Texan

musicians including Red Young on keyboards, Laura Chavez on gui-
tar, Chris Maresh on bass and either Brannen Temple or Tommy

Taylor on drums. We also get Kazanoff's Texas Horns and Guy
Forsyth sings on “Far Apart (Still Close)" and adds resonator guitar

to “Boy Sit Down”, Derek O’Brien plays electric slide on the bluesy "Equal Ground" and Marcia Ball also

plays piano on "Boy, Sit Down”
'A Woman Rules the World' featured covers of, among others, Dinah Washington, Denise LaSalle, Candi

Staton and Little Richard as well as Whitney's own songs, while this album features mainly songs