The Real Deal – Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen

Chris Hillman & Herb Pederson live at Caravan Music Club

From the first song of Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen’s set, I felt cast back in time, back to heady days of my youth in the 1960s and ‘70s. It was that inimitable sound of the times that was emanating from the stage - sweet country rock redolent with superb harmonies and masterly musicianship.

They started with a couple of  Desert Rose Band songs, first the appropriately called Desert Rose, followed by She Don’t Love Nobody, a song written by John Hiatt.  Turn Turn Turn, the famous Pete Seeger song, which was a big hit for The Byrds in 1965, was next. The lyrics are drawn from The Book of Ecclesiastes, so Chris Hillman informed us.

Herb Pedersen was associated with The Dillards, a legendary bluegrass band, and introduced the next song as one of their standards – Close The Door Lightly.

And so the concert proceeded with Chris & Herb ranging through their back catalogue, many of the songs being familiar to those of us who grew up with the songs on our record players or on the radio. For instance the fabulous Sin City written by Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons  for The Flying Burrito Brothers influential record Gilded Palace of Sin, Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man, which contains the wonderful line “In the jingle jangle morning…” and  Bells of Rhymney another Pete Seeger song. I hadn’t heard many of these songs for decades, but as is the case with music, it’s amazing how you can still remember the words.

They played 20 songs in all, including the encore, and finished their main set with So You Want To Be A Rock ‘n’ Roll Star.

It was a great show, by two legends of folk/rock, country/rock fame. They proved that the genuine sound of the era from which they came, cannot be imitated. It was the real thing.

The Caravan Music Club is a great venue – it has an old fashioned ambience and is part of the Oakleigh RSL  It’s a pity it’s so far from home, because it’s one of the best venues in Melbourne.

Set List

1. Desert Rose
2. She Don’t Love Nobody
3. Turn, Turn, Turn
4. Close The Door Lightly
5. If I Could Only Win Your Love
6. Sin City
7. Bells of Rhymney
8. Devil In Disguise
9. Nevertheless I’m In Love With You
10. Hey Boys
11. Rank Stranger
12. Old Crossroads
13. Mr Tambourine Man
14. Old Train
15. Rangers Command
16. Doesn’t Mean Much Anymore
17. Eight Miles High
18. Wait A Minute
19. So You Want To Be A Rock ‘n’ Roll Star

Encore:

1. Heaven’s Lullaby

More Soul – two diverse in store performances at Basement Discs

This week Basement Discs hosted two very different, nevertheless very talented young artists from the USA. 

The first of these was Krystle Warren (pictured above) who is touring Australia for the first time, and performed a moving and unusual short set, in store on Wednesday.  Her music is minimalist, but her voice and songs more than make up for it, her songs being masterful tales of love gained and lost, and her voice being soulful and expressive . She has been compared to Joni Mitchell in the way she she uses her voice, but I thought she sounded a bit like Joan Armatrading.

  

Today the engaging and genial Ben Sollee entertained the lunchtime crowd at Basement Discs with a charming performance, showcasing his expertise on his instrument of choice, the cello.

He hails from Kentucky and grew up in a musical family, adopting the cello when he was in high school - he fell in love with the weird sounds it can make, so he explained. He trained in classical music but was influenced by the jazz, blues and celtic music of his family. This explains his unusual approach to playing the cello, which covers all the aforementioned genres and then some.

He is also a very gifted song writer and has a pleasant singing voice - a sweet tenor.

Next up at Basement Discs is the wonderful Eilen Jewell on Friday 23rd March. I’ll be seeing her the night before at the Corner Hotel, but still wouldn’t miss her intimate in store for quids.

This Saturday, I am for the first time going to the Caravan Music Club in Oakleigh, rather a long trek for us in the north of the city, but purported to be a great venue. It should be worth the effort as Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen are playing.  Chris Hillman is one of the pioneers of country rock, and played in such bands as The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers and Desert Rose.