keeprighton2 Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 .....and they came from London! Was very much into them around 1992 when their first (of two I think) albums came out, self-titled and a minor classic IMO. Saw them live several times in small venues and they were great. They didn't sound like anyone else at the time (certainly not in the UK), lots of pedal steel and great tunes and were dubbed 'urban country' though really they belonged in the alt country scene that flourished a few years later. Sadly for them they imploded after a couple of albums before the scene mushroomed. Shame, wrong place, wrong time and shamefully now all but forgotten, although frontman Alan Tyler now does the rounds with his band Alan Tyler and the Lost Sons Of Littlefield. You'd never guess he (they) spread his musical wings in Camden, North London, just around the corner, and at the same time that Blur were doing the same. Have a listen: Jonathan, Jonathan (could be wrong but I think it's about Jonathan Richman) http://www.sendspace.com/file/huw1k3 Two other alt country beauts - Gradually Learning and Restless http://www.sendspace.com/file/9d0jbf http://www.sendspace.com/file/8fjrv0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ghost Of Bob Cumming Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Amen to all that! Gradually Learning is the finest British country song of all time, to my mind. It was my brother who bought the S/T album when it came out and when I went back home this Christmas I asked him if he could remember why on earth he bought it (not his sort of thing at all, you see). Sadly, he couldn't. Anyway, I pinched it and love it - it's currently on my iPod (as is one of Alan Tyler's solo albums). Saw them in the acoustic tent at Glastonbury one year too (either 93/94/95), they were great, but only a handful of people watching. Think they played a one-off re-union show before Christmas?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keeprighton2 Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Amen to all that! Gradually Learning is the finest British country song of all time, to my mind. It was my brother who bought the S/T album when it came out and when I went back home this Christmas I asked him if he could remember why on earth he bought it (not his sort of thing at all, you see). Sadly, he couldn't. Anyway, I pinched it and love it - it's currently on my iPod (as is one of Alan Tyler's solo albums). Saw them in the acoustic tent at Glastonbury one year too (either 93/94/95), they were great, but only a handful of people watching. Think they played a one-off re-union show before Christmas?? Really? Would liked to have seen that. Alan Tyler is still gigging regularly, and I occasionally see the other members of the band at random gigs in London. Went to see the excellent Alberta Cross (attention Neil Young fans) a couple of months back at Hoxton and noticed the Rockingbirds guitar player two or three stone up from that he was, hair a bit longer, slumped up against a wall.....oh what might have been! I remember seeing the Rockingbirds at my local venue The Old Trout (RIP) in Windsor and then in front of about 20 people at the Municipal Hall in Pontypridd in the Welsh Valleys.....hey rock'n'roll!! For any American early Wilco/Drive-By Truckers fans reading this who have never heard the Rockingbirds do check these guys out - they deserved so much more, but like I said, wrong place, wrong time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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