portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Monday, October 14, 2024

Zero G Sounds | JOHN CALE - EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES (1978) upgraded version

John Cale - Even Cowgirls Get The Blues

John Cale was born in Wales but moved to London and then New York to study music. He joined The Velvet Underground in 1965 and played a key part in the distinctive sound and experimental ethos of their first two albums.
In the 70s, Cale launched a solo career and produced albums for other artists, including Nico, The Stooges, The Modern Lovers, Patti Smith. His solo albums covered very different styles, from the orchestral folk of Paris 1919 (1973) to the raucous punk of Sabotage/Live (1979).
Through the 80s, 90s and 00s Cale has continued to experiment with music and release the results, to little commercial success but with a small group of committed fans. In particular, two collaborative efforts in 1990 brought excellent results: one with Brian Eno called Wrong Way Up, and another with former bandmate Lou Reed, called Songs For Drella.

This disc contains live performances from roughly the same time period as the Sabotage/Live album.
It was recorded with members of the Patti Smith Group at CBGB in 1978 and '79 (the years of Cale's noisy punk involvement) and includes some hair-raising feedback excursions. There's some very interesting material here that is not available elsewhere. Most importantly, this is the only recording I know of that features 


The LP that came out on "Special Stock" has three tracks not on the CD. Here´s the CD version with the following tracks:

Dance Of The Seven Veils
Helen Of Troy
Casey At The Bat
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues
Don't Know Why She Came
Somebody Should Have Told Her
Decade
Magic & Lies

"Casey At The Bat" is listed as track 3 on the cover, but is split onto tracks 3 & 4 on the disc, making the disc 9 tracks, even though only 8 are listed on the cover, and the song runs uninterrupted.

According to the sleeve notes the first 4 tracks were recorded live on December 28, 1978. The other four tracks on December 31, 1979. The venue for both gigs was CBGB's in New York.

Ritchie Fliegler (lead guitarist of the band) begs to differ: "I just received a copy of Cowgirls (I got it on Amazon) it's interesting. And, while definitely recorded at CB's there are some big errors.The first 5 songs are the Judy, Kraal, JD, Bruce and me band. From when, I don't remember. However the liner notes say it's the first four songs - This is absolutely incorrect - it's the first five.The last three songs: Somebody, Decade and Magic are another gang altogether. Listening to this CD was the first time I have ever even heard them. Of this I am totally sure beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Ivan Kral is the bass player from the Patti Smith Group. On the cover his name is misspelled as "Kraal". John Cale´s "Sabotage/Live" album was recorded in between these two gigs 
performances with Judy Nylon.

As one of the comments says this is available and I have already on cassette which is almost unlistenable! Dreaful version so this is an improvement!





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