Sold Date:
September 11, 2022
Start Date:
August 21, 2022
Final Price:
$49.00
(USD)
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This is the Mississippi Records reissue with the booklet. Record is unplayed mint condition.
"Never was a record more aptly named, for a kick-off. Proof positive
laid-back does NOT equal boring. But oh dear, where are my manners? For
the uninitiated, Michael Hurley (aka Elwood Snock, Doc Snock, Hi Fi
Snock, the Horrible Horrible Pearly Snock Man or simply The Snock) is
one of the most shamefully neglected artists of any era; a
singer/songwriter whose style, despite evidence of vestiges of folk,
jazz, blues, country and rock'n'roll, is all his own, though in an
unguarded moment he once confessed to playing 'the baroque blues'.
'Armchair Boogie' was his second LP. Me, I reckon it's rather fine.
Here's why.
'Werewolf' is unquestionably Michael's most famous song. It'd appeared
on his debut and has done so on other records since; who's to say it
won't crop up again? I for one won't object if it does. The version that
opens Side 1 of this recording is one of the best versions, a duet with
Rube The Card aka the great Robin Remailly on fiddle that reminds this
here listener of nothing so much as a hillbilly version of 'The Black
Angel's Death Song' as done live by Reed and Cale in Paris in 1972. You
follow? Like Reed, Hurley is the very personification of that
gosh-darned fine line between the deadly serious and the utterly
hilarious. Dismiss him as either at your peril. Part of the charm of
'Armchair Boogie' rests in its being recorded in the Snock's bedroom.
Sounds as if he's right there in your living room playing just for you.
Lumpen piano and playful bass help to propel such tunes as 'Grand Canyon
Line' and 'Get The Best Of Me' in lugubrious fashion and the wondrously
named Pasta Saco adds a cute harmony to Michael's lead on the truly
contemplative and downright lascivious 'Open Up (Eternal Lips)', another
Snock classic subsequently re-recorded.
But my favourites are the solo performances such as 'Light Green
Fellow'; someone once told me it sounded like Nick Drake. Bit wide of
the mark, I'd say; for starters that criminally over-rated performer
never touched the heights scaled by the Snock, not in my book any road.
Then there's 'English Nobleman', featuring a Snock mock-English accent
that sounds like The Singing Postman and containing the revelation that
said nobleman's 'dignity would be besmirched/if you hit me in the face
with a pie'. Terrific. By utter contrast 'Troubled Waters' is a tale of
dark resignation to one's fate in the light of one's true love going
pear-shaped and recalls the quirky craft of the great Robin Williamson
as much as anything. Then you have the inimitable 'Sweedeedee' as
referred to by Julian Cope during the course of 'Planet Ride' off 'St.
Julian' and featuring Earthquake Anderson on the mouth organ. This song
cannot be over-praised, it's that good. So is 'When The Swallows Come
Back To Capistrano', originally performed all those years ago by Gene
Autry and The 5 Satins, amongst others. There are even those as would
argue that this LP saves the best till last, namely the instrumental gem
'Penguins', with Michael Kane's cornet harmonizing so, so sweetly with
the Snock's mock trumpet on this delightfully lilting finale. None of
this even takes into account the enigmatic solo guitar piece Ravager's
Reel' or the sublime and heartfelt tale of a dog's blues that is
'Jocko's Lament'.
To wrap up, I'd have to say 'Armchair Boogie' is one of the most
effective and enjoyable relaxant/stimulants I've ever used. Whenever the
world or whatever gets on my case I bung it on and time goes all
elastic on me and I feel an overwhelming need to nibble or guzzle
something nice in the company of someone even nicer. Not many other
products I feel I can endorse in such a fashion, to be frank. Michael
Hurley is one in a zillion and this is just one of the great records
he's done down the years. If you don't know his stuff then go remedy.
And if I'm preaching to the converted here, well pardon me, as Bob
Mitchum said in the crap remake of 'Cape Fear', all over the place."