Little Village - The Action In Frisco '2014

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Solar Sex Panel
02. The Action
03. Fool Who Knows
04. Do You Want My Job
05. She Runs Hot
06. Don't Think About Her When You're Trying To Drive
07. Memphis In The Meantime
08. Cryin' In My Sleep
09. Big Love
10. Little Sister
11. Half A Boy And A Man
12. Thing Called Love
13. Lipstick Sunset

One of the musical highlights of the 1980s was John Hiatt's Bring The Family,
the '87 album which introduced the veteran minstrel to a new generation of fans.
Full to capacity with supreme compositions, it was an exciting prospect too
because the of its lineup; Hiatt of course doing most of the singing and
strumming a sad acoustic, the mighty Ry Cooder handling electric guitar and a
little sitar on one number, Nick Lowe on his signature bass and, as the only
Brit in the line-up, presumably on joke cracking duties too, and the man who
banged the drum for everyone from Bob Dylan to Manhattan Transfer, the wholly
underrated Jim Keltner. The easy way the individual members clicked was what led
to Little Village in 1992, but the group's one and only album did not take off
though the classic guitar rock sound, replete with songs of a quite staggering
hue, certainly hasn't dated. One can also guess that the supergroup format meant
that the focus and the pressure wasn't directed solely at any one person,
certainly each member was already very much a star in his own right. In the
album's wake the Villagers hit the road; veterans to a man of the live circuit,
the shows were a magnificent spectacle. And when the tour bus pulled up in San
Fran and the fancy gear was unloaded into the Fox Warfield Theatre, the whole
affair was broadcast across the greater Frisco area by local FM radio. The
resulting broadcast can be heard in all its magnificence on this CD, as tracks
from the sole LV record rub shoulders with a triumvirate of numbers from Bring
The Family, and a further brace from the pen of Monsieur Lowe - including the
hilarious (told you) 'Half A Boy & Half A Man'. 'Little Sister' a la the
splendid late-70s Ry Cooder version makes an appearance too, although the
highlight for the author of these brief notes is the near perfect ballad 'Don't
Think About Her When You're Trying to Drive', succulent in its studio form but
even better here!

Bass – Nick Lowe
Drums – Jim Keltner
Guitar, Vocals – John Hiatt
Vocals, Guitar – Ry Cooder

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