Preview

Yn ôl ar gais y cyhoedd! Cyfansoddwr profiadol enwog ('Wild Thing') wedi cyfuno â chantores/chwaraewraig ffidil ifanc drawiadol o Texas ac un o gyn-gitarydd enwog Van Morrison - byddwch yn barod i gael eich cyffwrdd y tu hwnt i bob esboniad! Hanfodol!

The 2004 Talbot performance by the wonderful Chip and Carrie was truly one of the year's supreme highlights, so by public demand (and ours, too!), they're back!

Chip Taylor's biography and CV is nothing less than extraordinary. Hailing from Yonkers, New York, his brother Harry is a world-renowned vulcanologist, while his other brother is Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight. Chip's 1950s high-school band was the first white act signed to the King label, and his subsequent songwriting career, spawning such classics as garage-rock anthem 'Wild Thing' and 'Angel of the Morning', has seen his songs covered by Frank Sinatra, The Pretenders, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, Fars Domino, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Linda Ronstadt, and Shaggy, to name just a few. Chip's chain of 1970s country-rock albums are regarded as masterpieces of the genre; and he can also claim the second-longest span of No. 1 hits in music history, between The Troggs' 'Wild Thing' in 1966 and Shaggy's 'Angel of the Morning' in 2001.

By the 1980s, Taylor had left music to become (what else?) a spectacularly successful professional gambler, but in 1995 he returned to writing, performing and recording to huge critical acclaim in America and Europe. Some 40 years Chip's junior, his current musical collaborator is the charismatic Texan Carrie Rodriguez, and their celebrated creative partnership, combining Chip's sterling country/folk songs and trademark laconic delivery and Carrie's marvellous fiddle playing and exquisite singing is entrancing audiences and purchasers of their three collaborative CDs (including the brand-new Red Dog Tracks) alike.

As on their previous visit, Chip and Carrie are accompanied by the superlative and distinctive guitarist John Platania, who not only featured prominently on all Chip's fine pre-1980s albums, but also was a sideman for Van Morrison for many years.

* We anticipate a high demand for tickets for this very special event: please, BOOK EARLY to ensure you don't miss these wonderful artists.

'She's the queen of hearts with a Texas accent ... he's the jack of diamonds with a King Midas touch' - Austin Chronicle

'... sound as if they were born to sing together' - Vintage Guitar magazine

Review

Once again, your harassed scribe has been forced to adjust his green eyeshade and reach for his tattered copy of the AA Book of Superlatives for fresh lexical weapons to wield, in order to do justice to the return of our good friends Chip and Carrie ... following their Talbot debut last year, it was hard to imagine that they might excel even that unforgettable evening, but that's just what they did ... in front of a large and instantly receptive audience, they wove an extra-special spell that will stay with us all for a long time ... hopefully until their 2006 visit (along with Albert Lee and the boys, this looks like becoming a wholly justifiable annual Cambria Arts institution, just as long as their UK tour schedule permits).

As before, the impassive figure of the legendary John Platania was a stage-left fixture, always with just the right guitar flourish or embellishment at his fingertips: his solos invariably have a risky edge to them to make you smile, while his pedal-steel-like colourings lend shafts of sunlight to many a turn of phrase (Steady - Ed.). This year's added delight came in the lean and bearded form of the amazing Petter Eriksson (from Gothenberg, Sweden) on string bass - not only does his ever-flexible playing provide an invincible foundation to proceedings, but his non-stop bodily contortions and facial gurning constituted a whole show on their own. Chip, engagingly relaxed and black-clad as ever, and the svelte Carrie kicked off with a gem from Chip's back catalogue, 'The Real Thing' from his classic 1974 'Last Chance' album, before launching into a tour round the best of their three collaborative CDs, a collection of songs that are humane, heartfelt, romantic, and gently droll by turn - mind you, with Chip's unflashy but functional guitar playing and laconic pipes, and Carrie's evocative fiddle playing and voice, they could sing the telephone directory and still tug at your heartstrings. The title track of their first, 'Let's Leave This Town', was followed by 'Keep Your Hat On Jenny' from the latest, 'Red Dog Tracks'; the eroticism of 'Don't Speak in English' gave way to, among others, 'Tequila Blues', 'Do Your Part', and the eternally lovely 'Angel of the Morning' (which, as Chip revealed, continues to do his bank balance no harm at all, thanks to the somewhat free adaptation of Shaggy!). Carrie kicked off the second set with a divine solo fiddle reading of 'Midnight on the Water'; 'O Set a Light' (with obliging audience participation) was followed by the nocturnal 'Big Moon Shinin'', the Johnny Cash-related 'Big River', 'Laredo', 'Fall' (especially for John Roberts!), 'Red Dog Tracks', the up-tempo 'All The Rain' (as covered by excellent Welsh-based cajun outfit Cajuns Denbo), the self-deprecating 'Holy Shit', and, needless to say, the eternal 'Wild Thing' (more crowd participation). The heartwarming 'We Come Up Shining' made for the perfect encore, before Chip and Carrie left the stage to mingle, chat, sign CDs, shake hands, and listen to the expressions of gratitude of many a tongue-tied fan, both young and not-so-young, with the patience and limitless courtesy that marks out these delightful artists as true communicators on every level. That we can all claim them as our personal friends is borne out by Chip's astonishing road journals on their website - it takes the phenomenal power of memory of a successful ex-professional gambler, but chances are that, by the time you read this, if you bought a CD or exchanged a few words on the night, your name will be included in their review of the Talbot gig. True friends, indeed. Y'all come back, hear?